Although Game of Thrones will be coming to an end in just a few short weeks, HBO isn't ready to leave the world of Westeros behind. Nearly two years ago, the network began developing several Game of Thrones spin-offs with the aim that one, or several, would serve as a successor to the main series. One of those potential shows was in the hands of Bryan Cogman, a writer on Game of Thrones since the first season, but he recently confirmed to THR that his spinoff is dead in the water.
I'm definitely leaving. I was developing one of the successor shows with George. George has worked with a bunch of the writers, including Jane, whose show is being done [as a pilot]. My prequel show is not happening and will not happen. HBO decided to go a different way… So, it is a goodbye. I am done with Westeros. It's wonderfully bittersweet. I'll certainly miss it, but I'm excited to go out on my own and try to be in the captain's chair of my own projects, armed with everything I've learned.
"I've learned more than I could possibly imagine from eight seasons of this thing," Cogman continued. "It's been wonderful to look back and watch some of the old episodes, and see some of our old friends at the premiere recently, and to know that we've done something good. We've done good work that people enjoy. That's all an entertainer can ever hope for. I'm eager to start the next chapter, but a part of my heart will always live with Game of Thrones. That's one of the reasons why this episode was so important to me. It was a goodbye and a love letter to these characters and to this cast." Cogman penned the most recent episode of the final season, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which now serves as his last piece of work in the world of Westeros.
Although Bryan Cogman's Game of Thrones spinoff isn't moving forward, HBO did give a pilot order to a prequel series which will take place thousands of years prior to the main series and chronicle "the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend–it’s not the story we think we know." Jane Goldman (KINGSMAN: THE GOLDEN CIRCLE) will be taking the reins of the pilot which includes Naomi Watts (THE BOOK OF HENRY), Jamie Campbell Bower (FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD), Miranda Richardson (CHURCHILL), Naomi Ackie (STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER), Georgie Henley (CHRONICLES OF NARNIA), and John Simm (Doctor Who) among its cast. The third episode of Game of Thrones' final season will air on HBO on April 28th.