season 3’s Red Wedding, it’s a shame that the most important moment of all was never even shown with a flashback.
Following the backlash of Game of Thrones season 8 for rushing the ending and introducing uncharacteristic resolutions for many of the main figures, HBO has been trying to bring back the love for the show with a series of announced spinoffs. So far, only one spinoff has moved into production - 2022’s prequel series untitled spinoff about the Yi Ti region. While a few like The Long Night have already been canceled, HBO has yet to introduce a series on the story fans are really longing for - Robert’s Rebellion.
The opportunities and directions for Game of Thrones with direct or spinoff sequels are endless, but it can only go so far with prequel adaptations. George R.R. Martin has laid the groundwork for prequels centuries back with standalone novels and informational books, but the original A Song of Ice and Fire book series already set up the most important moment that would need to be shown in a nearby prequel: the Tourney at Harrenhal. The tourney was integral to Game of Thrones’ plot and is the only other story that unequivocally warrants a screen adaptation. As such, while HBO’s numerous Game of Thrones spinoffs series are exciting worldbuilding opportunities to expand on, they can’t stop being made until the Tourney at Harrenhal is finally shown on screen.
GOT’s Most Important Moment Is The Tourney At Harrenhal
Even though the Tourney at Harrenhal was never shown on screen - not even in Bran’s time-traveling - it’s the single most important moment in Game of Thrones’ story. The Tourney at Harrenhal was the catalyst for every major conflict in Game of Thrones, and the event’s legacy seeps into the personal and societal strifes that every character experiences in the show’s timeline. Every major character, and the entire Seven Kingdoms, is affected in one way or another by the Tourney at Harrenhal, with many of Game of Thrones’ leading figures having been present at the event. Most notably, the tourney was the event in which Rhaegar Targaryen chose Lyanna Stark (Jon Snow's true parents) as the queen of love and beauty over his own wife, an action that would directly lead to Robert’s Rebellion.
The tourney was a 10-day affair that took place 17 years before the beginning of Game of Thrones’ timeline, bringing together many of the most notable highborn figures and knights in the Seven Kingdoms. From Game of Thrones’ series, significant characters like Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon, Jaime Lannister, Barristan Selmy, Oberyn Martell, and Rhaegar Targaryen were all in attendance. Out of any moment that occurred before Game of Thrones’ timeline, the Tourney at Harrenhal was the most referenced and significant, with stories from so many different s being told to the younger generations. While certain moments were included in flashbacks or time traveling from Bran and the Three-Eyed Raven, the preceding event that would have been the most satisfying to see was never shown on-screen, and Game of Thrones’ adaptation treatments can’t end until it’s finally brought to life for the audience.
Game of Thrones’ Prequels Are Set Too Far Back
Likely as a way to distance the new adaptations from the backlash of Game of Thrones, the prequels are set far into the lore's past. House of the Dragon takes place about two centuries before Game of Thrones, while a Yi Ti show at the height of the region’s prominence would be set thousands of years earlier. As such, the prequels won’t do much for directly amending Game of Thrones’ final season failures or getting fans back into the story they fell in love with in the first place. The story Game of Thrones fans know is what’s told in A Song of Ice and Fire’s books and the HBO series, and the natural prequel for the series would be around Robert’s Rebellion. At this time, many of the main characters are teenagers, while many others have yet to be born, allowing the prequel its own story to tell while still being completely connected to the original.
The stakes are higher for a close-set Game of Thrones spinoff prequel because fans know what comes next and how catastrophic the events in this timeline are, especially since the Tourney at Harrenhal serves as an origin story for so many characters. House of the Dragon will shed substantial light on the history of House Targaryen, but it won’t pique the interest of Game of Thrones fans in the same way that a show set near the Tourney at Harrenhal would.
Showing The Tourney At Harrenhal Could Make Fans Love GOT Again
While many fans are still soured at Game of Thrones for its season 8 treatment, HBO is desperately trying to regain attraction and dedicated interest in the franchise. Still, it can’t truly do so until bringing audiences back to the core story. The thing about prequels is that they will all end up leading to the original Game of Thrones series, and this is continually a reminder for many dismayed fans of how the finale left a bad taste in their mouths. This bad taste can’t be washed out until the main story is directly addressed again, and the only significant narrative that could accomplish this is Robert’s Rebellion and the Tourney at Harrenhall, an event that seeps into every aspect of Game of Thrones’ various conflicts. To amend the shortcoming of Game of Thrones’ ending and fix the reputation and legacy of its overall series, HBO would have to make a spinoff that brings back familiar characters in an organic way while satisfying viewers with the one major event they were never able to see on screen.
GOT’s On-Screen Universe Isn’t Complete Until Harrenhal Is Shown
Showing the Tourney at Harrenhal also allows HBO the chance to include important characters from the books that never got a proper inclusion in Game of Thrones, such as the long-requested Howland Reed and Jon Connington. Game of Thrones’ ending left many storylines incomplete while ignoring many that were significant in the novels, and a Robert’s Rebellion series or at least a project that includes the Tourney at Harrenhal could make up for such shortcomings.
For how many characters were present at the event, how many important plot points in Game of Thrones began there, and how long its legacy lingered in the show’s conflicts, it would be a mistake to never bring the tourney to the small screen. The Tourney at Harrenhal is one of the only significant pin-point moments that affected every single Game of Thrones character, and their stories won’t feel complete in the show’s on-screen universe until the tourney is finally shown.