First, the bad news. HBO has cancelled the Prequel Series for Game of Thrones! The Long Night is no longer in sight. Now, the good news, they’ve given the green light, to another show, titled, House of the Dragon.

It seems that the widespread negative reaction to the ending of Game of Thrones Season 8 was noticed by those in charge of programming. They had to reflect upon and consider changes to future White Walker stories.

One Prequel Burns, the Other Rises From Its Ashes

First, 8 seasons and 8 years of buildup and hype ultimately amounted to a bunch of rich people trying to appease a eunuch, and now they can’t get a pilot off the ground.

Yes, I’m talking about “Bloodmoon”, the “Game of Thrones” prequel that would have depicted the conflict between the Children of the Forrest and the First Men, and the origin of the White Walkers.

The Naomi Watts-helmed pilot went up in smoke, and from its ashes comes “House of Dragons,” depicting the rise of House Targaryen.

One thing that should be stated out of the gate is that HBO and Time Warner have not given any statement on the cause of “Bloodmoon” getting left on the cutting room floor. One day, they were hyping it up, and the next, it was being quietly swept under the rug.

That being said, according to an anonymous source working with The Sun, Jane Goldman’s story might have been cancelled for being more than just a little partisan. According to this source, “Bloodmoon” was to depict a woman with a dark secret as its lead, an ancestor of House Stark being played by a mixed-race actor, the Night King was going to be a man of color, and the entire story was going to revolve around themes of colonialism.

So, yes, I can somewhat see how lead writer Jane Goldman’s political views influenced her script. To be honest, I am a bit skeptical of this idea that Bloodmoon was too woke for HBO. This is the network that produces “Last Week Tonight,” “Girls,” and “Insecure” after all, some of the most left-wing shows on television.

It seems more likely that HBO’s given statement, that the pilot did not reach expectations, is probably correct. I don’t know for sure, though, seeing as HBO seems to be planning on locking the pilot up in a vault and throwing away the key, which means we pretty much only have conjecture at this point.

“House of the Dragons,” on the other hand, seems to be going in a bit more of a traditional direction, following Benioff and Weiss’ formula in showcasing a mix of action and politics. Ryan Condell, who, coincidentally, also found his “Conan the Barbarian” series would not be greenlit by Amazon, will helm the show.

While “Game of Thrones” revolved around a nation falling apart to internal strife and corruption, this show will revolve around the building of an empire, depicting Aegon the Conqueror’s conquest of Westeros, a la “Alexander the Great.” In this way, the two shows will most likely compliment each other. Ryan Condell’s script is heavily based on “Fire and Blood,” George R.R. Martin’s own prequel to “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

Either way, I personally find myself far more interested in this new project, if only because I’ve never really cared about the White Walkers. Sure, they were scary and intimidating, but all they were really meant to be was a metaphor for how politicians will ignore a problem for the sake of their own power and ambition. The politics of Westeros have always been more fascinating to me than yet another generic army of the dead led by a dark lord, so I say, let the Bloodmoon set, and let the dragons rise.

This Post was written by Stephen Corr

#GOT, #GOTPrequel, #BloodMoon #HouseOfDragons