It was never possible for David Benioff and D.B. Weiss to make room for all of the plotlines from the Game of Thrones book series. And even though the Targaryen-led prequel is in development, there are so many narratives from the books that could have their own shows, and so many characters who would make for fantastic leads. Many storylines in A Song of Ice And Fire were left out when the show was being written for television, so some major fan favorite subplots did not make the cut either.
Like Victarion Greyjoy, for instance, would make for a fantastic subject for a spin-off but his entire narrative was left off the show. Another great trajectory that would make for a great solo spin-off? The era leading to Robert's rebellion. Here are just a few other GoT storylines that should get their show.
10 Lady Stoneheart
How does Lady Stoneheart not have her own period zombie show? An undead Catelyn Stark could have really saved that disastrous final season. In the books Beric brings back Catelyn from the dead, and she becomes the leader of Brotherhood without Banners under the name Lady Stoneheart, seeking vengeance against House Frey for killing her and her son Robb.
Interestingly, Lady Stoneheart does not speak because Cat’s throat was slit at the Red Wedding, so of course, the mythical reasoning checks out. Some fans claimed that they saw a shadow of Stoneheart when Arya was sword-fighting with Brienne in Winterfell, but that was just wishful thinking.
9 The Life And Death Of Quentyn Martell
The Dorne-dwellers should totally get their own-spin-off. Oberyn Martell’s brother Prince Doran had always wanted to overthrow the Lannisters from King’s Landing. In the books he sends his son Quentyn to Meereen to marry Daenerys and bring her back to Westeros so they can make use of her dragons to take the Iron Throne.
Dany was at that point betrothed to Hizdahr zo Loraq, so naturally when Quentyn arrives in Meereen, his proposal is met with refusal. Quentyn refuses to leave empty-handed and quite stupidly tries to bring Viserion and Rhaegal under his control to bring them to Dorne. He is of course killed with dragonfire. this entire episode and Martell's eventual death would have made for a great show, but his character was never introduced on TV's GoT-verse.
8 The Secret Targaryen Child
This could still be a pretty gripping spin-off, but Jon Snow messed up the possibilities for this one. In the books, Young Griff is a young boy who is clearly from a noble-born family, and yet no one knows which dynasty he belongs to. Tyrion meets him when he’s on a voyage on his way to Meereen. Eventually, of course, it was revealed that Griff is actually allegedly Aegon Targaryen — Daenerys' nephew.
In the show things were tackled very differently. Many readers have cast their doubts about Griff’s paternity and have in fact commented how he was dropped into the narrative quite abruptly, but this storyline would have changed things in a big way for the show,. And an exploratory show about Young Griff's origins and the eventual investigation into the Targaryen family would be a hit outing.
7 The Legacy Of Victarion Greyjoy
The Greyjoys have a fascinating history, and it’s a pity the show only featured some aspects of their dynasty’s trajectory. In fact, the character of Victarion Greyjoy was completely done away with, and Euron was given some of his traits. In the books Victarion is the most audacious Greyjoy sibling and a master sailor.
In the books there’s a lot of animosity between Euron and Victarion because they don’t see eye to eye in major political matters.
6 Origins Of RattleShirt/Mance
In the show, the former brother of the Night’s watch-turned-king Mance Rayder is burned alive for refusing to bend the knee for Stannis, and Jon Snow’s arrow shortened his suffering. But in the books, the Red Priestess Melisandre uses a technique called glamoring to create a character called Rattleshirt, who was very similar to Mance, and suffered the fate that was destined for Mance.
Meanwhile, the real Mance is sent on a mission, under the name of Abel, to rescue a person, mistakenly believed to be Arya Stark from Ramsay Bolton. In the show of course, this storyline was never developed. But Mance has always been a fan favorite, his story definitely deserves a spin-off treatment.
5 The Family And Politics Aurane Waters
If there was ever an anthology about GoT characters who got lost in the hullabaloo, chances are Aurane would be leading the roster. The young and handsome Aurane Waters was a bastard of House Velaryon and fought for Stannis Baratheon. He is surprisingly pardoned after he bends the knee to Joffrey following the eventful Battle of the Blackwater.
Aurane soon becomes popular in court and Cersei even makes him admiral of the King’s fleet, and he is eventually made a part of King Tommen’s Small Council and aided Cersei in carrying out her political strategies. GoT has always lacked a statesman and a keen politician, one that lives, that is. A spin-off on Aurane's origins, his time in the court, and his tricky relationship with Cersei would make for a great standalone show. In the books Jaime does not approve of Cersei’s proximity to the young Aurane, and though he never makes it to the show, some of his characteristics were transferred to Euron.
4 Dragonbinder
Where did the dragonbinder really come from, and why do readers know so little about it? In the books dragonbinder is a 6ft-long horn coated with Valyrian steel. It’s mythology states that when blown it makes a noise that resembles the ‘screaming of a thousand souls’, and any dragons that hear it will obey the horn’s owner.
In A Feast For Crows, Euron Greyjoy claims to have found the horn in Valyria and he planned to send his brother Victarion to kidnap Daenerys to take control of her dragons and eventually take over Westeros with their might.
3 Arianne Martell’s Weird Plan
A feminist mini-series about Arianne Martell's plan to restore matriarchy to the Seven Kingdoms would be awesome. Quentyn Martell's sister Arianne came up with a rather interesting plan to do it. She conspired to kidnap Myrcella Baratheon to make her Queen of the Seven Kingdoms in place of her brother Tommen, to introduce a matriarchal rule in all realms.
In fact, Arianne (with some help) attempts to abduct Myrcella to crown her in a castle in Dorne, but this unrealistic plan is discovered and Doran sends his soldiers to re-capture Myrcella, who is injured in the fight. In the show, the Sand Snakes of Dorne end up being responsible for Myrcella’s death and the show simply had no place for Arianne’s plot.
2 The Drama Between The Lannister Siblings
A spin-off on the rather turbulent childhoods of the Lannister siblings, with Tywin playing the big, bad dad would be great. Though Jaime drifted apart from his sister in the books and on the show, it happened quite differently in each of the universes. In the books Tyrion Lannister tells Jaime about Cersei’s infidelity when he is freed by Jaime.
This revelation was actually meant as a sort of payback after Jaime informs Tyrion that his his first wife, Tysha, was not a prostitute and had always been faithful to him. There's a lot of nuance in this development and shows how complicated the relationship between the siblings always was. On the show Jaime simply removes himself from Cersei’s life because he couldn’t bear to see her turn into a Mad Queen but in the books he seeks vengeance against Cersei because she cheated on him.
1 Patchface The Troubadour's Travels
Characters like the jester Patchface make it clear as to why the books were so much more nuanced and darker than the show could ever become. Patchface was a jester in Stannis’ court, whose ship breaks down on his way to Dragonstone.
Everyone dies except Patchface who was washed ashore and was found mumbling crazy things about about undead creatures and ghouls living underwater, and this annoyed Stannis, who was famed for his humorlessness and did not find the jester amusing. But Patchface was a constant companion of his daughter Shireen, who found Patchface charming. A stand-alone show charting Patchface's travels could be a bird's eye view into the workings of the seven kingdoms.
https://ift.tt/2UYyCEZ
November 02, 2020 at 06:30AM
