Good news for Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon fans and, most importantly, HBO: George R.R. Martin has plenty more where that came from.
A quick update on the fantasy author’s to-do list. He has not yet finished A Song of Ice and Fire, the series on which Thrones is based (the show completed the storyline in a controversial eighth season). But he has finished Fire and Blood, the prequel series written in the style of a historical document, which was turned into Dragon.
Dragon, which is now halfway through its four-season run, takes place almost two centuries before the events of Thrones. What happens in that gap? Good question. Martin has written a series set at the middle point following the Targaryen civil war and before the birth of Daenerys. Tales of Dunk and Egg comprises three novellas: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight.
HBO has now unveiled a first look at A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. It was a short clip, but that was enough to get people excited, especially as there is now a wait of two years until Dragon’s third season. The only certainty in our lifetime is that somewhere, someone will be awaiting an adaptation of Martin’s work.
You can check out the clip in the below video (at around the 1:10 mark):
What is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms about?
Per HBO: “A century before the events of Game of Thrones, there was Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg.”
Duncan, aka Dunc, is a recently knighted squire who meets a boy named Egg, on a journey to Ashford for a tourney. Egg soon reveals that he is actually Prince Aegon Targaryen (if it were not obvious from his blue eyes) and so their adventure becomes a little more complicated. It would appear that this entry into the universe is a little less doom-laden than its companion series, and we are intrigued by what it might add to the Thrones-verse. A little break from the epic family sagas might be welcome.
Writing on his website Not a Blog (a fairly funny corner of the internet, even for non-fans), the Martin opined: “THE HEDGE KNIGHT will be a lot shorter than GAME OF THRONES or HOUSE OF THE DRAGON, with a much different tone… but it’s still Westeros, so no one is truly safe.”
Who is in the cast for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
Peter Claffey plays Dunk while Dexter Sol Ansell takes on the role of Egg. Finn Bennett, who you might recognise from True Detective’s fourth season, will play Egg’s older brother, Aerion. Bertie Carvel, who recently played Tony Blair in The Crown’s final season, is Baelor Targaryen: the boys’ uncle and heir to the Iron Throne.
Daniel Ings plays the knight Lyonel Baratheon who is the heir to Storm’s End. Meanwhile Tanzyn Crawford, a Dornish puppeteer.
Owen Harris, the Brit behind Black Mirror’s much-loved “San Junipero” episode, has directed half of the six-episode run.
When is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms coming out?
The first season of the new show will comprise six episode and is coming to HBO and Max at some point in 2025. If it follows House of the Dragon’s schedule, expect a summer release on Sky Atlantic and Now in the UK.