Feeling down about Sunday’s episode? Are you sad that Game of Thrones is coming to an end? We have some news that may lift your spirits! We’ve been reporting the pre-production work in progress on the Jane Goldman prequel, set during the first Long Night, and now it appears filming for its pilot is underway!
According to our sources here at Watchers on the Wall, prequel filming has been taking place at Glenariff, near Cushendall in Northern Ireland. Glenariff has been a location on Game of Thrones for part of the Vale of Arryn, most notably during Robin Arryn’s swordsmanship training in season five.
Although it’s admittedly not the best outlet for information, we have received further confirmation by The Sun, which reports that filming began in Belfast two weeks ago. Their source is quoted as saying, “Thrones fans will be delighted to hear things have started with the prequel. Those working on the set in Belfast are referring to the series as Bloodmoon. Producers have put together a stellar cast and it will be must-watch telly for anyone who loves Game Of Thrones.”
The prequel has been informally called The Long Night – which has never been an official name. If the working title is indeed Bloodmoon at least we have something to call it for now; it remains to be seen whether that title sticks or it’s just a production codename, not unlike, say, Return of the Jedi’s famous working title of “Blue Harvest.” We shall see!
Hodor?
I’m just happy it’s not written and/or produced by D&D
Do we know yet when the series is set in GRRMs world?
Schroom,
Say it again for the flavor-aid drinkers in the back!
During the last days of the legendary Age of Heroes; during (or, I assume, starting slightly before) the Long Night. It was thousands of years ago, in times of legend, so there’s no exact date. Somewhere between 8.000 (the legend) and 4.000 years (the more likely real date, according to Martin himself).
trarecar,
It’s said that the Long Night was about 8,000 years before Aegon’s conquest
Editors of WotW: Quick…put up a promising and hopeful article to distract from the vitriol and nihilistic glee!
Can’t wait. Hope the show will be half as good as GoT, and get a pass.
And why must people linger on their hate of episode 5 even in a post of the prequels. I really have no words for it.
Do we know the families where it’s about. Wasn’t it about the Starks? If yes do we think maybe now they are presented as the villains instead of the heroes?
kevin1989,
Your first comment states you hope it is as good as GoT… are you not lingering as well? Let’s just allow the prequel be the prequel sans comparison.
No effin’ kidding! After GoT is through it would be nice to follow production of the (possible) new series with positivity without people constantly throwing their personal issues at everyone who doesn’t give a shit about their issues.
Call me a troll, throw stones at me, rain fire down on me – I‘m done with it all… I‘m not even sure if I want to know who finally get‘s that filthy chair.
I‘m happy for everyone who still enjoys Tales from Westeros that there will be more. But I‘m not interested…
I suppose no one will miss me because I was more a reader and haven‘t made many comments. Farewell and enjoy your fandom
Had been interested, but with how bad S7 and S8 was butchered and how they just used NK as a MacGuffin, i won’t be purchasing HBO for that.
Raenarys,
I meant more like: Better call saul is half as good as breaking bad and it’s amazing. So I hope it’s half as good as GoT itself so it will get my attention.
and my comment states I still love GoT immensely instead of being negative, it was meant as an uplifting mood to the prequels.
Clob,
second that.
kevin1989,
I more than agree with you there. No matter what this new season has brought us, I will always remain a die hard GOT fan. And will most likely re-watch it many times long after it’s done.
I guess it’s bc I love GOT so much, that I feel like I can be honest about my opinion of this season. Not necessarily negative. Just honest.
Just_M,
Ryan,
Uhh, thanks for sharing..? If you want to write off a new series with different showrunners, writers, directors, cast, etc. because GoT didn’t close out to your liking then go ahead. Since you’re at it you may as well skip all of the other new fantasy genre programs in development as well. I for one am going to watch them all and hope I can find even a minuscule percentage of enjoyment out them as I have from GoT.
Ryan,
There you are!! I missed you!!
Clob,
As I said I‘m happy for you that there‘s more for you to enjoy!
And maybe I will skip all other fantasy programs in development. I have other stuff to enjoy… TV shows aren‘t my life…
I love the fact that people can’t just type their hate in one article, they literally follow the articles around typing their disdain over and over, for those who may not have seen said hate the first time, as if people are going to take in and carefully consider the opinions of those they will never care for or meet, we get it. You hate it, repeating your anger is not going to change anything, either accept it for what it is, and move on, or be disgusted for what it is, and move on lol, the moral of the story, is to move on…..
