June is going to be a big month for the Game of Thrones universe. Not only will HBO start airing the second season of its prequel show House of the Dragon, but it'll also start filming a whole other prequel series: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight (which I am going to just refer to as The Hedge Knight to spare my keyboard the punishment), based on George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas. We already know that Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell will be playing the two main characters. All that's left is to get them into costume, drive them out to some castle and let the cameras roll!
As for which castles HBO will be using to stand in for famous landmarks in Westeros, Redanian Intelligence has the inside scoop. The Hedge Knight will film mainly in Northern Ireland, which is also where the bulk of Game of Thrones was shot. In fact, it'll be returning to some filming locations Game of Thrones fans may remember, including:
- Myra Castle was used as the exterior of the Dreadfort, the home base of House Bolton, on Game of Thrones. In The Hedge Knight, it will stand in for Ashford castle in the Reach, which is where much of the first Dunk and Egg novella, The Hedge Knight, takes place. It will also stand in for parts of the poor Flea Bottom district of King's Landing.
- Parts of the Glenarm Castle Estate will be used to stand in for the verdant meadowlands surrounding Ashford Castle. Much of The Hedge Knight novella is concerned with a tourney taking place on Ashford lands, so maybe they'll film that here.
- On The Hedge Knight, Tollymore Forest Park will stand in for parts of the Crownlands, which is the area surrounding King's Landing. Game of Thrones shot several scenes in Tollymore Forest Park, including the one in the series premiere where the Starks find the direwolf pups.
The Hedge Knight will also shoot at Titanic Studios in Belfast, long the home base of filming on Game of Thrones.
Now all that's left is to wait. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight (they better shorten that title by the time it comes out before I have a stroke) will most likely premiere sometime in 2025.
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