This week we got the absolute bombshell that HBO is in early development of a Game of Thrones sequel series about Jon Snow, with Kit Harington attached to reprise the role should the network greenlight the series. We’ve been doing all kinds of theorizing about Game of Thrones successor shows, but this one came in like a Targaryen on dragon-back and blasted away all our speculations.
Now, all bets are off. Yes, House of the Dragon is still on the way. As of this writing, that is the only confirmed Game of Thrones spinoff series that we are getting. HBO is developing a whole bunch of series, but as we saw with Blood Moon, they’re also not afraid to pull the plug if something’s not working. Despite fears that HBO is Disney-fying the Game of Thrones franchise, it seems like they’re trying very hard to be careful with how it proceeds.
But all that said, they’re developing a freaking Jon Snow sequel. What insane news.
Of course, if Jon is coming back and this series is set after Game of Thrones, that opens the door for other actors from the main series to return as well. Jon had ties to a whole lot of people in Westeros, and some of them are actually in positions where it might make sense to see them cross paths with him once more.
An awful lot will depend on when exactly this sequel is set, and what it chooses to focus on. It could just be a slice-of-life drama of Jon living in a bearskin hut in the woods for all we know. But we’re going to speculate anyway!
What characters from Game of Thrones might we see in the Jon Snow sequel? Who wouldn’t make any sense to have around? Let’s discuss!
Tormund Giantsbane
If there’s one character from Game of Thrones I would expect to see in a spinoff about Jon Snow, it’s Tormund Giantsbane (Kristofer Hivju). At the end of Game of Thrones, Jon was exiled to live out his life with the Night’s Watch as punishment for assassinating Daenerys Targaryen. The last we see of him, he’s riding north with the wildlings, possibly to escort them back to their homes before returning to Castle Black, possibly to join them. Tormund, the fiery, boisterous wildling warrior who was once an enemy of Jon’s before becoming one of his greatest allies, rode with him.
Given that the two ended the series together, it would make total sense for Tormund to crop up again. If Jon decided to live out his days beyond the Wall, why not hang with his buddy Tormund from time to time? Heck, maybe they even ended up in the same village, or as chieftains of neighboring camps. (We all know Jon can’t avoid having leadership thrust upon him, no matter how hard he tries.)
And if Jon ended up going back to the Night’s Watch or something similar, then hey, Tormund’s no stranger to the Crows. So long as Jon Snow stays in the area around the Wall, we’ll be betting on seeing Tormund.