Juri,
I’m glad I rent so much space in your head. Every time I post anything you quote me. Obsessed much?
Schroom,
This show will be lucky to be even 1/10 as good as GoT. D&D dedicated a huge portion of their life, living in foreign countries for half the year for almost a decade, to make some of the most awesome TV ever made only to be given nothing but hate and contempt from those who got to enjoy such a show over the years. They’ve had the most thankless jobs in Hollywood. No matter how good the show has been they’ve never been given any credit for it.
Hope they give the budget on the script, to hell with cgi.
Fuck, I am so pissed with this season, they just mock tyrion and varys brain’s, sorry for swearing,
So we’re supposed to re-invest again about the beginnings of this existential threat that’s not really existential? The long night lasted exactly 1 hour and 20 minutes. I don’t think I, for one, am not really interested. You can’t capture lightning twice anyways.
They make millions of dollars a year and Game of Thrones has the most Emmy wins in TV history. Come on now, it’s a bit ridiculous to suggest “they’ve never been given any credit for it.”
Direwolf Lvr,
On the surface it seems a poor choice for a prequel, with so many other potential stories to tell. All I can say is I don’t think what we saw in Game of Thrones with the White Walkers is entirely what GRRM has in mind, so perhaps ‘the origin and motivations story’ will surprise some people.
George has described the series the following way: “…the true origin of the white walkers…..it’s not the story we think we know.” Language like this certainly gives the impression that Benioff and Weiss changed some things in terms of the WW.
orange,
I am not talking about critical acclaim or Emmy’s. The fanbase has never given them credit when the show has been great.
I’m actually getting a…tad bit excited for this. With GoT ending Sunday night, it’s comforting to know something, anything, is on the horizon.
I wonder when we’ll see a teaser or trailer for this…
Jack Bauer 24,
Late 2020 at best
Ryan,
I’m secretly in love with you hun! Your meltdown is sexy.
I wish you all good fortune in the prequels, sequels, postquels, remakes, and reboots to come.
Direwolf Lvr,
Yikes, that’s actually a good point. How are we supposed to fear them now?
JamesL,
That’s simply not true. Especially on this site. I started posting here when the site was created (not so much in the past 3 or 4 yrs), and the fans here were overwhelmingly supportive. I, personally, wrote many appreciative posts and defenses of D&D.
The criticism of this final season is wholly deserved. D&D made the fans wait 2 yrs and then rushed a shortened season so they could move on to Star Wars. It’s that simple and all the loyal and patient fans know it. It’s disingenuous to just blow off justified criticism as attributal to fan fiction whining.
HBO plams to start budgeting at levels comparable to GoT, so Bloodmoon will be able to do what it needs to production wise.
NinaD,
I am personally hoping they focus more on story rather than spectacle in the prequels. To me, the bigger the budget, the more likely the details of the plot and story will be discarded in favor of cgi. Hope I’m wrong though.
Seriously? If it wasn’t for Dan and Dave none of us would be here right now. Healthy criticism is good but FFS.
Dane,
Exactly. I was not thrilled with how the story went down in episode 3. I re-watched, appreciated the amount of effort and artistry and then moved on. The idea that one storyline, one episode ruins years of work it is just so fcking idiotic. It is Nerd Rage and entitlement gone “mad.” “Whiny little b’s” can insult Dan & Dave all they want, like others did with Cuse & Lindelof, but at the end of the day when all is set and done, they successfully ran a show about dragons, zombies and politics that had the world’s attention until the end. They have that in their resume. What do the haters have? Tantrums that will forever be preserved on the interwebs for everyone to see how well they handled the show not going their way.
Mr Derp,
Spectacle = more money, more set pieces, more production time. I know people know this but they dont seem to care.
I doubt this story will need any big budget production initially, much like GoT. But…. time will tell. If they need it, people need to not bitch about it.
It took 2 years to film and produce this season. Its not magic. It takes time. Id have loved another full season to allow this seasons plot developments breathe more, yes, but the criticism has become unhealthy whining with many people. D&D haven’t ruined the show. Its ridiculous.
