Some ‘Games of Thrones’ Spinoffs Have Been ‘Shelved’ Amid HBO Max Turmoil

The status of HBO’s burgeoning Westeros franchise is even more uncertain after George R.R. Martin’s latest blog post. The author behind A Game of Thrones posted a long update for fans on Wednesday, touching on most if not all of his many current projects. In the process, he revealed that “a couple” of the Game of Thrones spinoff shows “have been shelved.”

HBO has been developing prequels, sequels and spinoffs of Game of Thrones for years, and several of them were dropped before House of the Dragon aired in the fall. Still, the last official update suggested that there were at least four live-action spinoffs in development and at least two animated shows as well. Fans who hoped that the success of House of the Dragon was a tide that could lift all ships may be disappointed. In his progress report to fans, Martin listed the things he is working on, including “several of the successor shows that we’re developing with HBO.”

“Some of these are moving faster than others, as is always the case with development,” he continued. “None have been greenlit yet, though we are hoping… maybe soon. A couple have been shelved, but I would not agree that they are dead. You can take something off the shelf as easily as you can put it on the shelf.”

Of course, Martin did not name which shows have been shelved and which have not. Last we heard, the shows in the works included an adaptation of Martin’s novella series, The Tales of Dunk & Egg, which starts about 90 years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire, as well as the sequel series SNOW pitched by Kit Harington himself. There was also a series called The Sea Snake, which would have been about the early life of the character Corlys Veralyon, played by Steve Toussaint on House of the Dragon.

The last live-action series we know of is 10,000 Ships, a far-flung prequel about the legendary Queen Nymeria. In Martin’s history, she was the last leader of the Rhoynish civilization that was battered by Valyrian dragonlords at the height of their power. She led a mass exodus to Westeros where she settled in Dorne and taught her water magic to the people there. That would be about 1,000 years before the events of the main series.

There were at least two animated series in the works as well, and Martin’s blog post does not specify whether these might have been “shelved” or not. One of the shows would have been set in the distant land of Yi Ti – loosely based on imperial China just as Westeros is loosely based on medieval Europe. There were no details publicly available on the other animated show – or shows, as Martin’s last mention of them on his blog was in the plural.

In Wednesday’s post, Martin acknowledged: “All the changes at HBO Max have impacted us, certainly.” The streamer has taken a lot of criticism in the last few months for slashing projects unceremoniously as part of its restrategizing amid its merger with Discovery Inc. It’s worth noting that the axe has fallen particularly hard on animation projects, but there’s no confirmation that Martin was referring to those.

It’s also worth noting that Martin mentioned his next book The Winds of Winter often throughout his blog post. The 74-year-old author takes a constant barrage of criticism online for his long-awaited book, and he has given some promising hints that he is close to completing it lately. For now, fans can stream Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon Season 1 on HBO Max, and find Martin’s books in print, digital and audiobook formats. House of the Dragon Season 2 begins production this spring and is slated to premiere in 2024. The other shows remain “in development,” and may never air at all.