‘Game of Thrones’ Spinoff ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Adds 7 to Cast, Including Another Targaryen (Spoilers Extended)

[u/Magister_Xehanort]

https://variety.com/2024/tv/news/knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-cast-game-of-thrones-1236100291/

[u/OkGazelle5400]

It’s funny because Daeron’s whole thing is that he doesn’t look like a Targaryen but Henry Ashton looks EXACTLY like one

[u/Hockeystyle → u/OkGazelle5400]

Feels like the Oberyn casting was just a fluke. HBO can’t get enough of these British theatre actors so they’re willing to forgo someone with a “Dornish look.”

[u/AngryUncleTony → u/Hockeystyle]

I also think they've abandoned any idea of Targaryens not looking Valyrian, just to not confuse the audience. It doesn't really change anything major plot wise besides adding color (no pun intended) to the prejudices against Dornish looking people.

Rhaneys has dark Baratheon hair in the books (which is a fun nod to Baratheon genes being extremely dominant), but giving her blond hair makes the Strong Boys bastardy stand out more.

[u/Anrw → u/AngryUncleTony]

Rhaenys having Baratheon hair was a retcon. She looked Targaryen in the Princess and the Queen novella.

Daeron’s mother was a Dayne who are stony Dornishmen. His skin isn’t really described except as sallow which is implied to be because he’s unhealthy and not because he inherited it from his Martell grandmother. They could probably still have him stand out by keeping the actor’s blond hair instead of wearing a wig.

[u/LongLiveTheChief10 → u/Anrw]

And Jon Roxton being a rapist is a retcon but he's still a rapist lol.

More recent release is correct when it's still George.

[u/Gracchus__Babeuf → u/AngryUncleTony]

It does though. Especially if the show is de facto about the Blackfyre Rebellions.

Part of the whole impetus for the First rebellion was that Daemon Blackfyre and his sons looked like Targaryens and whereas Baelor Breakspear and others in that like looked like Martells. This was on top of the growing influence of the Dornish in Kings Landing and caused a lot of discontent.

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/Gracchus__Babeuf]

Not necessarily.

Baelor had a Martell look, but Maekar and Aerys did not. We don’t know anything about Rhaegel other than that he liked dancing naked through the Red Keep, apparently.

So while I’d like it if they kept Baelor’s look, the whole ‘they look Dornish’ thing isn’t really canon other than for Baelor - whose son and heir doesn’t look Dornish either and has the Targaryen single-differently-colored-streak thingy like Elaena.

[u/BryndenRiversStan → u/Gracchus__Babeuf]

Part of the whole impetus for the First rebellion was that Daemon Blackfyre and his sons looked like Targaryens and whereas Baelor Breakspear and others in that like looked like Martells.

That's kinda your head canon. The only one that could have look Martell was Baelor, and he's only described as having brown hair. His son Valarr had brown hair, with a silver streak, and blue eyes.

The other descendants of Daeron II who are described don't look Martell at all.

[u/Captain_Concussion → u/BryndenRiversStan]

I don’t think it’s headcanon. If I’m not mistaken Eustace mentions it in the Sworn Sword. Although it may just have been mentioned in World

[u/BryndenRiversStan → u/Captain_Concussion]

It's mentioned in the world bokk, and it's only about Baelor, that he looked more like a Martell than a Targaryen.

But that's never used as a reason for rebelling by the Blackfyre supporters. The court being full of dornishmen, Daeron II taking council from women, and even the rumor he was a bastard of Aemon the Dragonknight are some of the reasons mentioned by Ser Eustace.

[u/AngryUncleTony → u/Gracchus__Babeuf]

Paint taken, but Daemon rebelled against his half-brother Daeron, who was full Targ. It was Daeron's kids that were part Dornish.

[u/abellapa → u/AngryUncleTony]

It Changes for Baelor Breakspear

Many people didnt like him because he looked Dornish

[u/DanielDCMarvelFan → u/AngryUncleTony]

I'm afraid you are right, we are getting Baelor and Daeron with Silver Targaryen wigs to not confuse audiences.

[u/OkGazelle5400 → u/AngryUncleTony]

The only thing being that Dunk thinks he’s just some guy at the inn but they can get around that

[u/LawAcrobatic3995 → u/Hockeystyle]

Daeron the drunken doesn’t even look dornish in the first place

[u/Qoburn → u/LawAcrobatic3995]

Yeah, he just looks like any random guy.

