Winter is coming for Game of Thrones fans. The hit HBO series is entering its eighth and final season come April of 2019, and everybody is just bursting with anticipation.
Will Khaleesi finally take her rightful throne? Is her lineage with Jon Snow going to prevent that from happening? Is everything moot and this is actually the Night King’s story all along?
That and more leave the final installment – to be broken down over just six epic episodes – open to a litany of possibilities.
The only thing I’m sure of is that fans need to get ready for a lot of heartbreak and a whole lot of death. And you thought The Red Wedding was bad.
As nasty (and awesome) as season eight of GoT is set up to be, I can’t help but wonder where else this universe could take us. There has long been chatter about numerous Game of Thrones spin-off shows, and one was just announced with Naomi Watts being featured.
That’s a big haul for an untitled Game of Thrones project, and something tells me it’s really just scratching the surface of where HBO could go with the power of this series.
That got me to thinking about which characters would make sense for direct spin-offs as story continuations as well as prequels that could cover a large portion of time without the story leaking into the current Game of Thrones timeline.
After all, Breaking Bad managed to do it with Better Call Saul, and The Walking Dead did it in a sense with Fear the Walking Dead. Prequels and spin-offs can work, but the big question is whether you just start fresh with a brand-new cast of rising unknowns or try to pull an established star into a new project.
My vote is for the latter, and I’ve got five awesome characters that could work in a Game of Thrones prequel or spin-off. Just refer to my old Game of Thrones death odds blog to offer some perspective on which characters may or may not last beyond this season’s finale.
I won’t cheat you here, as the one-armed Lannister and his brash sidekick operate as a fantastic duo. I’ll also admit that these are two high-level foot soldiers – one an esteemed Lannister who has fought in many a war and another a traveling assassin.
Both of these gentlemen have brushed with death many times, but they’ve always come out safe in the end. They’ve also provided exceptional wit and humor where you’d normally least expect it.
Think “buddy cop movie,” but in the GoT world with a whole different agenda on hand. This would have to involve neither of these guys dying in the final season of GoT, though, because the actual timeline of their friendship doesn’t stretch out very long.
SportsBetting.ag has Bronn pretty high on the “first to perish” odds at +1000, but Jaime is just +5000.
That doesn’t mean both of these guys can’t get killed off before the iconic series draws to a close, but here’s to keeping our fingers crossed that two of the funnest characters survive and move on to their own series.
I’m giving you a discount with two for one again here with the Stark sisters. Is it overly likely that one or both of these ladies lasts through the end of Game of Thrones? No, but they are such amazing characters that we can hope they survive.
Sophie Turner morphed into quite the powerful presence as elder sister Sansa. The way this show is headed, she could either be a huge casualty or a major source of strength for Westeros.
She has the poise and decision-making to lead, and she has some sharp wit. You could absolutely build a brand-new series around her.
The same goes for Arya. The actress has complained in the past that she is concerned her looks may keep her from getting traditional work, so you better believe she’d be down for remaining in this fantasy world.
Not just that, but who wouldn’t want to see little Arya Stark wielding that tiny sword, whether it be as a hired assassin or carrying out vengeance in the name of her family.
A prequel is obviously out of the question. The only way you do that is if you recast the sisters and cover their early years, but nothing exciting happened back then.
The solution here is to get Turner and Williams on board for their own series. They just need to make it out of GoT alive first.
This one is a versatile pick because Seaworth can bring with him a lot of fantastic characters from before his world collided with Westeros.
You can start things off with the former pirate traveling the seas with his crew, build on his relationship with his now deceased son, have him interacting with Stannis Baratheon, or even bring in the Red Witch.
I think a Sir Davos show would work best as a prequel, though. He’s admittedly not a fighter and will be put in harm’s way in season eight of Game of Thrones, so it’s quite likely he doesn’t make it.
He has a poetic way about him, and while I have my reservations about him carrying a show on his own, I think he could be a key piece to an old GoT tale.
Bring in everything House Baratheon to spice things up, too, and we can travel back a bit to make sure there’s plenty of story to work with.
I will admit there are a lot of more high-profile GoT characters you’re probably thinking of, but let’s keep in mind that a lot of their stories will have dried up by now. That, or they’ll simply be dead.
I can’t see The Hound making it out of Game of Thrones alive. Death by fire (ironically enough), a last stand against his brother (The Mountain), or simply dying in the fight with the white walkers – all of that creates a pretty ugly probability of him lasting much longer.
But we can always take this character back in time.
This is a story of horror, violence, sadness, and retribution. Perhaps we’ve seen enough by the end of the Game of Thrones finale, but going back to The Hound’s old world would give us insight to a ton of characters and situations we’ve merely heard about.
The days of the Mad King open things up for a whole new GoT perspective, and we can follow The Hound’s trajectory throughout it.
As a pivot, I’d also consider Brienne of Tarth here.
I’m not seriously considering Brienne of Tarth because the only way she’s a viable character to build a series around is if she survives the Game of Thrones season eight finale.
That’s no guarantee, and even if she does, her main reason for hanging around (keeping promises) might evaporate before her very eyes.
We know what comes of the Wildlings, but we’ve only heard stories of how we got to this point. There is so much story out there, and it can include Tormund, Jon Snow’s old lover, The Night’s Watch, and so much more.
The other side of the wall offers a brand-new narrative that can be slow-played over generations. Whether it uses Giantsbane or not is actually irrelevant, but he’s a great character that could successfully lead the way.
I lied. I’m giving you six stand-alone Game of Thrones spin-off options, while I’m offering up eight characters in all that could see their story continued, whether by moving forward or going back in time.
My choice is Tyrion. Your favorite politician is a threat to bravely lead the new world as a survivor after the current Game of Thrones series concludes, and if he doesn’t survive, there is still so much story to cover from his past.
That could bring back all of the Lannisters and cover a ton of story that we’ve only caught glimpses of. Tyrion is an ageless character that is tiny in stature but massive in spirit and intellect.
This is one that I’d prefer to see move on as a future story, but I think it’d work as a spin-off or prequel.
I’m not trying to toss Jon Snow, Khaleesi, and so many others to the side. I just think their stories are either being completed or that their past stories don’t leave enough wiggle room to really build an entire series around.
It’s like trying to build an entire show around Joan of Arc. That, um, wouldn’t last very long.
Instead, consider some of the smaller GoT characters that deserve to be featured more or simply have a lot of story left to unravel. I also like the idea of going back in time to certain eras where annoying or intellectual characters like Littlefinger or Varys could pop up and make fun cameos.
Either way, I’m personally not ready to call it quits with Game of Thrones.
The story is engrossing, and these characters are just so captivating. If I’m the shot-caller at HBO, I’m dreaming up a few potential series that could basically franchise some of these characters and extend their marketing impact.
The ones I’ve discussed above are my favorites, and to me, they seem the most logical. I’m honestly down for any of the GoT regulars to continue on in some fashion, though.
This series as it stands is ending, but there could still be so much ground to cover. Let’s just hope the HBO decision-makers make the right calls and go about it in the best way possible.
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