Author George R.R. Martin created the global phenomenon Game of Thrones when he wrote the fantasy novel series A Song of Ice and Fire. Set in a medieval fantasy realm where Seven Kingdoms fight to be the ruler of the lands, the novel series spawned the popular HBO show which won multiple Emmys and was one of the most-watched series.
After the show ended with season 8, which was largely considered to be disappointing, HBO commissioned multiple prequels, of which only House of the Dragon has seen the light of day. However, among the multiple prequels in development is Aegon’s Conquest, which sees the origins of the Seven Kingdoms. Writer Mattson Tomlin mentioned that Martin instructed him to avoid one mistake from Game of Thrones creators.
Game of Thrones Prequel Aegon’s Conquest Is In Early Stages Of Development
George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones became a global phenomenon upon its release as its complicated politics and memorable characters attracted a worldwide fanbase. The fantasy series was known for its unpredictable character deaths, memorable battle sequences, and its power-play political themes.
After the show ended in 2019 with season 8, HBO immediately began developing multiple spinoff shows set in the same universe. Among the potential projects were 10,000 Ships based on Princess Nymeria’s voyage that led to the finding of Dorne, a sequel series on Jon Snow with Kit Harrington, and what became House of the Dragon (via Deadline).
While many of the spinoffs did not get made, another prequel show is reportedly in the early stages of development. Based on Aegon Targaryen’s quest to unite the Seven Kingdoms under Westeros, the show Aegon’s Conquest is reportedly being developed by Mattson Tomlin, who is known for writing The Batman and is developing Terminator Zero.
The series, not officially greenlit, is reportedly based on George R.R. Martin’s book Fire & Blood, which chronicles the Targaryen dynasty. Tomlin mentioned to EW,
“That one is very early days where I’m currently writing the script, currently doing a lot of great back and forth with George.”
House of the Dragon co-creator Ryan Condal is also reportedly involved in Aegon’s Conquest, however, he mentioned that it was at a very early stage.
George R.R. Martin Advised Mattson Tomlin To Avoid One Mistake That Ruined Game of Thrones
When the final two seasons of Game of Thrones were in development, author George R.R. Martin had yet to finish his novel series. The author had revealed that two more books were in development to wrap up the franchise named The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. Hence, the show’s creators had to go off-book and develop their own storylines.
The last season of the show was extremely controversial due to the key changes made to the character of Daenerys Targaryen. The series finale is often considered to be a disappointment and is still criticized. Martin was reportedly not consulted in the final seasons (via NY Times).
To avoid this blunder, George R.R. Martin reportedly had a bit of simple advice to give to Mattson Tomlin while he developed Aegon’s Conquest. Much of the history of Aegon Targaryen’s journey has been alluded to in the books as well as in Fire & Blood. Hence, Martin reportedly told Tomlin to stick to the story. He said to EW,
“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.”
Tomlin also mentioned that since most of the story was fixed like a historical piece, all he had to come up with was the emotional element and imagine the conversations these in-universe historical figures would have had. He said,
“We know where he was, we know who he conquered, we know who lived, and we know who died. That all becomes the plot, and then it becomes my job to go, but what did it mean thematically? How did it feel? What were the emotions when this person died and this person lived? We don’t have the context. We don’t know what anybody said.”
Since the makers knew where the storyline of Aegon’s Conquest would end up, working backward would allow them to avoid the mistakes made by Game of Thrones.
Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are streaming on Max.
