George R.R. Martin has provided a detailed blog post (via IGN) giving a short update on writing The Winds of Winter but mostly discussing the plethora of upcoming Game of Thrones TV spin-off shows. The author not only gave some updates on the spin-off shows but confirmed all their titles and showrunners as well, finally revealing what the future of Game of Thrones on television may look like. Of course, he also offered the caveat that these are not all the shows they’re working on and that many of the things they’re working on won’t ever get into production, as we’ve already learned.
First of all, for his brief update on writing The Winds of Winter, George Martin said: “Yes, of course I am still working on The Winds of Winter. I have stated that a hundred times in a hundred venues, having to restate it endlessly is just wearisome. I made a lot of progress on Winds in 2020, and less in 2021… but ‘less’ is not ‘none.'” It’s something.
Meanwhile, the large list of Game of Thrones spin-off TV shows Martin detailed are as follows, and they are all prequels to the main series:
- House of the Dragon (showrunners Miguel Sapochnik, Ryan Condal)
- The Sea Snake (showrunner Bruno Heller)
- 10,000 Ships (showrunner Amanda Segel)
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms / The Hedge Knight (no official title yet, showrunner Steve Conrad)
- The Golden Empire (working title, showrunner not named)
Martin said that some of the shows they’re working on are live-action and others are animated, but he is heavily involved with all of them. We obviously know the most about House of the Dragon, which is debuting on HBO Max sometime this year and Martin says looks fantastic. The Sea Snake may sound new, but it is actually 9 Voyages renamed. That series focuses on Lord Corlys Velaryon, the Sea Snake, the Lord of the Tides, and head of House Velaryon and takes place at the same time as House of the Dragon. The name change comes because they didn’t want two shows with numbers in the title because… people are easily confused by numbers maybe?
That other show is 10,000 Ships, a series that takes 1,000 years before Game of Thrones and follows Princess Nymeria. Amanda Segel acting as the showrunner is news here, and she will also be writing the series. Things are in a pretty early place with the series as Segel has only delivered a couple of drafts. The final live-action series Martin talked about is the Tales of Dunk and Egg series, which adapts his books about Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and Aegon V Targaryen (Egg). The first season is now confirmed to adapt the first novella they appeared in, The Hedge Knight.
Finally, The Golden Empire is something we’ve heard very little about. The show is an animated series that will take place in Yi Ti and is coming from a “great young writer.”
George R.R. Martin also said in his update he is working on more books beyond The Winds of Winter, such as the second volume of Fire & Blood, which he might genuinely name Blood & Fire. Other series are also in the works, though he didn’t mention anything, including the show that’s supposed to take place in Flea Bottom, a crime-ridden slum in King’s Landing.
That is a lot of spin-off content coming out for Game of Thrones, but the real question is if anyone cares anymore. Yes, the first series was a massive success, but its ending soured people on it in a big way and it’s been years since it was on TV. Is the fanbase still here to support this many shows?
