New ‘Game of Thrones’ Targaryen Prequel Closes In On Pilot Order

Great mother of all good things, more dragons might be coming to us very soon. According to Deadline, Drogon might not be the last fans have seen of Game of Thrones’ dragons as HBO nears giving a pilot order for a Targaryen prequel from GoT author and co-executive producer George R. R. Martin and Colony co-creator Ryan Condal. The sequel is reportedly based on Martin’s Fire and Blood novel and is set 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. 

The novel starts off with Aegon the Conqueror’s quest for Westeros after House Targaryen survives the Doom of Valyria and takes up residence in Dragonstone. Then, it goes on to tell the stories of the generations of Targaryens who fought and ruled on the Iron Throne. The civil war which almost tore their dynasty completely apart will reportedly be a huge part of the spin-off.

To clarify, Martin and Condal’s spin off isn’t a sixth GoT prequel. It is reportedly a new take on the original idea presented by Bryan Cogman which didn’t go forward.

Welcoming a New Era of Game of Thrones

Earlier in May, Martin already teased about the progress of the five GoT prequels.  “We have had five different Game of Thrones successor shows in development at HBO, and three of them are still moving forward nicely,” he wrote on his blog.

One of those three is the yet-untitled prequel starring Naomi Watts chronicling what Martin has called “the Long Night.” That series will reportedly cover the world’s darkest hour after the Age of Heroes and plunge into the origins of the White Walkers, the legends of the early Starks, and the mysteries of Essos. A pilot was shot in the summer and is now in post-production, awaiting whether it’ll get picked up or not.

In an interview with Deadline earlier in April, chairman of WarnerMedia Entertainment and direct-to-consumer Bob Greenblatt shared his insights about the future of these spin offs. “It’s a double-edged sword,” he said. “We’re having conversations about how do we smartly continue the Game of Thrones universe, but we have to be really thoughtful about not killing the golden goose and not putting on shows that aren’t up to that quality level, and how many is too many.”

HBO president of programming Casey Bloys was also on the same team. “I think Game of Thrones is a fantastic property but I don’t want to just be the home of prequels and sequels and all that stuff,” Bloys said in the same interview. “I think you want to be really careful about how you do it.”