George R.R. Martin is currently “in hiding” to finish The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in the A Song of Ice and Fire series, but he still took some time to discuss Fire and Blood, his history of the Targaryens, and the Game of Thrones prequel series with Entertainment Weekly. As previously noted, the prequel (possibly titled The Long Night) is set “thousands of years” before the events of Thrones, from the “golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour,” which will reveal a separate vision of Westeros than viewers are used to.
“Westeros is a very different place. There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens — Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built,” Martin said. “We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series. [Prequel showrunner Jane Goldman] is a tremendous talent. She flew into Santa Fe and we spent a week talking about her ideas. She’s going into territory that I haven’t explored very much in the books. I’ve hinted about them.”
The big takeaway here is this: No dragons! Game of Thrones without dragons is like Mad Men without booze, or How to Train Your Dragon without… dragons. What I’m saying is, hopefully another show fills the dragon-shaped hole in our hearts. Looking at you, This Is Us.
(Via Entertainment Weekly)