Game of Thrones successor shows: Is more than one necessary?

Although only four Game of Thrones prequel shows are now in the works per George R.R. Martin, do we really need more than one?

At the end of last week, we actually got something resembling concrete details about some of the Game of Thrones prequel series. One already has a pilot — one dealing with the Long Night and the Age of Heroes — and George R.R. Martin, of course, celebrated that in his latest post to the Not a Blog. But then he dropped something a little more interesting: that though five shows were in the process of being made, we’re back down to four now.

With the news that one, at least, has a pilot in the works, it seems extremely likely that at least one will become a full-fledged show at some point. It’d honestly be silly if that isn’t the case. And the fact that one is already in the works suggests that it’s the strongest idea or at least had the strongest pitch.

With all this in mind though, the question then becomes: should Game of Thrones actually get more than one series? It’s not like it’s impossible in the land of TV. Just think of how many series Law & Order had once upon a time. But even with that in mind, we’ve also seen how spinoffs can tire fans out more quickly. (Yes, we’re talking about Star Wars and Solo here.) Sure, TV has people a little more used to the idea of one new installment a year, but what if HBO tries to run series concurrently?

That’s where it could be confusing, even for superfans of the series. So far, both HBO and Martin have done a good job emphasizing that the shows won’t feature the cast we already know and love. But if there’s more than one show, it gets harder and harder to explain what’s going on. Beyond that, it’s hard not to say that more series might end up diluting the brand.

Next: GoT S8 spoilers: More fire to be had?

As it goes, Game of Thrones has a lot of material — but it’s walking a careful path right now in order to keep fans engaged. Multiple series on a quick basis might just ruin things.