Christmas has come early for Game of Thrones fans, because today HBO just released a slew of new images for its upcoming spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Set around 100 years before Thrones, this new series is a more intimate affair that follows a fledgeling hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall a.k.a. Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his motor-mouthed squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as they go on adventures around the realm. All signs point to the show being a fun time!
The first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adapts George R.R. Martin's first novella featuring Dunk and Egg, "The Hedge Knight." The book sees our knight and squire head to a tourney at Ashford Meadow, where Dunk hopes to gain renown and possible employment from one of the many lords there. The tourney is spectacularly realized by Martin on the page, and I have a feeling A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will do the event — along with the many colorful characters who appear there — justice.
Let's take a tour of what's in store! Starting with a few new photos of Dunk and Egg themselves.
The above shot is from a scene we got a glimpse of earlier this week, where Dunk and Egg chat in the stable at an inn. This is one of their first meetings, establishing their odd couple dynamic as Dunk tries to assert himself as a respectable knight and Egg flouts his instructions at every turn.
And here's another shot of Dunk and Egg, likely at the same inn:
There's one more shot of our leading pair, this time at a campfire at Ashford Meadow:
Now let's meet some of the new faces! First up, we have a photo which has some interesting implications for the series. It's our first look at Danny Webb as Ser Arlan of Pennytree, the knight Dunk was formerly a squire for:
Seeing Ser Arlan on his feet with sword in hand has piqued my curiosity, because "The Hedge Knight" begins with Ser Arlan already dead. The very first scene of the novella, which we saw in a previous trailer, starts with Dunk burying Ser Arlan. The fact that he's alive and well in this picture makes me wonder if we're going to actually see his final moment, or even him knighting Dunk as he dies.
Next, we have our first look at Steely Pate, a blacksmith at Ashford played by Youssef Kerkour:
Steely Pate is responsible for making a particular piece of gear Dunk will come to treasure. We won't say much for spoilers, but it's nice to get a look at him at last!
Next let's check in with the nobility; specifically, the scions of House Fossoway. Here's Edward Ashley as Ser Steffon Fossoway...
And Dunk with Ser Steffon's nephew and squire, Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas):
The Fossoways are a noble house from the Reach, and if you're particularly well-versed in your Westeros lore, you may know that there are not one, but two branches of House Fossoway, one whose sigil is a red apple and another whose banners bear a green apple. We'll see how that divide comes about in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
We'll also get to see Dunk become totally enamored by a lovely painter named Tanselle, played in the show by Tanzyn Crawford:
Tanselle is at Ashford Meadow along with a group of Dornish puppeteers that includes her uncle; she paints the puppets. Remember that massive dragon puppet from the trailers? That's Tanselle's group. Seeing Dunk and Tanselle together on screen is going to be a moment.
We've a few more new characters to meet still, and our next one is the relative of an iconic Game of Thrones character. Here's Daniel Monk as Ser Manfred Dondarrion, a distant relative of Beric Dondarrion:
Martin never makes the exact relation between Ser Manfred and Berric clear in the books, but it's still cool to see a different side to House Dondarrion. Something tells me Ser Manfred will have an easier time of it than Beric did.
Our last new character is one we've seen in the trailers right from the jump, but haven't gotten a proper image for until now. It's Tom Vaughan Lawlor as Plummer:
Plummer is a steward of House Ashford and responsible for overseeing the entrance of knights into the games. He'll take a cynical eye toward our valiant hedge knight. After all, Dunk doesn't exactly roll into Ashford Meadow looking the part.
That may be all of our new characters, but we've still got more exciting images! Let's check in with the Targaryens next.
From left-to-right, the above image shows Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett), Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), and Aerion's father Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell). Aerion is the bad sort of Targaryen, Baelor is the utterly heroic kind, and Maekar is somewhere in between. Oh, we'll get to know these Targaryens very well in the show.
Here's a better look at Aerion, accosting Dunk in the street:
Aerion will certainly not be a friend to Ser Duncan the Tall in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; he's not the sort of Targaryen who makes friends with anyone, really. But that won't stop Dunk from doing his best to improve his fortunes at Ashford. He'll go on quite a journey to get there and take his place in the lists. Let's close things out by taking a look at a bunch of new images of our hedge knight.
That's Dunk trying out his new sword for the first time after burying Ser Arlan of Pennytree, from whence he sets off:
He'll make a pitstop at an inn, where he'll meet Egg before continuing on his journey...
And finally arrive at Ashford Meadow:
At Ashford, Dunk will make camp beneath an elm tree and sleep beneath the open sky:
As for how Dunk will fare at Ashford, well...if you've read "The Hedge Knight," you know things get complicated for him. If you haven't, perhaps you've seen the trailers, where he shouts the goosebump-inducing line "Are there no true knights among you?" Trust me when I say that scene is going to be a highlight of the entire Game of Thrones franchise:
We won't be waiting much longer to watch! A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres January 18, 2026 on HBO and HBO Max. We'll be covering it extensively here at Winter Is Coming, so check back for more.