Season eight of Game of Thrones is nearing its halfway point already, and the question of what will fill the gaping void in the collective cultural soul is becoming more and more urgent. What will we do? Where will we go? Will there be a tomorrow?

Despite the promise of five Thrones spin-offs starting development, with one now being turned into a pilot, one of those five has now officially been hacked to bits and had its head stuck on a pike above the city walls. Which is to say, it's not happening.

Bryan Cogman, who has been a regular writer on Game of Thrones responsible for 11 episodes and some of the show's biggest moments - he did the second episode of the new season, as well as classics like 'Cripples, Bastards and Broken Things' from season one and 'Oathkeeper' from season four, which introduced the Night King - says he's now "done with Westeros".

"I'm definitely leaving," Cogman told the Hollywood Reporter. "I was developing one of the successor shows with George. George has worked with a bunch of the writers, including Jane [Goldman, writer of Kick-Ass], whose show is being done [as a pilot]. My prequel show is not happening and will not happen.

"HBO decided to go a different way. I'm working with Amazon now and helping them out with their shows. So, it is a goodbye. I am done with Westeros. It's wonderfully bittersweet."

While the phrase "I am done with Westeros" does make it sound like Cogman is absolutely sick of this stupid bloody series and is stomping off home in a huff, that's absolutely not how he feels.

"I'm eager to start the next chapter, but a part of my heart will always live with Game of Thrones," Cogman said. "That's one of the reasons why this episode ['A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms'] was so important to me. It was a goodbye and a love letter to these characters and to this cast." Aw.