The eighth and final season of Game of Thrones is set to air next year, but HBO might not be done with Westeros just yet.
The network announced Friday that it has ordered a pilot for a prequel set thousands of years before the events of George R.R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire book series that form the basis of the TV show.
"Taking place thousands of years before the events of Game of Thrones, the series chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour," reads HBO's description of the currently untitled project. "And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’s history to the true origin of the white walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend… it’s not the story we think we know."
The project is being created by Martin and Jane Goldman, a British screenwriter and producer who will also serve as showrunner. The pair wrote the story for the pilot together, with Goldman penning the teleplay.
There have been several potential Game of Thrones prequel series in the works at HBO, but this is the first project to receive a pilot order from the network.
HBO programming president Casey Bloys has previously told the Hollywood Reporter that any potential spinoff wouldn't air until at least 2020.
"If we do a pilot and series, nothing is going to air on HBO until at least a year after the final season," he said.