Last night, Game of Thrones premiered its final episode. The following discussion contains MAJOR spoilers. You've been warned.
Sunday, May 19, marked the end of an era. After eight years, Game of Thrones came to a close. Whether or not you were happy with the conclusion of the epic saga, the show's impact is undeniable, becoming a pop culture juggernaut and arguably the most popular show ever made.
Last night's episode saw some theories come to fruition—Bran, as some predicted, was voted in as the new King of the Six Kingdoms, (Winterfell excluded thanks to Sansa), and became Bran the Broken, the first Stark to rule outside of the North.
Jon killed Daenerys and rode north of The Wall with the Wildlings, Tyrion became Hand of the King, and Arya set out for lands unknown. The series finale also saw the absolute destruction of the Iron Throne thanks to the fire-breathing Drogon, symbolically ending a show that's meant so much to so many people.
But in the famous words of House Greyjoy, "What is dead may never die," and so is the case with Game of Thrones. So if you're still suffering a hangover from your now GoT-less existence, take heart—there's more on the way.
The Last Watch Is Coming
There's new Game of Thrones next Sunday....but it's a behind-the-scenes special. One of our favorite things about Season 8 was HBO's deep dive into how these epic episodes were made. Luckily, there's a whole documentary that explores everything that went into creating Game of Thrones.
Sunday May 26 at 9 p.m., HBO will air The Last Watch, a two-hour documentary that will be a "farewell to Westeros with the people who built the realm."
GoT Prequels Are Coming
In January 2018, it was announced that several spin-offs were in the works within the Thrones universe and now, George R.R. Martin has shared that a few have moved forward to the production stage.
Earlier this month, Martin's official blog mentions "five different Game of Thrones successor shows at HBO" and shares that while two of the five "remain in the script stage," the remaining three "are still moving forward nicely."
Viewers shouldn't expect to see any familiar faces in the castings for the upcoming project as it is set to take place 10,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones.
"The series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know," according to a statement from HBO.
For the uninitiated, the Age of Heroes is a period in the Thrones universe when a pact was signed by the First Men (humans) and the Children of the Forest (non-humans) after centuries of war. When the Andals (a separate set of humans) invaded Westeros and fought the First Men and the Children of the Forest, the Age of Heroes came to an end.
The Andals brought their religion—the Faith of the Seven—with them and eventually settled into south Westeros. They were responsible for the near total decimation of the Giants and the Children of the Forest. The remaining populations of these non-human factions took to the wilderness north of The Wall and called that home.
The prequel, which Martin says he "is not supposed to call The Long Night," will begin shooting in late 2019 and has casted Naomi Watts as the lead for this project who will play "a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret."
The prequel will be produced by Jane Goldman and Martin, author of the A Song of Ice and Fire (ASOIAF) novels, which he is still writing. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the executive producers for Thrones, are not attached to the prequel. Nothing is known about the other forthcoming series.
More Books Are Coming
The work on the ASOIAF novels continues; Martin has been working on The Winds of Winter for nearly eight years and recently shared that he will only announce a release date when he's close to being done with the book. The Winds of Winter would be the sixth and reportedly penultimate book in the ASOIAF series.
In a blog post on May 20th, 2019, Martin gave a small update to the progress he's making on the final two books in the series, saying:
And I'm writing. Winter is coming, I told you, long ago...and so it is. 'The Winds of Winter' is very late, I know, I know but it will be done. I won't say when, I've tried that before, only to burn you all and jinx myself...but I will finish it, and then will come 'A Dream of Spring.' How will it all end? I hear people asking. The same ending as the show? Different? Well...yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes. And no. And yes.
Martin continued:
There are characters who never made it onto the screen at all, and others who died in the show but still live in the books… so if nothing else, the readers will learn what happened to Jeyne Poole, Lady Stoneheart, Penny and her pig, Skahaz Shavepate, Arianne Martell, Darkstar, Victarion Greyjoy, Ser Garlan the Gallant, Aegon VI, and a myriad of other characters both great and small that viewers of the show never had the chance to meet. And yes, there will be unicorns… of a sort…
If you need something to tide you over until Winds of Winter is ready, we've got some recommendations to sate your Thrones appetite.
The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros
Fire & Blood: 300 Years Before A Game of Thrones
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Star Wars Is Coming
Now that Thrones is wrapped up, show runners Weiss and Benioff will begin work on a Star Wars movie set for a 2022 release. Last week, Disney CEO Bob Iger confirmed that the creative duo would be making their way to the Star Wars franchise.
"We did a deal with David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, who are famous for Game of Thrones, and the next movie that we release will be theirs," Iger said (after the release of the forthcoming The Rise of Skywalker.
It's uncertain when these new films will take place in Star Wars continuity though some suggest it'll take place well before the original saga, during the time of the Old Republic. This would be a period in Star Wars canon well-suited for for Benioff and Weiss' ability to weave together a story from large set pieces and lots and lots of characters.
More Fantasy Television Is Coming
Need more? Check out the exciting adaptations outside of the Thrones universe that are currently in the works.
- Amazon is creating a Lord of the Rings prequel tv series set to take place in The Second Age (the end of which saw the fall of Sauron). With only a map as a teaser, the show is rumored to be the most expensive television show ever made and will take place during the Second Age (a prequel to the original series).
- Sony will be producing Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time novels as a television series.
- Terry Pratchett's Discworld series will be getting an 8-episode treatment called The Watch, described as a "fantasy police procedural." The story is about the Ankh-Mopork City Watch and will premiere on BBC America, according to Deadline.
- Lin Manuel Miranda has signed on for The Kingkiller Chronicle, a heroic fantasy novel which Miranda will act as an executive producer as it gets adapted for television.
Can't wait for more fantasy television? Well, there are always the books:
The Wheel of Time
