We just celebrated the 15-year anniversary of Game of Thrones in April here at Winter Is Coming, and we’re coming up on seven years since the series finale aired on HBO. The adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels feels simultaneously just like yesterday and eons back, and I’m just speaking from a fan’s perspective. The cast had to decide what their careers would look like post-Thrones, and many of them, understandably so, haven’t wanted to revisit the franchise since.
Actors like Emilia Clarke (Daenerys Targaryen) and Lena Headey (Cersei Lannister) have shared that they have no plans to watch Game of Thrones spinoffs like House of the Dragon, while Kit Harington (Jon Snow) said he watched a few episodes and, though he “loved it,” he admitted it was “hard” to watch. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) previously stated that he considered watching Targaryen-centric prequel “too soon,” however, it seems he’s changed his tune for a different spinoff.
Nikolaj Coster-Waldau is eager to watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for its “sense of humor”
In a recent interview with Mumbai Mirror (via Wiki of Thrones) the Danish actor shared that he still hasn’t watched either of the released Game of Thrones spinoffs, saying: “No, and not out of (spite) like, ‘Oh no, I don’t want to watch it.’ I saw the trailer of House of Dragon. I was like that looks so similar to what I know and it’s clearly the wrong people.” That said, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has piqued his interest.
“I saw the trailer of A Knight of the Seven Kingdom. And I thought that looked incredible. That looked really good because I smelled a great sense of humor. We had fun stuff in Game of Thrones. I’ll check that one out,” Coster-Waldau continued.
Of course, this isn’t an insult to House of the Dragon; based on Coster-Waldau’s comments, it seems the prequel is just too similar to Game of Thrones to watch and not feel weird about. Though the same characters aren’t included in the show, it’s the same houses, and ancestors of Jaime Lannister are featured. The tone is also similar, as is the familial drama and conniving politicking.
On the other hand, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feels like a totally different approach to Westeros. It follows the smallfolk—something George R.R. Martin chose after reading journalists’ criticism of his work—and is much lighter than previous shows in the franchise. It feels way more wholesome, focusing more on a hedge knight and his squire rather than kings and queens.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has truly felt like a breath of fresh air for the Game of Thrones franchise, so it’s fun to hear that even someone from the original cast seems to feel the same way.
Elsewhere in the interview, Coster-Waldau shared how much he’s keeping touch with the cast of Game of Thrones, and unsurprisingly, he name-dropped two actors he shared a lot of screen time with. “I speak to Gwen (Gwendoline Christie, who played Brienne of Tarth) quite a bit. I write with Lena sometimes. We all live in different parts of the world, but we are always going to have a connection,” he shared.
You can stream Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and House of the Dragon on HBO Max.
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