Game Of Thrones: 8 Potential Spin-Offs (And How They Might Work)

The world of Westeros is rich with blood and history...

Doom of Valyria
HBO

We're now six seasons into Game Of Thrones, which is a fair way through the total length of the vast majority of TV dramas. Couple that with the fact that showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss have stated we might only have thirteen episodes left after season six, and it becomes depressingly apparent that the show won't be around forever.

Luckily for fans, however, the world masterfully constructed by George R.R. Martin extends way, way (waaaaayy) beyond what we've seen on television. The scope and history of Martin's creation almost defies belief, so rich is it in detail and complexity.

This, coupled with how immensely successful the show has been, means the likelihood of saying goodbye to Westeros post-Game Of Thrones isn't too high. Martin himself has admitted that the most logical follow-up would be an adaptation of his Dunk And Egg stories, so he's clearly eager for more - and so too are HBO. While there's nothing concrete, programming exec Casey Bloys recently said (via EW) "preliminary talks" have been held." It seems a case of when, not if.

Martin has noted that there are "eight million" stories that could be told, but here we'll take a look at eight potential Game Of Thrones spin-off ideas, examining the content ,and how they might work.

8. The Tales Of Dunk And Egg

Doom of Valyria
Dabel Brothers Productions

When it comes to potential spin-offs, one of the most obvious techniques would be to adapt more of George R. R. Martin's Westeros-based source material. The most extensive released (outside of ASOIAF, of course) are the Tales Of Dunk And Egg, a series of three novellas that follow the adventures of Dunk (the future commander of the Kingsguard) and Egg (the future king Aegon V Targaryen). These are set around ninety years before the events of ASOIAF.

The first of these novellas, The Hedge Knight, focuses on how Dunk and Egg come to meet, and shows Dunk engaging a trial by combat which soon becomes a Trial of Seven, in which two parties of seven knights battle on horseback. The plot is much smaller scale than the kind of stuff we're seeing on Game Of Thrones at the minute, but it's just as charming as the likes of season one. Not only that, but as the series progresses things get much more complex, with The Mystery Knight delving deeper into Game Of Thrones-esque political antics.

A Dunk And Egg spin-off would be a great way to look at some of the back story to the main series, and even features an appearance from Walder Frey. And if that's not enough, George R. R. Martin himself has expressed his intention to continue the series. It would be nice to see HBO take an approach similar to the BBC with Sherlock, and have much shorter seasons with each Dunk and Egg episode lasting around ninety minutes.

Contributor
Contributor

Commonly found reading, sitting firmly in a seat at the cinema (bottle of water and a Freddo bar, please) or listening to the Mountain Goats.