Sorry, Game of Thrones Fans! It Looks Like Arya Stark Isn't Getting a Spinoff

HBO programming president shoots down hopes for a sequel in new interview

By Elyse Dupre May 22, 2019 12:21 PMTags
Arya Stark, Maisie Williams, Game of Thrones FinaleHelen Sloan/HBO

Winter is coming…but not for Arya Stark.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter published Tuesday, HBO programming president Casey Bloys shot down rumors the Game of Thrones fan favorite would get her own spinoff series. 

The last time fans saw the Maisie Williams character she had left the North to discover what lay west of Westeros. Now, fans may never get this answer.

While Bloys confirmed the network is shooting its first pilot this June—and that two other successors are in development—he hinted these prequels won't involve Arya. 

"Nope, nope, nope. No," he said when asked about the possibility. "Part of it is, I do want this show—this Game of Thrones, Dan and David's show—to be its own thing. I don't want to take characters from this world that they did beautifully and put them off into another world with someone else creating it. I want to let it be the artistic piece they've got. That's one of the reasons why I'm not trying to do the same show over. George has a massive, massive world; there are so many ways in. That's why we're trying to do things that feel distinct—and to not try and redo the same show. That's probably one of the reasons why, right now, a sequel or picking up any of the other characters doesn't make sense for us."

So, what can fans expect from the new series, and when will it air? For now, Bloys is remaining tight-lipped.

"We're shooting the pilot in June, you can do the math and figure out when it would be on the air," he said. "What I'm not doing is working backwards by saying, ‘This has to be on the air by this date.' We want to do the best show possible. This is a pilot, so we're doing it the old-fashioned way, which is shooting a pilot. My expectation is it will be great and we'll move forward and it'll move along on a regular TV timetable. I don't want to speculate any dates."

This wasn't the first time the idea of an Arya spinoff had been discussed. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, who played Jaime Lannister, also brought up the notion in an Instagram video after the finale.

"I know they're doing all these prequels, but what about a sequel with Arya? How about a petition?" he said, subtly referencing fans petitions for HBO to remake season eight. "An online petition to HBO that they do a sequel with Arya Stark."

For now, it looks like only HBO, George R.R. Martin (and maybe Bran) know what the future holds.