Long before “Game of Thrones” aired its final season, the bosses at HBO confronted the question of whether their next plans set in George R.R. Martin’s prolific fantasy world should feel like more of the same from the original series, with political squabbling and bloody wars front-and-center like the upcoming “House of the Dragon,” or diverge completely from what fans would expect. Enter the spin-off under the working title of “Bloodmoon,” which would’ve detailed the conflict set thousands of years in the past between the earliest inhabitants of Westeros and the terrifying White Walkers. That was not to be, however, and a new THR report has explained why.

HBO executive Francesca Orsi described it this way:

“‘Bloodmoon’ really stood out as different, with unique world-building. Tonally it felt very adult, sophisticated, and intelligent, and there was a thematic conversation at the center of it about disenfranchisement in the face of colonialism and religious extremism.”

Sounds fascinating, no? Unfortunately, this concept proved difficult to conceptualize given that Martin’s original novels only ever included roughly eight(!) lines of text describing this ancient period of time. Even Martin admits that it was “a very difficult assignment,” one that necessitated Goldman and her creative team to invent entire swaths of lore out of thin air. 

Nevertheless, a pilot was filmed at the pricey budget of $30-35 million, confirming previous reports, though it was destined to be scrapped and locked away forever once the HBO bosses found that it didn’t take viewers to “…the same place as the original series. It didn’t have that depth and richness that the original series’ pilot did,” according to then-chairmen of WarnerMedia Robert Greenblatt.

Ultimately, the setback with “Bloodmoon” paved the way for “House of the Dragon” to come into existence, which premieres on August 21, 2022.