As a society, we seem more keen to delve into the history and lore of a fictional continent, than of our own.
Which is probably a good thing, because you’ll come to realise Great Britain’s history is as murky as that of Westeros.
It’s a history so bloody and gruesome, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire (which HBO‘s hit TV series Game of Thrones is based on), George R. R. Martin, adapts a large chunk of the books on Medieval England’s contemptuous past.
While HBO‘s GoT is coming to an end next year, a prequel is already in the works, and according to Martin himself, it’s going to be a lot darker than the original.
Last week, HBO gave the ‘all clear’ for a new GoT series. It will be set ‘thousands of years’ before the War of Five Kings, incestuous shenanigans between twins, or terrible etiquette at wedding receptions ever took place.
Details on which lore of GoT will be dramatised has remained under wraps. Thankfully though, Martin was on hand to give fans a small idea of what they can expect.
In a blog post he wrote:
Yes, this is a prequel, not a sequel. None of the characters or actors from GAME OF THRONES will appear in the new show. All of the successor shows we’ve been developing have been prequels, as I have mentioned before.
This one really puts the PRE in prequel, since it is set not ninety years before GAME OF THRONES (like Dunk & Egg), or a few hundred years, but rather ten thousand years (well, assuming the oral histories of the First Men are accurate, but there are maesters at the Citadel who insist it has only been half that long).
We’re very early in the process, of course, with the pilot order just in, so we don’t have a director yet, or a cast, or a location, or even a title.
(My vote would be THE LONG NIGHT, which says it all, but I’d be surprised if that’s where we end up. More likely HBO will want to work the phrase “game of thrones” in there somewhere. We’ll know sooner or later)
Well, this all but confirms the next GoT project will be set thousands of years before the current events of the show.
Furthermore, on Twitter, Martin confirmed Jane Goldman, the wife of Johnathan Ross, will be penning the script.
He wrote:
HBO has greenlit the first of the GoT successor shows, scripted by the amazing Jane Goldman.
To clarify, what we have here is a pilot order, not as yet a series order. Everybody else has already broken the news, but you can follow the link to read on.
Goldman has an extremely sophisticated writing CV having written the screenplays for the Kick-Ass and Kingsman series, both X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past, The Woman in Black and Stardust.
Season eight of Game of Thrones, which will bring a conclusion to the epic fantasy saga, will premiere on Sky Atlantic next year, 2019.
If you have a story you want to tell send it to stories@unilad.co.uk.
