The revelation came late Wednesday afternoon via THR when it was reported that HBO Max, the streaming arm of WarnerMedia, was meeting with writers to hear ideas for a potential animated drama in the same tonal vein as Game of Thrones, the pop culture phenomenon of a TV series that ran between 2011 and 2019. Admittedly, it’s still early goings in the series’ development, and it’s unclear from the report whether HBO Max is hearing pitches from multiple writers about what an animated drama would look like or if the media company already has a general idea in mind about where and when an animated series would be set in George R.R. Martin’s World of Ice & Fire. But what is heavily suggested, at least according to THR (HBO Max is not officially commenting at this time), is that HBO Max wishes to develop more Game of Thrones content specifically for the streaming service. While comparing the project to HBO Max’s other efforts to develop new shows set in the world of Harry Potter and Sex and the City, the trade wrote, “The emergence of HBO Max has placed a greater importance on building out Martin’s sprawling universe.” In other words, now that WarnerMedia has a streaming service, the priority is to transform Westeros into a shared universe as multifaceted as Disney’s stewardship of Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Which raises an obvious question: Do we really want to see stories set in Westeros become as saturated as Star Wars and the MCU? Meanwhile Tales of Dunk & Egg will be based on three existing stories published by Martin, which also gives that series a literary basis—although one similar to Game of Thrones in that these more jovial adventures are left unfinished on the page, with four more planned novellas meant to conclude Dunk and Egg’s arcs currently unwritten. Both developing series are based directly on Martin’s own writings and vision for Westeros. By contrast, the new development of a Game of Thrones animated series seems to emphasize a step closer to pure content expansion (and exploitation) as an end unto itself. Consider how a once concise and generally beloved trilogy about space wizards has given way to a sprawling media empire of varying quality with seeming narrative dead-ends and cul-de-sacs. One might even argue that the more Star Wars movies they make, the less satisfied a divided fanbase becomes. Game of Thrones already has a complicated legacy due to the controversial and flawed ending of the series’ final season. While I personally maintain it is not as awful as the general social media narrative suggests, it left a lot to be desired and brought a rushed and awkward end to a series that had a thrilling beginning and stunning middle. Still, it is at least complete. With that said, there is plenty left unknown about Westeros, Essos, and the greater world of Martin’s imagination. While House of the Dragon seems poised to chart terrain similar to Game of Thrones—Westeros thrust into a civil war involving dragons—Martin has teased in his supplemental texts about entire vistas far more bizarre and wondrous than what we’ve seen. In the far corners of Essos lies a place called the Shadowlands, whose port city of Asshai sounds like a nightmare straight from the ravings of H.P. Lovecraft. With its buildings constructed entirely from black stone, and masked citizens who practice blood magic and pyromancing, there is a horrific obsession with monstrous gods and black goats, plus other depravities. We’ve only seen its darkness hinted in the rituals of Melisandre and Mirri Maz Duur. There is plenty to explore in Martin’s sandbox, and to be honest an animated series set in any of these uncharted corners of the map could be pretty cool. But it’s still worth taking a moment to note that once they’re filled in, an elusive mystique may be lost. At a certain point, you can no longer write in the margins, “here there be dragons.”
