We've scraped together every vague prediction, plot hint, and educated guess available about
the Game of Thrones prequel, in an attempt to get a clearer picture of what to expect
when the highly anticipated series eventually makes its way onto television screens.
Here's what we know.
Shortly after HBO greenlit the pilot, author George R.R. Martin posted on his blog that
if he got a vote, he'd call the prequel series The Long Night.
Martin is referencing a time of great darkness that occurred during the Age of Heroes, in
which the White Walkers invaded Westeros.
They were opposed by the Children of the Forest and the First Men, with the Night's Watch
ultimately driving them back north during the Battle for the Dawn.
Then, Bran the Builder raised the magic Wall to protect the people of Westeros against
future invasions.
However, the Game of Thrones prequel series is shooting under the working title Bloodmoon.
While this working title might be a red herring, it may still hold a few clues.
In the books, there is a legend that says the Long Night began as a result of the Blood
Betrayal, an event in which the brother of the empress killed his sister and took her
throne.
He called himself the Bloodstone Emperor, and his reign of terror included torture,
necromancy, cannibalism, and the worship of a black stone that fell from the sky.
Calling the prequel project Bloodmoon might be a clue that the Blood Emperor and his black
stone may wind up playing a pivotal role in the events leading up to the Battle for the
Dawn.
In the official summary for Bloodmoon, HBO has said that the show will take place thousands
of years before the events of Game of Thrones, beginning toward the end of the Age of Heroes
and journeying through the events that led to Westeros' quote, "darkest hour."
Martin threw out the figure of 10,000 years on his website, with the caveat that it may
actually be only half that.
Whether Bloodmoon takes place five or ten thousand years before the start of Game of
Thrones, we can expect this version of Westeros to look very different from the one we've
come to know.
Central holdings like Winterfell and the Red Keep won't be constructed, and the massive,
magical Wall that divides the North from Wildlings' lands won't have been built yet.
"The Starks have manned the Wall for thousands of years.
And you are a Stark."
Considering how far in the past this series is thought to take place, don't expect to
see any familiar faces pop up on screen.
While the cast of Bloodmoon may still be populated with Starks, Lannisters, and Boltons, they
won't be the ones we've come to know, love, and hate over the eight seasons of Game of
Thrones.
The single exception to this could be the Night King, whose creation we caught glimpses
of in Game of Thrones, and who is thought to be thousands of years old.
HBO has promised that the prequel will reveal the true origin of the White Walkers, which
means we may finally learn who he was before he became an immortal ice being.
For all its strengths, Game of Thrones was never known for its diverse casting or racial
sensitivity.
While there were some regions, like Dorne and Essos, populated by characters of color,
the people who resided in them were never the focal point of the show.
However, the casting for Bloodmoon seems to indicate that this prequel may finally take
some steps to course correct on this issue.
Four actors of color — Naomi Ackie, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, and Marquis Rodriguez
— have already been cast as series regulars.
Since the Westeros we've seen before has been largely filled with light-skinned characters,
this may be an indication that this new series could spend time in some previously underexplored
lands.
Perhaps we'll finally get to see Essos through the eyes of the people who were actually born
and raised there, or learn about new lands as well.
Poldark actor Josh Whitehouse has been cast as the male lead of the Game of Thrones prequel,
and many fans are speculating that he'll play a member of House Stark.
While there's plenty of Starks throughout Westeros history, Whitehouse will probably
be playing Bran the Builder, the legendary founder of House Stark who was responsible
for the construction of Winterfell.
After driving the White Walkers out of Westeros and back into the far north, the original
Bran Stark worked alongside giants and the Children of the Forest to construct the magical
Wall that we saw so much of in Game of Thrones.
If Martin's claims about the premise of the show are to be believed, it's hard to imagine
a cinematic version of The Long Night that doesn't include Bran the Builder.
Combined with HBO's promise that this prequel will focus on "the Starks of legend," it seems
like a no-brainer that one of its main characters would be the most famous Stark of all.
HBO's official synopsis for Bloodmoon ends with the cryptic phrase, "It's not the story
we think we know."
That's an intriguing claim even if you only consider the history revealed over the course
of the show, but gets downright perplexing when you take all of Martin's novels and supplemental
materials into account.
While Game of Thrones touched a little bit on the creation of the White Walkers and the
history of Westeros, the show has never been particularly concerned with the events of
the past, keeping its eyes fixed firmly in the present.
But when taken in conjunction with the books and supplemental texts, there are few corners
of the Thrones universe that haven't already been thoroughly explored.
Whether you're a casual viewer of the show or a devoted scholar of the books, prepare
for the revelations of the prequel series to completely upend some of the histories
and stories we've always believed to be true.
It's possible that a character that history recorded as heroic was actually more of a
villain, or that certain events happened differently than what we've always pictured.
