George R. R. Martin is a very busy man when it comes to expanding the world of Westeros that he created. With three successful television adaptations and a host of off-shoot novels from A Song of Ice and Fire, it was only a matter of time before he moved his energy on to something else — even if that’s not The Winds of Winter. However, one of the most powerful tales Martin ever wrote is finally being explored, and fans have their first proper look at the sprawling cast bringing one of the franchise’s most pivotal stories to life.
Set during the final years before the events of Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, The Mad King explores the downfall of King Aerys II Targaryen and the growing tensions that erupt into Robert’s Rebellion. The official synopsis teases “a sweeping new stage epic” that reveals “a legendary chapter of Westerosi history,” chronicling the conflicts that reshape the Seven Kingdoms decades before audiences first met Ned Stark and Daenerys Targaryen.
It’s been a tough week or so for the production, though, after multiple preview performances were canceled due to what the Royal Shakespeare Company described as unforeseen production delays. Naturally that meant ticket holders had quite a bit to do to solve things. However, thankfully, the show successfully resumed previews earlier this week, with its first full audience rewarding the four-hour production with a standing ovation after director Dominic Cooke addressed the crowd before the performance.
Collider Exclusive · Sci-Fi Survival Quiz Which Sci-Fi World Would You Survive? The Matrix · Mad Max · Blade Runner · Dune · Star Wars
Five universes. Five completely different ways the future went wrong — or sideways, or up in flames. Only one of them is the world your instincts were built for. Eight questions will figure out which dystopia, galaxy, or desert wasteland you’d actually make it out of alive.
💊The Matrix
🔥Mad Max
🌧️Blade Runner
🏜️Dune
🚀Star Wars
01
You sense something is deeply wrong with the world around you. What do you do? The first instinct is often the truest one.
02
In a world of scarcity, what resource do you guard most fiercely? What we protect reveals what we believe survival actually requires.
03
What kind of threat keeps you up at night? Fear is useful data — if you’re honest about what you’re actually afraid of.
04
How do you deal with authority you don’t trust? Every dystopia has a power structure. Your approach to it determines everything.
05
Which environment could you actually endure long-term? Survival isn’t just tactical — it’s physical, psychological, and very much about where you are.
06
Who do you want in your corner when things fall apart? The company you keep is the clearest signal of who you actually are.
07
Where do you draw the line — if you draw one at all? Every survivor eventually faces a moment that tests what they’re actually made of.
08
What would actually make survival worth it? Staying alive is one thing. Having a reason to is another.
Your Fate Has Been Calculated You’d Survive In…
Your answers point to the world your instincts were built for. This is the universe your temperament, your survival instincts, and your particular brand of stubbornness were made for.
The Resistance, Zion
The Matrix
You took the red pill a long time ago — probably before anyone offered it to you. You’re a systems thinker who can’t help but notice the seams in things.
You’re drawn to understanding how the system works before figuring out how to break it.
You’d find the Resistance, or it would find you — your instinct for spotting constructed realities is the machines’ worst nightmare.
You function best when you have access to information and the freedom to act on it.
The Matrix built an airtight prison. You’d be the one probing the walls for the door.
The Wasteland
Mad Max
The wasteland doesn’t reward the clever or the well-connected — it rewards those who are hard to kill and harder to break. That’s you.
You don’t need comfort, community, or a cause larger than the next horizon.
You need a vehicle, a clear threat, and enough fuel to outrun it — and you’re good at all three.
You are unsentimental enough to survive that world, and decent enough — just barely — to be something more than another raider.
In the wasteland, that distinction is everything.
Los Angeles, 2049
Blade Runner
You’d survive here because you know how to exist in moral grey areas without losing yourself completely.
You read people accurately, keep your circle small, and ask the questions others prefer not to answer.
In a city where humanity is a legal designation rather than a feeling, you hold onto something that keeps you functional.
You’re not a hero. But you’re not lost, either.
In Blade Runner’s world, that distinction is everything.
Arrakis
Dune
Arrakis is the most hostile environment in the known universe — and you are precisely the kind of person it rewards.
Patience, discipline, and political awareness are your core strengths — and on Arrakis, they’re survival tools.
You understand that the long game matters more than any single victory.
Others come to Dune and are consumed by it. You’d learn its logic and earn its respect.
In time, you wouldn’t just survive Arrakis — you’d begin to reshape it.
A Galaxy Far, Far Away
Star Wars
The galaxy far, far away is vast, loud, and in a constant state of violent political upheaval — and you wouldn’t have it any other way.
You find meaning in being part of something larger than yourself — a cause, a crew, a rebellion.
You’d gravitate toward the Rebellion, or the fringes, or whatever pocket of the galaxy still believes the Empire’s grip can be broken.
You fight — not because you have to, but because standing aside isn’t something you’re capable of.
In Star Wars, that willingness is what makes all the difference.
Who’s Involved in ‘Game of Thrones: The Mad King’?
Royal Shakespeare Company
The Royal Shakespeare Company has unveiled the first official ensemble image from George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King, showcasing many of the legendary figures whose actions will ultimately set the events of HBO’s blockbuster fantasy series in motion. The play officially opens on August 8 at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, where it will run through September 5.
The production stars Michael Shaeffer (The Crown) as King Aerys II Targaryen, Noah Ritter (Masters of the Air) as Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, Michael Abubakar (The Book of Clarence) as Eddard Stark, Callum Woodhouse (Masters of the Air) as Robert Baratheon, Harmony Rose-Bremner (The Winter’s Tale) as Lyanna Stark, Elizabeth Ayodele (The Book of Clarence) as Princess Elia Martell, Mariah Gale (The Crown) as Queen Rhaella Targaryen and Maxim Ays (Bridgerton) as Ser Jaime Lannister.
Adapted by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke, George R.R. Martin’s Game of Thrones: The Mad King officially opens at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon on August 8 and runs through September 5.
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