George R.R. Martin Gives New Info on Game of Thrones Prequel

Last we heard about the unnamed Game of Thrones prequel is that they have quietly started filming in Northern Ireland. It’s to shoot a pilot during the summer to hopefully get a series order. The prequel’s showrunner is Jane Goldman.

What we already know

1. The show will take place about 5,000 years before the events in Game of Thrones.
2. There are no King’s Landing, Iron Throne or Targaryens (possibly no dragons either).
3. There’s a whole new ensemble cast: Naomi Watts, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Miranda Richardson, Josh Whitehouse, Jamie Campbell Bower, Alex Sharp, Ivanno Jeremiah, Sheila Atim and Toby Regbo.
4. The show might be named The Long Night.
5. If the pilot is greenlit for a full series, it may air in late 2020 or spring of 2021 (as history shows with HBO premiering GoT seasons around this time).

The new info

Recently, author and executive George R.R. Martin gave EW more information about the prequel to ease some of the fans’ concerns.

1. “I heard a suggestion that it could be called The Longest Night, which is a variant that I wouldn’t mind.”

Initially, Martin suggested to name the show “The Long Night”. But GoT Episode 3 of Season 8 has the same title name which makes things a little complicated production-wise. Though Martin prefers keeping it as “The Long Night”, he’s not totally opposed to “The Longest Night”.

Though according to WinterIsComing.net, the series might be named “Bloodmoon”. But since neither Martin nor HBO has confirmed this, let’s wait for the official word.

2. “There are 9 kingdoms, and 12 kingdoms and eventually, you get back to where there are a hundred kingdoms — petty kingdoms — and that’s the era we’re talking about here.”

Martin says that during Aegon’s Conquest, there were 7 Kingdoms of Westeros and they all had a certain degree of order at first. But during the time period that the prequel is set in, Westeros is far more fractured into 100 kingdoms, which sounds more chaotic and dangerous than the Westeros in GoT.

3. “We don’t have leads so much as a large ensemble cast.”

Just like GoT, Martin feels that the prequel is more of an ensemble story. Yet, HBO seems to have suggested that the show has a trio of female leads in Naomi Watts, Naomi Ackie and Denise Gough. So far though, we still don’t know who plays what character.

4. “The Starks will definitely be there.”

Martin confirms that the Starks and the direwolves are around during the time period of the prequel. Even though dragons won’t make an appearance, there are other creatures like direwolves and mammoths. Ooh, we might get to see mammoths in the series when the Children of the Forest fight alongside the First Men as allies against the White Walkers.

5. “The Lannisters aren’t there yet.”

Martin explains that the prequel may not see any Lannisters because the Lannister Family hasn’t risen yet. But he assures that Casterly Rock will be there and that the Casterlys themselves are residing at the future Lannister stronghold. It’s also good to note that The Casterlys were swindled from there by Lann the Clever, the founder of House Lannister. Maybe we’ll get to see in the series.

Thanks for the deets, Martin. The new prequel hasn’t even been confirmed yet but with all this juicy info, I really hope they get greenlit so we can recover from this GoT withdrawal, stat!