Westeros Isn’t Ready for A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS: Poop Jokes, Big Dreams, and George R. R. Martin’s 15-Book Plan
Westeros has officially loosened its belt. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has arrived, and instead of dragons scorching cities or royal families tearing each other apart, the newest chapter in the world of Game of Thrones focuses on one awkward, ambitious knight, and there’s a surprisingly gross moment that sets the tone right out of the gate.
Set roughly 100 years before Game of Thrones and about 80 years after House of the Dragon, the six-episode first season trades sprawling politics for something smaller, funnier, and more personal.
The story follows Ser Duncan the Tall, known as Dunk, played by Peter Claffey, and his pint-sized, sharp-tongued squire, Egg, portrayed by Dexter Sol Ansell. The series adapts George R. R. Martin’s 1998 novella The Hedge Knight and leans hard into character, humor, and humility.
The premiere opens with Dunk burying his mentor, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, played by Danny Webb. Alone and unsure, Dunk lifts his late master’s sword and imagines himself as a true hero.
The familiar Game of Thrones theme swells. Then reality hits fast and violently as Dunk doubles over behind a tree and unleashes an unforgettable pooping moment. It’s a sharp turn from heroic fantasy to blunt comedy, and it tells you exactly what kind of show this is.
Showrunner Ira Parker, who previously worked on House of the Dragon, says the tonal shift was always rooted in Dunk’s perspective.
“Really it all just came from Dunk’s POV. We wanted the audience to feel whatever he was feeling in that moment. One of the first jokes that we do is Dunk feeling like a hero. He picks up this sword of his old master, and he thinks, ‘Maybe I could be the guy. Maybe I can be a knight.’
“But, of course, he’s not a hero. None of us are really heroes. Then all of a sudden, he gets a stomachache and he shits because he hears that music and the call, but he’s not quite there yet.
“But he decides he’s gonna try and go anyway. I feel like that’s how so many decisions in my life were made, which is having these grand thoughts and dreams and then the reality of it sets in and it becomes a lot more complicated.”
That mix of optimism and humiliation defines Dunk’s journey. He heads to a tourney hoping to prove himself, only to realize how far out of his depth he really is.
Along the way he picks up Egg, sneaks food at a raucous gathering hosted by Ser Lyonel Baratheon, played by Daniel Ings, and crosses paths with a puppeteer named Tanselle, played by Tanzyn Crawford.
Parker compares Dunk’s arc to anyone who’s ever left home chasing a dream.
“Dunk’s journey in Season 1 is no different than somebody going out to New York or L.A. from their little hometown, thinking ‘I’m gonna go and try and make it.’
“Then you end up taking a bus there, realizing you have nothing, spending all your money on some shitty car that breaks down all the time, and you can’t afford rent, so you’re sleeping in your car and you’re going to auditions and trying to make it work.”
Of course, the moment everyone’s talking about is that poop gag synced to the iconic theme music. Parker says the idea was baked in early.
“It was written in the script very early on as the hero theme. We tried a bunch of different versions, and the one that felt the most iconic was the major theme. Because we were not going with an opening title sequence, it felt right to give everybody a little bit of a taste of it to launch into our show.”
And, of course, people really want to know how that scene was pulled off.
“A magician never gives it away. I will say that we don’t have the budget for fake anything on this show. Very, very little is done fake. We’re not crazy. It’s not a fake up there shitting on screen, that’s his butt.”
Even without living dragons, the show still sneaks one into the episode through an elaborate puppet performance. The traveling show features a massive dragon creation meant to overwhelm Dunk and remind him how small he feels in this world. Parker says the production avoided digital tricks wherever possible.
“The idea that these were real artisans and craftsmen, this traveling puppet show with these massive, moving puppets was very interesting to us early on. The puppet makers did a fantastic job… Even the fire was done in a way that theoretically could have been done back in the 14th century.”
With Season 2 already confirmed, questions naturally turn to Egg’s future. Ansell was only nine when filming began, but Parker isn’t worried about the character aging on screen.
“Dexter is going to have whatever career he decides that he wants. He’s so talented… I think he’s the best child actor on Earth, there’s no doubt about it.”
That long-term thinking ties directly into George R. R. Martin’s larger plans. According to Parker, the author has mapped out far more stories than the three published Dunk and Egg novellas.
“I do. There’s a document that few people have read. He works all offline. His computer is not connected to the internet, so things have to be printed out and passed around that way. I’ve seen the plan for 12, 13, 14, 15, maybe, of these novellas.
“It would be fantastic, but I don’t want to get carried away here. Let’s see if people watch the show. Maybe we’re just one, one and a half, two and done and we all go home, but it’s a lot of fun to write in this world so I hope we get to do more.”
Whether HBO ever gets to adapt all of them is another question, but for now, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feels like a refreshing reset for Westeros.
Source: Variety