George R.R. Martin Releases New Game Of Thrones Prequel Details

While the Game of Thrones prequel series still lacks a name, we know a few more details about its setting thanks to A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin. In a recent interview with EW, he confirmed the series takes place some 5,000 years prior to the events of GoT and features House Stark. “[They] will definitely be there,” he said. The era will also feature direwolves and Mammoths across the Northern landscape.
It will also feature White Walkers, although Martin was quick to note his preferred term for them is “The Others.”
As previously reported, the series begins at the end of the Age of Heroes and chronicles Westeros’s decent into the first Long Night. And thanks to Martin’s update, we also know the era was marked by 100 or so “petty kingdoms” instead of the seven we knew in Game of Thrones. The time period also predates the Lannisters, so the Casterlys will actually occupy Casterly Rock — well, provided such a southern House will actually be involved in the story. And because this tale takes places thousands of years before the Targaryen invasion of Westeros, expect a complete lack of dragons.
Although, it is possible the story of the Targaryens may form the focus of another prequel series. The current pilot, devised by Kick-Ass screenwriter Jane Goldman and Martin, won an unofficial contest between five separate concepts. Two of these projects remain in development.
The GoT prequel pilot is currently in production. Though it is still unclear if HBO will pick up the series, we expect it to debut in 2021. Martin, meanwhile, claims he is focused on writing the sixth Ice and Fire novel, The Winds of Winter.