With only 13 episodes remaining in "Game of Thrones," and season 7 airing in less than a month, the clock is running out on the most popular show in the world. But never fear, with the recent news that HBO is currently working on five spinoff series, it seems as though we won’t have to worry about a ‘Game of Thrones' drought anytime soon.

Since the news dropped, fans all over the world have been speculating what ideas HBO could be tinkering with and how soon we could expect to see them air. Well thanks to author George R. R. Martin, some theories can be put to rest.

However, as for the rest, you better believe they’re ripe for speculation.

What is Known so far

According to Martin, there are five writers attached to these spinoffs who include Max Borenstein, Jane Goldman, Brian Helgeland, and Carly Wray. All four of these writers have had prior success in both the film and TV industry, with Wray working with HBO before as a writer for "The Leftovers." While Martin wouldn’t reveal the identity of the fifth writer, he did mention that he was excited about his involvement with one of the spinoffs. He also mentioned that he’s helping all of these writers during the development stage.

All five series’ are prequels to the current storyline and will feature new characters. Martin mentioned that a couple ideas that a lot of fans were hoping for, such as a series about “Robert’s Rebellion” or “Dunk and Egg”, will not be happening. It should also be noted that not all of the prequel series’ will take place in Westeros which could open up a very new and interesting dynamic to the franchise.

Perhaps the most important piece of information to take in is that not all five of these spinoffs will be turned into shows. Right now, they are only developing the pilots for these series’ meaning that HBO will only take the ones, or one, that get the best reception. It’s not necessarily impossible that all five spinoffs become shows, but it’s highly unlikely.

Predictions

Since all five spinoff series’ are prequels, the ideas of one of them being about Arya exploring the world or another centered on Westeros mirroring the European colonization era are off the table. However, there are plenty of ideas left that would most certainly keep fans interested.

Let’s start off with perhaps the third most popular idea fans have been hoping for next to “Robert’s Rebellion” and “Dunk and Egg”: “Aegon’s Conquest." For those of you not well read on the subject, “Aegon’s Conquest” is the story of how Aegon Targaryen and his two sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys Targaryen, initially conquered Westeros and set up the Targaryen dynasty. The story essentially set up the very foundation of the Westeros we now know.

Another idea that has been floating around on message boards is a series based around the “Blackfyre Rebellion." The story is about a civil war between Daeron II Targaryen and his half-brother Daemon Blackfyre. After Aegon IV Targaryen had died, his bastard son Daemon attempted to usurp the throne from his true-born half-brother Daeron which resulted in a civil war that split the Seven Kingdoms.

For those of you who want to see more dragons, perhaps no idea would be more interesting than a series based around the “Dance of the Dragons." Much like the “Blackfyre Rebellion”, the “Dance of the Dragons” centers on another Targaryen civil war in which Viserys Targaryen’s eldest daughter Rhaenyra Targaryen, fought her half-brother Aegon II Targaryen for the throne.

However, what sets this civil war apart from all the other wars in the history of Westeros was the fact that it basically marked the end of dragons. During the civil war, the vast majority of dragons that were still left in the world were killed off during the fighting which essentially ended the lynchpin the Targaryen dynasty.

But perhaps the most original direction the spinoff series’ could go is exploring the lands not seen in the current series. Contrary to what people who only watch the show believe, the world of "Game of Thrones" is massive and expands much farther than what is seen in the show.

Only half of Essos has been shown so far in which the lands beyond Qarth are quite diverse. Yi Ti, located east of Qarth is supposed to resemble an Asiatic empire similar to that of ancient China.

Far east of the Dothraki Sea is the Plains of the Jogos Nhai which is home to the Jogos Nhai, a group of nomadic people very similar to the Dothraki. However a couple key differences between them is that the Jogos Nhai have large heads with pointed skulls thanks to a ritual they perform on new born children. Another pretty importance difference is that instead of horses, they ride Zebras, which they call “Zorses”.

There are also two other continents located south of Essos that are mentioned sparingly in the books. Sothoryos, located south of Slaver’s Bay (or should I say Dragon’s Bay), is a mostly unexplored land which Martin has mentioned being analogous to Medieval Africa. East of that is Ulthos in which next to nothing is really known about it.

Fans have theorized that it could be analogous to all sorts of different places ranging from India to West Africa to even Australia/ New Zealand.

With an absolutely immense amount of lore to work with, along with the plethora of unseen lands, the writers working on the several "Game of Thrones" spinoff series’ certainly won’t have to worry about a lack of content to work with.
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