[Editor’s note: The following contains spoilers for Episode 4 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.]
Summary
- The HBO series ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ blends Westeros drama with organic, small‑folk humor.
- Dunk, played by Peter Claffey, feels betrayed when Egg, played by Dexter Sol Ansell, is revealed as Prince Aegon, but their bond and duty endure.
- The trial of seven delivers cinematic stakes, with a massive crowds, horses and sweeping music to amplify the epic nature of the battle.
Set a century before the events of Game of Thrones, the HBO series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as they wander through Westeros. Nothing is ever that simple, and when it’s revealed that Egg has been hiding that he’s really Prince Aegon Targaryen, it gets Dunk into trouble that will be resolved in a trial by combat. Learning that it will actually be the rarely practiced trial of seven, Dunk must find six additional men to fight alongside him or he’ll be declared guilty. By some miracle, after an impassioned plea, it all comes together for Dunk, but he’s not out of danger yet.
During this interview with Collider, co-stars Claffey and Ansell discussed the humor of this Westeros story, building the bond between Dunk and Egg, how Dunk feels about Egg’s betrayal, filming at the trial, the epicness of the moment when Dunk is looking for a final knight to join him, and whether Egg feels guilty about what he put in motion.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Has a More Lighthearted Touch Than Other Stories Set in Westeros
“But you don’t want to make it all about being a comedy.”
Collider: A lighter, more comedic tale in Westeros doesn’t sound like something that ever would have happened, but here we are. What has it been like to find the comedic timing and the humor in an otherwise quite serious world? Was it something that you guys had conversations about and worked on, or do you feel like you really found the humor of it pretty quickly?
PETER CLAFFEY: We knew that (creator) Ira [Parker] really wanted to have this lighthearted touch to this Westerosy world, but you don’t want to make it all about being a comedy, make it all about jam and jokes down people’s throats, and make it too slapstick and forced. With all these situations, they are all very Game of Thrones-Westeros situations where there’s serious dramatic moments, but with every situation you have in your life, you can either keep it on the serious route or try and find the lighthearted humor in it. It was little things like dramatic moments exclamating conversations, like he hits his head off the wall walking out and takes the wrong turn to go down a hallway and come back. It was just trying to find those small nuances of comedy and allowing them to come through. It’s more of an organic, earthy tale spoken from the point of view of the small folk. When you’re not in these big, great halls with highborn people arguing over who’s to be the king of Westeros, there is an air of comedy that comes from those kind of country folk. I come from small town Ireland, and when you’re back there, no matter what you’ve doing or achieved, people are always ready to take the mick out of you, and Ashford has that same quality. It was just trying to dance along the line of that, for sure.
DEXTER SOL ANSELL: The funniest bit for me is probably one of the first scenes when Dunk is walking through in Ashford and there’s this guy with the horse, and he goes, “Are you Baelor Targaryen?” It’s the funniest scene.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Timeline Explained: Where Dunk and Egg Fit in ‘Game of Thrones’ History
The ‘Game of Thrones’ series is not told chronologically.
CLAFFEY: It’s those little awkward interactions.
ANSELL: Yeah, they make the show.
CLAFFEY: I think it draws the comedy out of Egg as well. As a highborn person, that interaction with these people …
ANSELL: … It’s just really funny.
CLAFFEY: Yeah.
Is Dunk and Egg’s Bond in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Strong Enough To Make It Through the Young Squire’s Betrayal?
“Dunk is not the brightest spark in Westeros.”
To jump into spoilers, we learn in episode three that Egg lied to dunk about who he is. Peter, prior to that reveal, what did Dunk see in Egg that made him want to take him on as squire? And how do you think it made him feel to learn that not only had he been lied to, but he’s really put into a bunch of things that he was not expecting because of that lie?
CLAFFEY: It is betrayal. Dunk is not the brightest spark in Westeros, of course. He tries to see the goodness in everybody, and he really sees a lot of himself and believes that Egg is from Flea Bottom and has journeyed here and tried to make something of himself. He thinks, “What would Ser Arlan do?” He brought him on as his squire, and he thinks it’s his duty to bring this young lad from the same place as him, when he says he’s from King’s Landing. It’s just complete and utter confusion and then betrayal to think that this prince of the realm knew that he would get this man in serious trouble, but he just couldn’t help himself but want to be a squire and be in the tourney.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Star Reveals the Scene George R. R. Martin Praised on Set
The series premieres on January 18.
I think it’s a massive testament to the relationship and the bond that they build in the first half of The Hedge Knight, to see that those things not only fizzle out, but they end up together and they want to go off and see the world. At that very end point when Egg shows up, Dunk may not show it, but I knew filming it that he’s incredibly happy to see him. It was hard to leave him behind. Seeing as the way things unfolded towards the end, Dunk definitely feels that he has a duty to Westeros to try and provide them with some decent king or some good Targaryen that could replace the person that he feels at fault for taking.
There Was an Epicness to Dunk’s ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Trial of 7 Moment
“There were a thousand people around.”
There’s that really big moment in episode four when Dunk is trying to get everybody together so they can have this battle, and then Prince Baelor Targaryen comes in to say that he’s going to join you and you have the sweeping Game of Thrones music. What is it like to film a moment like that, especially when you don’t have all the music that comes with it and everything else on set? Does it still feel like a very important moment to shoot?
CLAFFEY: Yeah, it was. Ever since I got into this, the beauty of film sometimes gets taken from you. It’s kind of a sacrificial thing to become an actor because those things, a lot of the time, are not as flashy as they seem on screen. The thing with the speech on horseback, trying to add somebody for a sixth, that felt as cinematic as it looks, for sure. But those bits are so bitty and you have to pick them up from so many different ways. It’s a hard thing. But that was a big day on set. There was a lot of crowd. There were a thousand people around. You have all these horses. You have everybody dressed up as knights and in armor. There was an epicness to it. You have to deliver that, “Are there no true knights among you?” bit, and you see the gates open. Even without the music, it did feel amazing. But I’m so glad about how that turned out with the music. It’s insane.
ANSELL: I think really, for any movie, no matter what style of the movie, the music makes it. If it’s a horror movie, in real life, it’s not going to be scary, looking and seeing a monster behind you. I’ve done this loads of times and it’s so fascinating, but if you put like a horror movie on, and then you turn the music off and turn the sound off, it doesn’t feel scary. It honestly feels like a comedy.
CLAFFEY: Yeah. So true.
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Creator Confirms How Many Seasons the New Series Will Be [Exclusive]
The series premieres on January 18.
Dexter, do you think, at any point, that Egg feels guilty for what he’s set in motion?
ANSELL: A bit. He feels a bit guilty, but he knows he’s done the right thing. Honestly, it’s not his fault his family is horrible to him. And it’s not his fault that Dunk chose him. A tiny bit, but he’s really just annoyed it had to go this way. But it turns out good.
- Release Date
-
January 18, 2026
- Network
-
HBO
- Showrunner
-
Ira Parker
-
Peter Claffey
Ser Duncan ‘Dunk’ the Tall
-
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs on HBO and is available to stream on HBO Max. Check out the trailer:
