Winter is Coming Back! Game of Thrones Prequel Complete.

Eight seasons have come and gone, and the Game of Thrones series finally drew to a close in May with its last episode titled The Iron Throne. Although the final leg of the massively successful series drew much flak by having fans split down the middle as to how good it was, plans for the prequel series were left unaffected. HBO’s Head of Programming Casey Bloys said that such criticism was anticipated when HBO tried to end a wildly popular series.

He also commented about the petition that garnered over a million signatures online for the final leg of the Game of Throne series to be remade. He said that the petition displays the fans strong enthusiasm and passion that revolves around the series. He added that HBO has no plans to remake the series to please the unsatisfied fans, and could hardly imagine any other network taking that on.

Details about the Game of Thrones prequel series are gradually being unearthed, just not yet its title. We now know that production has been completed for the prequel pilot. According to Bloys, the production team for the prequel series had finished taping the pilot in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He had also confirmed that a couple of scripts already exist for the series, and revealed that the series will contain some references to the eight seasons of Game of Thrones.

George R.R. Martin will be the executive producer while Jane Goldman will take on the role of screenwriter, who had previously worked on Kingsman and X-Men: First Class. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are expected to have little to contribute to the prequel series as they will be busy with the much-anticipated Star Wars trilogy.

The pilot, directed by S.J. Clarkson, will also feature an impressive cast comprising of Naomi Watts (who plays the lead character), Miranda Richardson, Josh Whitehouse, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Arim, Georgie Henley, Ivanno Jeremiah, Alex Sharp, Toby Regbo, Maruies Rodriguez, Richard McCabe, John Simm, John Heffernan and Dixie Egerickx.

George R.R. Martin had revealed that the series will contain references to the White Walkers. He also suggested that the prequel series be titled The Long Night. In HBO’s summary of the series, it is confirmed that the story takes place during the Age of Heroes, which is set several millennia before The Song of Ice and Fire. The prequel series is said to chronicle how the golden Age of Heroes descend into the world’s darkest hours. The prequel will also attempt to reveal deeply horrifying secrets in Westeros history. The Age of Heroes is said to have started 10,000 years before the events in Game of Thrones, and is known to have concluded with the Coming of the Andals.

George R.R. Martin when explaining about the Age of Heroes, said that “We talk about the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros; there were Seven Kingdoms at the time of Aegon's Conquest. But if you go back further then there are nine kingdoms, and 12 kingdoms, and eventually you get back to where there are a hundred kingdoms – petty kingdoms – and that's the era we're talking about here.”

This is most probably a direct reference to the White Walkers’ maiden invasion of Westeros, having invoked a winter that lasted years long. Upon the forging of a peace pact between the First Men and the Children of the Forest, they forced the White Walkers to the north of The Gift. This led towards the crucial erection of The Wall by Bran the Builder, with hopes that it would keep the White Walkers at bay until their eventual awakening. HBO has warned in its synopsis that it will not be the story we think we know.

The pilot of the show, which filming had commenced during early summer this year has thus been completed. However, Casey Bloys who is HBO’s programming chief noted that the prequel series would only begin to air, at the very least, one year following the finale of the Game of Thrones series. However, he later said that having the upcoming prequel air just one year later would feel a little rushed.

From what we have been able to gather so far, the series is probably still in its preliminary stages of development. It would hardly come as a surprise to us if the prequel series arrives after a couple of years.

Also, George R.R. Martin had previously revealed on his Not a Blog that he did propose to HBO no less than five ideas for a Game of Thrones spin off. He added that three of them have been progressing quite nicely, with the other two apart from the prequel already in script-writing stages. However, he also said that he cannot provide further details as to what those stories are about.