Last week, James Hibberd of The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that HBO was developing a Game of Thrones sequel show that would follow Jon Snow after the events of the series finale, when he was exiled to the Night’s Watch as part of a political compromise following his murder of Daenerys Targaryen. Kit Harington, who played Jon Snow for all eight seasons of the original show, was attached.
That was pretty wild news, and sent the Thrones-o-sphere into a flurry of discussion. Some people even wondered if the leak was real — and this was a leak, not an official announcement — but after Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) weighed in, there was little doubt: a Jon Snow show is in development.
Naturally, A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has been deluged with questions since the news broke. He’s now written a blog post on the topic where he confirms some things we already knew and adds a few new details.
George R.R. Martin reveals the working title for the Jon Snow show
Let’s start with the basics. What is this new series called? While the title may be different when and if the show makes it to air, Martin revealed that the working title is “SNOW.” Makes sense.
Martin also revealed that Snow has been in the works for a while, “almost as long” as other live-action Game of Thrones prequel series like Ten Thousand Ships, Sea Snake and Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. They did a good job of keeping it under wraps, but as Martin acknowledges, it’s hard to prevent leaks when so many people are involved in developing these shows.
Another important point Martin makes: just because a show is in development doesn’t mean it’s going to make it to air; HBO has already put the kibosh on proposed Game of Thrones spinoff shows like Blood Moon and Flea Bottom. Right now, the only Game of Thrones spinoff series we know we’re getting is House of the Dragon, which premieres in August. As for Snow and the other three I just mentioned, I’ll let Martin take it: “The likelihood of all four series getting on the air… well, I’d love it, but that’s not the way it works, usually.”
George R.R. Martin is “involved” with the Jon Snow show
George R.R. Martin has been involved with pretty much every Game of Thrones spinoff idea that has materialized so far, so it’s no surprise that he also had some input on Snow. “I am involved, just as I am with THE HEDGE KNIGHT and THE SEA SNAKE and TEN THOUSAND SHIPS, and all the animated shows,” Martin wrote. “Kit’s team have visited me here in Santa Fe and worked with me and my own team of brilliant, talented writer/ consultants to hammer out the show.”
Just to set your mind at ease in case you think this is drawing Martin away from writing The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in his novel series, he’s not the showrunner on any of these shows. Unless we hear otherwise, it doesn’t sound like he’s writing scripts, either. They’re asking him for advice and he’s giving it.
He did mention The Winds of Winter briefly, by the way. “No, have not forgotten. I was back with Tyrion this past week.” Cool.
Kit Harington approached HBO with the idea for the Jon Snow show
Let’s circle back to the bit where Martin said he’d visited with “Kit’s team.” Martin confirmed something that Clarke also hinted at: it sounds like Kit Harington and his people are the main creative force behind this project. As Martin wrote:
Yes, it was Kit Harrington who brought the idea to us. I cannot tell you the names of the writers/ showrunners, since that has not been cleared for release yet… but Kit brought them in too, his own team, and they are terrific.
So not only did Harington volunteer to play Jon Snow again, he found his own writers and showrunners to work him on it. I guess he misses Westeros!
But seriously, it is cool to hear that the idea for the show came from Harington. I wonder what he and his team have come up with.
Unfortunately, we probably won’t know for a while, if ever; I want to assert again that there’s no guarantee that this or any Game of Thrones spinoff other than House of the Dragon will actually make it to air, but it sure is exciting to talk about.
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