Well considering they only just began filming the pilot and haven’t announced a full-on season, I dont expect anything for at least a year.
PatD,
Okay, i can’t let this stand. D & D “rushed a shortened season so they could move on to Star Wars”; what a load of bollocks. “And all the loyal fans know it” Do they now? What pretentious codswallop. Look, i get for a vocal group of fans, the season hasn’t gone how they expected it to. Boo hoo. So because of that, D & D are involved in some grand conspiracy to deliberately ruin the show? What complete and utter rubbish. The shortened season wasn’t so D & D could get season 8 out of the way so they could move on to Star Wars. There were budget and production reasons and if you knew anything about TV production you’d know this. But no, you don’t like the story so you accuse, without any shred of proof, D & D of purposely ruining your viewing experience. Please. Grow up.
What I mean is that directors/writers/whatever tend to see a big budget as a way to buy shiny new toys, like cgi, while important things like plot details become afterthoughts. It happens all the time.
Schroom,
You must not get it.
Mr Derp,
I agree with Transformer movies or other “blockbusters” the emphasis seems to be on effect and not story, but I don’t feel that way with GoT.
Theres been tons of exposition this season. The problem isn’t the big budget battles, its that D&D have been forced to tie all the loose ends by cutting out all the juicy fat. The first 5 seasons were loaded fat, so people are having withdrawals, so to speak.
Another season would have been nice, but contract issues and keeping the cast intact may have been a challenge.
For sure. It’s hard to expect the actors to stay with the same show for a decade. Especially now that they’re in demand to be a part in other projects due to their GoT fame.
NinaD,
It’s all about the pilot. I hope they do a good job to keep the Planetos universe wave rolling, but it’s good to know they can count on a budget that allows them the tv quality production we got used to.
That being said: BLOODMOON?! I don’t know what to say. Sounds like a werewolf story.
Mr Derp,
Ive seen this alluded to but haven’t seen anything concretely saying this was a major issue. Id love someone ask D&D this directly. I think critics would back off a little if the fact that this had to get done now otherwise wed see actor changes is one of the driving forces for the rushed pacing.
What the….having been here quite a while I have no idea what you mean. Back in Season 2 and 3 every second post on Winter Is Coming was saying that every change D&D make is bad. Now that the narrative is that Seasons 1-4 were perfect that’s all been forgotten it seems.
From the very start the dynamic has been that when the show is good it was thanks to GRRM, the actors, the directors, the costume department etc etc, and when it was bad it was D&D. When a good episode came out you didn’t see anyone fawning over D&D, pretty much ever.
You’d swear that adapting and running the biggest and most successful show of all time was the easiest thing in the world. That adapting mammoth fantasy tomes for tv is easy, as if all it took were just splurting the words onto the screen
Dane,
You’ve spoken for many of us, I think, who just don’t get the need for people to do this. When I don’t like a thing anymore, I quit it. I don’t follow people around and repeat that I quit it, that it sucks, or try to imply (or directly state) that they are stupid for still liking said thing.
But that’s me. I don’t see a point in wasting energy on something I *supposedly* don’t care about anymore…
Annnnnway. I’m looking forward to what this new show could do! Hope it gets picked up.
cosca,
I made three myself, just last week. Easy peasy. 🙄
Apollo,
Bravo.
I’m done comparing it to GoT, let the hate flow through yourself if all you want (Stated only to the ones doing that), I will go into the prequel with excitement. If it’s not good I will find out once I watched the first season.
As for the White walkers. What if the WW are not just one race. What if the magic that created the WW is altered every time, or more not followed the same. I mean gregor was undead but not a wight. So what if NK was white walker 2.0. And we will see now the race that was in “world of Ice and Fire”
Like they do with those sci-fi stories about robots overtake us, we win destroy them, destroy all our electronics going back to the jungle but 1000 later here they are again but not the same a little bit different.
Or what instead of focussing on the WW they meant not focussing on the treat itself but focussing on the character that become the NK.
Well, I’ll certainly miss you all when it’s all over.
cosca,
Cosca, I’ve been around here probably longer than you! The whole site was super supportive of the show for years. Were there complaints, yes, some from the book fans some from the show only ones but nothing like you see this year. I mean there were super hot topics at all times about specific decisions (Oberyn being cast, Cersei saying no to Jaime, Sansa being married to Ramsay etc) but there was always a split discussion with varying opinions.
