I am planning to give the Game Of Thrones Telltale series of 3 episodes so far a shot. However, I am wondering if this series of games is canon. I have read here and there that this series explores the stories of a minor Northern house (House Forrester I think) and that the timeline is really close to the ASOIAF timeline (if not included in it).
So is the stuff written by GRRM, or at least developed with his approval rendering it hence canon?
If it's canon with anything, it would be the show. It was made using HBO's license, not one gotten direct from GRRM. You'll note that in the logo, it matches the HBO show's style and it lacks the 'A' in A Game of Thrones. Also the familiar characters we see in the game are modeled after the actors from the show.
In terms of timeline it's between the colored weddings that we've seen in the show (i.e. post-Red Wedding, pre-Purple Wedding), at least so far. The game's first 'season' is not complete, so we don't have the complete story yet. As linked from the Wikipedia page, this article says:
Allison noted the Games of Thrones project, though still in early development stages, took more than a year of conversation with HBO to seal the deal — a multi-year, multi-title deal, to be exact.
So this first batch of episodes is just the first of several.
In terms of canonicity, the Wikipedia page links to this article:
A report from The New York Times reveals that Game of Thrones creator George R.R. Martin's personal assistant Ty Corey Franck is working with Telltale Games as a "story consultant" for the developer's upcoming episodic series based on the acclaimed fantasy franchise.
So ostensibly the story should be consistent with the rest of Game of Thrones.
As this answer states it is probably canon to the show. However, it is definitely not canon to the books, and GRRM has even answered this himself.
angelos_l: I recently played the Telltale Game of Thrones game. I know that House Forrester exists in your books, so I just wanted to clarify: Is the information that we get about them and the Whitehills (their seats, their sigils and their words) valid, or is it only canon within the tv series universe? Thanks.
GRRM: Only the books are canon.
I've since found an interview where again GRRM confirms that only the books are canon.
RL: How much back story have you created? Have you mapped out the world’s physics, geography, history, astronomy, etc.?
Martin: I have a huge number of genealogies that are in the appendices. The appendices grow with each book. I also have a fair amount of back story in my head. In the genealogy for a house, I’ll list the three children of a particular lord and lady. As I write them down, I have something in my head or in my notes. I have some secret about them or their personality or their fate. There is back story-but it is subject to change. Nothing is actually canon until it appears in the novel.
I’ve made this point with some of the spin-off products. Some of the gaming products want to use my notes or some materials I have. I’ve allowed that, but I caution them that I’m still telling the story. If I change it, the version in the books is canon. The spin-off products are fun, but not canon.
Elio has reported that the game also falls under show canon more than book canon and quotes GRRM stating something similar.
Still, in most respects the game feels reasonably plausible as part of the Game of Thrones series, but it should not be considered canon for A Song of Ice and Fire unless GRRM confirms that various aspects are canon. Per a user on our forum, Martin replied to a query concerning the canonicity of the game:
“All I really control is what is “book canon” (the novels and the Dunk & Egg stories and the worldbook). It’s up to HBO and David & Dan to determine what is “TV canon.”
<p>The Telltale guys worked with Ty Franck, who was my right hand here for half a decade.”</p>
The problem about judging whether the events in the game are truly canon is the shows and the books that for short answer purposes I will just put the two under the name of "the main story". When it comes to trying to figure out if the events are canon we have to either get confirmation from the main story, or word from George Martin that the games are canon to his world.
The game is far behind on the main story being a season and a half behind. So far from the game all major events are the same as to how it happened in the main story, so for right now we can assume that the events in the game are a high possibility, but not canon. Several parts of the game make it difficult to tell, one being one of the main antagonists is Ramsey Bolton, a major player in the main story. So if anything huge happened to him in the game that didn't happen in the show, would prove that it was not canon. If the next episode of the game showed Ramsey getting a giant scar across his face, then we know that part is not, as in the main story, which is ahead of the game, Ramsey doesn't have any scar.
To cut it all down, without actual confirmation it is hard to tell, and very tricky. Without it we can't really say the game's story is canon, but I would say based on evidence that is probably is, and will be confirmed at some point. That is just my point of view on the subject.
It is set in the time of the books, it portrays almost all the "major" character from the books:
It also portrays most of the "big" happenings from the books/TV show. So by that reasoning it certainly has to be a part of the canon. Otherwise Telltale games would go broke in a second from all the lawsuits they would have for stealing IP.
Directly from the Wiki of the game.
Game of Thrones is an episodic graphic adventure fantasy drama video game based on the A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin and their TV adaptation Game of Thrones, released in December 2014 for Android, iOS, Microsoft Windows, OS X, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360 and Xbox One.
The game is being developed by Telltale Games and follows the episodic format found in other Telltale titles, such as The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands, where player choices and actions influence later events across the 6-episode arc. The story revolves around the northern House Forrester, rulers of the Ironrath, whose members, including the five playable characters, attempt to save their family and themselves after ending up on the losing side of the War of the Five Kings. The game includes settings, characters and voice actors from the novels and TV series.
