A new stage play, The Mad King, set in the Game of Thrones universe, held its first preview to a standing ovation this week. Written with input from author George R.R. Martin, the production reportedly reshapes several long-standing pillars of the story's backstory, offering fans their first substantial new canon since A Dance with Dragons was published in 2011, an absence made more keenly felt by the divisive ending of the HBO television adaptation.

According to accounts from early audience members, the play recasts Aerys Targaryen's "madness" as partly a dark response to real conspiracies against him and trauma from the Summerhall tragedy, rather than pure insanity. It also revises Rhaegar Targaryen's story, suggesting Elia Martell knew of and supported his relationship with Lyanna Stark, that his prophetic visions were more literal than dreamlike, and that Elia and Lyanna were active participants in events rather than passive victims of his obsession with prophecy.