Naomi Watts leads the ensemble cast of Bloodmoon, and according to HBO, she'll play a charismatic
socialite hiding a dark secret.
This doesn't do much to narrow the playing field.
Game of Thrones has never had any shortage of manipulative nobles.
However, Watts' blonde hair and fair complexion have prompted some early speculation that
she may belong to one of the two Great Houses of Westeros known for their light locks — the
Targaryens or the Lannisters.
The problem Watts' character being a Targaryen is that the dragon-riding family didn't even
arrive in Westeros until a few hundred years before the start of Game of Thrones.
That places them in Valyria during the time that the prequel will take place.
While it's possible that some of the series could be set in Valyria, it seems unlikely
that it will be centered around a lead character who never even sets foot in Westeros.
House Lannister, on the other hand, was founded in Westeros during the Age of Heroes, after
Lann the Clever tricked House Casterly into giving up their holding of Casterly Rock.
"Who were your ancestors?
Who made your family rich?
Fancy lads in silk?
They were f--king cuthroats.
That's how all the great houses started, isn't it?"
The timing works out perfectly for Watts to be playing one of these early Lannisters,
possibly a contemporary of Bran the Builder.
And while we're used to seeing House Lannister and House Stark constantly at war with each
other, we may finally get to see them as allies.
One of the most common criticisms leveled against Game of Thrones was its treatment
of its female characters, a failing that was frequently attributed to how few women have
been involved in prominent creative roles behind the scenes.
Only three women have ever been credited as writers for Game of Thrones, and only one
woman has directed an episode.
That all adds up to only nine out of 73 episodes with a woman in a major creative role.
However, if the creative team behind Bloodmoon is any indication, don't be surprised if this
spinoff is much more female-centric in its storytelling.
Not only is nearly half of the announced cast women, but Bloodmoon is helmed by Stardust
scribe Jane Goldman.
Her impressive resume includes writing credits for X-Men: First Class, Kingsman, and Kick-Ass,
which shows that she's no stranger to sweeping fantasy, intense action, and large ensemble
casts.
The show has also tapped executive producer SJ Clarkson to direct the pilot episode.
Her previous work includes several shows with predominantly female casts like Orange Is
the New Black and Jessica Jones.
The mysterious forest-dwellers who assisted Bran Stark in Game of Thrones will likely
get a lot more screen time in the prequel series.
In the main show, the Children were relegated to enigmatic side characters who appeared
out of nowhere in season four, and then were seemingly wiped out by season six.
But toward the end of the Age of Heroes, the Children played a much more prominent role
in Westeros' history.
The Children of the Forest are inextricable from the tales of Bran the Builder, the Battle
for the Dawn, and the construction of the Wall.
They created the White Walkers, and then ultimately joined forces with the giants and the First
Men to defeat them.
Given their importance to the time period that the show will be set during, it's highly
probable that one or more of the announced cast for the series will portray one of the
Children of the Forest.
That means that we're about to learn a whole lot more about this secretive race.
One of the most notorious figures in Westerosi history is the hero Azor Ahai, who helped
save the world from a great darkness while wielding his flaming sword, Lightbringer.
While it is not made explicitly clear in the books whether Azor Ahai was the same figure
as the Last Hero, who lived during the Long Night and helped defeat the White Walkers,
there's also nothing to say that it wasn't him.
Including Azor Ahai would give viewers many of the things we've come to expect from Game
of Thrones: tragic love stories, reluctant heroes, thrilling battles, and a touch of
magic.
It would also be a way to include a character familiar to the audience, without needing
to bring back any of the Thrones cast.
While viewers and readers have never actually met Azor Ahai, he's been the subject of rampant
speculation for years.
"In ancient books, it's written that a warrior will draw a burning sword from the fire and
that sword will be Lightbringer."
Seeing him appear on screen would not only provide the prequel with a rich character
to explore, but would excite fans hungry for more information about the mysterious hero.
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter shortly before the final season of Game of
Thrones aired, Martin warned that the prequel series would be very different from the Westeros
fans had grown accustomed to seeing:
"It's different.
It's definitely very different.
It's set thousands of years in the past.
You're looking at a whole different era of Westeros.
No dragons, no Iron Throne, no King's Landing."
This is hardly surprising, given the time period in which the prequel is set.
Five to ten thousand years before Game of Thrones, King's Landing hadn't been constructed,
and Aegon Targaryen hadn't yet been born to build a throne out of the blades of his vanquished
enemies.
Further, while dragons surely existed somewhere in the world, the Targaryens wouldn't bring
the winged creatures from Valyria to Westeros for thousands of years.
Still, despite the immense differences between the prequel and the familiar world of Game
of Thrones, Martin is still hopeful that fans will enjoy it.
We'll update you as we hear more about the upcoming prequel series.
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