George R.R. Martin Says More Game Of Thrones Prequels Are In Development
George R.R. Martin has confirmed on his blog that a new Game of Thrones spin-off show is in development.
With House of the Dragon‘s success proving that the lackluster ending to Game of Thrones hasn’t turned fans off from tales set in Westeros, it comes as no surprise that HBO is looking to create more content based on the works of George R.R. Martin. Thankfully for them, even though Martin has (allegedly) been spending the last twelve years slaving away at the final two A Song of Ice and Fire novels, that hasn’t stopped him from finishing new stories that take place in the same universe. Now, George R.R. Martin has confirmed on his blog that they’ve greenlit a show based on his Tales of Dunk & Egg novellas, which have been collected into A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The novellas take place about 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones, following the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and (mild spoiler alert) Aegon Targaryen as they traverse Westeros under the reign of Aegon’s father, Maekar Targaryen. The stories are notable for delving into the ideals of chivalry and the feudal system in Westeros under the Targaryen reign, in the decades before the mad king Aerys II Targaryen brought the Targaryen dynasty to ruin.
The new series has been tentatively titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight – combining the titles of both the short story collection and the first Dunk & Egg short story. Martin has acknowledged that fans of his novels and Game of Thrones might be disappointed that the names of the main characters won’t be part of the title.
However, the powers that be apparently decided that “Dunk & Egg” sounded too similar to classic comical pairs like Laverne & Shirley or Abbott & Costello, so they stuck with something that would let audiences know more about the type of show they’re getting into.
Changing the name of George R.R. Martin’s works is pretty much the rule of thumb for HBO. A Song of Ice and Fire was renamed to Game of Thrones, and Fire & Blood was renamed House of the Dragon. Of course, “Dunk & Egg” was never the official title of any of Martin’s stories, so A Knight of Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight is the closest HBO has ever come to keeping the original name of the George R.R. Martin work the show is based on.
While this might be good news for fans of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, it’s arguably bad news for fans of A Song of Ice and Fire. The popularity of the TV series has been blamed for the fact that it’s been 12 years since the last novel in the series, A Dance with Dragons, had been released. In fact, people have blamed Game of Thrones’ disappointing final seasons on the absence of any novels to base them on.
While House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may very well serve as a distraction from his worth, it’s still entirely possible that George R.R. Martin will eventually finish his famous series of novels. It’s also possible that the 74-year-old author won’t live long enough to finish the epic. In that case, Game of Thrones will be the only complete version of Martin’s story made in his lifetime.
