Every cancelled Game of Thrones spin-off: all the axed Westeros shows from Bloodmoon to Seven Gods series

As Game of Thrones drew to a close in 2019, HBO aimed to continue the legacy of George RR Martin’s sprawling fantasy world. There was plenty of source material and concepts to work on, with pivotal events in Westerosi history often discussed in the main show.

Several major projects were brainstormed, with ideas ranging over 8,000 years of untapped history, but so far, five years on from the Game of Thrones finale, only one spin-off, House of the Dragon, has got off the ground.

Whilst several other prequels and sequels are in the works, many more were dead on arrival - these are all the spinoffs that got cancelled before they got the chance to air.

Bloodmoon

Bloodmoon was the most successful cancelled Game of Thrones spinoff, which is probably little consolation to those involved in the project. The series, which was set to star Naomi Watts and John Simm among others, was to be set in the Age of Heroes, 8,000 years before Thrones.

The show would have explored the Long Night, where winter lasted for a generation and White Walkers advanced south, threatening the entire continent, and would have culminated with the Battle for the Dawn, first defeat of the White Walkers, and the construction of The Wall and founding of the Night’s Watch. Despite a pilot being shot, the series was officially cancelled in 2019.

The Seven

As HBO was looking for something with a Game of Thrones connection but with a vastly different concept, the idea of a series on The Seven, the Gods of the dominant faith in Westeros, seemed like a winner.

The show would have followed the seven gods - the Father, Mother, Warrior, Smith, Maiden, Crone, and Stranger - in human form as they walked the world of Westeros, and explored how they came to be worshipped across the continent. In the end the idea didn’t get off the ground, and maybe that’s for the best as it could have faced comparisons to the dysfunctional superhero team The Seven, who feature in Amazon Prime series The Boys.

Empire of Ash

One of the most mysterious events hinted at in Game of Thrones and Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire novels is the Doom of Valyria. This was the cataclysmic destruction of Old Valyria in a single day 400 years before Game of Thrones takes place. 

Valyria was an ancient civilization and home to dragonrider houses such as the Targaryens - who fled to Dragonstone ahead of the doom, and were the only dragonlords to survive the event. The series could have answered what happened during the Doom and taken a more in depth look at the culture of the dragonlords beyond the Targaryens.

Aegon’s Conquest

The world inhabited by the characters we grew to love and hate in Game of Thrones was shaped by Aegon’s Conquest, essentially the Westerosi equivalent to the conquest of Britain by William the Conqueror in 1066. One pitch for a spinoff explored the Targaryen conquest of the continent, 300 years before Game of Thrones begins.

This period is also explored in Fire and Blood, and would have featured Aegon I and his sisters Visenyar and Rhaenys, whom he also married, the capitulation of six of the Seven Kingdoms, and Dorne’s resistance to Targaryen rule.

Dance of the Dragons

Whilst the idea of The Dance of the Dragons, which features in Thrones author George RR Martin’s novel Fire and Blood, was eventually adapted into House of the Dragon, HBO had considered going in another direction.

Bryan Cogman, who was a producer on more than 40 episodes of Game of Thrones, and a writer on 11, wrote a script for his version of the Targaryen civil war. The plot of Cogman’s adaptation is unknown but it would have differed significantly from House of the Dragon, written by Ryan J. Condal, which was made in its stead.

Flea Bottom

Flea Bottom is a slum in King’s Landing where the poorest of society live and die, but it’s also been a place of intrigue throughout Game of Thrones. Gendry, the bastard son of Robert Baratheon worked there before allying himself with Danaerys, Arya hid there following her father’s execution, and in House of the Dragon, Daemon pays frequent visits to Flea Bottom’s brothels.

The plot and time that this series would have been set in was never made clear, but a parallel Game of Thrones, told entirely from the perspective of the downtrodden of the wealthy city could have made an interesting premise for a limited series.

Which Game of Thrones spinoff would you most like to see get made next? Let us know in the comments.