HBO is nearing a pilot order for a second Game of Thrones prequel series. The second prequel is rumoured to cover the history of the Targaryens.
This means viewers will get to witness the legendary Dance of Dragons, the infamous civil war mentioned in the Game of Thrones.
Author of the books George R.R. Martin is particularly attracted to the project and is on board as the executive producer. Earlier this year, he published Fire and Blood, a history of House Targaryen spanning roughly 150 years. The events in the book will be covered in the prequel and is serving as the basis for the show.
For the uninitiated, the Dance of Dragons was a massive civil war in the Seven Kingdoms between two rival branches of House Targaryen. It took place roughly 200 years before the events in Game of Thrones.
A short summary was provided by Shireen Baratheon in GOT season 5. She read a book about the civil war and described the following to her father Stannis:
“It’s the story of the fight between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon for control over the Seven Kingdoms.”
“Both of them thought they belonged on the Iron Throne. When people started declaring for one of them or the other, their fight divided the kingdoms in two.”
“Brothers fought brothers, dragons fought dragons. By the time it was over, thousands were dead. And it was a disaster for the Targaryens as well. They never truly recovered.”
According to The Hollywood Reporter, HBO has announced four prequel series that are in the works and recently added a fifth. However, of the three active scripts, only one is in the pilot stage.
That drama is written by Jane Goldman and Martin and star actors such as Naomi Watts and Miranda Richardson (Rita Skeeter from the Harry Potter films). It takes place a thousand years before Game of Thrones and chronicles the end of the Age of Heroes, a time when legendary figures such as Bran the Builder and Lann the Clever lived in Westeros.
