It looks like the upcoming Game of Thrones play may have a wider scope than fans first believed!
As much as we all want The Winds of Winter to arrive, it’s still exciting to see George R.R. Martin expand the world of Game of Thrones in other ways. That includes the upcoming production Game of Thrones: The Mad King, produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company, to debut later in 2026.
The play is set about 18 years before the start of the main A Song of Ice and Fire books, examining the Great Tourney at Harrenhal, an event that basically kicked off Robert’s Rebellion.
Speaking to adaptor Duncan Macmillan, director Dominic Cooke, and RSC Co-Artistic Director Tamara Harvey, Martin shared how fans can expect some character deaths in the play, yet it may be longer than expected!
“The people who managed to survive the the play, and some of them show up later, but, there are a number of Starks which is the central family in the books," Martin said. "Remember it's like 17 years before. There are, of course, Lannisters, Targaryens, Prince Rhaegar, the crown prince [Rhaegar Targaryen] is a big one. Jaime Lannister, a name you might recognize, but he's just a teenager in, in this...and Robert, of course...Robert lived through the whole thing.”
The intriguing part of this is Martin’s statement about those who “managed to survive the play," and return later on. This teases that rather than only focus on the Great Tourney itself, the play will focus on the immediate aftermath, since there are no known deaths which occur during the games.
Will we see more of The Mad King?
Obviously, a play called The Mad King is going to put the focus on Aerys II Targaryen. His brutal actions were fueled by paranoia by a mysterious Knight of the Laughing Tree who arrived at the tourney. Also, Prince Rhaegar named Lyanna Stark the Queen of Love and Beauty, which upset Robert and sparked his Rebellion.
The tournament itself lasted ten days, which is a good time to unfold for a stage production. Brutal deaths can only be expected (this is Game of Thrones), and history tells us of a few players who wouldn’t be around for the later saga.
Yet given the title, it’s possible the play doesn’t only focus on the tourney itself. It would follow the aftereffects from Jamie Lannister joining the Kingsguard to Robert making the decision to rebel with Ned Stark at his side. Showing the political intrigue would be quite compelling, as we know the Rebellion only in broad strokes, not in detail.
What drove Robert to go against the Targaryens? How did he convince Ned and others to band with him in a rebellion that could very well have destroyed the North? Just what was Aerys’ council doing during all of this? And could we actually see the moment Jaime earned the name Kingslayer to save the kingdom?
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child proved you can make a fantasy epic work well on stage as much as on film or television. If anything, a three-hour play is a good framework for this tale, not too bloated while still having enough time to detail more on this key event in the saga.
We’ll see how it turns out. It's interesting to think that The Mad King may be bigger in scope than Game of Thrones fans expected.
Game of Thrones: The Mad King is set to debut later in 2026.