Prequel Discussion

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7 hours ago, Byfort of Corfe said:

Then probably we are looking the wrong way, perhaps what HBO wants/needs is a sequel, not a prequel. 

The big problem with a sequel is that GRRM has his own ideas for post-ASOIAF stories. He may never get around to writing them down, but he has them, anyway. What happens when HBO develops a sequel where the writers come up with their own vision of post-GOT events that conflicts with GRRM's headcanon in pretty much every conceivable way? What then happens if GRRM does write post-ASOIAF material down the line and wants HBO to adapt it? HBO owns the rights to ASOIAF, but they would presumably have to negotiate for the right to any of GRRM's post-ASOIAF material, if and when he does write it.

At least with pre-ASOIAF material, there's a lot that GRRM has written about that the writers could work with and presumably get the rights from GRRM to create, but with post-ASOIAF material, it seems like there's the possibility of an officially-sanctioned fanfic show set post-ASOIAF that is wiped out when GRRM writes post-ASOIAF material of his own. At least GOT has always promised roughly the same overarching storyline as in the books. What happens when you have two completely different canons covering the same period, one in the show and one in the books? It almost seems like the reverse of the EU issue with the new Star Wars movies (with canon=movies and official fanfic=books), where after the Star Wars movies a bunch of post-Return of the Jedi new (essentially sanctioned fanfic) canon was created through books, etc., only to be wiped out when Disney took over and said that the EU materials weren't canon (i.e. never happened in the "real" Star Wars universe).

Would HBO even be interested in coming up with a show whose brand risked being devalued by GRRM coming up with a truly canon, completely different version of events in his books? D&E or Robert's Rebellion seems like a safer bet.

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The characters are already established (assuming the Night King doesn't win).  A sequel allows whatever happens to be open ended.  You still presumably have magic/dragons.  If it's too expensive to attach whoever survives, Emilia Clarke or Kit Harrington or Sophie Turner or whoever you just start it ten or twenty years after GoT ends with new actors playing Dany and Jon and Sansa and the rest.  

That would work, although if Tyrion survives they're going to have a hell of a time either keeping Peter Dinklage around or finding an equally good character to play him.

I think a sequel might be the best idea, preferably set fairly far in the future (50+ years post-GOT would be my preference), although HBO may shy away from it because of the issues I mentioned.

[Adam_Up_Bxtch]

Yeah if HBO decides to develop a sequel series going 50+ years into the future where all the surviving characters from the GoT series would be dead is the safest bet. You could get new actors to play descendants of fan favorites who survive who we could either learn to root for or to hate. Only problem is who HBO could get to develop this series because D&D clearly are gonna want nothing to do with this world once these next two seasons are done (whether that's a blessing or a curse, depends on who you ask). Hopefully they can get talented people who are also fans of the source material and understand it's overall message and can create a whole new story based in that world to draw fans new & old into it. Which is a lot of pressure. And this time around they could develop the whole series overall in advance as apposed to D&D only developing the first 3 seasons than developing the rest afterwards, which caused inconsistencies & dropped storylines. 

A Robert's Rebellion miniseries is pointless at this point. The only prequels I'd be interested in would be The Dance of Dragons, Aegon's Conquest, the first Blackfyre Rebellion or the Ninepenny Kings which could lead into a GoT sequel series with more power struggles which could be the way they could properly introduce Young Griff into the TV universe. I just want a Targaryen Civil War damn it!

[Pink Fat Rast]

Can I just say though, isn't it a bit early to speculate about spin-offs? The nature of those is gonna heavily depend on what happens in S7-8 - which, the range of outcomes is quite huge, and it'll probably reveal more and more about the past as it progresses;
visions of Robert rebellion, pre-history, there's probably gonna be a lot of that stuff - whether you'll still want a full blown narrative after seeing those "key parts" and having characters explain the connections between them, can't be predicted at this point.


Remember LOST still? Two things to remember about it:
1) It had 5 seasons; 4 and 5 were short, and each contained more plot than the 1st three combined. 
So if you long for spin-offs already because you think nothing much's gonna happen, think again.
2) Imagine LOST's s4 is about to air, and you're like "hey can we have some prequels - I'd like to see what happened back there with the Dharma and the wildlings, a spin-off about Richard Alpert would be cool it'd explain why he's immortal, or we could even go back to the beginnings and see where that skeleton pair originated from!

 

Patience people, seriously.

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11 hours ago, Adam_Up_Bxtch said:

Yeah if HBO decides to develop a sequel series going 50+ years into the future where all the surviving characters from the GoT series would be dead is the safest bet. You could get new actors to play descendants of fan favorites who survive who we could either learn to root for or to hate. Only problem is who HBO could get to develop this series because D&D clearly are gonna want nothing to do with this world once these next two seasons are done (whether that's a blessing or a curse, depends on who you ask). Hopefully they can get talented people who are also fans of the source material and understand it's overall message and can create a whole new story based in that world to draw fans new & old into it. Which is a lot of pressure. And this time around they could develop the whole series overall in advance as apposed to D&D only developing the first 3 seasons than developing the rest afterwards, which caused inconsistencies & dropped storylines. 

I think it would be good to start over: new writers, new production team, new costumes, new composer. They could have a GOT-related series but with a different aesthetic and tone. 

D&D have really guided and managed every aspect of the production, and they've been pretty blunt about the toll that that has taken on their lives. If the sequel is run similarly, it would be a tremendous burden and an enormous project for anyone to take on. I don't know how many takers they would find with the talent and dedication to take something like that on.

Upon further reflection, I'm wondering if an anthology GOT series like American Horror Story, True Detective, or Fargo might not be the way to go. Each season would be set in a different time in Westeros history--past or future--and would cover one particular storyline, with different cast members. They could have a D&E season, a Robert's Rebellion season, etc. etc., and they wouldn't have to worry about sustaining a storyline beyond one season. It would also be a great way to get big names involved, since they would only have to commit for a single season (this is how True Detective and Fargo landed big name actors and actresses).

The best part from HBO's perspective is that with one-off seasons with rotating cast and with no shortage of potential source material, they could keep churning out seasons indefinitely, and the anthology could theoretically continue as long as HBO wants to pay for it.

8 hours ago, Pink Fat Rast said:

Can I just say though, isn't it a bit early to speculate about spin-offs?

Well, sure, but when has that ever stopped anyone?

The Writers Guild of America may go on strike soon, which might wreak havoc on the production of next season of GOT, so we may not be getting Season 8 as soon as we once thought, anyway.

As for the sequel...I find that when an ending is really satisfyingly written, I don't particularly want a sequel. On the other hand, when the ending is a total mess, I don't want a sequel either; I just want to wash my hands of the series and move on. We'll see how satisfying the Season 8 ending is.

[Pink Fat Rast]

Well sequels (or other types of extensions) can sometimes "make up for" a disappointing ending, but there's 100 ways in which the GoT might end up unsatisfying so it's a bit early to talk concrete ideas lol