George R.R. Martin Reveals Starks, White Walkers Are in Game of Thrones Prequel

The first Game of Thrones spin-off is currently filming its pilot, and George R.R. Martin has dropped some new details about the show. Martin, who is executive producing the pilot from showrunner Jane Goldman, spoke with EW and revealed some new bits of information about the show, which is set 5,000 years before the just-ended main series.

Martin revealed that the prequel series, which is still officially untitled, may end up being The Longest Night. Martin had previously suggested The Long Night, which he still prefers, but that title was used for the third episode of the final season. “I heard a suggestion that it could be called The Longest Night, which is a variant I wouldn’t mind,” Martin said. “That would be pretty good.”

He also noted that Westeros is far more fragmented in this era, with 100 “petty kingdoms” instead of the Seven Kingdoms, which consolidated after millenia of conquest and assimiliation. The Starks and direwolves will be present, with Martin noting, “The Starks will definitely be there.” The White Walkers are also there, as well as mammoths and other monstrous types of creatures.

While we will see the early Starks, we won’t see the Lannisters — but we will see their home “The Lannisters aren’t there yet, but Castlery Rock is certainly there; it’s like the Rock of Gibraltar,” Martin noted. “It’s actually occupied by the Casterlys — for whom it’s still named after in the time of Game of Thrones.”

Finally, Martin noted that while the cast breakdown suggested three female leads in Naomi Watts, Naomi Ackie, and Denise Gough, it is more accurately as an ensemble story. “I hesitate to use the word ‘lead,’” he says. “As you know for Game of Thrones, we never even nominated anybody for lead actress or lead actor [during awards season] until recently; it was always for supporting [categories] because the show is such an ensemble. I think that will be true for this show too. We don’t have leads so much as a large ensemble cast.”

The series has not yet officially been greenlit and no potential premiere date is currently known.