HBO is continuing to expand its Game of Thrones franchise, looking to Westeros’ past and future, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to fix Season 8. Game of Thrones‘ ending was controversial, to say the least, when it aired in 2019, and six years on, the consensus opinion hasn’t really shifted much. The show remains popular on HBO Max, but it’s still thought of as a go-to answer for TV series that failed to stick the landing.
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As HBO has built George R.R. Martin’s world into a saga with multiple spinoffs, the focus has been on exploring Westeros’ rich, bloody history in House of the Dragon and, coming up, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. There are more prequels in differing stages of development as well, such as an Aegon’s Conquest show, but even more notably, Martin recently confirmed they’re working on Game of Thrones sequels.
This naturally caused quite a stir, including notions that HBO was going to use this as a chance to fix Game of Thrones Season 8’s mistakes. But while there are some compelling ideas for a sequel (and some not-so-compelling ones too), it’s worth slowing down just a bit. Despite Martin’s comments, no sequel has been ordered to series, nor is there any confirmation of what one would be about. At this stage, it’s quite likely just the broadest of story ideas, or as simple as the network wanting to explore what a sequel could even look like and not much beyond that.
Could Game Of Thrones Sequels Actually Fix Season 8?
If a sequel were to happen, and it served as a de facto Game of Thrones Season 9, then it could fix some elements of Season 8. Certainly, if it picked things up in King’s Landing, then it could at least expand much more on Bran Stark becoming king. This would need to not only show what he’s like as a ruler and analyse whether Westeros’ remaining nobility made the right choice (and expand upon the roles of his small council), but also explain more of his powers as the Three-Eyed Raven, as that was sorely lacking in the final season.
Beyond that, venturing beyond the Wall to show more of Jon Snow’s story could be interesting, insofar as examining the trauma he carries after killing Daenerys Targaryen. The most intriguing idea to me about the now-cancelled Snow spinoff show was to dive into his psyche after that event and how it weighs upon him, and whether or not he can ever find peace. That show didn’t happen because they couldn’t crack the story, but if it were just one part of a larger whole, it could work better.
Other parts of the show could slot into place fairly easily, such as Arya Stark exploring what’s West of Westeros, or Sansa Stark as Queen in the North, though neither really requires any “fixing.” And that itself is part of the problem: most of the issues people have with Game of Thrones Season 8 cannot really be fixed. No amount of showing King Bran’s reign is going to make people feel less underwhelmed by that story choice. Daenerys is still going to be dead, her descent into villainy seen as rushed (at best); even if it did resurrect her, would anyone truly want to see that? Jaime Lannister’s fate, and the expedited end of the White Walkers, can’t be undone either.
Really, though, this isn’t even about plot specifics. It’s about reputational damage. Game of Thrones‘ ending has been a pop-culture punching bag for six years. It’s the prime example of a series finale “ruining” a TV show. If they made a proper sequel, a lot of fans wouldn’t even return to view it, because they’ve been burned. And even if they made that sequel and it was actually good, it still wouldn’t move the needle enough in terms of how Season 8 is viewed en masse. I say all of this as someone who liked the last season, but reputationally and culturally, the damage is done, and it’s much better to focus on new things.
Game Of Thrones Sequels Should Distance Themselves From Season 8
If a “sequel” to Game of Thrones does happen, it should be something that’s more distanced from the main show, much like the prequels are. This would take some of the pressure off, because there wouldn’t even be a consideration of needing to “fix” Season 8, and allow it to be more of its own thing. There are a couple of options for how this could work.
The first is with an Arya TV show. Yes, this is still firmly connected to Game of Thrones, but if it were to chart her expedition to find what’s West of Westeros, then it could be something entirely different. It wouldn’t even need to include Westeros itself, nor any other familiar characters (though they could easily be referenced, but it’s not like she’s going to be FaceTiming Jon from her ship).
The whole point of that setup is exploration and discovery: new locations, new characters, new threats. That could be a fascinating expansion that continues on her story in a logical way, but has a clear narrative reason for avoiding Season 8’s more divisive elements.
The other choice is a significant time jump. A sequel could go far enough into the future that the landscape of Westeros has changed completely from where we left things, with familiar characters either much older or even dead by that point. The reign of King Bran could itself be a part of history that we learn of through the show.
Westeros is a rich world, and there are thousands of years of stories from before Game of Thrones‘ timeline that are interesting, so there’s no reason things wouldn’t be interesting decades or even centuries into the future too, with a more original idea. This could still reflect some of a post-Season 8 story, but indirectly, which would be far easier to achieve. Even then, a continuation of any kind would likely cause some consternation, and with plenty of Martin-created prequel stories to focus on and expand, HBO might be better off focused on those (or in other words, give us a Blackfyre Rebellions show, please!).
Game of Thrones is available to stream on HBO Max.
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