This is entirely different, the range of complaints for a single season is big now. And of course you can no longer say it’s what Martin wrote since we don’t have the books. But Pat is right in saying this specific site was always supportive of the show before.
PatD,
Well, you are right the fanbase on this website(formerly WiC.net) has given credit at times to D&D and has never been as hostile towards them for aspects they dislike. However this website has always been an exception amongst the fandom and still is. That is why all over the internet right now is rabid D&D hate which is still not prevalent on this site even amongst those disappointed about many things this season(including myself).
The Long Night as a series…didnt we just watch the end result of the Long Night and the demise of the Others?
Hodors Bastard,
People on this site are using the word “nihilistic” way too often to describe the show now and really diminishing the meaning of the word. Just because the ending is heavy on tragedy (which was inevitable) does not make it nihilistic. By this bizarre definition, most of the great stage plays and countless literary works would be considered nihilistic, and it isn’t fair to project philosophical statements onto writers simply because of the stories we choose to tell. I’ve written a lot of tragic, adult stuff, I’ve also written some very kid-friendly, whimsical stuff. Does that make me a “nihilist” or an “idealist?” Who gets to decide?
I guess you are as sick of the term “nihilistic” as I am of the term “redemptive,” which is also used frequently here. Understood. However, from a KL citizen’s viewpoint (which we all are, essentially), what was the point of Dany’s destruction and annihilation of their miserable life? Were their religious or moral or existential values considered? Perhaps it was a bit nihilistic, eh? Consider that when some folks use that term…unless you share Tywin’s elite class perspective with “it’s better to kill some during dinner than thousands in battle.”
I think they show a promo banner after the end of Sunday’s episode that reveals the name of the prequel with a Coming in 2020
JonRat,
Yes. 🙂
This news gives me hope. I’m not too keen on the Bloodmoon name though, hopefully they figure out something a bit better. Bloodmoon sounds like some cheesy vampire show.
As stated, I have been around since Season 2. And people have just forgotten how many complaints there were! About Talisa, Robb, Catelyn, Weasel Soup etc etc without end. There were loads! And even when people said the show was great that was almost never ascribed to D&D. Even when they wrote almost every episode people still insisted everything good about the show had nothing to do with em
I agree that D&D were and are the most underrated part of this show.
The best part are those who repeatedly announce that they are over with GOT, Westeros, fantasy in general, etc.
Well, you know, I am also over with GOT. I quit. I will just watch one more episode. 😉
Am I the only one that thinks of menstruation?
Sou,
LOL! You must be a man.
Bloodmoon sounds too much like a vampire/werewolf love story, but whatever. I’ll watch it all the same and hope there’s a name change between now and airing.
I can’t wait!
GoT has been a fantastic series brimming with stellar acting, beautiful cinematography and an engaging story. Of course there were some imperfections but I looked forward to every episode. This was never meant to be a fairytale which was made obvious in the first season. Our favs may not get the ending we wanted for them but it can’t be denied that this has been one helluva ride.
Kudos to all the staff of WoW! You’re the best!
Sou,
Not anymore! ☺️ I guess I should thank you now for thinking of a she- werewolf on her period.
Am I the only one with mixed feelings towards the prequel at this point? Some of the casting news makes me feel as though it will be a very different show. Sincerely hope I am wrong.
I moved here from Westeros.org because that place was horrible and full of trolls whist Watchers is balanced and opinions are generally respected in my view.
I sincerely hope they reboot the entire series once the books are finished. Don’t get me wrong, I fuckin love the show, it’s what got me into the books. Having said that, I think that there are some integral parts of the storyline that were for whatever reason left out. Obviously Dorne was a disaster, also I think not including “Faegon” (fauxgon) and the Blackfyre implications are far more important than they gave credit for, which was none, because it doesn’t exist in the show. The sackless Euron who just so happens to kill a dragon? I could go on but I won’t. It’s a shame that several of the great actors and actresses that have been involved have been essentially nuetered by their characters lack of substance.
Anyways I was going to burn down my house Sunday after the show but it seems I still have something to live for heh heh. Look HBO has a long history of crushing it that has nothing to do with D & D. I believe HBO will put the aces in the right places for the prequel. And MAYBE we can get some explaination for the undead/ressurection things?