A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Teases A New Chapter Of Thrones History
The latest Game of Thrones spin-off is keeping it small.
HBO is understandably eager to keep building its Game of Thrones universe, even if the output has been nowhere near equal to the effort invested. The studio has been toiling away for years since Game of Thrones officially ended, but of the seemingly endless ideas that HBO teased, only two came to fruition, and one was trapped in purgatory. That’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a grounded adventure set in the centuries between Thrones and its prequel series, House of the Dragon.
The series is HBO’s answer to something like The Mandalorian, as it follows a stalwart, no-fuss hedge knight on his adventures through Westeros, eventually pairing him up with a young charge who needs his protection. Showrunner Ira Parker claims Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is unlike the other Throne-verse shows; not only will it eschew an epic opening credits, but it’ll focus on the smaller folk, not royal families like House of the Dragon.
It’s an intriguing prospect, and could make this a much easier show to produce. But Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has faced a handful of delays on its road to the finish line. After plenty of vague announcements and updates, the show finally has a concrete release date — January 18 — and an official trailer.
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may be diverging from the traditional Thrones formula, but it definitely still belongs in that world. It’s hard not to think of the noble knights from earlier shows, like Brienne of Tarth, when introduced to Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey). He’s a good-hearted guy beneath all the grime, though he’s lacking a purpose. His adventures begin after the demise of his master, leaving him free to compete in a tournament to fill his coin purse. It’s there that he meets a small, bald boy who calls himself Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).
Fans of George R. R. Martin’s Seven Kingdoms anthology know that Egg is connected to one of the Thrones-verse’s most prominent families, but that shouldn’t be the series’ focus. Knight of the Seven Kingdoms picks up at least a century after the Targaryen dynasty falls, and just 50 years after the demise of the last dragon. As a result, Parker says, “nobody’s thinking about magic. This could basically be 14th-century Britain.”
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will likely be the most grounded entry to the saga thus far, and will hopefully be a breath of fresh air. Fans might miss the magic and heightened stakes of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, but if this franchise truly wants to grow, different perspectives are a great way to keep things moving.
