A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker just dropped some juicy information about Dunk and Egg's future on both TV and in the books. In a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Parker elaborated on his roadmap for the series, which he envisions going past the three published novellas by George R.R. Martin.
In January, Parker laid out his grand plan, which involves adapting roughly 12 stories that Martin gave him the outlines for into future A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms seasons, past season 3.
The first three seasons will adapt the only three Dunk and Egg novellas Martin has published at this point. The first season covered “The Hedge Knight,” and the second season, which they are currently filming, will pick up with “The Sworn Sword.” Parker has confirmed a first-half of 2027 release date. The third season will then follow the third novella, “The Mystery Knight.”
Parker also teased that book fans will be in for some surprises, with Martin giving him unpublished pages for season 2. "For the deep super fans, we got some extra stuff that — as far as George’s filing cabinets are concerned — is canon," he shared.
This is fantastic news, and hopefully means there will be more flashbacks. Season 1 already went a little further than the first novella did, as the flashbacks with Dunk growing up with Rafe in Flea Bottom and how he met Ser Arlan were not in the book.
Martin is still working on the fourth novella… among many other things
Parker said he'd like to adapt two more Dunk and Egg stories for seasons 4 and 5 before a time jump. He said the fifth story, which is currently unknown, is the last one where Egg is a boy.
"But yeah, I’d love to expand it from three seasons to maybe four or five. Book four, which George is working on, takes place in a very cool location," Parker said. "And five is the last story point of Egg as a boy. So it’s a very natural ending place for us to take a break and come back when Dexter is older."
We can only speculate what those stories for seasons 4 and 5 will be, but we have a pretty good idea that one of them could take place in Winterfell. This could be the "very cool location" Parker is referring to. In 2014, Martin teased this story with the working title "The She-Wolves of Winterfell."
As recently as this year, Martin said that he’s gone back to work on this story, which would likely see the characters interact with members of House Stark. In the third novella, it's implied that Dunk and Egg would travel to Winterfell to help the Starks fight off Ironborn invaders. Martin has also hinted at some kind of succession crisis in the North that Dunk and Egg could help solve.
In any case, I'm fully on board with this idea. Even if we don't get the novella, Parker could have a field day with Easter eggs and book plots in a Winterfell story. We could maybe even finally get the answer to the long-running theory that Hodor is one of Dunk's descendants.
Plans for a time jump
After season four or five, Parker wants to take a break and let the actors age up, and he made it clear that Dexter Sol Ansell and Peter Claffey are the actors he wants for the entire run. When asked if HBO would float recasting Egg after the first five seasons, Parker made it known he was very much against that idea.
"No. Dexter is our Egg. Or, at least, Dexter is my Egg — I have no controlling interest in this property. But Dexter and Peter are my guys," Parker said.
Good for him. You can't deny that Parker has a clear understanding and respect for Martin's work, and there's no reason to mess with his vision for the show right now. Even though his plan is ambitious, it would be a great way to keep this story alive for years — or even decades — to come. Plus, we A Song of Ice and Fire nerds are no strangers to waiting years for new content. What's a couple of decades more?
Shedding light on what the show would look like after a time jump, Parker shared: “So then we can do Egg the Prince, do some politics, do some fun stuff in Summerhall and King’s Landing, and get a different vibe where they’re not on the road all the time.”
But how likely is HBO to greenlight a plan like this? Parker is willing to wait and see what happens.
"So if the show wraps and people are still OK with everything we’re doing and there’s still an appetite, let the show evolve along with our leads, with myself and with the rest of our creative team as we grow older and the world changes and we want to say different things,” Parker explained. “I think that would be a lovely way to tell a story about these two guys through the course of their lives.”
You can watch all six episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 on HBO and HBO Max. Season 2 is due in the first half of 2027.
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