The end of 2023 gave us another update from George R.R. Martin about the Game of Thrones spinoff projects he’s working on with HBO. And while progress still seems slow, it looks like one of the prequels in development has shifted from a live-action endeavor to an animated series.
“We have moved Nine Voyages, our series about the legendary voyages of the Sea Snake, over from live action to animation. A move I support fully,” Martin wrote on his blog.
He added, “Budgetary constraints would likely have made a live action version prohibitively expensive, what with half the show taking place at sea, and the necessity of creating a different port every week, from Driftmark to Lys to the Basilisk Isles to Volantis to Qarth to… well, on and on and on. There’s a whole world out there. And we have a lot better chance of showing it all with animation. So we now have three animated projects underway.”
The Sea Snake (aka Corlys Velaryon) takes place in the years before we meet him in House of the Dragon (played by Steve Toussaint) as the husband of Rhaenys Targaryen (Eve Best). The titular nine voyages refer to the seafarer’s journeys to nine different parts of Westeros and the bloody adventures that happened along the way.
The project, which has gone by the titles 9 Voyages as well as The Sea Snake, joins two other undisclosed animated spinoffs in the works. “None of them have been greenlit yet,” wrote Martin, “but I think we are getting close to taking the next step with a couple of them.”
Martin gave no update on the other live-action projects: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, which has been greenlit for a series order; a Jon Snow spinoff, which HBO has yet to greenlight; and another project centered around King Aegon and his sister-wives.
Martin also praised the Netflix animated series Blue Eye Samurai and recommends people watch it. “Even if you don’t normally watch animation, give it a try. It’s terrific,” he wrote. “If you like my own stuff, I think you’ll love it.”
