Ready the horses and sharpen the swords, its time for another adventure into our favourite fictional kingdom – Westeros. After closing the book on ‘Game of Thrones’ and finding a gritty new chapter to explore in ‘House of the Dragon’, HBO is all set to expand the universe with their new sci-fi series, ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’. Set a century before the events of ‘Game of Thrones,’ this one is shaping up to be its most unexpected chapters yet. Based on ‘Tales of Dunk and Egg’ by George R. R. Martin, the series trades dragons and dynastic bloodshed for something more human. In conversation with ETimes, showrunner Ira Parker shared his reason for picking up this ‘Tall tale that became a legend’. Parker explains, “I think, you know, there’s a lot of Dunk inside of me, but I would say there’s a lot of Dunk inside of everybody. Having such a likeable, hopeful, almost optimistic-to-the-point-of-foolishness character is a really interesting entrance into this world.“Admitting that it is a tough time to be a Targaryen fan, he shared, “The ‘Game of Thrones’ fans, who have come to expect a certain level of something from this show will be shocked or surprised as we begin, hopefully in a positive way, and in a way that will allow them to stick with it enough to know that all of their favourite things are coming.”Sharing his favourite parts of the series, he said, “The truth is, TV at its very best is about characters. That’s what we follow from episode to episode, season to season. I think Dunk and Egg are two of George’s best characters, and two of his more unlikely ones. Those odd-couple pairings were always my favourite – the Hound and Arya, Brienne and Pod. Hopefully people take pleasure in that here too.”
In a roundtable conversation attended by ETimes, Parker also explained where viewers will find Ser Duncan, who was first teased in ‘Game of Thrones’ (Season 4, Episode 1). In the show, Joffrey teases the character as he browses through the Book of Brothers with Jaime, stating, “Four pages for Ser Duncan”, teasing a humble hedge knight’s rise to claim the title of Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.“He’s not a hero yet,” Parker says and adds, “He’s not this fake version of a hero that you don’t sense, he just goes out and grabs it. He is a humanbeing like me and you. He wants things, but he doesn’t exactly know how to get the better things. And his journey this season is going to be about whether or not he can endure the trials of knighthood and actually rise to the occasion.”Addressing early audience questions about dragons, bloodshed, gore and sexual content, Parker said, “Look, it wasn’t intentional. We didn’t mean to subvert anything. The truth is, we set out to give a faithful adaptation of these novellas. That was first and foremost our goal. And the story at the moment does not require the sex that was in the main series or was in ‘House of the Dragon’. It’s not that it will never be here; it’s just that this hasn’t become a big part of Dunk’s journey yet.“As for brutality, he assured, “The brutality and the blood, is on its way. If people stick around for episode four or five, they’re going to get what you would expect from a normal ‘Game of Thrones’ season. But it was very important for us to feel grounded and gritty and real as early on as possible, because we want people to just be able to sit and enjoy Westeros in a way that connects to your normal life.”During the chat, he also opened up about collaborating closely with George R. R. Martin, insisting, “I told him, ‘I’m not going to put anything in the show that you don’t want in this show.’ And because of that, it never became a question of his version versus my version. We were just making a version together.”When probed on how Martin expressed his wish to see the greatest jousting sequence put on screen. Parker, drawing comparison to Matt Smith’s gritty jousting scene in ‘House of the Dragon’, said, “Personally, I loved that jousting scene, when he collides with the rail and goes skidding across it. I thought that was so cool, but look, we’re trying to one-up them, and our budget is a lot lower. So we did the best that we possibly could. We have the very best horse riders and stunt performers in the world, and I think they’ve really done a job here.”‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ set to release on January 18, follows Ser Duncan the Tall, and his squire, Egg, as they wander through Westeros while the Targaryen dynasty ruled the Iron Throne. It is on this journey for riches that they discover their great destinies. Starring Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Sam Spruell, and Daniel Ings, the series will feature 6 episodes.
