Books

11 Characters From The GoT Books That NEED To Be In The New Prequel Show

by Charlotte Ahlin
Macall B. Polay/courtesy of HBO

Unless you have been living under a rock for the last several years, blissfully unaware of how badly Game of Thrones messed up the Dorne plot from the original books, you probably know that the hit HBO series has a prequel in the works. The first pilot of a possible five spin-off series has officially been ordered, written by Jane Goldman and co-created by Maester George R.R. Martin. And, as a book purist, I hate to say it... but the new show sounds pretty dang cool.

Now, this TV prequel is not to be confused with the new prequel book that Martin has coming out, focusing on the history of House Targaryen (we're just never getting Winds of Winter, stop asking). It's also not to be confused with the "Dunk and Egg" prequel novellas, set in Westeros about a hundred years before the events of A Game of Thrones.

No, the TV show will head back even further, thousands of years before the Targaryens even arrived on Westerosi shores. It's set during the tail end of the Age of Heroes, which means that we'll finally learn the true story of what happened during the Long Night, the first time that humanity defeated the White Walkers.

The last thing that Martin's universe needs is more new characters. So here are some of the existing characters from the Age of Heroes that we'd love to see in the new show:

1

The Night's King

The Night's King from the books is slightly different from the Night King in the show: in the show, he's just the head honcho White Walker. It seems like he was once human, but we don't know his backstory. In the books, the Night's King was the thirteenth Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, a human man elected not long after the Wall was built. He fell in love with a strange, cold, corpse-like woman with white skin and blue eyes, though, and broke his vows to marry her and declare himself the king. So... if you're going to do an Age of Heroes prequel and not give me a steamy human-on-White-Walker sex scene, HBO, I'll be sorely disappointed.

2

The Night's Queen

Please. I'm begging you, HBO. Give me a kick-ass lady White Walker. If this show's timeline does intersect with the reign of the Night's King, then his White Walker wife had better get her own story-line. Why did she fall for a human man? What happened to her? Why isn't she around anymore? Enough with the all these White Walker dudes stealing male babies. Women can be terrifying ice monsters, too.

3

At least one Brandon Stark

Pretty much every one of the ancient Starks had the name Brandon, so I'll willing to bet a significant amount of money that we'll get at least one Brandon Stark as a main character. I'm rooting for Brandon the Builder, the Stark who reportedly built the Wall itself. Some fans have theorized that this Age of Heroes Brandon was paralyzed, too, like our own lil' Bran in the present. Or maybe we'll get Brandon the Breaker, who supposedly teamed up with the King Beyond the Wall to defeat the Night's King.

4

Joramun

Joramun was the wildling King Beyond the Wall who helped take down the Night's King. He also had a super sick war horn that allegedly had the power to wake giants from the earth and take down the entire Wall. If we're going back to around the time that Wall was built, I also want to know why Joramun and his wildling buddies got stuck on the crummy, chilly side.

5

Lann the Clever

I mean, I love the Starks and their whole... wolf thing, but Game of Thrones is just no fun without Tyrion Lannister. Somebody has to have a sense of humor in that whole mess. And if we're going way back before Tyrion was born, then I hope we get to hang with Lann the Clever, the trickster figure and founder of house Lannister. Witty Lann apparently conned his way into Casterly Rock during the Age of Heroes, and the Lannisters have been ruling there ever since.

6

The Three-Eyed Raven/Crow

OK, so when exactly did people start living in trees and seeing the past/future and kicking it with the Children of the Forest? If we're going to be dealing with White Walkers and the Long Night, then there's a good chance we'll get to see the first human Three-Eyed Crow (Raven in the show) learn how to control his powers and also turn into a tree.

7

Durran Godsgrief and Elenei

Before the Baratheons took over the Stormlands, they were ruled by House Durrandon, founded by Durran Godsgrief. According to legend, Durran married Elenei, daughter of the sea god and the wind goddess. Her parents were not cool with it. Durran and Elenei had to essentially go to war against the wind and sea until they finally built the impenetrable castle Storm's End, with the help of Bran the Builder. I'm... not sure if we're going to get gods and goddesses in this new prequel, but I'd sure like to see a battle between humanity and the literal ocean.

8

Symeon Star-Eyes

Symeon Star-Eyes was a knight during the Age of Heroes who lost both his eyes and replaced them with sapphires. I just... don't think that's medically sound, but I would very much like to see ancient Westerosi Daredevil doing his thing with his very expensive prosthetic eyes. Also he found with a double-bladed staff that he used to fight two dudes at once and that sounds extremely cool.

9

The First Dragon Rider

There were no Targaryens during the Age of Heroes. But over in Ancient Valyria, in southern Essos, some timid shepherds were discovering the very first dragons. If this new show is going to be anything like Game of Thrones, we'll be following people all over the map—including the early Valyrians, the very first dragon riders, and the first rulers of the Valyrian Empire.

10

The Last Hero/Azor Ahai

In Westeros, there is a story of the Last Hero who finally led the humans and the Children of the Forest to defeat the White Walkers and end the frigid era of the Long Night. In Essos, there is a very similar story starring a man named Azor Ahai, who wielded a light up sword, tempered by stabbing it through the heart of his wife. He, too, supposedly defeated the demons of darkness and brought light back to the world. If we're going back to the first fight between humanity and White Walkers, then we're surely going to find the truth behind these legends. Were the two figures the same person? Was there really an Azor Ahai? And was it as simple as fighting demons off with a giant, glow in the dark sword?

11

Nissa Nissa

Nissa Nissa was the wife of Azor Ahai. According to the story, she was murdered by her husband in order to make his sword extra cool. But Martin has also been careful to point out that the new Azor Ahai doesn't necessarily have to be a man. So was the historical Azor Ahai a man? Or, at the very least, did Nissa Nissa have more to do than just die tragically for her husband? There's quite a bit of mystery surrounding the legend, so I'm guessing there's more to the Azor Ahai and Nissa Nissa story than what we've heard so far.