Every Game of Thrones spin-off coming to HBO, ranked by hype level

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HBO is developing at least six Game of Thrones spinoff series, plus one play coming to the Broadway stage. Which should you be excited for?

It seems all TV lovers are ever talking about these days is spinoffs. Prequels, sequels, remakes, reboots?It’s like networks hardly ever pick up new stories. We’re surrounded by franchising expanding their universes, and Game of Thrones?is no exception, as HBO has several prequel series in development.

Note that it’s not clear whether the series we’re going to talk about will actually be greenlit, let alone make it to your TV screen. Look at what happened with Blood Moon, the first Game of Thrones?prequel: writers and crew were hired, actors were cast, and a pilot was shot in 2019, and then the network shut it down. As of now, the only spinoff we’re sure is coming is?House of the Dragon, about a Targaryen civil war that tore Westeros apart over 100 years before the original series.

Still, there’s a lot of irons in the fire. A Song of Ice and Fire author George R.R. Martin has?signed a five-year deal?to develop content for HBO, which probably means he’ll be working on some or all of these shows. His presence will surely ease the worries of some fans, but it’ll ultimately be up to the individual creative teams to make these series work.

Regardless of whether creating a Game of Thrones cinematic universe?is a good thing, let’s look at each of the upcoming shows and see if we can get a better feel for them.

10,000 Ships

Thousands of years ago, the warrior queen Nymeria crossed into Dorne from Essos, fleeing the dragonlords of Valyria. After she landed, she burned her ships, all 10,000 of them, so no cowards could slink home. What a woman. Dornish in spirit before she ever was in flesh.

10,000 Ships is the spin-off I?m the most excited for. Let me tell you a bit about the plot.

A thousand years before the events of Game of Thrones, long before the Targaryens came to Westeros, the continent was divided into a myriad of smaller countries always at war with each other. The biggest portion of Dorne was ruled by the Yronwoods of Yronwood, who styled themselves High Kings of Dorne. House Martell, which rules Dorne in the time of?Game of Thrones, was but a small vassal house.

Meanwhile, over in Essos, the second and bloody Spice War saw the Rhoynar — a people named for the land at the watershed of the Rhoyne river — defeated by the dragonlords of Valyria. With their army bested, Rhoynish Princess Nymeria of Ny Sar gathered what was left of her people and boarded ten thousand ships to lead them into exile. She landed in Dorne, where she allied herself with and later married Lord Mors Martell. That day, Nymeria burned her fleet, all ten thousand ships, to show the world that the Rhoynar now belonged in Dorne and there was no going back to Essos and Mother Rhoyne.

The Martells and the Rhoynar fought the other kingdoms of Dorne for about a decade, and with their strengths combined succeeded in unifying the land. From then on, the ruling house of Dorne became known as House Nymeros Martell — their insignia was the union of the Martell?s spear and the Rhoynar?s sun — and lorded over the land from their renamed seat of Sunspear. The ruling lord of House Yronwood kept the title of ?The Bloodroyal? to signal their lost status as high kings.

Nymeria styled herself and her husband as Princess and Prince, making Dorne a principality and not a kingdom as per Rhoynish custom. Adopting Rhoynish law, their firstborn daughter became their heir and ruled after them. Prince Mors died in battle, and Nymeria remarried with Lord Uller of Hellholt and then the Sword in the Morning, Lord Davos of House Dayne of Starfall, with whom she had a son.

10,000 Ships?could work really well as a limited series of 10 episodes, starting with Nymeria?s landing and ending with her being crowned Princess of Dorne, although it could also be split into multiple seasons if they were to start with the Second Spice War in Essos: season 1 could end with Nymeria burning her ten thousand ships, and the real Dornish war would begin in season 2.