Filming wraps on new Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
By Dan Selcke
HBO is getting back to basics with a new Game of Thrones spinoff called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on author George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. Unlike House of the Dragon, which is a grand, sweeping epic in the style of Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is much more intimate, giving us a worm's eye view of the Seven Kingdoms. It follows a newly minted knight named Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), who in the first season will enter a tournament at Ashford Meadow in the Reach. That's where he'll meet the boy who will become his squire, known as Egg on account of his bald head (Dexter Sol Ansell).
Filming on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms started back in June of this year. Now, Redanian Intelligence reports that shooting on the first season has wrapped up. That means the show was filming for around three months, quite a bit shorter than the six it takes to fim a season of something like House of the Dragon. Like we said, it's a simpler show. The cast is smaller, it's mainly set in one location, the story isn't as big, there's no war on, and there aren't any dragons around at this point in Westerosi history.
Accordingly, the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will run for only six episodes, and most likely they'll be shorter than your average episode of House of the Dragon. The first season will debut sometime in 2025, although we haven't been able to nail down an exact date.
Game of Thrones creator says A Knight of the Seven stays true to his books
There's been a lot of drama in the Song of Ice and Fire fandom of late, with George R.R. Martin publicly criticizing House of the Dragon, which is based on his book Fire & Blood, for straying too far from the source material. It's entertaining, uncomfortable, and ongoing. When The Hollywood Reporter asked Martin to comment on the House of the Dragon situation, he opted to follow the "if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all" rule and complimented A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms instead:
"I visited the set in Northern Ireland in July and loved what I saw. Great cast. [The lead characters] Dunk and Egg look as if they walked out of the pages of my book. My readers are going to love them. I certainly do. [Showrunner Ira Parker] is doing a great job."
- George R.R. Martin
That's good news for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and awkward news for the wider fandom. When A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does come out, I wonder if there will be a split among fans, with one show being approved by the creator and the other not. Things could get weird.
Regardless of the meta narrative, hopefully A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a good show everyone can enjoy. With new seasons of House of the Dragon coming out every two years, I wonder if the plan is to space out new seasons of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms out the same way, so fans get to visit Westeros at least once a year.
Martin has written three Dunk and Egg novellas so far, but has plans for many more. It won't be that long before the show catches up to the source material, which will put it in the same boat that Game of Thrones was in when it adapted all of the source material available from Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series; famously, Martin is still working on finishing that one. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it.
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