Game of Thrones Wants a Comeback—Does It Have What It Takes?

The first successful effort at this comes in the form of House of the Dragon, which will premiere about two months from now, and it previously had several shows in the works that all got canned. Just before the weekend began, it was announced that it would be bringing back Kit Harrington to reprise his role as Jon Snow in a spinoff of his own.

The ending of GoT has hurt the goodwill of the series. House of the Dragon already has an uphill battle to climb as the first spinoff that will try and regain audience's attention, and this new Snow spinoff, should it even come about, will have even worse odds against it. George R.R. Martin decided to stop providing lore for From Software games and release Winds of Winter so that no one would really be interested in more of it.

A spinoff for Jon Snow feels like it is trying to strike while the bearded man with a sword is hot. It is probably not a coincidence that this news hit at the same time as Disney+ ends its Star Wars mini-series about Obi-Wan. The creators of the show could have worked on a Star Wars film before the show ended. The salve of The Mandalorian made things sting a little less when it was released after the finale of the tv show. If Star Wars is a bulletproof franchise as a whole, then Dave Filoni and Jon Favreau's flagship series for Disney+ was the best.

Since then, The Mandalorian has become a massive hit, helping secure Star Wars' success in the realm of television with two seasons, two spinoffs of its own, and a plethora of new Star Wars shows waiting in the wings. If Disney and Lucasfilm ever decide to make a film, the success of the streaming series doesn't matter. It has ensured that the franchise can live on through television and it has taken on its own life in a way that is difficult to duplicate. If it were as easy to do a Mandalorian as it is now, there would be no need for a spinoff or a solo series by the time the show ended.

The reception of Rise of Skywalker has just continued the trend of Star Wars having high highs and low lows. The Sequel trilogy will probably get a cultural reexamination in about 10 years. The early seasons of the show had their fair share of criticism, but the final season was where the show's worst impulses were highlighted in a way that couldn't be ignored. It was for the best that it went away for three years.

It's possible that absence has made the heart grow fonder. Hacks, Our Flag Means Death, and Peacemaker are just a few of the fantasy shows that have succeeded in filling the niche that the series left behind. In this new era of streaming wars, fighting for attention has been a challenge. If Game of thrones can make itself matter again, the biggest threat to it is more than ice zombies or big-ass dragons. If it can't find a way to stage a comeback, then no one knows anything.

The new show, House of the Dragon, will premiere on August 21st.

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