A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Most Shocking Moment Is Actually A Pivotal Win For Game of Thrones

Game of Thrones is back on the airwaves with its second spinoff series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. There has been a lot of buzz about the show since the premiere episode dropped on January 18th, and the usual fandom debates have quickly followed. The series is surprising a lot of people, as its story about a would-be knight, starting from the lowliest place, didn’t have the same dark, cynical tone as every other Game of Thrones show before it.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has already shattered a very important glass ceiling and, in the process, freed Game of Thrones to expand the series in much better ways in the future. And it’s all thanks to one of the grossest moments in the franchise.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Is Game of Thrones‘ First Comedy (And It Works!)

(SPOILERS) The opening sequence to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sees the titular knight, Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall, burying his mentor and adopted father, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), while trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Dunk gets a grand swell of courage to strike out on his own and perform his noble duty as a great knight… But then he gets hit with a serious bout of bubble-guts and has to blast feces out of his rear, all over the stump of a tree.

This now-infamous “Sh*t scene” in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues the Game of Thrones tradition of setting a bold tone in the pilot episode, but it’s actually more than just a shock and awe moment. Game of Thrones was a dark and serious show about political intrigue and backstabbing, as various factions competed for the Iron Throne; A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms quite literally defecates all over that notion, resetting viewer expectations while simultaneously letting the world know: this will be a very different kind of show.

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The rest of the pilot episode, “The Hedge Knight”, makes it clear that the gross-out moment in the opening scene wasn’t random or out of place: Showrunner and episode writer Ira Parker, and especially director Owen Harris (Black Mirror), make it clear throughout the episode that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is very much a comedy. There are sight gags, comedic dialogue, ironic wit, and a general tone of laughing both with and at Dunk, as he Forest Gump’s his way through the Ashford tournament, looking for a benevolent sponsor in the midst of vain and selfish lords. It still feels like the Westeros we know, yet it’s clearly a different sort of show set within that world, and therein lies the key.

Game of Thrones Can Do So Much More With Its World

House of the Dragon (particularly Season 2) put Game of Thrones in a precarious place. While the prequel series offered a deeper look at the Targaryens (who are almost extinct in the original series) and is shedding light on the pivotal “Dance of the Dragons” civil war within the dynasty. However, in terms of style and tone, House of the Dragon is almost a carbon copy of GoT, which only helps to highlight how the prequel lacks supernatural elements (like the White Walkers) and more interesting characters that made the political chats and betrayals interesting.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has already established that it is not looking to ape GoT‘s stylistic blueprint: it’s looking to set a new precedent for the franchise, and has arguably already done so. If Game of Thrones can do its own version of a sitcom, then the franchise can also bend its world and lore into other genre influences. “Robert’s Rebellion” as a grand romantic drama, a mystery-thriller that turns GoT‘s unique networks of spies and assassins into the focus of a show, or even a series that dips deeper into the high fantasy and supernatural elements George R.R. Martin infused into his novels – elements the TV version couldn’t lean on too heavily. It all feels possible now that a story about a simple, good-hearted man of Westeros trying to become his idolized version of a heroic figure has captured our attention, making us want to see more from GoT than fire, ice, and blood.

You can stream Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on HBO Max. Discuss the first episodes of AKotSK with us on the ComicBook Forum!