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Robert's Rebellion: the Series


dsug

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Disclaimer: this is to talk specifically about a Robert's Rebellion series. If you have other ideas, I would love for you to share them here- http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/144311-prequel-discussion/

 

HBO rumblings and remarks by company guys have hinted towards a Game of Thrones prequel series. Based on those comments and the history of Westeros, it seems like, if another series is coming, it'll be about Robert's Rebellion. This doesn't come as much of a surprise, and there have been rumors about this for about as long as I can remember. So I'm gonna break down what I think could go into this series. 

Title: I don't think "Robert's Rebellion" is a particularly cool title, so I think a good title would be Game of Thrones: War of the Usurper or just War of the Usurper. Makes it sound cooler, and gives a Targaryen perspective, something which we don't get much of when it comes to the Rebellion. 

Casting: I'm only going to list the actors who we already have confirmed from the main series, because I'm American and will probably not be familiar with any actors actually considered by HBO.

  • Robert Aramayo as Eddard Stark (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • Aisling Francisoi as Lyanna Stark (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • David Rintoul as Aerys II Targaryen (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • Luke Roberts as Ser Arthur Dayne (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • Nell Williams as Cersei Lannister (as seen in Game of Thrones, season five)
  • Charles Dance as Tywin Lannister (as seen in Game of Thrones, seasons one through four)*
  • Pedro Pascal as Oberyn Martell (as seen in Game of Thrones, season four)*
  • Eddie Eyre as Ser Gerold Hightower (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • Leo Woodruff as Howland Reed (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)
  • Wayne Foskett as Rickard Stark (as seen in Game of Thrones, season six)

***I think with makeup and wigs, these two could pull of playing younger versions of their characters.

Episodes: I'm thinking HBO could get a good thirteen episodes out of Robert's Rebellion. I'm not gonna outline every episode, but I think we could get one long-ish miniseries out of this war, that would then segue into the main series.

Plot Threads: Again, most of us know the story of the Rebellion, but I think HBO would want to give special attention to certain things and characters that would return for the main series.

  • The Rebellion: Duh. Action sequences, politics, the stuff we already know about.
  • The Siege of Storm's End: Give us some more time with a young Stannis. 
  • Cersei: In the books, Cersei has basically nothing to do with the Rebellion, but the show has placed more of an emphasis on her, so I think they should continue that. Give us a couple scenes of her scheming sprinkled throughout the series, ending with her wedding in the finale.
  • Rhaegar and Lyanna: everyone loves a love story, so I think HBO would capitalize on this epic romance and really play up the star-crossed lovers angle.
  • Catelyn Stark: Same with Cersei. Viewers loved her, so I think HBO would give her a storyline at Winterfell, to give us a female perspective of the war.
  • Littlefinger: Again, such a big force in the main series, I don't think they could resist showing Petyr Baelish creeping around at some point.

 

SO, thanks for reading, sorry for the wall of text lol. What do you think?

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I'm among those who think that a series about Robert's Rebellion wouldn't be a great idea. We would already know the ending, including the major twists and deaths. It would be very expensive, with lots of battles. And the ending would be completely anticlimactic.

Also, most of the protagonists couldn't interact because they are restricted at a single location: Rhaegar disappears during the whole war, Aerys and Jaime do not move from King's Landing, Tywin waits in Casterly Rock,...

But if it had to be done:

8 hours ago, dsug said:

Casting: I'm only going to list the actors who we already have confirmed from the main series, because I'm American and will probably not be familiar with any actors actually considered by HBO..

 

All the characters from the Tower of Joy flashback would be recast, in all likelihood. Those actors were chosen to play a minor part, not to carry the weight of a show. If an actual series were made, they'd look for different actors for the leads.

8 hours ago, dsug said:
  • The Siege of Storm's End: Give us some more time with a young Stannis. 

This exemplifies what I was saying before about having too many isolated characters. It would be very difficult to construct a storyline for someone who's confined in his castle with no other protagonist to interact. His storyline would be separated from the rest until Eddard lifts the siege at the end. You'd just have a succession of scenes where a stubborn general looks thinner every time. It would be very difficult not to make this a very dull subplot, or integrate it to the overall story.

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The story of Robert's rebellion is pretty much told in the main series.  I hope that's not what the prequel series will be.  Robert Baratheon isn't really that interesting of a character, anyway.  

I want a series set long ago in the original long night or the Age of Heroes.  Let's see the original Azor Ahai. 

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10 hours ago, The hairy bear said:

I'm among those who think that a series about Robert's Rebellion wouldn't be a great idea. We would already know the ending, including the major twists and deaths. It would be very expensive, with lots of battles. And the ending would be completely anticlimactic.

