Game of Thrones Prequel Series Gets an Update That May Confuse Fans

The hype for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has penetrated the HBO executive offices, according to the network’s head of drama series Francesca Orsi. In an interview with Deadline on Wednesday, Orsi revealed that the Game of Thrones prequel series is already nearing a renewal. This is after execs got to see rough cuts of all six episodes, and author George R.R. Martin posted an enthusiastic endorsement of the season. However, Martin’s post also hinted that the show might already be renewed, so some fans might be confused by the repetitive update. So far, the renewal is not official but it’s “looking good.”

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is an adaptation of Martin’s novella series The Tales of Dunk and Egg, a prequel series that starts about 90 years before A Game of Thrones. Martin made no secret that he was disappointed with some aspects of House of the Dragon Season 2, so his enthusiasm seems to count a lot for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

“He loves it,” Orsi said, noting in particular Martin’s praise for the starring duo. “You’re going to be so impressed by Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell as Dunk and Egg, the two leads, the sort of brotherhood, the paternal nature between Dunk and this young man. So much so that we’re already planning on how do we build this for the three seasons in total. We’re not picking it up officially, but it’s looking very good. We’re looking at it as a holistic piece, Seasons 2 and 3, because there’s three novellas.”

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The three novellas take place one after another in pretty quick succession, which might be part of the reason for a quick renewal, according to Orsi. “The role of Egg only spans not even a year, so you have to roll into it season to season pretty quickly, because this little kid will grow up too quickly if we wait too long,” she pointed out. “So we’re thinking about that in terms of pickups.”

Martin has long talked about plans to write more Dunk and Egg novellas, even indicating at times that they might dovetail with the remaining novels in A Song of Ice and Fire and become very important to the plot. In his blog post about this adaptation, he mentioned that he wanted to get a move on with the next novella so that it would be ready before the TV show catches up. Orsi also confirmed that the door is open for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to go on longer if more source material becomes available.

The Tales of Dunk and Egg are much more focused and smaller in scale than A Song of Ice and Fire. Instead of frequently switching perspectives, they follow one character closely — an impoverished hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall. The first story, The Hedge Knight, finds 19-year-old Dunk newly raised to knighthood and alone after the death of his mentor, Ser Arlan of Pennytree. Dunk heads to a tourney hoping to distinguish himself and find employment, and while there, a young boy named Egg attaches himself as Dunk’s squire. The series is about their journeys around Westeros trying to make a living while still upholding the chivalric code of knighthood.

According to Orsi, the smaller scale and commensurately smaller budget of these stories are part of what HBO executives love about them. That’s also why fans and critics haven’t complained much about this season having only six episodes. At this point in Westeros, there are no living dragons or creatures like direwolves, so the budget should stay relatively low. However, fans can rest assured that the stakes are still high and these stories become very important to the fate of the Seven Kingdoms as they go on.

Saying more might spoil something good, but those interested can find all three novellas collected in the book A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is available now in print, digital, and audiobook formats. The TV adaptation is expected to premiere sometime this year on HBO and Max. So far, the exact date has not been set.