Here’s some news, Game of Thrones fans: George R.R. Martin is considering writing a prequel to his A Song of Ice and Fire book series, the source material for the hugely popular HBO drama. During the audience Q&A portion the show’s Comic-Con session, the author was asked if he’d consider ever telling the story of the fall of the Mad King in a prequel — the fan’s rationale being that we’d potentially see more Ned Stark and “Sean Bean wouldn’t have to die again.†Martin ruled out only part of that idea. “I might [write a prequel],†Martin said. “I don’t think, however, it would be a prequel about Robert’s Rebellion. By the time I’m done with the last two books, you’ll know all that, all the twists and turns and betrayals.â€
Continuing to speculate on what he might write if he ever were to do a prequel, Martin said, “But I might go back earlier and write something about Aegon and his sisters, or Aegon the Unworthy with his nine mistresses. There is lots of material if I want to go back and write about Westeros.â€Â But first, of course, Martin has two more books to complete: The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring. “That’s going to take awhile,†he said, noting that HBO’s ongoing adaptation is expediting the process. “The locomotive is coming and I’m still laying down the tracks,†he joked.
Elsewhere, there was still much mourning of last season’s Stark massacre at the Red Wedding. Martin refused to take all the blame for killing off Robb and Catelyn. “[Showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss] have turned up everything up to 11 from the books,†he said. “They’ve killed many characters who are still alive in the books, so I’ll only take some of the blame here,†he said. Richard Madden, who played Robb, admitted he sobbed openly. “I cried a lot, actually,†he said. “I had a good cry on set … [On the plane home], I was ordering multiple drinks on a one-hour flight.†Benioff praised composer Ramin Djawadi, who came up with the ominous “The Rains of Castamere†tune that accompanies the scene. “It’s just one of those haunting things that’s playing in my head right now,†he said. Originally, the producers considered using the show’s theme song for the scene. Said Weiss: “Thank God, I lost that argument.â€
The audience was also treated to a very brief surprise appearance by Jason Momoa, who ran across the stage and yelled, “I’m not dead!†(Emilia Clarke, who seemed surprised to see her former on-screen love, giggled and said, “My sun and my stars!â€) Producers also exhumed a lengthy, deleted scene from last season in which Pycelle asks Tywin to be reinstated to the Small Council. Tywin, who is fishing during the exchange, pays his son Tyrion a rare compliment in having removed Pycelle from the post and then orders him to drop the feeble act. “Am I the only one to see through this performance?†Pycelle straightens up and replies, “There are times where I have trouble believing it myself … I don’t want to be the tallest and the brightest, I only want to remain in the garden.†Peter Dinklage called his scenes with Charles Dance “beautifully written,†however contentious the characters are to each other. “Charles gives me a nice little shoulder rub after each take to make sure we still love one another as fellow thespians,†said Dinklage.