George R.R. Martin loves engaging with his fans. The A Song of Ice and Fire author has successfully turned his writing into successful Max series, namely Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Currently, Martin is working on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, yet another spin-off prequel that much to fans’ dismay, isn’t titled ‘Tales of Dunk & Egg’ instead.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight was first announced last Thursday (13 April) and follows Ser Duncan the Tall’s and Aegon V Targaryen’s (also known as Egg) adventures, set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne.
Fans are already familiar with the source material and ‘Dunk & Egg’ are arguably fan-favourite characters who have been long rumoured to appear in the main Game of Throne series or even have a spin-off of their own. Now that they’re finally getting their time to shine, Martin has decided to not incorporate ‘Dunk & Egg’ in its title.
Martin explains in a blog post of his that the title has to be enticing not just to fans of the writer and the Game of Thrones universe, but for those new to the franchise too. The new title, according to the author, is also more indicative of the series’ themes of knighthood and chivalry.
Martin wrote, “The working title will be A KNIGHT OF THE SEVEN KINGDOMS: THE HEDGE KNIGHT. Whether that will be the final title, I can’t say for sure… beyond saying that no, it won’t be called TALES OF DUNK & EGG or THE ADVENTURES OF DUNK & EGG or DUNK & EGG or anything along those lines. I love Dunk and I love Egg, and I know that fans refer to my novellas as “the Dunk & Egg stories,” sure, but there are millions of people out there who do not know the stories and the title needs to intrigue them too. If you don’t know the characters, DUNK & EGG sounds like a sitcom. LAVERNE & SHIRLEY. ABBOTT & COSTELLO. BEAVIS & BUTTHEAD. So, no. We want “knight” in the title. Knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of these stories.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight will have a total of six episodes in its first season. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will also be an anthology series based on the existing Dunk & Egg novellas: The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight.
It is fair to assume that each novel will receive a season of its own. Martin wants more though and teases that he would continue writing more novels and stories that will hopefully keep screenwriter and producer Ira Parker – who previously worked with Martin on season one of House of the Dragon – busy.
“Before we reach the end of the published stories, I will need to find time to write all the other Dunk & Egg novellas that I have planned. There are… gulp… more of them than I had once thought. There’s “The Village Hero” and the Winterfell story, the one with the She-Wolves, and maybe I need to write that Dornish adventure too to slip in between “The Hedge Knight” and “The Sworn Sword,” and after that there are… ah… more. I just need to finish THE WINDS OF WINTER, and then do either A DREAM OF SPRING or volume two of FIRE & BLOOD, and slip in a new Dunk & Egg between each of those in my copious spare time… and that will keep me ahead of Ira and his merry crew… for a few more years,” Martin continued.
There’s no timeline for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight but writing for season one is underway. In related news, House of the Dragon season two has begun production and is expected to premiere sometime in 2024.
Don’t judge a book by its cover, for behind all this makeup, is a geek just like you. To simply put it, superheroes, Star Wars, Harry Potter and all things gore and creepy makes this girly girl swoon.
Natalie
