George R.R. Martin And A ‘Game Of Thrones’ Writer Are Working On A Potential Prequel

HBO initially announced that it was considering four prequel ideas to Game of Thrones, which wraps up after one more season, before author George R.R. Martin flew in on his proverbial dragon to say, actually, there are five.

“We have added a fifth writer to the original four,” he wrote at the time. “No, I will not reveal the name here… He’s a really terrific addition, however, a great guy and a fine writer.” It’s funny that Martin should call the mystery writer an “addition,” because it turns he’s been with Game of Thrones since season one.

Bryan Cogman, who’s written 10 episodes of Thrones including “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” and season seven’s “Stormborn” and also serves as an executive producer, “is penning a drama series follow-up to the blockbuster franchise,” according to Entertainment Weekly. “Cogman developed the project by working closely” with Martin (who’s assisting on two other ideas).

There are still no plot details for the prequels, although Martin has ruled out Robert’s Rebellion, and none of them will see the light of the day until Thrones is finished. “Making Game of Thrones as good as possible is the number one goal, and then we’ll see about these scripts,” HBO programming president Casey Bloys said. “You’re not going to see a situation where the next show in the Thrones universe launches off the back of this one. The show that [co-showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss] have created will get its proper send off first. We wouldn’t want to take away from that in any way.”

Benioff and Weiss won’t be involved with the prequels, unlike, potentially, this cool dude.

(Via Entertainment Weekly)