Whatever Happened To The Jon Snow Sequel Series?

Sixteen months ago, a report from The Hollywood Reporter said HBO was developing a Jon Snow sequel series that follows the events of "Game of Thrones."

George R.R. Martin confirmed the news days later, saying Kit Harrington brought the project idea to him and HBO. He cautioned, however, that the network had yet to greenlight the series, known internally as "Snow."

In December, Harrington subtly teased the premise of the project:

“Jon's gotta go back up to the place with all this history and live out his life thinking about how he killed Dany, and live out his life thinking about Ygritte dying in his arms, and live out his life thinking about how he hung Olly, and live out his life thinking about all of this trauma, and that, that’s interesting," said Harrington. "He’s not OK.”

And that's that. We haven't heard a single word since.

Fans continue to scour the internet for updates on "Snow." But there are not any. HBO is mum in terms of the series' status.

Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) teased a Westeros-y announcement last April at an event in which it unveiled Max, its new flagship streaming service. Yet the event didn't include any mention of Jon Snow.

The company instead made public it had ordered another prequel series, this one called "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight," based on George R.R. Martin’s "Dunk and Egg" novellas.

While intriguing, fans were rightfully underwhelmed with the announcement.

Jon Snow and George R.R. Martin

Jon Snow is the most beloved character in the Westeros Universe. Book readers and series watchers agree he deserves a better ending than the much-maligned "Thrones" finale, during which Snow is exiled beyond The Wall.

The Hollywood Report story gave them hope HBO would give Snow a better ending.

Though there's still a chance HBO greenlights "Snow" -- joining "A Knight" and "House of the Dragon" as the third spinoff -- we consider that possibility unlikely.

It's our belief that HBO does not plan to move ahead with the sequel.

Consider what Martin said when he confirmed the development of the project last year. He said "There are four live-action successor shows in development" at once: "Snow," "Ten Thousand Ships," "Nine Voyages," and the now-ordered "Dunk and Egg" series.

He added that "'Snow' has been in development almost as long as the other three ... the likelihood of all four series getting on the air… not the way it works, usually."

Martin's timeline suggests HBO had the choice of the four spinoffs and chose "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" over "Snow" and the others.

Remember, WBD is already cutting costs. Its shrinking budget could reportedly limit how much TNT spends on renewing the NBA in 2024.

The first season of "Dragon" already required a budget of $200 million, at $20 million an episode. A Jon Snow sequel series would cost as much, if not more than "Dragon," given how much CGI the characters and events beyond The Wall would require.

("A Knight" will cost less because there are no dragons or ice creatures in that timeline.)

Moreover, running three separate television series in the same universe at the same time is a lot. It's called overkill.

HBO has staked too much of its future around "Dragon" being its next flagship series to risk its dilution.

Lastly, "Snow" is not a project HBO can hold until a later time.

It has already been three and a half years since the "Thrones" finale. At some point, and some point soon, it will be too late to revisit that timeline.

Sequels released too many years later hardly work. I.e. "The Godfather Part III, "Psycho II," "Anchorman 2."

So, why hasn't HBO announced that the "Snow" project won't move forward?

We can't say for certain. However, the announcement would be met with immediate backlash. HBO understands that.

Fans are still irate over the ending of "Thrones" and Martin's failure to finish the book series. Sometimes it's best to be coy and not transparent, to keep fans hopeful and not angry.