After House of the Dragon, George R.R. Martin’s Aegon’s Conquest is the new Game of Thrones spin-off in line, set to be penned by Mattson Tomlin, who is serving as a co-writer on The Batman II. Confirmed earlier this year, Aegon’s Conquest is set to take place before the events of the GOT prequel, House of the Dragon, and will follow Targaryen’s bloody and brutal conquest of Westeros.
Moreover, the renowned scribe has cleared the air surrounding one major issue that has plagued many adaptations over the years, as he promised to pay respect to the creator.
Respecting George R.R. Martin and His Text Is Mattson Tomlin’s Priority
It’s not uncommon for adaptations to stray far away from what the original creator intended, and George R.R. Martin‘s Game of Thrones is no stranger to it, especially the final installment. While House of the Dragon succeeded in reigniting the spark in the franchise, for better or worse, the showrunners did take some creative liberty with the first two seasons.
However, for Aegon’s Conquest, Mattson Tomlin stressed it’s essential for him to ensure that the adaptation pays respect to both George R.R. Martin and his text.
For me, it’s about making sure that I respect George and I respect the text. And then also, it still has to be a dramatic story. Those characters have to go on a journey; they have to change; they have to go from a beginning to a middle to an end.
Keeping in mind that The Batman was the most truthful live-action adaptation of the Caped Crusader, for which Tomlin went uncredited, it’s safe to say the future of GOT is in safe hands.
Mattson Tomlin Is Taking a Historical Approach To Aegon’s Conquest
Unlike the parent show and House of the Dragon, the writer doesn’t have thousands of pages to go off for Aegon’s Conquest. With only a couple hundred pages to go with, Tomlin is heavily focused on those pages of Fire & Blood.
Moreover, the writer has also taken Martin’s advice of treating this as history, stressing it could turn into doing historical figures, like Napoleon or Alexander the Great.
In speaking to George, it became really clear, ‘This is history, treat this like it is what happened. Unlike the original series, I don’t have thousands of pages to go off to adapt. I’ve got a couple hundred that I’m really focused on, and in those pages of Fire & Blood, there are a lot of clues. It kind of turns into doing Napoleon or doing Alexander the Great or doing some great historical figure where we know a lot about the guy.
Considering the novelist has been vocal about his distaste for screenwriters and producers, who attempt to take great stories and make them their own, things are looking bright with Tomlin onboard.
