Watch a 20-minute animated pilot about the Doom of Valyria

Game of Thrones season 7 is right around the corner, and the cast and crew have been gearing up by giving interviews. Lots of lots of interviews. They’re great fun, but let’s take a break from interviews with morning and sample YouTuber Patrick McCarthy’s Doom of Valyria, an animated short film about the cataclysmic event that obliterated the most powerful empire in the World of Ice and Fire at the height of its magnificence.

Conceived as a pilot for an animated series, McCarthy and his collaborators spent two years working on this, which means they began long before HBO announced it was developing five different Game of Thrones prequel ideas. Might the Doom of Valyria be one of them? Doom of Valyria makes me hope the answer is yes.

We know that this story will climax with the Valyrian Freehold being consumed in a massive volcanic eruption so devastating that not even the dragons escaped, but this video posits that there were plenty of problems inside Valyria as well. Like the Roman Empire, it crumbled from both within and without. Based on this pilot, the show would have the same mix of politics, character drama, and fantasy elements that have made Game of Thrones such a success.

Next: Red Carpet Rundown: The Game of Thrones season 7 premiere event

I could totally see this as a full series, as we follow Daenys the Dreamer, Lord Aenar Targaryen, and others as they slowly come to the realization that they have to get the hell out of dodge before the whole thing blows. If you’re still looking for ideas, HBO, here’s a good place to start.