Forget the Iron Throne: 'The Winter King' is already surpassing 'Game of Thrones'

MGM+'s new series The Winter King promises to be a worthy successor to Game of Thrones, if not surpass the legend, with one key advantage over the HBO series.

Here's What We Know

The parallels between "The Winter King" and "Game of Thrones" are already in the spotlight, but the former has one bookish advantage that HBO's fantasy saga sorely lacked.

"The Winter King" has a fully developed story to work on, unlike "Game of Thrones," which suffered from a lack of source material. The HBO hit ran out of George R.R. Martin material by the end of season 5, while "The Winter King" already has a fully developed plot.

"The Winter King" is based on Bernard Cornwell's "The Warlord Chronicles" trilogy of books, which mixes legend with historical facts.

The first season will adapt the first book, and if successful, future seasons will be based on Cornwell's sequels "Enemy of God" and "Excalibur". Of course, being based on the legend of King Arthur, "The Winter King" already has certain key moments, but thanks to the novels, the series creators can avoid the problems that plagued "Game of Thrones" in later seasons. What's more, there's room for various expansions and derivatives of its own if the show becomes a success for MGM: future seasons could explore new directions based on the original legend. Characters like Merlin, Nimueh or Lancelot could also get their own shows, but ultimately Cornwell's Chieftain Chronicles will serve as a solid foundation for the story.

Few could have predicted the cosmic success of Game of Thrones, which ushered in a new era of fantasy shows on television. Beginning with the sixth season, the show began to cover original material, attempting to stay true to Martin's world while subjecting the plot to necessary changes. Unfortunately, this led to a shortened plot that seemed rushed and unsatisfying. Many important reveals seemed to please fans, and favourite characters were killed off seemingly for the sake of simplifying the narrative. More to the point, Martin's lack of leadership revealed some of the problems that already existed in "Game of Thrones."

Once again, "The Winter King" has the advantage of showrunners understanding the beginning, middle, and end of Arthur's journey and not having to resort to desperate manipulation or simplistic storytelling as they did with the latter years of "Game of Thrones."

The success of "Game of Thrones" was a unique cultural moment that other shows rarely manage to achieve. However, there have been numerous other successful fantasy series since its debut, and it's an open question as to how well "The Winter King" will do.

When We Can Expect It

The first episodes of "The Winter King" are already available to watch. The last, tenth episode, will be available on 22 October 2023.