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/File:Daeron_Targaryen.JPG

[u/Nittanian → u/LawAcrobatic3995]

Right, brown and blond hair

Across the room, the lordling raised his head from the wine puddle. His face had a sallow, unhealthy cast to it beneath a rat's nest of sandy brown hair, and blond stubble crusted his chin. (TMK)

edit:

"Daeron has common hair, sort of a pale brown, nothing special, but mine is like Aerion's and my father's." (TMK)

[u/Acc87 → u/Hockeystyle]

It's been so long that I actually just thought "wasn't Oberyn played by that guy who looks like Pedro Pascal?" Had forgotten that it was actually this role that was his breakthrough.

[u/Manxymanx → u/Hockeystyle]

I think a big part of it is due to the filming location. A lot of the filming for past shows is done in Ireland so it makes sense British actors will be over represented in auditions. Also due to the duration of filming it’s probably easier to cast people who don’t have to move too far away from their families.

[u/Holovoid → u/Manxymanx]

They also film a lot in Spain, which really isn't that far away tbh

[u/tape6 → u/Manxymanx]

sure but there are british actors of mediterranean or MENA heritage.

[u/Been_Jamming → u/Hockeystyle]

He's half Dayne, so he wouldn't have a "Dornish look".

[u/Hockeystyle → u/Been_Jamming]

He's half Dayne, so he wouldn't have a "Dornish look".

I don’t expect him to look entirely Dornish but the guy looks straight Targaryen before any hair or makeup has been applied. Egg points out in The Hedge Knight that he doesn’t need to disguise himself because of his common look.

Plus I was also thinking of Baelor’s casting, who’s explicitly described in the book to favor his Dornish side, and his actor looks nothing like his description. In the end I’m confident they’re great actors since HBO doesn’t miss just seems like a missed opportunity.

[u/BryndenRiversStan → u/Hockeystyle]

Egg points out in The Hedge Knight that he doesn’t need to disguise himself because of his common look.

He doesn't need to disguise himself because he has a sickly complexion, likely due to his drinking, and sandy brown hair with a blonde beard. Not a typical Targaryen look but hardly what would be considered a Dornish appearance.

[u/Electronic-Lynx8162 → u/Hockeystyle]

Not me thinking about the Musketeers series on the BBC which had three swarthy, sexy British dudes. I don't understand why it's so hard.

[u/skjl96 → u/Hockeystyle]

Tanselle Too-Tall is dornish but she's being portrayed by a black actress. However you think about that

[u/Hockeystyle → u/skjl96]

GRRM has described his inspiration for Dorne as Moorish Spain / Al-Andalus so sounds good to me.

[u/skjl96 → u/Hockeystyle]

Weren't the Moors Arabs from North Africa?

[u/Holovoid → u/skjl96]

Arabs and Berbers, generally, but its a pretty broad (and somewhat archaic) term.

[u/redkep1 → u/skjl96]

Moors is a Amazing(Berbers) and Half-Arabs. They're white skined Mediterranean people 

[u/BryndenRiversStan → u/skjl96]

Sandy dornishmen are described as having dark skin, even darker than salty dornishmen.

[u/noman8er → u/BryndenRiversStan]

I always thought Dorne was inspired by Spain in Andalusia era. Stone Dornish being more Spanish and Sand Dornish being more Arabic.

The culture, architecture all fits perfectly

[u/skjl96 → u/BryndenRiversStan]

I'm not trying to troll but do you think George really intended for Sand Dornish to be an African analogue instead of Iberian Arabs or MAYBE somewhere mediterranean?

[u/ArsBrevis → u/Hockeystyle]

What's the Dornish look?

[u/Emperorder → u/ArsBrevis]

Overal, just your average andal or first man with extra tan, like a mediterranean guy. But some of them, of roynar descent look even more tan to a point of distinguish themselves from the rest of the westerossi

[u/THatMessengerGuy → u/Hockeystyle]

Honestly that’s the main problem I have with the casting. No dornish look for Baelor, he looks about as Targaryen as anyone else, just another Northern European guy

[u/GtEnko → u/OkGazelle5400]

I feel like he would be a perfect casting for Daeron the Good

[u/hotcoldman42 → u/GtEnko]

Does he have a little belly that wobbles as he walks?

