What 'Game Of Thrones' prequel's working title 'Bloodmoon' reveals about the series

So, Game Of Thrones is over. Long live Game Of Thrones! Or, the prequel series, anyway, we still have that to look forward to, and we now know it’s officially shooting under the working title of ‘Bloodmoon.’

Now, while generally it’s best to ignore working titles, because they’re usually utter nonsense, Bloodmoon does have some tentative connections to the Game Of Thrones books, so it’s worth cracking the spines of your A Song Of Ice & Fire collection to search for clues about what the prequel series will involve.

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According to (still untitled) show’s official synopsis, the show will take “place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour.”

“From the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend, only one thing is for sure: It’s not the story we think we know."

Speaking of not knowing what the story’s about, we’ve had a big old speculate based on this latest information. What the Seven Hells could the Game Of Thrones prequel be about?

Dragons

Bloodmoon sounds almost exactly like the kind of name George RR Martin would give to a dragon. In the books, they’ve been called everything from Stormcloud, to Seasmoke, to Sheepstealer, so ‘Bloodmoon’ totally fits this naming convention.

However, George RR Martin has already warned us not to expect Targaryens or Valyrians in the prequel series, which means no dragons. Or certainly not enough to name an entire series after them, working title or no working title.

The red comet

This one’s more likely. Basically, in the A Song Of Ice & Fire books (not so much on Game Of Thrones the show) a red comet appears in the sky over Westeros and Essos, and different people see it as a sign of a bunch of different things. Significantly, it is described as being blood red, and is so big it outshines the moon at night. Kind of like a Bloodmoon, then?

‘In the streets, they call it the Red Messenger. They say it comes as a herald before a king, to warn of fire and blood to follow…’ Varys tells Tyrion in the books.

Now we’ve seen the show’s actual ending, we know that it really was an omen - of Dany’s madness (Daenerys uses the comet as a sign to light Drogo’s funeral pyre, and dragons hatch from her three dragon eggs).

Perhaps the prequel series contains a similar portentous event, that inspires its characters and sets the plot into motion. Something like a blood moon?

House Wynch

Of course, the series could revolve around House Wynch. It doesn’t have the same ring to it as House Stark, but who are we to judge?

The main reason we think they could be key players is their sigil. We’ll give you a moment to guess what it involves? That’s right, it’s a crescent moon, tipped with blood. A blood moon if you will.

Still, we’re not totally convinced this is a game-changing clue, as the Wynchs are pretty dull, their biggest claim to fame is basically that they’re bannermen for the Greyjoys in the Iron Islands. Which would probably be our first guess as to what the prequel series won’t be about.

Ghost’s eyes

Now, we’re not saying that the prequel series will be a David Attenborough show about direwolves, but Ghost’s eyes are described as being bright red in the books, which, when lit by moonlight, look like pools of fire. Could Bloodmoon be the name of a new direwolf that features in the series? As with George’s dragons, Bloodmoon totally works as a direwolf name.

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Or, better yet, some previous unseen animal that’s been mentioned in the books. Something like a shadowcat, a kraken, or a giant ice spider. Maybe even a unicorn (which George has promised will be in either Winds Of Winter or A Dream Of Spring).

Look, we know we’re reaching here, but it’s fun to speculate, isn’t it? And the new show will almost certainly feature some form of fresh creature, the wildlife of Westeros is one of the coolest elements of the series, so we doubt that element will be left out of the new show.

There’s no release date for Bloodmoon, or The Long Night, or whatever the Game Of Thrones prequel series ends up being called, but we’d estimate it landing on a streaming service near you in 2021.