HBO's Westworld, like the Michael Crichton novel and the 1973 feature film of the same name, is built around an adult theme-park resort where guests are able to visit and interact with themed fantasy worlds, inhabited by lifelike humanoid robots programmed to help act out fantasy scenarios - up to an including sex, combat and death. Thus far, the series has concentrated its focus on the Old West themed region of the title; though the film memorably included sequences in medieval and Ancient Rome settings.

But Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin reportedly pitched Westworld's creators on a more specific idea: An adjacent park based on his own world of Westeros.

The proposed pseudo-crossover would presumably involve characters from Westworld visiting a yet-unrevealed companion park to the Western sector designed to mimic the terrain of Westeros (as envisioned by the HBO adaptation of Martin's A Song of Ice & Fire books); which would allow for actors known for that series to appear in cameos as android versions of their Game of Thrones characters. By extension, it could also allow for said characters to accidentally (or not?) slip into the cowboy-themed world of the main park. Co-showrunner Jonathan Nolan had this to say on the matter to Entertainment Weekly:

“We love George and our daughter’s first trip anywhere in the world was out to Santa Fe for a screening of The Prestige at his theater, the Jean Cocteau. He’s a lovely guy and a stunning writer and it’s flattering he would encourage a crossover. We should be so lucky.”

It's certainly a clever idea, one that has also been suggested (along with myriad other film and TV-inspired "worlds" that could theoretically appear) by fans of both series and well in keeping with the mythos laid out in Crichton's original conception of the material. Tantilizingly, it could even allow for iconic Game of Thrones actors whose characters have since been killed off or otherwise departed the series to make a quasi-return, still-living characters to behave wildly out of character or for characters who (for one reason or another) had never shared a scene together to do so unrestrained by the logic of the actual series. However, co-showrunner Lisa Joy offered a personal caveat:

“I need to be believe that dragons are real. I want them be a real thing. So as much as I love George, I can’t lose that for myself!”

While there are no plans at this time for Game of Thrones or any other licensed properties to crossover and both showrunners maintain their commitment to focus on the mysteries of  itself for the time being, they've also alluded to alternate parks like the medieval, Roman another other historical settings being a potential subject to explore in the show's future.

Westworld continues next Sunday with ‘Dissonance Theory’ @9pm on HBO.

Source: EW