Game Of Thrones Canceled Spinoff Brought Back From The Dead
The once-shelved Game of Thrones prequel Ten Thousand Ships is back on track with a new writer. A Song of Ice and Fire author George RR Martin revealed the news on his blog, saying that Eboni Booth is currently working on the pilot of the prequel, which focuses on Nymeria and Rhoynar. Martin wryly added, “We’re all very excited about this one … though we’re still trying to figure out how we’re going to pay for 10,000 ships, 300 dragons and those giant turtles.”
One Thousand Years Before Game Of Thrones
The prequel Ten Thousand Ships takes place 1,000 years before the flagship Game of Thrones series and follows warrior queen Princess Nymeria, the founder of the kingdom of Dorne, and the Rhoynars who leave Essos and come to Dorne after being defeated by Valyrian.
Writer Brian Helgeland previously worked on the series and compared it to a Biblical epic like the story of Moses. Eboni Booth recently won a Pulitzer Prize for her play Primary Trust, so it’ll be interesting to see her take on this expansive fantasy world.
A Second Prequel Series
Though HBO hasn’t commented on Martin’s blog statements, this news seems to indicate the company is emboldened to continue making Game of Thrones projects after the success of the House of the Dragon prequel. House of the Dragon takes place 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones and tells the story of the fall of House Targaryen and its brutal war of succession known as the Dance of Dragons.
The first season received critical acclaim, multiple Emmy nominations, and over 10 million viewers for the series premiere, the biggest in HBO history.
A Third Prequel In Development
House of the Dragon is set to return for Season 2 on June 16 and it seems likely it will continue the success of the first season. In the meantime, Ten Thousand Ships isn’t the only new Game of Thrones project in the works. The series that is furthest along in development is A Knight of Seven the Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which is another prequel series based on Martin’s novellas, Tales of Dunk and Egg.
The Hedge Knight Will Be Lighter In Tone
Last year, HBO ordered A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight to series with creator George R.R. Martin and Ira Parker attached as writers and executive producers alongside Ryan Condal, Vince Gerardis, Owen Harris, and Sarah Bradshaw. This Game of Thrones prequel will star Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell as his squire Egg. This series should also have a bit lighter tone than the grim and violent world of the franchise that we’ve seen in the two other shows.
Even More Game Of Thrones Series In The Works
Meanwhile, there are just as many shelved and canceled Game of Thrones projects as ones in active development. HBO canceled the prequel series Bloodmoon, which would have taken place in the Age of Heroes, 10,000 years before the events of the flagship series. It was also recently reported that the Jon Snow sequel series starring Kit Harrington was shelved, but maybe this Ten Thousand Ships announcement could revive hope for that series sometime in the future.
It was also announced that a series based on the Sea Snake would be produced. Initially, it was announced as a live-action series, but then it changed to an animated series. While we wait for these many prequels, you can check out the new season of Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon when it hits HBO on June 16.
