George R.R. Martin ponders which Game of Thrones character he would put in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

George R.R. Martin is opening up on which Game of Thrones characters he could see fitting into the earlier time period and flamboyant jousting tourney of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Game of Thrones has always rested on the history of Westeros. The lavish backstory of George R.R. Martin’s world is amazingly in-depth, with Martin detailing the long history of this fantasy world where dragons once ruled, the dead walk, the politics are dangerously complex, and more. 

That history was well used in Game of Thrones, expanding on Martin’s work to produce an Emmy-winning global phenomenon. With so much backstory, there’s plenty of room to explore more of the Game of Thrones world. That was first done in House of the Dragon, which was set over a century before the events of Thrones and focused on the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war that tore Westeros apart and led to the decline of House Targaryen.

Now comes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, adapting Martin’s novella about Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who travel the realm getting into misadventures. The story is set 90 years before the events of Game of Thrones, which may seem to rule out any crossover characters...but that didn't stop Martin himself from mulling the idea.

What Game of Thrones characters would George R.R. Martin like to see in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

At New York Comic Con, Martin fielded fan questions about the series, including a fun one: if he could pick any characters from Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon to drop into the time period of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, who would he choose? Martin excluded anyone with a dragon, since this the great beasts are extinct during this period of Westerosi history and the sudden reappearance of one would be too great a change. But that still left some great choices.

“I think Jamie Lannister would like, enter the tournament, winning some of them, fighting in some of them," Martin said. "Tyrion would just bet on them (laughs) and come out winners or losers. I don’t know, a lot of different characters, I’ll have to mull this one.” 

While the Lannister clan we know won’t be born in the time period of AKOTSK, there is potential for some other older characters to show up, such as Master Aemon, who was alive during these events. Perhaps there could be a Lannister ancestor like Tytos, the father of Tywin, who could be starting the family’s rise to power. 

It could also be Martin giving us characters a bit like Jamie and Tyrion: an arrogant noble knight who enters the tournament expecting to win easily only to face challenges and a womanizing gambler who's smarter than he seems. The saga has always played on classic fantasy archtypes so it would make sense to add characters like that in.

The long distance in timelines is a fun aspect for the show. While some Game of Thrones fan-favorites may not really appear in Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, even imagining their presence shows the great connection the Thrones shows have. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres January 18, 2026 on HBO.