Many of us are anticipating the premiere of Game of Throne's eighth season in equal parts excitement and dread. The award-winning show has become a staple in modern-day popular culture and has made an exigent mark in the world of television. Alas, all things come to an end. However, in the case of Game of Thrones, the end of one chapter, marks the start of a new one.
For quite some time now, reports of Game of Thrones spin-off shows have been circulating the media. Recently, HBO revealed that it had officially begun casting actors for roles in an upcoming prequel, The Long Night. "Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the Golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour," reads HBO's statement about the project. "And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s 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." Actor Naomi Watts is set to play “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret,” while actor Josh Whitehouse has also been brought on board.
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, George R.R. Martin revealed that the prequel will be set in an era about "5,000 years" before the events illustrated Game of Thrones occurred, adding that “Westeros is a very different place” in the prequel.“There’s no King’s Landing. There’s no Iron Throne. There are no Targaryens.”
“Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built,” he said. “We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”
