What we know about Game of Thrones prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Don’t hang up your sword and shield just yet because there’s another Game of Thrones spin-off series heading our way in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

First reported by Variety in 2021 before being confirmed during Warner Bros. Discovery’s MAX presentation in April 2023, this new series will be based on a collection of author George R.R Martin’s earlier Westeros-set stories and developed for HBO.

Under the working title A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight — or simply A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — the series will take inspiration from a trio of books that Martin released between 1998 and 2010.

Set 90 years before the “Song of Ice and Fire” storyline featured in Game of Thrones, it will follow the exploits of Ser Duncan the Tall and a character named Egg who is a younger version of Aegon V Targaryen, the role played by Tom Glynn-Carney in House of the Dragon.

The series will be written and executive produced by Martin alongside Ira Parker who co-produced the first series of the latest Game of Thrones prequel series starring Matt Smith, Emma D’Arcy and Olivia Cooke.

When will A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms be released?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is expected to be released in late 2025, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. However, an exact date has yet to be announced.

Production began in spring 2024 in Belfast, the same backdrop that was used during production for Game of Thrones — and a first-look image provided an early glimpse of Ser Duncan The Tall.

The blurb accompanying the message read: “Set a century before #GameOfThrones, the new @HBO Original drama series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is now in production. Coming soon to @StreamOnMax.”

Black Mirror director Owen Harris will helm the first half of the show’s first series, which will consist of just six episodes, with Lessons in Chemistry's Sarah Adina Smith directing the other three. This episode length marks a change from the 10-show arcs that kicked off series one of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.

Harris directed two of Black Mirror’s most revered episodes including Be Right Back and San Junipero.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, the show may have dropped ‘The Hedge Knight’ from its moniker, with the show’s current working title sticking with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. That said, no official announcement has been made.

What is the plot of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

Game of Thrones’ latest spin-off will be based on three novellas that together form the Tales of Dunk and Egg. Collectively, these include 1998’s The Hedge Knight, 2003’s The Sword Sword and 2010’s The Mystery Knight — with the three stories re-released in 2015 under the title A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

According to the show’s official synopsis, the prequel series will be set a whole century before the familiar events of Game of Thrones when “two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg.”

The show is “set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends".

According to Variety, a number of spin-offs set in Martin’s dragon- and betrayal-filled universe are being planned in the wake of the success of Game of Thrones and House of The Dragon. However, besides the latter, this is the first to officially receive the green light.

Who will star in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

Peter Claffey will play Ser Duncan the Tall in the Game of Thrones spin-off, while Dexter Sol Ansell will play his young squire Egg.

Claffey has appeared in a number of projects including Bad Sisters on Apple TV+ and BBC Three’s Wrecked. Meanwhile, Ansell first appeared on screen at just four years old in Emmerdale and has since popped up in Hullraisers and The Hunger Games prequel movie The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes.

True Detective's Finn Bennett will play Aerion Targaryen, with Doctor Foster star Bertie Carvel playing Baelor Targaryen.

Tiny Beautiful Things' Tanzyn Crawford has been cast as Tanselle, with The Gentlemen's Daniel Ings as Per Lyonel Baratheon and Sam Spruell of Fargo fame as Maekar Targaryen.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will be released in late 2025