6 Awesome Stories That Might Be In The Game of Thrones Prequels

Now that there’s only one more season of the Game of Thrones to look forward to, it’s time to take a look at what lies beyond for the beloved series. Seeing as Jane Goldman, the writer for one of the prospective Thrones prequels, said that her series’ material and setting would be “recognizable” to fans of the book and show, it’s possible to speculate on what kind of story HBO will give the world once the inevitable Thrones withdrawal hits the masses. Here are some options:

Aegon’s Conquest

The obvious choice for a pre-GoT story is Aegon’s Conquest. It’s one of the most referenced historical events in the series aside from Robert’s Rebellion (which will not get its own prequel), and could introduce us to the forefathers of almost every main character on Game of Thrones. The conquest would tell the story of Aegon Targaryen and his two sister-wives, who united the seven kingdoms in a dragon-fueled campaign 300 years before the events of Game of Thrones. There’s potential for sexy intrigue, aerial battles, sneaky diplomacy, and so, so many silver-blonde wigs.

Why it might not work: The three main players of Aegon’s Conquest (Aegon and his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys) were all in an incestuous, polyamorous marriage, which may be a step too far for some people to root for. There’s also the problem of the three dragons, who play a huge role in the conquest and would cost a lot to put in nearly every episode of the series.

The Valyrian Freehold

One way to switch up the prequel expectations would be to set the new Game of Thrones stories in a land other than Westeros. The Valyrian Freehold was like the Roman Empire of its world, except that most of the nobles bred and rode dragons. Setting the series in Valyria would make sure we have Targaryen characters, as the Targaryens came from the Freehold, and we might even get to see the story of why they left Valyria for Westeros; in the end, Valyria was destroyed in a mysterious, Pompeii-esque volcanic event, and the Targaryens were the only dragonriders who escaped.

It’s also possible that a Rome-style series about Valyria would give us a plot about the founding of Braavos, the city where Arya goes to learn the art of the Faceless Men. Braavos was founded by slaves who fled Valyria, and the order of the Faceless Men was born from slaves who toiled in the mines underneath the Freehold and killed each other to spare their compatriots a lifetime of slavery.

Why it might not work: People seem very attached to Westeros, and setting an entire series away from Winterfell, Blackwater Bay, and other familiar places might not grab audiences looking for something more familiar. Also, same as with Aegon’s Conquest, a Valyria series would require absolute butt-tons of expensive dragon CGI.

TriStar Pictures

The Long Night

Another option for a recognizable prequel would be The Long Night, which would detail what happened the last time the White Walkers attacked Westeros. This option isn’t as likely for a prequel, seeing as Game of Thrones season 8 will heavily feature an Other invasion and going back to a similar event seems kind of boring. Still, a series about The Long Night would give us a good look at some early Stark family members like Bran the Builder, and answer some questions about how the wildlings got trapped north of the Wall and what exactly the Westerosi did to beat them the first time.

Why it might not work: Again, it would be really boring and the whole series would take place during winter, which means an entire television series of dull blue light and snow. Also, there would be no Targaryens.

HBO

The Dance of the Dragons

This badass event in the history of the Targaryens hasn’t been mentioned much on the show, but it’s got everything audiences expect from Game of Thrones plus tons of cool new players. The Dance of the Dragons tells the story of the first time Westeros had a queen instead of a king, and how the realm rebelled to crown a man over her. Some awesome characters we could expect are the beautiful Queen Rhaenyra, her devious, bad-boy uncle Daemon (who, yes, she married), and her scheming half-brother Aegon who tried to steal her throne.

Why it might not work: It’s not a very well known story, and there aren’t a lot of big names like Stark or Lannister. Not many people care about the Hightowers, Mootons, and Coles. Then again, people didn’t expect to care about the Starks or the Lannisters at first either!

HBO

Maegor the Cruel

The reign of Maegor the Cruel sticks out as a potential storyline because it’s similar to one of television’s other favorite royal families — the Tudors. King Maegor Targaryen was like Henry VIII on steroids. He had six wives, like Henry, and he killed at least two of them, also like Henry. Much of his reign was dedicated to destroying the Faith Militant, the original version of the religious movement Cersei blew up when she killed the High Sparrow and his forehead-carving zealots. He also built the Red Keep and was maaaybe a zombie brought back to life with ancient magic.

Why it might not work: If you’re going to do Maegor, you was as well do Aegon’s Conquest, seeing as Maegor was the son of Aegon the Conqueror and his sister Visenya.

Showtime

The Blackfyre Rebellion

This is another one of the famous Targaryen family drama stories, and begins with the reign of an awful king also named Aegon. Basically this idiot legitimized all of his many, many bastards on his deathbed and launched a massive war between his trueborn son Dareon Targaryen and his bastard son Daemon Blackfrye. Major players include Bloodraven, a bastard Targaryen master spy who in the books goes on to become the Three-Eyed Raven (yes, that old guy in the tree is a Targaryen bastard prince), and Aegor Rivers, another bastard who went on to found the Golden Company in Essos…which might be important for Game of Thrones season 8.

Why it might not work: Eh, as far as Targaryen stories go it’s one of the more convoluted histories, with dozens of characters that all have similar names. It also brushes up against the stories in George RR Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, which he has explicitly said will not be in any of the prequels.

HBO

Any of these would make a fairly interesting prequel, but it’s unlikely that GRRM will give us any details on what she show will be about until Game of Thrones is over. As usual, Game of Thrones fans are going to have to be patient (ugh) and wait (ugh) for more info. For now, speculating is more than half the fun!

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