HBO is apparently going all-in on returning to Westeros, as numerous reports point to the network eyeing a whole slate of Game of Thrones prequels to go with its already-announced House of the Dragon. According to Variety, the title that seems to have the most traction is The Tales of Dunk and Egg, based on a series of novellas by A Song of Ice and Fire creator George R.R. Martin.

Dunk and Egg follows the exploits of an odd-ball pairing of a knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and a royal-in-disguise, Aegon V Targaryen. They’re delightful fantasy stories that’d actually work wonders with the type of buddy-adventure storylines that became fan-favorites in Game of Thrones, like Arya Stark + The Hound or Brienne of Tarth + Podrick Payne. It’s interesting, though, that in 2017 Martin gave a specific reason why he didn’t want a Dunk and Egg show. “I’ve only written and published three novellas to date, and there are at least seven or eight or ten more I want to write,” the author wrote on his blog. “We all know how slow I am, and how fast a television show can move.”

The only other possible project that came with any specifics is a prequel set during Robert’s Rebellion, the war that saw Robert Baratheon (played by Mark Addy in Game of Thrones) unseat the Mad King Aerys Targaryen from the Iron Throne with the help of Eddard Stark (played by Sean Bean in Game of Thrones). EW also threw the name Bruno Heller out there as a creator taking meetings with the network; Heller not only created Rome at HBO, but also has experience in big property prequels thanks to Fox‘s Gotham.

Beyond those details, it mostly seems like HBO is just trying to build a recognizable slate similar to what Disney+ has with its small-screen Star Wars and MCU series. Not for nothing, but that strategy brings up even more questions about what the heck happened with Jane Goldman‘s untitled prequel, which was set during the “Age of Heroes” and filmed a pilot starring Naomi Watts until HBO very quickly put the kibosh on it.

via Collider