Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss say they won’t be heading a Game of Thrones spinoff — but GRRM hints that more stories are coming.
Though there are currently no confirmed plans for a spinoff of HBO’s epic fantasy series, Game of Thrones‘ incredible popularity and critical success have sent rumors circulating for years. When Game of Thrones season 6 took home its second Emmy Award for best drama last night, Benioff and Weiss took a moment to share their thoughts on a spinoff.
Or rather, their lack of thoughts on a spinoff.
“You might want to ask [George R.R. Martin] about that,” Benioff said on the subject, according to TVLine. “It’s a great world that George created. It’s a very rich world. I’m sure there will be other series set in Westeros.”
“But for us, this is it.”
This news comes as something of a twist in the meta-narrative of Game of Thrones and any forthcoming spinoffs. Though Benioff and Weiss have faced fan criticism in the past for altering and moving past material in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire books, the creative team have championed the series since its inception.
Strange as it seems on the heels of their second Emmy victory, Benioff and Weiss undertook a real creative risk in dedicating themselves to Game of Thrones. Back in the show’s early stages, fantasy and serious drama were frequently seen as incompatible, and HBO was reportedly quite skeptical of the project.
(Oh, how times have changed.)
In contrast, Martin has moved away from the HBO adaptation somewhat in recent years. Though he remains an executive producer on Game of Thrones, the author has not scripted an episode of the show since season 4, and generally demures when questioned about changes to the story.
But with the end-times of Game of Thrones proper in sight (the series will conclude with two shortened seasons beginning next year) Martin seems to be back in the mix.
“There’s a wealth of material there” for a Game of Thrones spinoff, he told press at the Emmys. “And I’m still writing more.”
Martin isn’t wrong. With the incredible depth and breadth of his fantasy world, the possibilities for a Game of Thrones spinoff are almost endless. From the formative events of Robert’s Rebellion, to the Tales of Dunk and Egg, and even Aegon Targaryen’s dramatic and dragon-y conquest of Westeros, HBO’s question is almost definitely not “How?” but “Which?”
Still, Martin cautions patience among fans waiting for news of a Game of Thrones spinoff.
“At the moment, we still have this show to finish,” he says, “and I still have two more books to finish.”
Oh yeah, we’d totally forgotten about that.