This year, HBO will debut a new Game of Thrones prequel show: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas by George R.R. Martin. The show is set decades after the events of House of the Dragon, HBO's first Game of Thrones show, but decades before the events of the original series. It follows a stalwart, kinda dense newbie knight named Ser Duncan the Tall and his precocious squire Egg. Together, they travel Westeros meeting people and having adventures. The stakes are lower than fans are used to, and the tone lighter. It should be a different sort of Game of Thrones show. Martin, for the record, absolutely loves it.
Martin has written three Dunk and Egg novellas so far: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight. The first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be based on The Hedge Knight. The show hasn't been officially renewed yet, but we've heard that the team is already working on adapting the other two books. Part of the reason HBO wants to get moving soon is because Egg is just a kid and they want to tell his full story before too much time passes. “The role of Egg only spans not even a year, so you have to roll into it season to season pretty quickly, because this little kid will grow up too quickly if we wait too long,” said HBO executive Francesca Orsi. “So we’re thinking about that in terms of pickups.”
But again, the show has not been officially renewed; the first season hasn't even aired. But we are getting more hopeful signs. For instance, Dexter Sol Ansell just posted a video of himself reading the comic book version of The Mystery Knight, the third and (currently) final novella in the series! Does this mean he's already prepping for season 3?
Um querido! Dexter Sol Ansell, o Egg de O Cavaleiro dos Sete Reinos, postou um story lendo a HQ de O Cavaleiro Misterioso, o terceiro conto de Dunk & Egg. 🥚🤩 pic.twitter.com/PQv9NZPZ7k
— House the Dragons (@housethedragons) April 9, 2025
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms costs less to make than either Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. There are no massive battle scenes. The cast is at a more manageable level. There aren't any dragons. This makes it less cost-prohibitive for HBO to commit to future seasons early on. That's good for everyone, especially if it means we don't have to wait an eternity between seasons for new episodes.
That said, Ansell reading The Mystery Knight comic isn't definitive proof of anything. He's been known to post fun videos from behind the scenes, like this one where he gets his head shaved to play the bald Egg:
So nothing's guaranteed, but I do think the signs are looking good that the upcoming first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is due out on HBO and Max sometime in the back half of the year, won't be the last.
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