HBO recently announced that it was expanding its reach in the world of Westeros with a second Game of Thrones spin-off series, tentatively titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. Meanwhile, the premium channel’s breakout hit of 2023, House of the Dragon, recently began shooting its second season. And before the WGA writers strike forced TV writers and showrunners to put their proverbial pencils down to join the picket line, A Song of Ice and Fire mastermind George R. R. Martin shared on his “Not a Blog” that there are still several other Game of Thrones spin-offs, live action and animated, in development at HBO, including one about Steve Toussaint’s House of the Dragon scene stealer the Sea Snake.
Fans and critics might still be divided on the final season of Game of Thrones, but audiences are clearly still hungry for more bloody, brilliant tales of ambitious nobles, scheming backstabbers, and silver-haired dragon riders. But who can keep track of each and every rumored Game of Thrones spin-off? For years now, rumors have swirled around the future of HBO’s biggest home-grown franchise. Would HBO head Casey Bloys and his new David Zaslav try to turn Martin’s R-rated fantasy world into their version of Disney+’s MCU?
Fans of George R. R. Martin’s writing knows that one of the most intoxicating aspects of his books is how dense, detailed, and immersive his world-building is. He hasn’t just created a complex saga about heroes and villains, but a whole history for each family, town, and country. That extends back to the archaic “Age of Heroes” and to every far-flung geographic corner of the map. There are an infinite amount of potential spin-offs for HBO to dig into, but so far we’ve only learned about a handful that have either passed, failed, or remain deep in development.
Here’s your guide to every Game of Thrones spin-off that we know HBO (and potentially new streamer MAX) has in development…
Creators: Ryan Condal and George R.R. Martin
Actors Involved: Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Ewan Mitchell
What Time is it Set: Approximately 200 years before the events of Game of Thrones, during a tumultuous Targaryen civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Concept: House of the Dragon Season 1 was a lavish look at the Targaryen family drama that led to the eventual deaths of all the dragons (before Daenerys’s trio were born). The series flipped the script on its source material by focusing on events from the POVs of former best friends and later political rivals Alicent Hightower (Olivia Cooke) and Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy). Season 1 featured a number of controversial time jumps to establish the emotional history of these two characters and their fathers, husbands, lovers, enemies, and children. House of the Dragon Season 2 is expected to move at a faster, more violent clip.
Status: Season 1 was a massive hit for HBO and Season 2 is currently in production. However, there is some speculation that the WGA strike could postpone filming. Both HBO and George R.R. Martin (writing on his blog) have claimed that every script for every episode has been locked in so there shouldn’t need to be a writer on set for line edits or changes. There has been skepticism from outside the production that this is true given that most every production needs at least one showrunner on set to make sure what’s being filmed fits the scripts for continuity purposes. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Pretty gosh darn excited! The first season was a critical and commercial mega hit. However there are some concerns. The WGA strike could cause hiccups when it comes to the production timetable and overall quality of the show. Also, Season 1 co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik left the show, meaning the artistic quality could potentially feel different in Season 2. But of all the spin-offs, House of the Dragon has the best shot of making it to the air and being a success. You know, because they’ve already done it.
Premiere Date: House of the Dragon Season 2 should premiere in 2024. Should.
Creators: Ira Parker and George R.R. Martin (Though Steve Conrad was once attached.)
Actors Involved: None yet! But if you are an extremely tall actor, you should be pestering your agent for the opportunity to audition for the just under seven foot tall lead character, the aptly named Ser Duncan the Tall.
What Time is it Set: About 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones, towards the end of Daeron II’s reign. (Nerdy fact: Daeron II united the Seven Kingdoms by marrying a Dornish princess, bringing Dorne — and some dark-haired Dornish kids and grandkids — into the Targaryen fold.)
Concept: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight Season 1 will adapt the first of George R.R.Martin’s beloved “Dunk and Egg” novellas. The first one follows a young hedge knight named Dunk as he tries to make a name for himself at a Tourney at Ashford. He soon finds himself caught up in the family drama of the contemporary dragon-less Targaryens with some deadly repercussions.
Status: HBO has given the second official Game of Thrones spin-off a full first season order. However George R.R. Martin has confirmed that Ira Parker and his writers’ room are on the picket line in solidarity with the WGA strike. That means that pre-production has halted and won’t resume until the strike ends with a fair deal. Martin has pledged his support to Parker and his fellow striking WGA members.
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Given the confidence with which HBO head Casey Bloys announced the series pickup at a recent Warner Bros. investment day, we should expect that HBO will follow through with production on the series after the WGA strike is resolved. From a storytelling perspective, fans should be hyped to learn more about Targaryens and the small folk they rule over.
Premiere Date: It’s far too soon to even predict a premiere date, but given the timing of the series order announcement, HBO was likely hoping for a 2025 premiere date.
Creators: Unconfirmed, but George R.R. Martin has written on his blog that Jon Snow actor Kit Harington came to him with the idea of a Game of Thrones sequel. Martin couldn’t divulge who the potential writers were, but said Harington “brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.”
