HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms scales down the Thrones franchise

HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, filmed in Northern Ireland and based on George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, premieres Sunday on HBO and HBO Max. The six-episode first season centres on Dunk, an aspiring knight, and his young squire Egg as they travel to a jousting tournament.

The series deliberately moves away from the large-scale spectacle of previous Thrones shows: there are no dragons and the story focuses on someone from the lower rungs of Westeros. Created by Ira Parker with Martin, the season covers just a few days in Dunk’s life as he buries his mentor, claims to have been knighted and adopts the name Ser Duncan the hedge knight.

Episodes run mostly around 30 minutes and the production filmed major battle and jousting scenes with stunt performers, as many as 14 knights in a clash and up to 400 extras on set. Casting sought a very particular physical presence for Dunk; after contacting more than 150 clubs the team chose Peter Claffey, a 6-foot-6 former rugby player, to play the role opposite Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg.

The production used point-of-view camera work to convey the experience of fighting in armor and faced practical challenges on set, including weather, mud and swarms of wasps that drew on the fake blood. Producers call the show a “scrappy upstart” with a tighter budget than past Thrones entries, and they say it is a test of whether the franchise’s formula will work on a more human scale.

Key Topics

Culture, Northern Ireland, George R.r. Martin, Ira Parker, Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell