James R | On 16, Apr 2023

HBO has officially given a series order to another Game of Thrones prequel.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, based on the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, has been in the works for a couple years, following the adventures of Dunk (Ser Duncan the Tall, the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) and Egg (the future king Aegon V Targaryen).

The show was announced during the Warner Bros Discovery Max presentation this week and will be written and executive produced by George RR Martin and Ira Parker. Ryan Condal and Vince Gerardis will also executive produce.

A century before the events of Game of Thrones, the series will chronicle the adventures of two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. 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.

The news comes as HBO starts production on the second season of Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon at Leavesden Studios.

“HBO has given us a greenlight to film for a full season (not just a pilot), most likely of six episodes… though that is not set in stone, and won’t be until considerably later in the process,” George RR Martin wrote in a blog post this week.

“Our premiere season will be an adaptation of the first of the three published novellas, The Hedge Knight, the tale of how Dunk & Egg first met during a tournament at Ashford Meadow,” he added. “The pilot script is already written, and I think it’s terrific. It was written by Ira Parker, who is no stranger to Westeros. He was part of Ryan Condal’s writing staff for the first season of House of the Dragon, and wrote the fourth episode of Hot D’s first season, King of the Narrow Sea.”

“There is no date set yet for the series premiere, or even for the show to begin shooting… but the writing is well underway,” he also wrote. “Ira has assembled a small but very talented team, and they are at it already, building on the foundations laid down last year in previous creative summits… and of course on the original novella.”

 

Tales of Dunk and Egg: Game of Thrones prequel in the works at HBO

23rd January 2021

Another Game of Thrones prequel is in the works at HBO.

Tales of Dunk and Egg, based on the novellas of the same name, is in early development at the cable giant, as it continues to search for something to replace the epic fantasy-shaped hole left behind by the conclusion of George RR Martin’s long-running saga.

The trio of novellas follow the adventures of Dunk (Ser Duncan the Tall, the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard) and Egg (the future king Aegon V Targaryen). Set 90 years before the events of A Song of Ice and Fire, they have been published from 1998 to 2010 – The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight – and also spawned a graphic novel compilation in 2015 titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

Now, they’re potentially heading to the screen for a one-hour show that Variety reports is being lined up at HBO. No writer is attached to the project yet, but it would certainly be no surprise if it were to be fast-tracked, as HBO also continues to develop House of the Dragon, another Game of Thrones prequel charting the build-up to the civil war in Westeros known as the Dance of Dragons. That is slated to debut in 2022.

But the game of following Game of Thrones is far from straight-forward, with another prequel already getting the axe before it could get a full series order. That was written by Jane Goldman and starred Naomi Watts and a pilot was ordered back in 2019, before ultimately getting passed over in favour of House of the Dragon.

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