HBO ordered a new Game of Thrones spinoff which is tentatively titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.
The prequel series from the mind of George R. R. Martin is based on a series of novellas centered around the future Lord Commander of the Kingsguard named Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire known as Egg. Many fans have referred to this series as “Dunk & Egg” but Martin shared on his blog why he opted for a different title.
“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 Takes of Dunk & Egg or The Adventures of Dunk & Egg or Dunk & Egg,” Martin wrote on his latest blog post.
Martin continued, “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.”
The author said that HBO gave the show a full series order and the script for the first episode of the spinoff has already been written. Martin is not sure about how many episodes the first season of the prequel series will consist of but said that “most likely” it would be six episodes “though that is not set in stone.”
Martin also clarified that the development of the adaptations of his books takes time and said that back in 2016 he pitched the premium network two ideas, “the Dance of the Dragons, which in due time became House of the Dragon… and Dunk & Egg. That was seven years ago. (I can hardly believe it myself). The lesson there is that development takes time.”
“I see all these stories on the net about other spinoffs being killed or abandoned… no idea where they get this stuff… and it just makes me shake my head,” he added. “The Nymeria show is still in development. So is the Sea Snake show. Just had a great week on that one, working with writers. And there are others, both live-action and animated.”
