HBO developing new Game of Thrones Arya Stark sequel series

What's west of Westeros? An Arya Stark spinoff

HBO's Game of Thrones may have ended in polarizing fashion back in 2019, but Westeros has lived on in spinoff shows House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the latter of which premieres on Jan. 18. A Jon Snow sequel series following that character north of the Wall after the ending to GOT was previously in development, but never materialized. Now, ideas for a Game of Thrones sequel series are being revived, and this time it would star Arya Stark.

After all, there's nothing more powerful than a good story. And who has a better story than, uh, Arya?

The Hollywood Reporter published a lengthy profile on A Song of Ice and Fire scribe George R.R. Martin on Thursday, in which he shared insight into how his relationship with House of the Dragon showrunner Ryan Condal broke down, updates on Winds of Winter (don't expect it anytime soon), and other Game of Thrones developments. The most eye-catching nugget is that HBO is in early development on a Game of Thrones sequel series.

Ideas are still coalescing, but The Hollywood Reporter notes a possibility that the sequel series could follow Arya Stark in Essos. Essos is the continent that Daenerys Targaryen spent most of Game of Thrones traveling around. The Free City Braavos, the Dothraki capital Vaes Dothrak, and Slaver's Bay are all Essos locations featured in the original show.

As these ideas are still very early in development, nothing concrete is known about them, including if Arya actor Maisie Williams would even return. Jon Snow actor Kit Harrington returning seems unlikely — he's been vocal about wanting distance from Game of Thrones, telling Variety recently, "No, god no. I don’t wanna go anywhere near it. I spent 10 years doing that," when asked if he'd return to the role for a hypothetical audiobook.

Martin couldn't officially comment on any in-development projects, but he could talk about his plans for his own ending to the saga, which he still contends will deviate from how the HBO show ended. "[The book’s ending is] going to be significantly different. Some characters who are alive in my book are going to be dead in the show, and vice versa," Martin noted.

As anyone who's followed Martin's progress on Winds knows, the author is still unsure of certain characters' fates and how plot lines will progress. "I was going to kill more people," Martin said. "Not the ones they killed [in the show]. They made it more of a happy ending. I don’t see a happy ending for Tyrion. His whole arc has been tragic from the first. I was going to have Sansa die, but she’s been so appealing in the show, maybe I’ll let her live…"

Whatever you say, George. Whatever you say.

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres Jan. 18 on HBO while the next season of House of the Dragon will air sometime in mid-2026.