Bryan Cogman to Develop Fifth Game of Thrones Prequel

Game of Thrones writer Bryan Cogman is developing a fifth prequel for HBO

That mysterious fifth Game of Thrones prequel George R.R. Martin mentioned a few months back has a writer. Bryan Cogman, co-executive producer for the HBO series, is developing the project, according to EW. Cogman will be working closely with Martin on the prequel series.

A while back, Martin posted about the mysterious fifth prequel on his Live Journal without mentioning Bryan Cogman by name. He said, “HBO announced the names of the first four, and will no doubt announce the fifth as well, once his deal has closed. He’s a really terrific addition, however, a great guy and a fine writer, and aside from me and maybe Elio and Linda, I don’t know anyone who knows and loves Westeros as well as he does.”

Bryan Cogman began working as an assistant to Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss on season one of the show and has written quite a number of episodes over the years, including “Kissed by Fire,” the episode that featured Jamie and Brienne’s bathtub bonding.

There are no details on what we’ll see in the prequels, but Martin had something to say about what we won’t see back in May. He said, “We’re not doing Dunk & Egg. Eventually, sure, I’d love that, and so would many of you. But I’ve only written and published three novellas to date, and there are at least seven or eight or ten more I want to write. We all know how slow I am, and how fast a television show can move. I don’t want to repeat what happened with GAME OF THRONES itself, where the show gets ahead of the books. When the day comes that I’ve finished telling all my tales of Dunk & Egg, then we’ll do a tv show about them… but that day is still a long ways off.

“We’re not doing Robert’s Rebellion either. I know thousands of you want that, I know there’s a petition… but by the time I finish writing A SONG OF ICE & FIRE, you will know every important thing that happened in Robert’s Rebellion. There would be no surprises or revelations left in such a show, just the acting out of conflicts whose resolutions you already know. That’s not a story I want to tell just now; it would feel too much like a twice-told tale.”

What do you think of Bryan Cogman taking on the fifth Game of Thrones prequel? Which story or stories do you hope to see after Game of Thrones Season 8 concludes? Let us know in the comments or @ComingSoonnet.