The showrunner for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has a wish for the series that goes way beyond “long-term plan!”
It’s obvious that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is being intended as another long-lasting show under the Game of Thrones banner. While House of the Dragon seems set to end with season 4, AKOTSK just got started, so there’s a lot of potential left in the tale of Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and Prince Aegon “Egg” Targaryen (Dexter Sol Ansell) wandering Westeros.
Speaking to Decider, showrunner Ira Parker shared some surprising news on his plans for future seasons. One would think the potential would be limited, as author George R.R. Martin has only published three novellas about Dunk and Egg to date. But Parker revealed that Martin shared his notes and outlines for almost a dozen future stories to use.
“What I would love to do: George has five stories of sort of Egg the boy, which is, I think, a nice thing to do right now while Dexter is still young and his voice is, you know, squeaky. It will be cracking shortly and he’ll be growing up,” Parker said.
This isn't the first case of a property having to film quickly before the actors age too fast out of their roles (see the Harry Potter franchise) and HBO seems intent on ensuring A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms doesn't take years between seasons. That would set up a few years of Egg and Dunk continuing their journey.
Parker added, “Then at the end of that fifth one, he sort of becomes the prince again. Then, the next couple would take place in a different [setting]. Not just on the road, but in a place like Summerhall or a place like King’s Landing. That’s the middle section of if. Of course, the last [section] is Egg the king.”
As all Game of Thrones fans know, Egg does eventually ascend the Iron Throne as King Aegon V when he’s 33 years old. Ansell is only 11 and would be about 17 by the time a fifth season is completed. So you’d think for a flash forward season, they’d simply recast the character, right?
Wrong! Parker instead has an idea that sounds insane.
“You know, everybody wants to go and do their own thing, and I hope Peter and Dexter have absolutely huge careers. I hope Dexter is the new Leonardo DiCaprio in the Titanic reboot and Peter Claffey should be James Bond. I want them to go and have their careers and I would love to come back every now and then and just do one or two more in the middle of their lives.”
That’s right, Parker actually wants the show to take a decades-long hiatus after its fifth season, then come back when both actors are older to show their aged roles. As he says, “it can’t be anyone else other than Dexter and it has to be Peter.” That has him willing to wait 20 years to wrap the saga up.
Parker admits he hasn’t talked to HBO about this and it’s hard to imagine them agreeing to a crazy idea that would require decades to pull off. Still, the fact that he’s willing to try it shows how dedicated Parker is to making A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a memorable show.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 is streaming on HBO Max. Season 2 is currently in production.
Add us as a preferred source on Google