George R.R. Martin Teases Animated ‘House of the Dragon’ Spinoff

Game of Thrones fans will be returning to Westeros this year when the second season of House of the Dragon premieres, throwing us back into the Westerosi civil war known as the "Dance of Dragons." Based on George R.R. Martin's fictional history Fire & Blood, House of the Dragon takes place a century before the events of the original series, and follows the Targaryen royal family and their cousins, the Velaryons, in an epic struggle for power.

And we now have word that another prequel is in the works, which will go even further back in time and focus on the early seafaring adventures of Corlys Velaryon, the Lord of Driftmark and so-called "Sea Snake" played by Steve Toussaint.

Several other Thrones projects have been in development at various points, including the now-aborted Naomi Watts vehicle which would have focused on the origins of the White Walkers. But as A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin explains in a recent blog post, he and the HBO team are pivoting to animation for several of their other spinoff ideas.

"As it happens, HBO and I have our own animated projects, set in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. None of them have been greenlit yet, but I think we are getting close to taking the next step with a couple of them," he writes. "When this last round of development started a few years back, we had four ideas for animated shows, with some great talents attached. Writers rooms and summits, outline and scripts followed in due course… but, alas, two of the original projects were subsequently shelved."

"Work on the other two animated projects continues apace, however," he continues, "and meanwhile, we have moved Nine Voyages, our series about the legendary voyages of the Sea Snake, over from live action to animation. A move I support fully," he explains. "Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to… well, on and on and on. There’s a whole world out there. And we have a lot better chance of showing it all with animation."

He adds that he still has hopes to revive those "shelved" projects at some point in the future and potentially present their stories "in another form, perhaps as graphic novels." However, this is a man several years into writing the as-yet-unpublished Winds of Winter, so let's not hold our collective breath.

While we don't know much else about Nine Voyages, the potential of an animated adventure show following a young Corlys is pretty exciting. (It would also mark the first Game of Thrones project to center a Black character.) Speaking to Men's Health ahead of the House of the Dragon series premiere, Toussaint broke down what makes his character so compelling, and pointed to those formative early years as the key to understanding him.

"He is this nautical explorer, the richest man in the land, and he's part of the governing council and so forth.But ultimately, for me, what his engine is, is the fact that he's trying to elevate his family, elevate his name," he said. "Ambition is his driving force... Corlys had to go out and be a self-made man. He feels that very sharply."

You Might Also Like

• The Best Hair Growth Shampoos for Men to Buy Now

• 25 Vegetables That Are Surprising Sources of Protein