Featured Image Credit: netmarbleNeo / CD Projekt
Topics: Game Of Thrones, The Witcher, Features, Opinion, The Witcher 4
Topics: Game Of Thrones, The Witcher, Features, Opinion, The Witcher 4
On the big screen, George R. R. Martin's adapted works cut through The Witcher like a Valyrian steel blade through butter - or like Ice through Ned's neck (sorry).
While both universes were originally exemplary literature series, combining mythical beasts with medieval combat and extreme political coups, it's the Game of Thrones series that made a gargantuan impact on the fantasy genre that is still being felt through the stellar work of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
But The Witcher works have adapted to one medium in the perfect way: gaming.
Yet Game of Thrones has the blueprints to create a truly masterful RPG, if only GRRM placed more faith in the medium, following his input in Elden Ring.
So far, the only step into the gaming industry for Game of Thrones has been through the Kingsroad mobile title, which really twisted the dagger into the gut of gamers hoping for a true RPG.
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Instead, adaptations of Martin's work have continued to come in the form of series and a potential new film.
The latter of which is leaving many long-term A Song of Ice and Fire (the GoT books) fans very skeptical.
Supposedly based on Aegon's Conquest - a story which saw the arrival of the Targaryen family on Westeros a thousand years before Dany and Jon - the film is being met with anxious looks as we already know what happens.
The lore, mainly told through the book series and the world-building encyclopedia Fire and Blood, has already noted how Aegon, his sisters, and his dragons force everyone in their path (except Dorne) to bend the knee, burning Harrenhall to a crisp and raising King's Landing. What could a film possibly add to that knowledge?
But a game? Well, that is infinitely more interesting.
Adapting Aegon's Conquest into a The-Witcher-like RPG would allow the exploration of Westeros before and during Aegon's rule, told either through the viewpoint of the conqueror or as a new figure who does the dirty work.
This would finally give Game of Thrones fans the chance to travel Westeros and meet noble houses like the Starks and Lannisters while having a main quest to contend with - it wouldn't matter much that we know Aegon wins, but we can control how, and create new champions that will have been lost to the history books.
The same argument also rings true for the Game of Thrones sequel spin-off ideas.
No matter what you thought about the ending for the Stark children in Season 8, the next chapters for Jon Snow (or Aegon Targaryen) and Arya take us beyond Westeros to the North (the 'real' North) and 'west', respectively.
It seems increasingly unlikely that the rumoured spin-off series based on these characters will come to fruition. Snow, specifically, was reported to have been pitched and scrapped.
Yet there are certainly stories for these characters that could be unearthed in The Witcher-style RPGs.
In the same way that The Witcher games aren't technically considered canon to the books, albeit most people take the lore as binding, GRRM could take a lot of pressure off himself by allowing the creation of post-GoT games. He might not need to endorse the canon, but his universes can continue, and characters can create new arcs.
I, for one, would love nothing better than trotting around the snowy climax of Hardhome and beyond with Ghost and Tormund to keep us company, as Jon comes to terms with his new fate and unites the clans in the aftermath of The Others' defeat.
The Witcher 4's upcoming title also depicts Ciri as the protagonist, giving CD Projekt full control of how the main character deals with the ending of her book arc, choosing between a life on the road or as Empress. Wouldn't it be fitting to see Arya spar for attention against the Lion Cub of Cintra by finally putting her faceless training to the test?
All of these stories would suit the gaming industry much more than the Box Office and theatre screens, and it could finally give the devoted ASOIAF fans the itch they crave while the Winds of Winter scribblings continue to gain momentum.