'Game Of Thrones' Prequel Show Might Not Include Dragons And Other Familiar Iconography

With the final season of Game of Thrones nearly upon us, HBO is hard at work to keep the fantasy world alive in at least one prequel show. George R.R. Martin, the author who first crafted the elaborate fantasy worlds of Westeros and Essos on the page, is involved as a co-creator and executive producer of the upcoming series, and in a new interview, he shared some more details about the show – including a better idea of where it falls on the timeline compared to the original series. 

Apparently there was a rumor that the new series, which stars Naomi Watts, would take place 10,000 years before the events of Game of Thrones. But speaking with Entertainment Weekly, Martin cleared the air about that misconception:

"... it's closer to 5,000 years," said Martin. "But you're right. 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. We're dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series."

We've previously been able to piece some of this information together: the show takes place during "The Long Night" – a great winter that lasted for years and introduced the world to the powerful White Walkers. The First Men and the Children of the First Men fought against them in the North, and the confrontation concluded with the Battle for the Dawn, an epic confrontation in which the first members of the Night's Watch drove the White Walkers back. With ice and magic, Bran the Builder constructed The Wall, a 700-feet-high and three hundred miles long barrier seen in Game of Thrones – to protect the realms of Men in case the White Walkers ever came back.

So we knew that The Iron Throne and the Targaryens wouldn't be involved in this show. The Targaryens built the Iron Throne, and King's Landing, the sprawling capital city in which the throne resides in the current show, will not exist in the time of the prequel.

Martin never specifically says there won't be any dragons in the new show, but it's not surprising that HBO doesn't want to spend a Game of Thrones season 8-level budget on a show that's just getting started. Depending on which characters this series follows, we could end up exploring Valyria and encounter some dragons there before the great Doom destroys the region.