Skip to main content

George R. R. Martin confirms second Game of Thrones prequel, teases series title

HBO has a Westeros-sized void to fill in its programming plans thanks to Game of Thrones‘ controversial conclusion, but the already announced prequel series won’t be the only show to return to the wildly popular fantasy series’ mythology. A second prequel series detailing the history of House Targaryen is also in development, and is close to receiving a pilot order.

Game of Thrones creator George R. R. Martin confirmed in a blog post that a series based on his two-volume A Song of Ice and Fire tie-in, called Fire & Blood, is in the works, following an earlier report from The Hollywood Reporter. The Targaryen-focused series is not the same as the one starring Naomi Watts, Martin said, which has already filmed its pilot. Both projects will proceed at HBO simultaneously.

Recommended Videos

Martin cautions that “‘moving closer to a pilot order’ is NOT the same thing as ‘getting a pilot order,'” and that the second prequel series still has a ways to go before getting HBO’s official green light. This new series has a title, but it won’t be “the obvious” one, Fire & Blood. It will have dragons.

Finally, Martin claims that HBO is developing a third Game of Thrones prequel, although he didn’t share any further details. Two more Game of Thrones prequels, including one by Game of Thrones series writer and director Bryan Cogman, have already been canceled.

While the first, still-untitled prequel series will be set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the second prequel series will unfold just 300 years before the events of the eight-season show. The series’ script will be penned by Ryan Condal (Colony) and Martin. The first volume of Fire & Blood was published in November 2018, and chronicles the rise and fall of the royal family that ruled Westeros prior to the events of Game of Thrones and established Daenerys Targaryen’s (Emilia Clarke) claim to the Iron Throne.

Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss are attached as executive producers on all of the Game of Thrones prequels, but are not actively involved in any of the projects after signing a massive deal with Netflix to produce exclusive content for the streaming service.

One of the most widely watched original series of all time, Game of Thrones wrapped up its eight-season saga with a polarizing final arc that inspired no shortage of debate among fans, as well as a widely circulated petition to refilm the entire season. Complaints aside, the series earned 161 Primetime Emmy Award nominations over the course of its run, with 47 wins so far and more likely to come at this week’s Emmy Awards.

Updated on September 17, 2019: Added official George R. R. Martin confirmation of second prequel series and additional details.

Rick Marshall
Former Contributing Editor, Entertainment
A veteran journalist with more than two decades of experience covering local and national news, arts and entertainment, and…
House of the Dragon forgot what made Game of Thrones’ season 2 so great
A custom image of Daenerys and Rhaenyra in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

HBO's mega-hit House of the Dragon just wrapped its highly-anticipated second season with a whimper more than a bang. After two long years of waiting, the show came back on June 16 with a shortened season of just eight episodes, promising to deliver a thrilling and compelling story despite the reduced runtime. However, after a strong start, the show lost steam going into its finale, to the point where it's no overstatement to say it failed on almost every level.

The show's shortcomings become more glaring when compared to its predecessor, Game of Thrones. Although it lost much of its luster because of its now-infamous eighth season, Game of Thrones was at the peak of its quality during its acclaimed sophomore effort, which produced some of its most memorable scenes, dialogues, and episodes.

Read more
House of the Dragon’s latest episode reveals the series’ biggest problem
Alicent and Criston face each other in House of the Dragon season 2.

Warning: This article contains spoilers for House of the Dragon season 2, episode 2.

The second episode of House of the Dragon season 2 begins, as it should, in chaos. As the news of Prince Jaehaerys' murder spreads throughout the Red Keep of King's Landing, bed maidens and castle workers are detained, all while Jaehaerys' father, Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), rages over his son's death, and members of his Small Council -- namely, Alicent (Olivia Cooke) and Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) -- brainstorm over how to respond to the tragic event. The Hightowers, as cunning as ever, decide to use Jaehaerys' assassination to their political advantage by parading the boy's dead body through the streets as part of a funeral procession and denouncing his murder as an act of wanton cruelty on the part of Aegon's rival, Rhaenyra (Emmy D'Arcy).

Read more
Game of Thrones’ disappointing finale lost sight of what made the series so great
Daenerys stands above the Unsullied in the Game of Thrones finale.

Ending a TV show well is an infamously hard thing to do. Plenty of great, talented writers have tried and failed over the years, and even more fans have been left disappointed as their favorite shows failed to stick the landing. While bad final episodes have been a part of the TV landscape for decades, no series finale in modern memory has been as universally and passionately detested as Game of Thrones'.

After entertaining millions of viewers for eight years, the HBO drama delivered a final trio of rushed, ham-fisted episodes in May 2019 that brought its story to an incredibly disappointing, unearned conclusion. The show that had long held the TV crown subsequently faded from the world's pop cultural conversations — proving that sometimes the destination is as important as the journey. Many longtime fans seemingly pushed Game of Thrones from their minds altogether, while others decided to place all their hopes for a better ending on the two remaining Song of Ice and Fire books that author George R. R. Martin still hasn't published.

Read more