At the tail end of the interview, the 70-year-old author dishes on an idea for a whole new Game of Thrones series inspired by Tom Stoppard's play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, which follows a couple of minor Hamlet characters as the Shakespearean epic rages around them.

“I wanted to do a show called Spear Carriers, which would actually be set during the events of Game of Thrones, but it wouldn’t be following Dany, Tyrion and Jaime. They would all be there in the background like Hamlet, and it would be more like, 'Here’s a story about a guy in the City Watch; here’s a story about a prostitute at one of Littlefinger’s brothels; here’s a story about a mummer who’s in town to do juggling and tricks.' And they all get caught up in the events,” Martin told the Times. “I think that kind of show would be a lot of fun to do. Maybe I’ll be able to convince them to do it!”

The best thing about Westeros is its depth. No matter how many characters Martin kills off, it seems like he has an endless supply lined up to take their places. It makes sense that he would want to showcase a few that didn’t belong to the rich, famous, important ruling and warring classes. Case in point: One of the best scenes in the whole show is Arya and the Hound’s encounter with a dying peasant in season three. A whole episode about that layman-philosopher’s life, or the theater troupe in Braavos, or Ray the Septon before he met the Hound, could be great.

While Martin admits that he hasn’t been able to sell HBO on the idea yet, it’s beyond us how he can even think about piling yet another project onto his docket, which already includes a superhero series at Hulu, five Game of Thrones spinoffs in the works at HBO, and finally finishing the damn books—plus, who knows, maybe a Rick and Morty crossover?

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