Also, most of the protagonists couldn't interact because they are restricted at a single location: Rhaegar disappears during the whole war, Aerys and Jaime do not move from King's Landing, Tywin waits in Casterly Rock,...

But if it had to be done:

All the characters from the Tower of Joy flashback would be recast, in all likelihood. Those actors were chosen to play a minor part, not to carry the weight of a show. If an actual series were made, they'd look for different actors for the leads.

This exemplifies what I was saying before about having too many isolated characters. It would be very difficult to construct a storyline for someone who's confined in his castle with no other protagonist to interact. His storyline would be separated from the rest until Eddard lifts the siege at the end. You'd just have a succession of scenes where a stubborn general looks thinner every time. It would be very difficult not to make this a very dull subplot, or integrate it to the overall story.

I understand your thoughts as to why it would be a bad idea, but with knowing the small amounts of information we do, would you not want to explore further as to why such events happened? Why Rhaegar chose Lyanna instead of his wife? All the action, watching Ser Arthur Dayne fight? There's still so many unanswered questions in regards to the motives of certain people doing certain things. It could never be a multiple series prequel though; my ideal would be a 10 episode series of Roberts Rebellion. I'd have the first episode of the 10 episode series starting at the tourney of Harrenhal as the majority of the main characters are all there. Yes we all know the ending, do you not want to see the scenes that unfolded during that climatic sack of kings landing though? Do you not want to see what happens when Ned goes to Starfall? I think there is still plenty of intrigue for a small spinoff prequel of Roberts rebellion then heading to a major prequel during Aegon's conquest, a 5/6 series of Aegon's conquest would be amazing. 

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On 19/1/2017 at 2:05 AM, Seany2512 said:

 would you not want to explore further as to why such events happened? Why Rhaegar chose Lyanna instead of his wife? All the action, watching Ser Arthur Dayne fight? There's still so many unanswered questions in regards to the motives of certain people doing certain things. (...) Yes we all know the ending, do you not want to see the scenes that unfolded during that climatic sack of kings landing though? Do you not want to see what happens when Ned goes to Starfall?

Many of those "unanswered questions" will be answered before the main saga ends. We'll know why Rhaegar chose Lyanna, what happened in Starfall and all the important mysteries.

Would it be "cool" watching Ser Arthur Dayne fight? Probably. But it would also be cool to watch Ser Ryam Redwyne, Daemon Targaryen, Cregan Stark or the Laughing Storm. Would I want to see the sack of King's Landing in live action? Rape, infant skull-crushing and girl-stabbing wouldn't be the on the top of my list of must-watch scenes, but even if it was nicely and tastefully, I'd probably be more interested in watching the Field of Fire, the battles of Tumbleton or the Tragedy of Summerhall.

My point being that there are plenty of interesting time periods and potential stories in the ASOIAF world. And Robert's Rebellion is the one that has been more spoiled by the main saga.

 

 

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On 1/20/2017 at 4:53 PM, The hairy bear said:

Many of those "unanswered questions" will be answered before the main saga ends. We'll know why Rhaegar chose Lyanna, what happened in Starfall and all the important mysteries.

Would it be "cool" watching Ser Arthur Dayne fight? Probably. But it would also be cool to watch Ser Ryam Redwyne, Daemon Targaryen, Cregan Stark or the Laughing Storm. Would I want to see the sack of King's Landing in live action? Rape, infant skull-crushing and girl-stabbing wouldn't be the on the top of my list of must-watch scenes, but even if it was nicely and tastefully, I'd probably be more interested in watching the Field of Fire, the battles of Tumbleton or the Tragedy of Summerhall.

My point being that there are plenty of interesting time periods and potential stories in the ASOIAF world. And Robert's Rebellion is the one that has been more spoiled by the main saga.

 

 

I agree with you. I'll admit I haven't read additional materials aside from asoiaf books, I am familiar with the events referenced above. I just think that the whole world of asoiaf has a lot to offer and there's so much space to carry on with those stories.

If they take RR, there is material for one season/miny season most, and we already know how it ends. Other periods and characters set within this world otoh gives so much potential. So what if cgi dragons cost money. They already killed all the direwolfs to make room for dragons, so Dance with dragons prequel doesn't make so much problem imo. They can hire unkown actors, and if the show is a succes, super;)

Idk, maybe I am just tired of RR talk and all the speculation and theory behind it. What can I say I like crackpot and spoilers:rolleyes:so I already read bunch of stuff related to that time period that I don't really have some wish to see it materialise on tv.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Well, a lot of the "unanswered questions" may be explained in the next books, yes, but I doubt there will be enough time for flashbacks in the show. As well as knowing the ending, it never did stop people of watching movies prequel or adapted books on the screen. I think it would be interesting... Show viewers only don't understand/catch up a lot of little details in the show and are unaware of a lot of storylines.

