'Game of Thrones': Jon Snow Show and Other Spinoffs Get Disappointing Update

Game of Thrones fans may not be getting any more spinoffs anytime soon, according to HBO executive Casey Bloys. At a press event last week, Bloys gave some encouraging news on House of the Dragon Season 2, but was notably reserved when it comes to other entries in the franchise. He said that other shows besides House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are not even close to series orders.

Spinoffs were in the works long before Game of Thrones was finished, and while two have now been ordered, at least two others have been canceled before even making it to air. According to a report by Awards Radar, Bloys said: "After the first show, we developed a ton of scripts, and House of the Dragon came up being the one that we felt most excited by. That's kind of how we approach everything. Bloys has previously said that he is not interested in building out a Game of Thrones franchise or "universe" for its own sake, and he reiterated that last week, saying: "I don't have a plan where I go, 'okay, I need three Game of Thrones on the schedule by this time. I've always said, we're going to do the shows that we think are good."

Bloys went on: "The only other we announced Dunk and Egg, which we will start shooting, again, pending the SAG strike resolution. I would say, Spring of '24. We always have Game of Thrones scripts in development, but I wouldn't say there's anything else close to greenlight or anything."

On one hand, it's encouraging to hear that Bloys is always open to more pitches in Westeros, but on the other, It's discouraging to hear that none of the other shows we know of are close to a legitimate order. At last count there were six spinoffs in the development phase, though some of them were reported years ago. Additionally, author George R.R. Martin wrote on his blog that some of those shows have been "shelved," though it's not clear which ones.

The show that has generated the most interest with general audiences is SNOW, a direct sequel that would star Kit Harington reprising his role as Jon Snow after the end of Game of Thrones. Harington pitched the show to HBO himself, and many fans thought it had a good shot of going into production when Harington made a public appearance at a fan convention earlier this year. If the show hasn't been "shelved," however, it sounds like it has a long way to go.

Perhaps the next-most interesting show for fans of House of the Dragon is The Sea Snake – a series about a younger version of Corlys Velaryon (played by Steven Toussaint on House of the Dragon). In Martin's fictional history book Fire & Blood, he describes Corlys' various long sailing voyages all over the world, including the far-off, mystical city of Asshai. This series had writer Bruno Heller at the helm and a team of writers when last we heard, but there have been no updates in a while.

There's also 10,000 Ships – a series about the Rhoynish exodus which took place roughly 1,000 years before Game of Thrones. The Rhoynish people fled their homeland to escape the Valyrian dragonlords and, after a few failed attempts to settle new lands, ended up in Dorne on the souther coast of Westeros. This show also has a showrunner – Amanda Segel – and it has the potential to explore a lot of mysterious elements in Martin's worldbuilding.

The last live-action series we've heard about was reported by Variety back in April – a project that would depict Aegon's Conquest of Westeros when House Targaryen first unified the Seven Kingdoms. Insiders said that this might be a series of feature-length movies rather than an ongoing series. Other than that, we know of two possible animated shows – one which would explore the far-flung nation of Yi Ti and one with no designated subject matter.

Sadly, it sounds like all of these projects are up in the air, especially as Hollywood scrambles to recover from two record-long strikes. For now, fans can look forward to House of the Dragon Season 2 in early summer of 2024.