The Game of Thrones franchise got a pretty major update on Tuesday, when it was announced that a new prequel, House of the Dragon, would be getting a straight-to-series order on HBO. The series is set to draw inspiration from George R.R. Martin‘s novella Fire & Blood, and follow the rise of the Targaryen family. While Martin obviously has a close tie to the source material, he apparently won’t be as heavily-involved with certain aspects of the adaptation — at least, for the time being. In a post to his blog, Martin outlined what role he hopes to have on House of the Dragon — after he finishes writing the highly-anticipated next book in the franchise, The Winds of Winter.
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“I expect to be involved in [the production of House of the Dragon] to some extent… and, who knows, if things work out, I may even be able to script a few episodes, as I did for the first four seasons of Game Of Thrones,” Martin writes. “But… let me make this perfectly clear… I am not taking on any scripts until I have finished and delivered Winds Of Winter. Winter is still coming, and Winds remains my priority, as much as I’d love to write an [episode] of House.”
Considering the fact that The Winds of Winter has been in various stages of development since 2010, it’s understandable why Martin would be hunkering down to get it finished. The long-awaited sixth book has become a bit of an enigma for fans, as Martin has been apprehensive to confirm exactly when it would be released. At a certain point, Martin argued that the last few seasons of Thrones would spoil the to-be-published source material.
“When you ask me, “will the show spoil the books,” all I can do is say, “yes and no,” and mumble once again about the butterfly effect,” Martin said in 2016. “Those pretty little butterflies have grown into mighty dragons. Some of the ‘spoilers’ you may encounter in season six may not be spoilers at all… because the show and the books have diverged, and will continue to do so,” Martin wrote. He specifically mentioned more than ten characters that are dead on the show but still alive in the books, and a few vice versa, plus characters from the books that have never appeared on the show. Still, spoilers are coming.
“Look, I never thought the series could possibly catch up with the books, but it has. The show moved faster than I anticipated and I moved more slowly,” Martin said, taking the blame as much as he could in the post. “Given where we are, inevitably, there will be certain plot twists and reveals in season six of GAME OF THRONES that have not yet happened in the books. For years my readers have been ahead of the viewers. This year, for some things, the reverse will be true.”
What do you think of George R.R. Martin’s approach to The Winds of Winter and House of the Dragon? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
