A writer for one of Game of Thrones’ shelved prequels teases that the series could still see the light of day.
Despite its lukewarm final season, HBO’s Game of Thrones still ended with the promise of multiple spinoffs. A writer for a scrapped prequel teases what could have been an epic show set in ancient Westeros.
It’s almost four years since HBO’s Game of Thrones ended, but some fans have yet to recover from the show’s underwhelming final episodes. House of the Dragon has redeemed faith in a franchise that was initially slated for multiple spinoffs; fortunately, some of these are in different stages of development, but others have been shelved or outright rejected. In an interview with Inverse, one of the writers of Ten Thousand Ships reveals more details about the proposed prequel, which draws heavy inspiration from the Sinbad films, Homer’s The Odyssey, and Moses’ Exodus.
Brian Helgeland said HBO thought their pitch for the show was too far of an offshoot from Game of Thrones. “It came out great, but I think they felt the period of my show was too far removed from the pillars of the original,” he said. Development for the prequel started as early as March 2022, and George R.R. Martin even said drafts for the script were already completed. Helgeland confirmed the project is indefinitely shelved but hopes it’s revived with the success of House of the Dragon. “That’s why it hasn’t been picked up yet, but nothing is ever dead,” he asserted. “I met with George R.R. Martin to pitch him the idea, which he signed off on. Sadly, I didn’t work with him closer, but I would have done if the show was picked up.”
A Spinoff Show About (Very) Ancient Westeros
Helgeland said his script expanded on an entry about Queen Nymeria in a Westeros encyclopedia. Based on the concept, the plot would have been similar to the story of Moses’ exodus out of Egypt and the journey to the promised land, which they only entered after much hardship. “Essentially, it was the story of Moses but swapping him out for Nymeria,” he confirmed. “Her country gets ruined and her people are forced to live on the water, which is why the show was called Ten Thousand Ships. They end up having to leave and find a new home like the Israelites leaving Egypt.”
Ten Thousand Ships would have also drawn from the Arabian Nights and Homeric epics, Helgeland added. “It was kind of like Ray Harryhausen’s Sinbad films mixed with The Odyssey,” he explained. “In a way, Nymeria is Odysseus, but instead of a 12-person crew, she’s responsible for every citizen in this floating city-state.” The project’s status remains shelved along with the Jon Snow spinoff, which was recently abandoned after two years in development. “My work is still there if HBO wants to pick it up,” Helgeland said. “I enjoyed my time developing it, and you just never know.”
