The author behind A Song of Fire and Ice is busy finishing the final two volumes in that acclaimed fantasy series, but not so busy that he doesn’t have time to tease audiences about all of the new Game of Thrones spin-offs currently being made for TV. By George R.R. Martin’s count there are seven in the works, including several animated series, some of which haven’t officially even been announced yet.
House of the Dragon wrapped up its second season last night, and HBO wasted no time prepping fans for the next Game of Thrones series. It’s called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and is adapted from Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg, a series of novellas following the exploits of Ser Duncan the Tall and King Aegon V Targaryen 90 years prior to the events of the novels. But this second spin-off is far from the only one.
Martin recently attended a fantasy writers’ workshop in Oxford with His Dark Materials writer Phillip Pullman where the mind behind the Game of Thrones franchise reportedly told attendees that there are seven shows currently in development (via Forbes). We’ve heard of lots of rumored projects in the past, many of which were eventually scrapped or replaced by other pitches, but the added wrinkle here is that Martin suggested four of these spin-offs are currently planned as animated series. Here’s where things seem to stand based on that:
- Aegon the Conqueror (live action)
- Ten Thousand Ships (live action)
- Mystery Live Action 1
- The Golden Empire (animated)
- Sea Snake (animated)
- Mystery Animated 1
- Mystery Animated 2
Ten Thousand Ships, a prequel taking place a millennia before Game of Thrones, was thought to have been shelved, but in June Martin confirmed that it was moving ahead after all. The backstory of Corlys Velaryon, introduced in House of the Dragon, will be explored in the animated series Sea Snake. While that was once considered for a live-action show, Martin later said that budget-wise it made more sense to have the seafaring story told through animation.
Other projects like a direct sequel starring Kit Harington returning as Jon Snow were cancelled early on, so who knows what other ideas have circulated into the mix in the meantime? It’s not completely clear what Martin’s level of involvement is in all of these spin-offs, and how much time and energy they do or don’t take away from him actually finishing the original set of books. I’m sure brainstorming all of these other ideas is a lot more fun.
And with House of the Dragon finding its footing in season 2, it seems likely HBO will be pushing these in-development pitches ahead with more gusto than ever. Between that and Elden Ring being one of the best-selling games of the year again, it’s turning out to be the summer of George R.R. Martin after all.