Game of Thrones season eight is over and whatever you made of the finale, there’s no denying the cultural impact the HBO juggernaut has had on the cultural zeitgeist for the best part of the last decade.
So what now?
As we wait for George RR Martin to release the highly anticipated Winds of Winter and the Thrones successor series and pray that HBO is giving us that Arya Stark spin-off, here’s a few fantasy series to sate your need for swords, magic and intrigue.
His Dark Materials
BBC and HBO just released the trailer for the upcoming His Dark Materials series and it looks like it’s going to be a worthy reimagining of the beloved Philip Pullman novel.
The series is due to be released later this year with a fantastic cast led by Hamilton’s Lin Manuel Miranda and Ruth Wison.
Newcomer Dafne Keen will take on the lead role of Lyra.
Director Otto Bathurst teased to Metro.co.uk that the upcoming series will be ‘twisted and modernised to make it more accessible’ for audiences.
This is definitely one for fantasy fans to look forward to.
The Witcher
Netflix is throwing its hat in the fantasy ring with its take on acclaimed novel turned video game series, The Witcher.
The hugely popular fantasy novels by Andrzej Sapkowski have legions of fans globally who are eagerly anticipating the small screen adaptation.
Henry Cavill takes on the lead the role as Geralt of Rivia, a solitary monster hunter after fans had been deeply speculating who would play the protagonist for months.
A release date is yet to be confirmed by the streaming giant but it will drop in 2019.
The Last Kingdom
This historical fantasy series came out on BBC Two back in 2015 before Netflix came on board.
Based on Bernard Cornwell’s The Saxon Stories series of novels, a fourth season is currently in production for Netflix and will come out later this year.
The series follows Alexander Dreymon stars as Uhtred of Bebbanburg, a Saxon man, raised by Danes, must choose a side and play his part in the birth of a nation, alongside the man who would become known as King Alfred the Great.
Season one is available to stream now and the rest will likely be added to the site ahead of the season four release.
The Last Kingdom has a 91 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 93 percent audience score.
Knightfall
Another historical drama, Knightfall is due to return to History for its second season this July.
Knightfall follows ‘the most powerful, wealthy and mysterious military order of the Middle Ages, the Knights Templar’.
Tom Cullen of Downton Abbey fame leads the cast which includes Simon Merrells from Spartacus and Padraic Delaney of Tudors fame.
Star Wars’ Mark Hamill also stars in the second season.
Knightfall has a 60 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 67 percent audience score.
Lord of the Rings
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all, and in the darkness bind them, In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie. #LOTRonPrime pic.twitter.com/7TuQh7gRPD
— The Lord of the Rings on Prime (@LOTRonPrime) March 7, 2019
That’s it! Back to Middle Earth!
Amazon Prime’s Take on the Tolkien classic is due for release in 2020.
The series will be set during the 3,441-year period before the events of The Fellowship of the Ring. In the JRR Tolkien timeline, this is known as the Age of Númenor, or the Second Age.
No casting details have been announced yet but if this doesn’t sate your Thrones craving, I don’t know what will.
Black Sails
This Starz historical adventure series has been around for a few years now and concluded last year.
The good news is that there are four seasons to be enjoyed.
Toby Stephens leads the cast in what is described as a prequel to Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel Treasure Island during the so-called Golden Age of Piracy.
Black Sails has an 81 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 90 percent audience score.
Outlander
Another Starz series to fill the Thrones void may well be Outlander which is currently filming its fifth season.
The series is beloved for its dreamy Scottish accents, old-timey sex scenes and insane chemistry between its lead stars Caitriona Balfe and Sam Heughan.
Definitely one for those more into the romantic side of fantasy.
Outlander has a 92 percent rating and audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
A Discovery of Witches
Speaking on insane chemistry, Sky’s foray into the vampire drama genre yielded some successful results last year with Matthew Goode and Teresa Palmer in the starring roles.
Think British twilight – A Discovery of Witches is a tense occult-themed drama set against the backdrop of Oxford University.
The series has a 100 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 83 percent audience score.
The Terror
AMC’s The Terror impressed with its chilling take on an ill-fated Victorian Royal Navy voyage to the Arctic when it came out in 2018.
This historical horror even features some Game of Thrones alumnus in Ciaran Hinds and Tobias Menzies.
The series has taken on anthology format with the second outing due to be released later this yeaar focusing on a Japanese internment camp during World War II.
The Terror has a 95 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes and an 86 percent audience score.
Westworld
The trailer for Westworld season three just dropped this week as HBO’s other sprawling sci-fi fantasy returns to the fore.
Season three is due for release in 2020 and stars Aaron Paul in what looks like a completely different show to the first two runs.
This one is definitely high on our priorities.
Game of Thrones season 8 is streaming on NOW TV.
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