George RR Martin has let his fans know how much he has enjoyed Blue Eye Samurai and Netflix and delivered another piece of exciting news for the fans of Game of Thrones and The House of the Dragon. HBO and Martin are busy developing three animated shows of themselves, all set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire.
While we know that one of these shows will be 9 Voyages, which was previously being billed as a live-action series, Martin was mum about the nature of the other two animated shows. Given the avenues that animation affords studios, there are more than a few ideas that HBO could go with to create an animated series set in the World of Ice and Fire.
Robert’s Rebellion might sound tempting, but it is not the way to go for the shows
While HBO might be tempted to essay a show on Robert’s Rebellion, it might be counterproductive to the medium of animation. One of the many reasons by 9 Voyages is being developed as an animated series is because of the vast budget that would be required to portray the scenes in the show in live-action. While a show on Robert’s Rebellion would let us visit beloved characters and see them have a happy ending (albeit temporarily), the animated medium could help the studio tell more diverse stories with daring settings.
While the House of the Dragon is adapting the infamous Dance of the Dragons, its budget limits the among of dragons that can be seen on screen. Seeing the success of shows like The Dragon Prince and films like How to Train Your Dragon, a show set during the golden age of Valyria would be a fun exploration of a culture that we do not see much of. Not only will this allow for more diverse designs for dragons to be on display, but the show will also speak to the bedrock upon which the politics of Game of Thrones was created.
Valyria is a wealth of content that HBO (and Martin) cannot overlook
Valyria, loosely based on the Roman Empire, just as the conflict of A Song of Ice and Fire takes inspiration from The War of the Roses, has a wealth of history planned out, that could serve as material for a truly riveting animated drama, with plenty of magic, dragons and characters for the audiences to fall in love with. The story could be about the rise of Valyria, from a humble shepherding community that discovers dragons to the doom of Valyria, which caused Aegon to migrate to Westeros and subsequently conquer and establish the 7 kingdoms.
Valyria is described to be more than about dragonlords and Dragonriders, employing blood magic and twisting the flesh of beasts and men alike into horrible monstrosities. This could serve as interesting concepts to explore in the animate medium, making the show more akin to the likes of a shounen anime, where powerful clans vie for power and glory by the might of the beasts they tame and the magic they expel into the world.
