George R. R. Martin as soon as promised on his weblog that he would not write anything till he completed his subsequent “A Music of Ice and Hearth” guide, “The Winds of Winter.” That was 10 years in the past. In fact, he is been busier than ever since then, between pondering whether or not to kill fan-favorite “Recreation of Thrones” characters who survived the “Music of Ice and Hearth” TV present adaptation, approving each change that “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” makes to his “Dunk and Egg” tales, feuding with the “Home of the Dragon” showrunners, and growing stage performs.
That is proper: Not content material with the countless cavalcade of canceled “Recreation of Thrones” TV spin-offs, or those presumably nonetheless occurring, Martin is now transferring to the world of reside theater. In his Not a Weblog, he revealed that he is working with The Royal Shakespeare Firm on “Recreation of Thrones: The Mad King.” Written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke, the stage play will function a prequel to “A Music of Ice and Hearth.” Extra particularly, it’s going to inform the story of the good tourney at Harrenhal, which Martin’s first “Music of Ice and Hearth” guide describes as a pivotal second in Westeros historical past. Thought of the best tourney of its time, this scandalous occasion introduced collectively the good homes of Westeros and is taken into account the prelude to Robert’s Riot.
That is, clearly, an enormous story that is by no means been absolutely advised earlier than and guarantees to be filled with twists and turns that paint different “Recreation of Thrones” tasks in an entire new gentle. And but, that itself begs the query: Why carry this story to life as a stage play that few followers will get to expertise? Certainly, by being offered this fashion, “The Man King” might both damage or save the franchise.
What number of Recreation of Thrones spin-offs do we’d like?
This might all go certainly one of two methods. Within the worst-case state of affairs, “The Mad King” would possibly really feel a bit like “Stranger Issues: The First Shadow,” a play that explored “Stranger Issues” huge dangerous Vecna’s backstory and was important to understanding the present’s last season. Besides, most people had no method of seeing the play earlier than the ultimate season of “Stranger Issues” premiered (and a professionally filmed model of “The First Shadow” is barely now coming to Netflix), so that they ended up lacking out on some essential story particulars.
To be clear, the tourney at Harrenhal is not only some cool factor that occurred previous to the occasions of “Recreation of Thrones.” Actually, it is the important thing to understanding the present’s complete plot. To recap: The tourney ended with Prince Rhaegar Targaryen giving his favor to Lyanna Stark regardless of her being betrothed to a different man and him being already married to a different girl. A 12 months later, Rhaegar was believed to have kidnapped Lyanna, which, in flip, incited Robert Baratheon to steer a bigger riot towards the realm’s Targaryen rulers, almost wiping them out and seizing the crown for himself. “Recreation of Thrones” has since revealed that Rhaegar and Lyanna have been really in love (with Package Harington’s Jon Snow being their son), however “The Mad King” might provide way more perception into the incident and characters that set this complete plot in movement.
On the identical time, “Recreation of Thrones” is now in peril of being franchised to loss of life, with each single element of its story giving rise to a spin-off that is deemed mandatory for understanding all the things else. We have already got George R.R. Martin’s authentic books and a number of TV spin-offs (with much more within the works); is not that sufficient homework already?
Alternatively, The Mad King might give Recreation of Thrones followers what they have been ready for
Thoughts you, that is not the one method of this venture. Alternatively, you could possibly consider “The Mad Sort” as an surprising present to followers. Significantly, let’s not child ourselves: George R.R. Martin can promise he is making progress on “The Winds of Winter” all he desires, however who is aware of if he’ll ever really end the “Music of Ice and Hearth” novels. All the identical, that should not stop of us from attending to be taught extra concerning the bigger “Recreation of Thrones” universe and its historical past.
One of many stars of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” has already unintentionally spoiled a vital plot level from Martin’s upcoming works, so what’s just a few extra spoilers? Sure, the creator may be planning to disclose all there’s to know concerning the Harrenhal tourney in “The Winds of Winter” or his last “Music of Ice and Hearth” guide, “A Dream of Spring,” however a minimum of we now know for sure we’ll be getting these particulars because of “The Mad King.” Moreover, it is potential that Martin had solely beforehand supposed to inform this story in a companion guide like “The World of Ice & Hearth.” In comparison with that, a stage manufacturing — one developed by the famend Royal Shakespeare Firm, no much less — is a a lot sweeter deal.
Maybe Martin’s fantasy world is just too huge for a single medium, and all that these spin-offs will actually do is enrich it. In that case, “The Mad King” might provide followers the possibility to be taught extra about its historical past with out having to attend an eternity for Martin to (perhaps) end his books.
