This New 'Game Of Thrones' Prequel May Bring Dany's Infamous Ancestors To Life

Dragon lovers, rejoice! According to reports from Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter, and other outlets, a new Game of Thrones prequel is nearing a pilot order at HBO. That's not even the best part, this new prequel is said to be based on House Targaryen, specifically the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, which marked the beginning of the end of Daenerys' family's control over Westeros. HBO declined to comment on the reports to Bustle.

The premium channel already has a prequel set during the Age of Heroes from Jane Goldman and George R.R. Martin in the pilot stage. However, the events in that series predate dragons. This potential series, which is from Martin and the co-creator of USA's Colony Ryan Condal, would have an abundance of dragons since Deadline reported that it will be based on the A Song of Ice and Fire author's Targaryen history book, Fire & Blood.

House Targaryen had a strong presence in Game of Thrones thanks to characters like Daenerys, Viserys, and Jon Snow. In fact, it was a desire to restore her family's legacy that drove the Mother of Dragons to fight so hard for the Iron Throne. The prequel would show a different side to the Targaryen family — for the first time, viewers would see the powerful House in control of Westeros.

There are five Game of Thrones prequel series in the works at HBO. Among those, only Goldman's project has gone to pilot so far. If the Targaryen based series gets the greenlight, it will be the second prequel in contention for an official series pickup from the premium channel. This pilot is actually a retooling of the previously passed on pilot written by Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman, per TVLine. The status of the remaining three projects is unclear.

In terms of having a strong connection to the Westeros that fans are already familiar with, a Fire & Blood-based prequel is going to be tough to beat. As Entertainment Weekly pointed out, Shireen read a book about the Dance of the Dragons during Season 5 of Game of Thrones. From what she told her father, Stannis, the war was between Rhaenyra Targaryen and her half-brother Aegon as they struggled for control of the Seven Kingdoms. Taking place some 200 years before the events in the series, this war divided the loyalties of all the great Houses, and weakened the Targaryens' grasp on Westeros.

Given that the series would focus on the Targaryens, this prequel would likely serve up the same kind of courtly intrigue and family feuding that made Game of Thrones such a hit. On the other hand, Goldman's pilot is set thousand of years before the original series, and could showcase a version of Westeros that is almost entirely new. Both prequels sound enticing for entirely different reasons, but it's unclear if both or either of them will actually end up airing on HBO.

For now, fans will just have to rejoice in knowing that the world of Game of Thrones appears poised to live on in some form on the premium channel.