A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Canon Changes Fix 2 Mistakes So Many Fantasy Book Adaptations Make

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is fairly faithful to George R.R. Martin’s source material, but it takes a few liberties with the events of The Hedge Knight. Fortunately, its changes avoid two mistakes that doom so many other fantasy adaptations. Bringing beloved fantasy books to the screen is never an easy task, and the Dunk and Egg novellas pose a particular challenge. As they’re shorter than full-length novels, the HBO show is forced to fill space, even within its short, six-episode first season.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does this by expanding on certain characters and relationships. Lyonel Baratheon gets more screen time in the show — a welcome development given Daniel Ings’ standout performance — and we’re shown more of Dunk’s mentor, Ser Arlan of Pennytree. Episode 5 also balances its Trial of Seven with a flashback to Dunk’s childhood and his bond with a character only briefly mentioned in the books. These are significant changes to the series’ canon, and making such tweaks in an adaptation can prove risky. However, there’s a reason the spinoff’s book changes aren’t as controversial as those made in fantasy shows like The Wheel of Time or The Rings of Power: because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms avoids the two most damning mistakes.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Changes Don’t Alter the Heart of Its Source Material

Although A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does make changes to its source material, it doesn’t modify the heart of The Hedge Knight, or the Dunk and Egg novellas more generally. A good screen adaptation knows what to add and what to remove, and the HBO series proves it’s skilled at making such decisions. The major story beats are all present, and the Game of Thrones spinoff fully captures the tone, dynamics, and themes of Martin’s work. The extra material builds on those things rather than actively working against them.

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And that’s where so many fantasy adaptations get it wrong: they alter the original story in ways that don’t make a whole lot of sense. For example, House of the Dragon‘s changes to Fire & Blood fundamentally shift the characterization of its biggest players. This changes the foundation the Dance of the Dragons is built on. And we’ve seen similar with other major fantasy shows, from Game of Thrones to The Witcher, The Wheel of Time, and The Rings of Power. They don’t just diverge from the books; they do it in ways that misunderstand their source material.

By contrast, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms keeps the heart of its story, ensuring that the dynamic between Dunk and Egg and themes of honor and knighthood remain front and center. The show’s Ser Arlan flashbacks make sense of Dunk’s characterization, and they parallel Dunk and Egg’s bond nicely. The other changes fit right into the original story, too. It’s easy to imagine all this stuff happening between the pages of The Hedge Knight, since it all complements the original story so well.

The Game of Thrones Spinoff Doesn’t Make the Mistake of Ignoring Its Author

There’s another mistake A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms avoids with its canon changes, and it contributes to everything fitting together so nicely. While far too many adaptations ignore the authors responsible for their stories, this one allows George R.R. Martin to be involved in the creative process. Martin and showrunner Ira Parker have been vocal about their collaborative relationship with one another, and Parker revealed in a Reddit AMA that he’d want Martin “highly” involved in anything beyond Season 3 (via Collider), which would pass the current novellas.

It’s clear Parker has a lot of respect for Martin and his input, but fantasy adaptations don’t always take the author’s lead. Martin’s own complaints about House of the Dragon highlight as much. And even in more amicable scenarios, authors tend to have distant involvement at best. This seems to be changing, though, with Rick Riordan having some say in Disney’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Brandon Sanderson securing some creative control over his upcoming Apple adaptations. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and Percy Jackson both prove this approach works, as both make ample changes to the source material — but do it in a way that’s fully supported by it.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Is One of the Best New Fantasy Shows by Avoiding These Mistakes

Because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fixes these two common mistakes of fantasy adaptations, it could become one of the best to emerge from the 2020s — and possibly lay the groundwork for more shows to follow in its footsteps. It’s too soon to tell if that’s where things will go, but the approach to adaptations does seem to be moving in a positive direction. Hollywood appears to be waking up to the fact that readers don’t want new and experimental takes on their favorite stories. They want adaptations that are faithful to the author’s vision, even if they make some changes along the way. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is proving that, and hopefully, it will continue to.

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