I'd love for the show to end with Bran or Sam (if they stay alive) or a maester telling/writing the story of the battle for the dawn and explaining the importance of TPTWP/Azor Ahai with a flashback of the ghost of high tree giving Jaehaerys the prophecy and him, arranging Aerys and Rhaella marriage and so, the prequel would start with this same image and Aerys ascending to the throne. Half of the season could cover the event before the rebellion (the early reign, Duskendale, Harrenhal...)...

I agree that it should not be called Rebert Rebellion. It was called that way because Robert got the throne after the war but I have always thought that it was JON ARRYN Rebellion. He was the one to refuse to obey the king order and to call his banners in the first place and naturally Ned and Robert joined him. I think "Game of Thrones: The Downfall of the Dragons" sounds not bad.

It could end with Catlyn asking Ned about Jon's mother and Ned giving her the icy answer to never ask that question again or with the Greyjoy rebellion with Ned asking the last surving boy who's going to be his ward his name and the boy responding "Theon".

I don't know if they casted the actors for the flashbacks with the optic of a prequel in mind, but for me one thing is sure, for an "accurate" prequel, I would like to see a different Aerys, with the yellow long fingernails and the tangled hair and beard.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I happen to think that a Prequel series could be great.  True, by the time we get to GoT Robert is a fat blundering buffoon but he was once a young, powerful handsome Lord and Knight.  So was Ned.  What about their friendship, sure they were raised together but LF was raised with Edmure and I don't think that there was any love lost between them.  I'd love to see the tournament at Harrenhall and the fight at the Trident.  A young Barristan the Bold, Jamie as a young man, torn about following his oath and saving thousands of people from dying and then being cursed for doing that his whole life.  Sure we know what happens.  Ever watch Titanic, spoiler, the Titanic sinks, or a movie about King Arthur?   There are very few people who don't know that Anne Boleyn has her head chopped off, who doesn't know the ends of those?  And yet we have Titanic, Excalibur and the Tudors, all quite successful.  It's not always the end, in good drama it's how you get to the end that matters.

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1 hour ago, Byfort of Corfe said:

I happen to think that a Prequel series could be great.  True, by the time we get to GoT Robert is a fat blundering buffoon but he was once a young, powerful handsome Lord and Knight.  So was Ned.  What about their friendship, sure they were raised together but LF was raised with Edmure and I don't think that there was any love lost between them.  I'd love to see the tournament at Harrenhall and the fight at the Trident.  A young Barristan the Bold, Jamie as a young man, torn about following his oath and saving thousands of people from dying and then being cursed for doing that his whole life.  Sure we know what happens.  Ever watch Titanic, spoiler, the Titanic sinks, or a movie about King Arthur?   There are very few people who don't know that Anne Boleyn has her head chopped off, who doesn't know the ends of those?  And yet we have Titanic, Excalibur and the Tudors, all quite successful.  It's not always the end, in good drama it's how you get to the end that matters.

Well said, completely agree! Enjoyment comes from a good story, not a surprise ending. Knowing how the Mountain vs the Viper ended didn't make that fight scene any less enjoyable. Knowing what was gonna happen at the Twins didn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

Roberts Rebellion wouldn't be my first choice, but I'd be very happy with it nonetheless. 

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5 hours ago, dsug said:

Well said, completely agree! Enjoyment comes from a good story, not a surprise ending. Knowing how the Mountain vs the Viper ended didn't make that fight scene any less enjoyable. Knowing what was gonna happen at the Twins didn't make it any less heartbreaking. 

Roberts Rebellion wouldn't be my first choice, but I'd be very happy with it nonetheless. 

Pretty much yeah. Our heroes will defeat the Others unless George has some really depressing ending prepared, but that doesn't make it any less enjoyable. Same as when people debate endings of Game of Thrones or A Song of Ice and Fire. You can and must eventually do debate endings, but journey to the end is what makes it exciting. How characters go with their lives, what they had to sacrifice in order to get there or what needs to be done to achieve the ultimate victory.

We've been debating this before and RR makes sense if they want to continue with a similar range, cast and story. If they want to go less flashy and more grounded Dunk and Egg. If they want the element of backstabbing and shcemes plus dragons - as dragon do bring a lot of viewers, then do Dance of Dragons or Blackfyre Rebbelion.

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