The most beloved Game of Thrones character is ready to make his comeback in the new spin-off

Ned Starks is returning to the Game of Thrones stage after more than a decade of his execution, but this time it's not on screen. It's on stage. The character is returning in a new theatrical adaptation titled Game of Thrones: The Mad King which will debut this summer at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, expanding George R.R. Martin’s world beyond television and into live performance.

The play is set fifteen years before the events of Game of Thrones and takes place during the Tourney at Harrenhal, which was a gathering that ignited the events that led to Robert's Rebellion and the fall of Targaryen dynasty. We will get to see a younger Ned Stark who will appear alongside Robert Baratheon and Jaime Lannister, as we get to see the key players before war reshaped the Seven Kingdoms.

The play is written by Duncan Macmillan and directed by Dominic Cooke, with author George R.R. Martin being in close collaboration. While Martin did not pen the script himself, he remained involved throughout the creative process.

More details about Game of Thrones: The Mad King

Game of Thrones: The Mad King will be the first major theatrical expansion of George R.R. Martin’s fantasy universe as the play explores the political and emotional fault lines that set the Seven Kingdoms on a path to war.

The synopsis of the play reads,

"A long winter thaws in Harrenhal, and spring is promised. At a lavish banquet on the eve of a jousting tournament, lovers meet and revelers speculate about who will contend. But in the shadows, amid growing unease at the bloodthirsty actions of the realm’s merciless Mad King, dissenters from his inner circle anxiously advance a treasonous plot. Far away, the drums of battle sound. Family bonds, ancient prophecies, and the sacred line of succession will be tested in a dangerous campaign for power. Who will survive? Who will rise? 'Wars aren’t won by those with most cause, but whose story’s best told.'"

As for the play's romantic setting, the tone leans into a tragic romance, with Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, something that director Cooke describes as a "Romeo-Juliet" arc.

Casting is underway, with a particular emphasis on finding the right young actress to anchor Lyanna’s arc. Performances begin this summer, with tickets going on sale in April.

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More details about Game of Thrones: The Mad King are awaited for now.

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