‘Game Of Thrones’ is currently on everyone’s lips again, because the trailer for the second season of ‘House Of The Dragon’ has just been released – the prequel series of the hyped fantasy saga. Almost everyone should know the title of the series ‘Game Of Thrones’, even if they haven’t seen the series. But George RR Martin’s template actually has a different name…
The book series that Martin is still writing is called “A Song Of Ice And Fire”, in the German translation “The Song of Ice and Fire”. Each part has a subtitle – the first is “Game Of Thrones” in the original English version. But why did HBO decide to name the entire series after the first book and not use the title of the entire saga? George RR Martin commented on this in the livestream with the magazine .
On the one hand, Martin made it clear that he had no say in the matter: “The TV stations make these decisions. You acquire […] the film and TV rights to my books, and for whatever reason they wanted to call it ‘Game Of Thrones’ instead of ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire.'” Martin also discussed why HBO made that decision. I have already thought about it – and is ultimately grateful that the different names came about.
The different titles are an advantage!
“I think, they did some internal investigations or something, as it always goes, and have agreed on this name.” But that actually suits Martin, because the book series and the series are very different, simply because the book series has not yet been completed and must therefore be considered differently told as the series. Not everything that happens in the series also happens in the previous novels, and vice versa.
The different titles now made it clear whether we were talking about the book series ‘A Song Of Ice And Fire’ or the series ‘Game Of Thrones’. However, Martin is also impressed by how popular the title ‘Game Of Thrones’ became thanks to the mega-success of the series: ‘It’s interesting how iconic this phrase became: Game of Something. I see it everywhere. I turn on the TV and there’s someone saying, ‘Well, it’s a game [Game of]….’, and you fill in the blank. That’s quite flattering, but also funny. Nothing I ever expected.”
Part 6 has yet to be released, ‘House Of The Dragon’ continues in 2024
Martin is currently writing “The Winds Of Winter”, the sixth part of “A Song of Ice and Fire” – and recently gave the disappointing update to many fans that the novel was far from finished. Only then can he devote himself to the finale of his saga: the seventh part “A Dream Of Spring”, which some fans are not sure will ever be completed given Martin’s writing speed.
‘Game Of Thrones’ will hit screens in summer 2024 – then season 2 of ‘House of the Dragon“ starring Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke as rivals Rhaenyra Targaryen and Alicent Hightower.