The Game of Thrones universe is growing at the speed of a flying dragon. The first season of a new prequel show, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, premieres later this year, and we've now learned that HBO is making plans to film seasons 2 and 3 back-to-back, which hopefully means we won't have to wait terribly long between new episodes. The brilliant decision could solve a huge problem that Netflix has faced with its sci-fi smash Stranger Things.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is about a knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Author George R.R. Martin has written three Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas so far, and Egg is quite young in all of them. HBO executive Francesca Orsi has explained that if they take too long filming each season, the 10-year-old Ansell could grow up too fast. “The role of Egg only spans not even a year, so you have to roll into it season to season pretty quickly because this kid will grow up too quickly if we wait too long," she said.
Stranger Things has faced this issue from the start. Its young cast joined the Netflix series as a bunch of pubescent kids in season 1 (2016). But most had become adults when season 4 came out in 2022. Watching the younglings look all grown-up in the show's latest installment was jarring. It makes me nervous for the upcoming fifth and final season.
There's no denying that Stranger Things has faced a bigger challenge than A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The Game of Thrones prequel has source material, which makes it easier to plan ahead. Meanwhile, Stranger Things creators Matt and Ross Duffer had to create an original story for their sci-fi show. That takes longer as they cook fresh plots for each season.
Stranger Things' production has only gotten bigger and more time-consuming. The VFX shot of demobats flying over Hawkins before landing on the Creel House in season 4 took nearly two years to finish. In contrast, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has minimal VFX work to worry about, given that dragons have gone extinct by this point in Westerosi history (the show is set decades after House of the Dragon but decades before Game of Thrones).
Patiently waiting for Stranger Things season 5 isn't such a bad deal, after all. The season 4 finale lasts nearly two-and-a-half hours. The final season will be even bigger, with multiple episodes reported to have a movie-length runtimes. With both A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Stranger Things season 5 eyeing a 2025 release, we fantasy lovers are in for a treat.
To stay up to date on everything fantasy, science fiction, and WiC, follow our all-encompassing Facebook page and Twitter account, sign up for our exclusive newsletter and check out our YouTube channel.