Game Of Thrones Officially Confirms Its Real House Of The Dragon Replacement

Published Oct 13, 2026, 1:39 PM EDT

James Hunt is a writer and editor based in Newcastle, UK. A Sports Journalism graduate from the University of Sunderland, he quickly realized that supporting his local football (or "soccer") team, Sunderland AFC, was painful enough without having to write about it, so decided to write a load of nonsense about movies and TV instead.

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The end of Game of Thrones' first spinoff, House of the Dragon, is approaching, but a replacement is already lined up. The Targaryen prequel turned Thrones into a bona fide franchise when it launched on HBO in 2022, proving there was plenty of interest in Westerosi stories even after the controversial ending to its parent show. That's since continued with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and more spinoffs are planned.

Still, it's the story of the Targaryen civil war that remains the flagship, returning every two years to dominate the TV landscape and provide the kind of astonishing spectacle that very few shows can manage. It hasn't hit the same dizzying heights as Game of Thrones, because very little could in a more fractured viewing landscape where so many streaming services are vying for attention, and it's had its own divisive moments (especially if you ask George R.R. Martin), but it's largely been a worthy successor.

That's about to change, with it confirmed that House of the Dragon season 4 will be the show's final outing, which is expected to arrive on HBO and HBO Max sometime in 2028. And while there is plenty in development to continue bringing the world of Ice and Fire to life on the small screen, it's the franchise's turn to the big screen that will truly replace House of the Dragon.

House Of The Dragon Ending Leaves A Void That Only Game Of Thrones' Movie Will Fill

After years of talk, it's now official: Game of Thrones is coming to movie theaters, with Aegon's Conquest set for release by Warner Bros. in June 2029, which should mean it's almost one year after House of the Dragon ends. For those unfamiliar, the story will cover Aegon Targaryen's invasion and conquest of Westeros, which he carries out along with his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, and three large dragons, Balerion, Meraxes, and Vhagar (the latter of whom is still breathing fire in HOTD).

While it tells a distinct story, this will very much be a continuation of what we've seen in both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragons: a deadly battle for the right to rule Westeros, centered on House Targaryen, and featuring a lot of epic dragon action. And for as much as that's been the focus of HBO previously, it's interesting that Aegon's Conquest, as it stands, is the only upcoming spinoff that's offering that to viewers.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2, and beyond, will be in line with the show's debut run, which was lighter in tone and smaller in scale. No other Game of Thrones spinoffs have been officially ordered to series, but several are in development, including:

• 10,000 Ships: The story of Princess Nymeria leading her people the Rhoynar to Dorne.
• The Sea Snake: An animated series about the Great Voyages of Corlys Velaryon.
• The Golden Empire: Another animated series, this time set in the empire of Yi Ti in the far reaches of Essos.

Alongside these, there remains the possibility that Jon Snow's cancelled spinoff could be revived, as well as reports of one focusing on Arya Stark, and no doubt many more ideas that haven't been made public knowledge yet.

This suggests a diversification away from the tried and tested Targaryen model, which is absolutely a good thing. Any franchise needs to mix things up in order to survive, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms shows that Game of Thrones can actually thrive by doing so.

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Nonetheless, in terms of attracting the biggest audience possible, it's the Targaryens and their dragons that remain a major draw, and that should translate to the big screen. This can take the budget for any entire season of House of the Dragon (think somewhere in the region of $150–200 million), and use it all in just 2-2.5 hours of screen time. If nothing else, the visuals and action here should be spectacular, perhaps taking the franchise to even greater heights than before, and filling the void left by House of the Dragon.

Game Of Thrones: Aegon's Conquest Could Lead To Another HOTD Replacement

One of the more interesting things about Aegon's Conquest's journey to the screen is that it started life as a TV show. A version was being developed by The Batman co-writer Mattson Tomlin for a couple of years, before news broke that a movie, written by Beau Willimon (House of Cards), was also in the words. Ultimately, it's the latter version that's coming to fruition, but Aegon's Conquest could actually lead to a TV show of its own.

The movie will, presumably, only capture a fraction of Aegon the Conqueror's story. The Conquest spans a couple of years, so it makes sense that'll be the central narrative of the film, and something like the creation of the Iron Throne feels like a logical endpoint. He ruled for almost 40 more years after that, and though it was largely peaceful, the end of his time would be a great starting point of a TV show.

Aegon's death leads to the reign of his firstborn son, Aenys, who is himself later succeeded by Aegon's other son, Maegor. Their stories were published in Martin's novella The Sons of the Dragon, and later included in full in Fire & Blood (the same source material used by House of the Dragon). The two half-brothers (one birthed by each of Aegon's sister-wives) couldn't be more different, and their respective reigns, and intertwining stories, would actually be one of the best choices for a HBO series, and a perfect chance to build on the (presumed) success of the Game of Thrones movie.

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Game of Thrones is a multimedia franchise created by George R.R. Martin. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire is the basis for the award-winning HBO series Game of Thrones, which lasted for eight seasons. After the incredibly divisive final season of Game of Thrones, the series was followed up by the prequel series House of the Dragon, which also received critical acclaim.