We now know what the (first?) Game of Thrones prequel show is going to be about: the Age of Heroes, a period in the distant past that has become legend by the time Jon Snow and Daenerys and Tyrion and the rest came along. So sayeth HBO: “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.”
But even though we have a general period, the Age of Heroes lasted for for a long time, although the exact span is unknown. It ended anywhere between 2000 and 10000 years before the events of Game of Thrones. In other words, it’s about as far back as the life of Jesus Christ on the one end and the conclusion of the last ice age on the other. Kind of puts things into perspective, doesn’t it?
So with all that time to work with, which stories is HBO going to tell if the pilot turns into a full series? Let’s run through several, and decide if they would be a good idea.