Game of Thrones Targaryen Prequel, Based on Fire & Blood, in the Works at HBO With New Writer: Report

We might be getting a second Game of Thrones prequel. A new report claims that HBO is considering greenlighting an adaptation of George R.R. Martin's 2018 book Fire & Blood, which is set 300 years prior to the events of the show and tells the history of House Targaryen. (Martin is the author of A Song of Ice and Fire novel series, which served as the basis for Game of Thrones.) That means it would feature dragons, though they would slowly start to disappear as the Targaryens near their end. The new Targaryen Thrones prequel has reportedly been created by Ryan J. Condal (Colony) and Martin himself, with Condal as the writer.

Deadline brings word of the new Game of Thrones prequel development, noting that it's been in the works at HBO since last autumn. If that's setting off alarm bells in your head because a new Thrones prequel hasn't been announced since mid-2017, that's because this isn't a new one. Per the report, it's a “brand new take” on the idea that was being developed by Thrones veteran Bryan Cogman. That idea had been confirmed to be not going forward by Cogman in April, but Condal seems to have convinced HBO with a spin on the same. Now, the network is thinking of giving it a pilot episode order.

The Targaryen Thrones prequel was one of the “two other shows” that were in the scripting phase as of May, when Martin talked about it on his blog. The 70-year-old author had even cryptically hinted at what one of them was about, by referring to Fire & Blood in the same sentence: “What are they about? I cannot say. But maybe some of you should pick up a copy of Fire & Blood and come up with your own theories.” Of course, it wasn't as obvious then because Martin had brought up Fire & Blood earlier in the same blog post in the context of the book's sales.

Fire & Blood is in fact the first of two volumes of the history of House Targaryen. (The second one is yet unpublished.) It starts with Aegon I Targaryen's conquest of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, then charts his reign, the lives of his sons Aenys I and Maegor I, the reign of Aenys's son Jaehaerys I, and the succession crisis following the death of his sons. That brings us to the famed civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons — mentioned on the show and in A Song of Ice and Fire book with a similar title — before ending with the first few years of the reign of Aegon III. The report claims that civil war will be a big part of the show — naturally so.

In addition to being the co-creator and showrunner on Colony, Condal is known for co-writing the screenplay of the Dwayne Johnson-starrer movies Rampage, and Hercules. All three titles have had mixed reactions from critics and audiences. Condal is also working on remakes of Logan's Run, and Highlander.