Game of Thrones today, has arguably the greatest pop cultural fandom in the world (HP’s fandom is bigger but, not really active as a franchise and BTS is meh). And this entire fandom rejoiced when HBO officially gave the green light to a Game of Thrones spin-off and also the development of at least four other prequels to the hit TV show. So without further ado, here’s what to expect,
Age of Heroes
HBO’s official synopsis for the spin-off scheduled for a 2020 release states, ‘Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know.’
The Age of Heroes was some 10,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones and is set around the time when the continent was riddled with conflict between the Children of the Forest and the First Men. This was also around the time when the sworn enemies made a pact to fight together against the forces of the Night’s King and his army of White Walkers, and is set well before the invasion of the Andals.
What can we expect? Well, expect to see the Night’s King raise his first army of the Others as they invade and destroy much of Westeros during the Long Night, until they were defeated at the Battle for the Dawn. Also expect to see the origin story of the Night’s Watch, as well as the birth of two great Westeros houses, the Starks and the Lannisters.
And sure, there won’t be any dragons but who needs them when you have so much mythology and magic to keep you intrigued?
Apart from the above, other ideas have been floated around for a Game of Thrones prequel as well. They include,
The Adventures of Dunk And Egg
Based on wonderful set of novellas written by George R R Martin, the prequel would be about the friendship between Ser Duncan The Tall, Hedge-knight and future Kingsguard and Aegon ‘Egg’ Targaryen V, future king of the seven kingdoms and elder brother to the blind Maester Aemon of the Night’s Watch.
Read: Why Is Game Of Thrones Going Downhill And Should Just End Soon Now
If HBO are going for something economical and easy on the budget, this is the way to go. But, don’t let the lack of characteristic GoT intrigue or battles color your perspective about this prequel. If done right, this could be a great light-hearted Westerosi companion piece to Game of Thrones.
Nymeria’s Invasion of Dorne
This is one of the more exciting prospects for a Game of Thrones spin-off. Not only is it blessed by a great story but, it will also cover the history of ancient Valyria and Essos as well as the early Dornish people, the first Martells et al.
If taken ahead, the show would tell the story of Nymeria, the warrior-princess of Rhoynar (Essos) who was driven by the dragon-lords of Valyria out to the sea, and who later went on to conquer much of Dorne with the ruling Martell family.
Put a great, believable female lead at the head, forget everything about Dorne you’ve seen on the show and, HBO will have a hit Game of Thrones spin-off on its hands.
Aegon And His Sisters’ Conquest of Westeros
Of all the story ideas mentioned in this article, this is the one that doesn’t need a lot of mulling over story and plot development. The conquest of Westeros by Aegon is well recorded in Martin’s companion book, A World of Ice and Fire and would thus, like the first five seasons of Game of Thrones, have a lot of available material to work with.
This would tell the story of Aegon and his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys, dragon-lords of Valyria who left Old Valyria before the Doom to settle at Dragonstone before eventually conquering Westeros with fire and blood. Expect a lot of political intrigue, a lot of incest (It’s the Targaryens, after all) and a lot, a lot of great battles settled by the sight of dragons burning hundreds and thousands (This was the first instance of dragons coming to Westeros).
This will likely be an instant blockbuster.
There are other ideas too. Robert’ rebellion, for starters. That won’t happen because much of it has been covered by Game of Thrones. Then, there is the Dance of Dragons, the Targaryen civil-war. Alas, the scale of the budget required for the dozens of dragons will be monumental and thus, not really economical.
That’s my take on what to expect from the upcoming Game of Thrones spin-off. Alas, that’s still a long way away. For now, let’s just wait for Season 9 of Game of Thrones.
Also, while you’re at it, read the illustrated version of A World of Ice and Fire.
Sources: A World of Ice and Fire, IGN, Den of Geek
Image Sources: Google Images
http://edtimes.in/2017/09/5-game-of-thrones-fan-theories-for-season-8-that-will-change-the-game/
