Could a Game of Thrones Prequel Still Happen? Well, Maybe
Although nothing’s set in stone, it sounds like HBO wouldn’t say no to a Game of Thrones prequel series over something like a spinoff.
Even though Game of Thrones might have more episodes left in it than we originally thought, that doesn’t change the fact that the show will end. HBO will have to look elsewhere for massive ratings, right? Well, you may want to hold your horses on that for now, according to Variety (and our sister site, Winter is Coming). In other words, HBO may very well get still more Thrones, just in the form of a prequel series.
Casey Bloys, HBO’s programming president, speaking at the Television Critics Association press tour, said this: “A prequel feels like it has less pressure on it”. That’s opposed to say, a spinoff featuring something like Daenerys’ rule on the Iron Throne. (We’ve basically already seen that anyway. How long did she spend ruling the Free Cities of Essos?) Bloys also pointed out that there’s a lot of material in the world of Westeros. There’s literally a coffee table book of it all.
So, where would HBO potentially start for a prequel series? An anthology probably would be a tough sell, since Thrones itself has been basically linear. However, it could work in a sort of American Crime Story style, where each season is devoted to a specific historical event as opposed to an episode or two only.
Even if HBO wanted to spin one event into a multi-season affair or went with the above anthology format, Robert’s Rebellion seems like the safest place to start. Not only would it feature younger versions of the characters we all know so well, it would be just fine to fully show the story of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen. After all, we already know they’re Jon Snow’s parents.
Of course, all of this is very much preliminary. However, Westworld looks like it will only return every other year. HBO falling back on Game of Thrones‘ prequel material to help fill the gap wouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
Next: GoT S7: Fresh, Frosty Spoilers
Game of Thrones Season 7 airs this summer.