“A Mistake”: Why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Cut 1 Crucial Book Scene Officially Explained by Creator

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ most important missing scene has been explained by co-creator and showrunner, Ira Parker. The latest Game of Thrones spinoff might just be the most faithful adaptation of any of George R.R. Martin’s Westeros-set works to date. Based on The Hedge Knight, it’s a TV show where the characters feel like they were lifted straight off the page, with several lines of dialogue directly taken from the source as well. It gets almost everything right, but that also makes it getting something wrong stand out even more.

The biggest example of this so far came in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 4, “Seven.” This was largely an incredible episode, especially with Ser Duncan the Tall’s “are there no true knights?” speech, and the setup of the two trial of seven teams, with Baelor Targaryen joining Dunk’s side. It was the kind of TV that deserves the Martin Scorsese “cinema” meme, but it also left out one key scene from the book.

As he emerges for the trial in the novella, Dunk sees hundreds of smallfolk gathered to watch. He thinks they’re there to watch him die, but they’re actually there to offer him support. When he asks why, Steely Pate tells him it’s because he’s “a knight who remembered his vows.” It’s a perfect moment and really the essence of the story and Dunk as a character, so it was jarring to see it left out. In a Reddit AMA, Parker was asked about leaving the scene out, and admitted it was a mistake, writing:

“Honestly it was a mistake on my part. Not my first not my last on this show. That scene was in the script at one point, then fell out. I agree that “a knight who remembers his vows” is the soul of this story, but I think that is still very much at the core of the show, even if I stupidly left out this scene… it may not be said explicitly, but Dunk’s actions remain the same.”

Ira Parker Is Right About Dunk’s Missing A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Scene

It’s quite refreshing to see Parker be so honest about what happened. He’s right that not including it was a mistake, because it’s such a fantastic scene and really is at the very heart of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ story, characters, and themes. But the showrunner has also done an incredible job in adapting all the other parts of the book, including expanding and elevating some supporting characters, so deserves more praise than anything else.

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He’s also right that Dunk’s actions do remain the same, and the core of what he represents is still present. It would’ve been a lot stronger to have this scene because it underscores everything and, given the focus on the smallfolk, gives it a lot more heft. But it’s also continually shown throughout Season 1 that Duncan embodies everything a true knight should be, no matter the cost to himself. It’s that same spirit that’s led to Baelor’s decision as well, and so even with the missing scene, we get to see exactly what a knight who remembers his vows looks like.

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release Sundays at 10 pm ET on HBO.

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