HBO was developing a Game of Thrones spinoff set in Braavos at one point

This past summer, Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin visited Europe for, as he puts it on his Not a Blog, both "business and pleasure," as has been the case for almost every trip he's taken in the past couple of decades. He visited his overseas publishers and stopped by the set of the new Game of Thrones prequel show A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but he also got to make like a tourist and explore the great cities of Europe, including Amsterdam in the Netherlands.

Martin implies that Amsterdam is one of the inspirations for Braavos, the coastal city where Arya Stark trained as a Faceless Man in Martin's Song of Ice and Fire books and on Game of Thrones. Apparently it has more canals than even Venice, Italy, which is the city a lot of people assume Braavos is based on. You learn something new every day.

In his new blog post, Martin reveals that, at one time, HBO was even developing a Game of Thrones prequel show set in Braavos:

"One of these days I need to write that story about Braavos we were developing for HBO.   They shelved that one a couple of years back, alas, but that does not mean I won’t go back to it… after WINDS OF WINTER is done, of course."

As ever, the jury is out on when Martin may finish The Winds of Winter, the long-gestating sixth book in his Song of Ice and Fire series. If that comes to pass and Martin feels like writing a story about Braavos, I'll read it. But let's take this one step at a time.

How many Game of Thrones spinoffs are in development?

HBO has worked on a number of Game of Thrones prequels and spinoffs since the original show ended in 2019. One of them, House of the Dragon, just wrapped up its second season. Another, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, will air next year. But there are others percolating in the background. Here are the ones we've heard about:

• A live-action show about Aegon the Conqueror
• A live-action series called Ten Thousand Ships about Nymeria of the Rhoynar, the queen who led her people from Essos to Dorne
• An animated show about the adventures of young Corlys Velaryon, played as an older man by Steve Toussaint on House of the Dragon. This one's called The Sea Snake.
• An animated series about the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, a far-flung place in Martin's mythology that's barely touched on in A Song of Ice and Fire or Fire & Blood

According to Martin, there's one more live-action series and two other animated shows in development beyond what I've listed here. There's no gaurantee that any of these of will make it to air; in fact, we already know that HBO has shelved plenty of ideas along the way. There's the aborted Braavos show, which we just learned about. HBO made a pilot for a prequel called Blood Moon but didn't go ahead with it, and they've shelved the idea of a Jon Snow sequel show. But in the future, who knows what'll happen?

Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin reunites with Carice van Houten (Melisandre)

While in Amsterdam, Martin got to meet up with Dutch actress, who played the Red Woman Melisandre on Game of Thrones. They look in good spirits:

Finally, I want to mention this little passage where Martin talks about how this vacation helped him relax and forget "all the conflict that I had been dealing with for the past half year":

"Despite the glories of Amsterdam, many a night I found myself unable to sleep after my minions had headed off to bed.  Instead I wandered out to  my balcony, and sat looking out on the moonlit city while I mulled life and art and the woes of the world.   It was a welcome respite from all the conflict that I had been dealing with for the past half year."

We can't know exactly what Martin is talking about, but recently he's spoken up about his issues with the direction that House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal is taking his Game of Thrones prequel, so that's probably part of it. That show will likely return in 2026. Whether they'll heed Martin's concerns remains to be seen.

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