With the Season 6 kicking off a few weeks ago, all eyes are on HBO’s fantasy drama and all the talk by showrunners of the series 2018 end-date has reignited rumors that a spin-off might be in the works.
Given it’s enormous success it’s almost hard to imagine a world where HBO lets Game of Thrones finish and not attempt to recoup the show’s audience with a prequel of some kind – and that’s a proposal with a lot of possibilities within the world that George R.R. Martin has created.
Dunk & Egg
As the closest thing there is to a prequel to A Song of Ice and Fire, Dunk & Egg is a good place to start when looking at the question of what a form a Game of Thrones prequel could take.
Set about 90 years before the main series, these novellas follows the adventures of a young Ser Duncan the Tall and Aemon Targaryen as they make their way in and out of trouble across the Seven Kingdoms.
A bit lighter in tone, Dunk & Egg is very much The Hobbit to the main series’ Lord of the Rings. Considering the series has already been adapted into a series of graphic novels and Martin has said he plans to write as many as nine stories on the characters, it’s not a stretch to see HBO taking them on in a Thrones prequel.
The First Dance of the Dragons
One of the most politically tumultuous times in Westerosi history, the first ‘Dance of the Dragons’ saw the Targaryens go to war with one another, with disastrous effects on the stability of their house.
It’s the first domino in the chain of events that set the stage for Game of Thrones and a fascinating affair in it’s own right. Like the main series, this period of time is host to its own heroes, villains, triumphs and betrayals and it’d certainly be interesting to see a period of this world where the Targaryens are in their prime.
Martin has written several novellas about this period of time but as far as meeting the standard for political intrigue, incest and violence set by Thrones, this would be a pretty surefire way to do it.
Robert’s Rebellion
The next most-fertile ground for a Game of Thrones prequel to cover is the rise of Robert Baratheon and the fall of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen. While much of the war’s big moments are recounted by its survivors in Game of Thrones, there’s still something to be said for the idea of seeing this conflict firsthand.
Given it’s chronological proximity to the main series, there’s some fun potential for recastings and cameo appearances as well. Robert’s Rebellion makes a lot of sense as far as prequels go.
Aegon The Conqueror
If a prequel is indeed going to explore the greater history of Westeros, the arrival of Aegon the Conqueror is pretty much as far back as they could take things – and the results could be pretty spectacular.
We’d get to encounter the different cultures and locations we know from Game of Thrones but in such a different time that they’d almost be unrecognizable. The challenge here would be in whether or not HBO is up to the challenge of bringing the most ‘epic’ period of Martin’s world to life. Still, it would be exciting to see them try.
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