One potential Game of Thrones prequel has Bryan Cogman on board

Is there now a favorite Game of Thrones prequel to eventually find its way on the air? Signs seem to suggest so due to Bryan Cogman. The prolific show producers and writer has been a part of the HBO show for much of its run, starting back in season 1 as an assistant to showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss. he’s written more episodes than anyone on the show (save for the aforementioned pair) and is a scholar of Westeros lore and the work of George R.R. Martin. Entertainment Weekly first confirmed the news, with Cogman already quietly working on story for this upcoming series.

In a post on his official blog, Martin confirmed the Cogman news and described more his close involvement in that project:

“I’d love to tell you more about the series Bryan will be working on… but we haven’t done that for the other four successor shows [in development], so we shouldn’t for this one either. All in good time. 

“I can say that, like the other pilots, it will be a prequel rather than sequel, a successor rather than a spinoff. Bryan’s series will be an adaptation, and one that will thrill most fans of the books, I think, set during a very exciting period of Westerosi history. And I’ll be working with him every step of the way; we’re going to be co-creating the show.”

For the time being, it does feel absolutely fair to say that Martin’s heavy involvement here, even if he is working to some degree on some of the other prequel projects, along with Cogman makes this project the favorite. HBO already knows that Bryan has the capacity to tell great stories within this world, and he has the respect of some of the series’ longtime fans. More than likely they are only going to choose one of these projects, and we figure that the field will probably be narrowed down over time as the network figures out which stories they are the most interested in telling.

While going the prequel route is somewhat frustrating given that it does take away some of the drama of how the story ends, we do very much understand why in the world they’re going in this direction. After all, remember that Game of Thrones season 8 is the final season and meant to tie together that story. If the idea is to have the Game of Thrones finale really be conclusive, you can’t just have another show pick up where it left off. That somehow makes everything feel a little bit more insignificant. We don’t anticipate that a prequel series will be able to produce better ratings than most of the original series’ episodes, but we don’t think that HBO expects that, either. Even if the show draws only 33% of the original’s audience it will still be considered a rather impressive hit.

What do you think about Bryan Cogman getting on board now?

Be sure to share some of your thoughts on the subject now in the comments! Meanwhile, be sure to head over to the link here in the event you do want to get some additional news when it comes to the show.