More Than Two Months Past Game of Thrones Finale: Are You Still Suffering from Withdrawal?

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Game of Thrones Withdrawal

Symptoms include low energy, headaches and irritability. If you don’t think you’re suffering that last one, ask your family or friends. They may have an answer different than yours.

But here’s some news that may cure your ills: Filming of the GAME OF THRONES prequel has begun in Belfast. It won’t have Jon Snow or Arya Stark, but maybe you can be satisfied that you’re dealing with the same bloodline, albeit a bloodline that is thousands of years older.

Before you place any bets on the prequel, such as which of your favorite characters turned out to be chips off the (very) old block, read an Intertops review, one of SBR’s top rated sportsbooks for entertainment wagers.

And be warned, there will be speculation and spoilers in this article.

The series, planned to air sometime in 2020, will be set at least 5,000 years before the time viewers spent in Westeros.

The official description from HBO says the prequel “chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.”

The description continues: “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, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know.”

See, don’t fret, you’ll recognize at least one surname and maybe realize errors of judgment then that ultimately repeated themselves generations later in the series just ended.

George R. R. Martin, the author of the books behind the HBO series and an executive producer on the prequel, spoke recently with Entertainment Weekly and confirmed the new series will have characters from the Stark lineage – the pre-pre-pre Brans and Sansas.

“The Starks will definitely be there,” he said. One family that won’t be in the prequel – the Lannisters.

Martin explained that the Lannister clan was founded by Lann the Clever who ended up controlling Casterly Rock, which will be part of the prequel.

“The Lannisters aren’t there yet,” Martin told EW. “But Casterly Rock is certainly there, it’s like the Rock of Gibraltar. It’s actually occupied by the Casterlys – for whom it’s still named later in the time of ‘Game of Thrones.’”

Viewers also can expect to see the White Walkers, who played a significant role in “Game of Thrones.”

Actors we know who are in the prequel: Naomi Watts (“King Kong,” “The Impossible”), John Simm (“Doctor Who,” “Life on Mars”), Miranda Richardson (“Harry Potter” film series), Naomi Ackie (“Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker”), Denise Gough (“Angels in America”), Jamie Campbell Bower (“Twilight”), Sheila Atim (“Harlots”),  Ivanno Jeremiah (“Black Mirror”), Toby Regbo (“Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grinelwald”), and Alex Sharp (“To The Bone”).

Watts’ character is described as a “charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret.”  Thanks for nothing, HBO.

“Obviously the White Walkers are here — or as they’re called in my books, The Others — and that will be an aspect of it,” Martin said, adding: “There are things like direwolves and mammoths.”

Some other tidbits AKA rumors:

  • The series will either be called “Bloodmoon” or “The Longest Night” with more consensus on “Bloodmoon”
  • Instead of seven kingdoms there will be hundreds of kingdoms in the new series
  • The prequel may include the Children of the Forest, elf-like creatures who created the White Walkers
  • Do not expect to see characters or actors from GOT in this series (this blows up a theory that Melisandre was so long-lived she could appear in in the prequel)

But Martin stresses to fans to remember that “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. We’re dealing with a different and older world and hopefully that will be part of the fun of the series.”

Time will tell, Mr. Martin. Time will tell.