George R.R. Martin Teases That Starks, Direwolves, and White Walkers Will All Appear in Upcoming ‘Game of Thrones’ Spin-Off Show

Game of Thrones aired its final episode earlier this year after almost a decade of being on our screens. Based on author George R.R. Martin’s fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, Game of Thrones quickly became one of the biggest shows of all time. If you’re craving a return to the world of Westeros, then you’ll be relieved to know a spin-off show called Bloodmoon is currently in the works, and it’s set thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones. Martin has since let slip a few details about the upcoming show, including that it will feature Stark ancestors, direwolves, and White Walkers.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Martin revealed a few details about the anticipated, but highly secretive, new show. According to HBO, Bloodmoon will be set during the Age of Heroes, thousands of years before Game of Thrones and before the rise of the Targaryens and their dragons. While we may see far fewer dragons in Bloodmoon, Martin promises there will still be plenty of Mammoths, direwolves, White Walkers, and Starks.

The show will follow Westeros as it goes from the Age of Heroes and descends into its “darkest hour”, according to HBO. Martin has stated that Westeros will be very different to the version we saw in Game of Thrones. Many iconic locations are yet to be founded. “Valyria has hardly begun to rise yet with its dragons and the great empire that it built,” he said.

Martin went on to confirm that White Walkers would make an appearance, as well as the Stark family. “Obviously the White Walkers are here – or as they’re called in my books, the Others – and that will be an aspect of it [along with] things like direwolves and mammoths”.

While the Stark family will be present, many of the major houses seen in Game of Thrones are yet to be established, including the Lannisters, though their home of Casterly Rock will be appear. “The Lannisters aren’t there yet,” said Martin, “but Casterly Rock is certainly there; it’s like the Rock of Gibraltar, it’s actually occupied by the Casterlys — whom it’s still named after in the time of Game of Thrones.”

In Game of Thrones, Westeros was split into seven kingdoms, which were all ruled by one king. However, in Bloodmoon, no kings or queens have yet unified the lands and the continent is instead split into numerous regions. “We talk about the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros; there were Seven Kingdoms at the time of Aegon’s Conquest,” said Martin, “But if you go back further, then there are nine kingdoms, and 12 kingdoms, and eventually you get back to where there are 100 kingdoms – petty kingdoms – and that’s the era we’re talking about here.”

Bloodmoon will star Naomi Watts as “a charismatic socialite hiding a dark secret”, and Miranda Richardson has also been cast. Jane Goldman will serve as showrunner with Martin on board as co-creator. An exact release date for Bloodmoon is yet to be announced but it is currently filming in Ireland, meaning we should expect to see it sooner rather than later. As well as working on Bloodmoon, Martin is also currently writing the long anticipated next installment in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter.