We know that once Season 8 ended, HBO immediately began work on further "Game of Thrones" content, including a failed spin-off series starring Naomi Watts and a green-lit spin-off centered on the Targaryen family's history, which will be published as "House of the Dragon" early this year.
Ryan Condal and Miguel Sapochnik operate "House of the Dragon," and there are several other spin-offs in the works. There were so many that it was unclear whether David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, the original "Game of Thrones" showrunners, would ever return to Westeros. That question has finally been answered.
"We were about 11 years old when we did that performance. When I say 11 years, I mean 11 years of nonstop action, all day, every day. It was the most exciting ten years of our lives. It still feels a little like a dream, but we arrived at a point when it was evident that we had exhausted the scope of what made sense for us to be associated with in that universe. It just felt like it was time for us to move on and get enthusiastic and anxious about constructing something else.
That's very understandaThat's a significant amount of time to devote to anything, let alone a single television show. Also, Weiss and Benioff also got a lot of backlash for how they ended things so I'm sure that left a little sour taste in their mouths as well.
This, however, is only a good thing. On the "Game of Thrones" side, Benioff and Weiss stepping away from the spin-offs allows others to play in George R.R. Martin's sandbox, while Benioff and Weiss can focus on new creative projects that energize them in the same way they did when they began their decade-plus long "Game of Thrones" journey.
The next "Game of Thrones" property, "House of the Dragon," will star Emma D'Arcy, Olivia Cooke, Matt Smith, Paddy Considine, Steve Toussaint, Rhys Ifans, and Eve Best, among others. The series is slated to broadcast on HBO and HBO Max in 2022.
