The wider Game of Thrones universe is finally interesting again — it’s about time
Two years ago, it seemed as if Game of Thrones failed to capitalise on the original series’ enormous success. At last, there are green shoots.
Seven years on from the finale of Game of Thrones, the Westeros industrial complex is alive, well and breathing fire.
For a while, it seemed as if the Game of Thrones legacy wasn’t going to be able to hold strong, which seemed unfathomable given how enormously successful the original series was. It would not be hyperbole to suggest it was the most commercially influential TV event of the 2010s.
And yet, years on from Bran Stark sitting atop if not the literal then the metaphorical Iron Throne, it was looking like the brand had failed to capitalise on the legacy, and the world and pop culture discourse was moving on from Game of Thrones.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Think back to where we were two years ago. House of the Dragon had just wrapped its second season run and the overwhelming feeling was one of… disappointment.
The long-promised cinematic showdown between the Targaryens’ dragons had been withheld, and fans were asking if they had wasted their time on something so anti-climactic.
It seemed as if the most dramatic thing about that world was the feud that broke out into the open between George R.R. Martin and HotD showrunner Ryan Condal, a month after the season two finale.
The beef was something esoteric to most people – changes the series made which excised a minor character that, in the books, would later drive a different character, Helaena’s, fate.
Martin was mad enough to pen 2000-plus words on his blog to that effect, although he later deleted it whether because he personally regretted it or someone else made a call and said, “Mate, maybe not, eh?”.
The aforementioned Helaena still ended up where she needed to be, and if there was one less ice-blonde Targaryen with a similar name and countenance to every other Targaryen in the show, we didn’t lose out from his non-existence.
The third season, which finished yesterday, was also better received and there seems to be renewed enthusiasm for a series that has failed to punch through the zeitgeist like its predecessor.
More encouragingly, HotD is no longer the only Game of Thrones spin-off property, for all those OG fans who actually aren’t that interested in the incestuous family whose individual members are really difficult to tell apart.
Yes, we get why, but there really should be a ban on having so many characters with variations of the same name – Rhaenyra/Rhaenys/Rhaena, Alys/Alicent, Daeron/Daemon, Aemond/Aegon.
After years, treatments, scripts and even one expensive failed pilot, the larger Game of Thrones narrative universe is finally firing, and in more than one direction.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdom, released at the start of the year, was genuinely a great series which took a very different tone and approach.
It was accessible, grounded and spanned six episodes which melded comedy and drama, with a likeable protagonist in Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight who had a simple ambition to be the best knight he could be.
There were familiar names with Westerosi clans popping up (a Baratheon here, a Tully there, still too many Targaryens), but it told a contained story about a jousting tournament, and one secret prince.
It emphasised character growth rather than convoluted plots, and no one was expecting a dragon fight, so no one was disappointed. It was relatively light on CGI altogether.
The series, created by Martin and Ira Parker, from Martin’s novellas has a lightness and agility to it, and it was exactly the right entry point back into the Game of Thrones universe if you’ve been out of it for a while.
And now there is genuine excitement for more instalments of A Knight of the Seven Kingdom, and it’s great that the brand can accommodate a different tone. If you think back to the original TV series, it always had space for wry humour, just think of the odd pairing of Arya Stark and The Hound. HotD was sorely missing that.
But if you are more a hardcore fan in the HotD political machinations, those visiting the UK might want to shell out for tickets to the just opened stage production, Game of Thrones: The Mad King.
Presented by the Royal Shakespeare Company (and what is GoT if not very Shakespearean in its themes), the play began previews in mid-July and premiered early this week.
It’s set a decade before Game of Thrones at a tournament in Harrenhal, where anxiety about King Aerys II’s erratic and violent behaviour. The plotting begins, a rebellion, Robert’s Rebellion, if you will, is afoot.
The reviews have largely been decent, although some critics took issue with its runtime (three hours and 40 minutes requires a lot of patience).
While few Australian fans will be able to see this London production (it ends on September 5 and tickets are already sold out), it does point to a brand machinery that’s cranking. It took a while but it’s getting there.
The one aspect that’s missing? The long-promised and just as long-delayed sixth novel in the main book series, The Winds of Winter.
A few days ago, Martin did his first personal post on his blog in six months to explain that he had been coping with depression and grief, so is, understandably, not feeling that productive. The wait continues.