Actors Involved: Since this project is Kit Harington’s idea, he is the only actor whose involvement has been confirmed. Gwendoline Christie and Maisie Williams have voiced support for the project and/or one day returning to the roles of Brienne of Tarth or Arya Stark, respectively. Emilia Clarke, who played Daenerys Targaryen, has also revealed that she knows about the project, but it’s likely she wouldn’t be involved as Jon killed Dany in the Game of Thrones finale.
What Time is it Set: Some time after the Game of Thrones finale.
Concept: There’s been precious little leaked about what the tone or story of the series would be, but a popular fan theory is that it would check in on the surviving characters of Game of Thrones ten years after the events of the finale — per Tyrion’s (Peter Dinklage) response to whether or not Jon Snow did the right thing:”Ask me again in ten years.” Of course, this is just speculation! Wild internet tin foil hatting!
Status: As of February 2023, Kit Harington was still teasing the possibility of the sequel series while visiting The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. However there have been no confirmations from Martin or HBO that the show is officially still in development at this time. Harington recently booked a role on another HBO show, Industry. So who knows!
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Given the lack of recent updates — Martin didn’t namecheck Snow as still in development, but it could have been one of the unnamed live action shows he referred to in an April blog post — we’re cooling our heels on the hype train for this one. As fascinating as it would be to visit a post-Iron Throne Westeros, a sequel series looks like a bigger gamble for HBO at this point than another prequel series based on Martin’s already published work.
Creator: Rome and Gotham creator Bruno Heller has been attached to the project for a few years.
Actors Involved: None, but there is a chance that Steve Touissant could reprise his role as Corlys Velaryon from House of the Dragon (maybe a la Golda Rosheuvel in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story?)
What Time is it Set: Shortly before the cold open of House of the Dragon.
Concept: Before he was a Westerosi power player, Corlys Velaryon earned his nickname “The Sea Snake” by sailing all the way to the farthest reaches of Planetos (yes, that is the canonical name for the world Game of Thrones is set). During his legendary voyages, he encountered strange civilizations and built the foundation of his financial empire. It would be Sinbad meets the world of House of the Dragon.
Status: George R.R. Martin confirmed as recently as last month that he “[j]ust had a great week on that one, working with writers.” However, the WGA writers strike has obviously halted progress on this show.
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Given the fact that Martin shouted out a recent writing session, it seems to be one of the most promising of the potential spin-offs. Also, it would just be cool to see a character we’ve already met take us to parts of this fantasy world — Asshai, Yi-Ti, etc. — that we’ve not really explored.
Creator: Amanda Segel has been attached to the project since 2021.
Actors Involved: None so far. (This is a photo of Jessica Henwick playing Nymeria Sand in Game of Thrones. Her character, and Arya Stark’s direwolf, was named after the would-be lead of this spin-off.)
What Time is it Set: About 1,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
Concept: Nymeria was a Rhonish queen ruling over the Essos city of Ny Sar during the height of the Valyrian Freehold’s imperial power. When Rhonish leader Prince Garin’s attempts to unite his people against Valryian backfires — namely with the Valyrians sending 300 dragons to massacre Garin’s people — Nymeria embarks on a Dunkirk-esque escape plan assembling 10,000 ships of all shapes and sizes to ferry her people to a new home. It’s Exodus meets the Odyssey and ends with Nymeria and her people settling in Dorne.
Status: Martin confirmed that this spin-off is still in development in the same April post that confirmed Sea Snake is also still kicking.
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Nymeria’s tale of heroism popped up as an emotional Easter egg in House of the Dragon (as the torn sheet of illuminated manuscript paper that represented Rhaenyra and Alicent’s friendship), so the powers that be at HBO think it’s a good idea to stoke interest in this legendary queen’s story. If this makes it to series, it would be a fascinating departure for the franchise, showing the brutal side of Old Valyria and following a cast of non-white heroes and heroines. It would be cool if it happened?
Creator: Jane Goldman
Actors Involved: Naomi Watts, Josh Whitehouse, Georgie Henley, Naomi Ackie, Sheila Atim, Jamie Campbell Bower, Denise Gough, Toby Regbo
What Time is it Set: Thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, in the Age of Legends.
Concept: This series would show audiences the horrifying true origin story of Westeros, depicting the Starks of old, the mysteries of the East, and the beginning of the White Walkers. Rumor had it that Watts was playing a gender-swapped version of Lann the Clever, the con artist who started House Lannister.
Status: DEAD! HBO produced a very expensive pilot episode and then passed on the series. The scuttle is that by setting a show so very far in the past, there was little to connect the audience to familiar family names, places, or concepts.
Level of Hyped You Should Be: Not at all. It’s not happening. That said… there are rumors — rumors — that the pilot confirms fan theories about the origins of dragons, House Stark’s connections to the Children of the Forest, and additional untapped bits of lore. While it’s highly unlikely that folks will ever get to see the pilot as it’s probably in an impenetrable vault like the disastrous Game of Thrones pilot, it would be neat to watch just for nerdy kicks.
Over the years, there have been countless rumored Game of Thrones spin-offs, some live action and some animated, some popping up only once upon a time in trades, and others killed and rebirthed with a new creative team. While there have been rumors that the Warner Bros. Discovery merger has killed several would-be spin-offs, you never know. Here’s just a few that we’ve heard of by name/concept that could still make it to HBO or Max in the future: