SPOILER ALERT: This text incorporates key plot factors from tonight’s first episode of HBO‘s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The opening scene of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms instantly reveals this can be a Westeros not seen earlier than on display, says the HBO collection’ showrunner, Ira Parker.
In an interview with Deadline, Parker mentioned his collection acts as a “pure on-ramp for anybody who didn’t come to Sport of Thrones the primary time round, who was scared off by violence and brutality.”
The scene is query sees Dunk digging a shallow grave for his recently-deceased grasp, hedge knight Ser Arlan of Pennytree, earlier than laying him to relaxation within the rain and saying a number of awkward phrases, interspersed with some comedian (however painful) cutaways that spotlight their father-son relationship. His voice breaks as he says, “I want you didn’t die, Ser.”
Then comes the comedy. The solar has changed rain the next day as Dunk, misplaced and alone, talks to his three horses about what’s subsequent, selecting a plan to journey to a tourney at Ashford Meadow. The rousing Sport of Thrones collection music begins to play earlier than a pointy lower sees Dunk defecating by the tree.
Parker mentioned the scene performs an important function in establishing the collection as separate to GoT and Home of the Dragon. “We don’t open up with a camp stuffed with mutilated folks and we don’t finish with a child getting thrown out of a window. We open with Dunk by a very nice tree,” he added.
“It’s a tragic second, however Dunk is such a straightforward particular person to love and perceive. He’s chasing a dream. He needs to go and develop into a knight, however that is going to be a really troublesome factor. We’ve all had that second in life once we determine we’re going to go off and check out one thing that’s in all probability more durable than what I’m able to.”
The collection, utterly advised from Dunk’s perspective, sees the younger knight take Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as a squire after a comical first assembly at an inn. They go on a wild journey that takes them to the event and introduces princes, princesses and smallfolk alongside the best way. Whereas the comedic moments proceed, it’s no spoiler to say harsher, extra violent moments are to return.
“Hopefully we get to what Sport of Thrones followers love a lot about Westeros, which is a whole lot of comedy and nice characters butting proper up towards tragedy, and people actually brutal, sincere, horrible combat sequences that can hopefully impress some folks,” mentioned Parker.
“Swinging with completely different tones”
Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘
HBO Max
Parker, Seven Kingdom‘s showrunner, co-creator and exec producer who received his GoT schooling as a author on Home of the Dragon‘s first season, was stuffed with reward for George R.R. Martin and the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas on which Seven Kingdoms relies, however their format additionally posed a tonal problem. “We had been following the novella. That was our guiding mild,” he mentioned.
“The novella is sort of completely different from the primary collection of books and the histories of Hearth & Blood [Martin’s novel telling the history of the ruling Targaryen family] and the tone is just a little completely different. It’s difficult typically as a result of whenever you’re swinging with completely different tones and completely different moments it doesn’t all the time come out trying fairly ultimately.”
“The reality is, for me a minimum of, this can be a very grounded, gritty have a look at what this expertise would have been like for a hedge knight and an up-jump squire using into a brand new city the place he doesn’t know anyone. He’s strolling into Madison Sq. Backyard to play for the Knicks tonight and he’s by no means performed earlier than.”
When Dunk arrives at Ashford Meadow, he witnesses the perfect knights and jousters in Westeros coaching, ingesting and combating. He’s known as a “farmer” and “like a knight… however sadder,” and he resorts to speaking together with his horses. The sequence is totally designed to painting his emotions as an outsider.
L-R: Peter Claffey and Tanzyn Crawford in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘
HBO Max
“It’s extremely daunting and when he sees up shut how good these persons are, the concern it strikes in his coronary heart is so overwhelming that any cheap particular person would possibly say, ‘I’m gonna return to King’s Touchdown and be part of the Metropolis Guard’,” mentioned Parker. “However there’s simply one thing particular that we love about Dunk that forces him to go ahead and into all of those extraordinary locations.
“One in every of my favourite issues that Dunk – and Peter does – is when he’s assembly these bizarre and eccentric nobles, lords and girls who’ve very particular weirdnesses themselves as totally developed characters coming into his world, he nearly performs it like he doesn’t recognized if he’s the butt of the joke or not. Is that this particular person being severe?”
Parker mentioned that he had not tried to play the episode for laughs, however that Dunk’s scenario, the “pure stiffness” Claffey performs him with and his odd couple friendship with Egg means comedy follows.
“Hopefully we’re not truly telling jokes, however setting folks up very naturally – two individuals who don’t perceive every others’ world,” mentioned Parker. “In George’s greatest work, tragedy butts proper up towards the hopeful moments: Simply whenever you assume issues are going proper, they take a flip. That was our solely purpose right here, to characterize that have naturally.”
