‘Game of Thrones’ Movie and New Show in the Works

HBO is “actively discussing” yet another Game of Thrones spinoff, according to a report by Variety. Sources at HBO told reporters that this new series would be a prequel set well before House of the Dragon, at the time when House Targaryen first conquered Westeros. In author George R.R. Martin’s imaginary history books, this war is referred to as “Aegon’s Conquest.”

Insiders said that the idea for a screen adaptation of Aegon’s Conquest is in its early stages, and that right now the search is on for writers and producers to develop the story. Aegon’s Conquest has been told in its entirety in Martin’s book Fire & Blood, much like the story for House of the Dragon, so the adaptation would have complete source material. Perhaps the most interesting part of this rumor is that the adaptation may not be a TV series alone – sources said that it could begin with a feature-length film which would then lead into an ongoing series.

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So far, HBO has declined to make an official comment on this reported project, but it’s not a huge surprise. Aegon’s Conquest has been frequently discussed by fans and even professionals as a possible spinoff. House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal even mentioned last year that he’d like to tell the story on his show. He proposed that once the story of the “Dance of the Dragons” is complete, House of the Dragon could jump backward in the timeline to explore other events.

If this adaptation of Aegon’s Conquest goes forward, Condal won’t have that chance. This story is set about 130 years before the events of House of the Dragon and about 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It starts about 100 years after the “Doom of Valyria” – a magical cataclysm that wiped out the Valyrian Freehold, killing all the dragonriders except for House Targaryen, who had settled on the island of Dragonstone off the coast of Westeros. According to House of the Dragon, Aegon I Targaryen decided to conquer Westeros after he had a prescient dream about the White Walkers, believing that the Seven Kingdoms needed to be united against this threat.

The conquest would likely focus on Aegon and his two sister wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, all three of whom rode massive dragons bred for war. It would likely also focus on Orys Baratheon, their bastard half-brother who would go on to found House Baratheon. For the first time, fans would see the Seven Kingdoms when there truly were seven kingdoms, and would meet analogous characters like King Torrhen Stark, King Argilac Durrandon, King Harren Hoare, King Mern IX Gardener, and so on.

This series would be the fifth live-action Game of Thrones spinoff in the works as far as we know. At last count there was also a sequel series about Jon Snow in development, an adaptation of Martin’s novellasThe Tales of Dunk & Egg, a series about the younger years of Corlys Velaryon called The Sea Snake and a series about the Rhoynish migration to Westeros called 10,000 Ships. There were also two animated series in the works, one of which was about the far-flung civilization known as Yi Ti. However, December Martin wrote on his blog that some of those projects had been “shelved,” and it’s not clear which ones.

Fans have a lot to look forward to in Westeros right now, but only one thing with a reliable date on the calendar. House of the Dragon Season 2 is expected to air in the fall of 2024 on HBO and HBO Max. In the meantime, future books and adaptations are awaiting more updates.