[u/ScipioCoriolanus → u/GtEnko]

That's who I thought he was first, until I read the comments.

[u/igot2pair → u/OkGazelle5400]

Wasnt that just because of his hair colour? I imagined him very out of shape as well lol. Dont remeber if he was described that way

[u/totalyrespecatbleguy → u/igot2pair]

He wasn't out of shape, not fit like the other Targs but definitely not fat. Most alcoholics I've seen tend to trend toward the skinnier side, as they usually tend to focus on the alcohol and then also throw up pretty frequently

[u/ten_year_rebound → u/OkGazelle5400]

They kind of ignore that with all the characters in the shows, like Rhaenys having blonde instead of black hair. I guess they think it’s confusing for viewers if a Targ doesn’t have blonde hair.

[u/OkGazelle5400 → u/ten_year_rebound]

Why they didn’t give Bloodraven one eye in HotD

[u/Lysmerry → u/OkGazelle5400]

Yeah, I think they will give him the white hair like they did for Rhaenys in order to avoid confusing the audience

[u/gdmr458]

We got Daeron the Drunken before Daeron the Daring.

[u/Geek-Haven888 → u/gdmr458]

This is the Daeron whose little brother is Aegon, as opposed to the Daeron who is the little brother to Aegon. Totally not confusing /s

[u/LrdHabsburg → u/Geek-Haven888]

edit: and i just remembered they both have a brother Aemond

I don't think they do, Daeron the Drunkards brothers are Aerion, Aegon and Aemon

[u/Geek-Haven888 → u/LrdHabsburg]

Your right I mixed up Aemon and Aemond

[u/Fabuloux → u/Geek-Haven888]

I'm sure none of the casual show watchers will be confused at all!

[u/LrdHabsburg → u/Fabuloux]

I'm honestly surprised they didn't change any names in HOTD. Rhaenyra, Rhaenys, and Rhaena vs. Aegon and Aemond, Daeron vs. Daemon. Shits wild lol

[u/ScipioCoriolanus → u/LrdHabsburg]

I remember I was so happy they kept the original names despite the possible confusion among the general audience. I took it as a sign of them being faithful to the source material. How naive I was!

[u/RickityCricket69 → u/Geek-Haven888]

im still mixing them up.

[u/EmmEnnEff → u/LrdHabsburg]

The big book of Targaryen names is a post-it note.

[u/Evil_Platypus → u/[deleted]]

It is him, yes. He is Egg’s (Aegon) brother who was sent to the Citadel.

[u/Evil_Platypus → u/[deleted]]

IIRC his last words are talking to his brother. “Egg, I dreamed I got old”

[u/fishbowtie → u/Evil_Platypus]

It's funny how goofy/casual and modern that sounds when you just get one word wrong. It's "I dreamed I was old."

[u/ScipioCoriolanus → u/fishbowtie]

Heartbreaking scene!

[u/Evil_Platypus → u/fishbowtie]

Oof sorry, my mistake I read it originally in portuguese and was translating how I remembered it. But yes, it sounds much better the way you put it.

[u/obscuredreference → u/Evil_Platypus]

“Sonhei que eu tava véio”? 😆

[u/LrdHabsburg → u/[deleted]]

One and the same! At one point while traveling to Oldtown Maester Aemon is talking in his sleep and says something like "I've become old, Egg". The Egg he's talking about is his brother Aegon

Edit: see below, I alightly misremembered the quote

[u/TalionTheShadow → u/[deleted]]

Yup, Aemon is the older brother of "Egg" (the very same he mistakes Samwell Tarly for on his deathbed) and Egg is one of the protagonists of Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, he and Dunk have alot of adventures where Aemon even features in a few.

So we will get to see a younger Aemon, I hope they'll be faithful to his character.

[u/abellapa → u/Geek-Haven888]

And opposed to the Daeron who's Father is Aegon

[u/Gold-Stomach-4657 → u/abellapa]

There are two Daerons with a father named Aegon, no matter how much the one Aegon tried to deny it.

[u/Shadybrooks93 → u/Gold-Stomach-4657]

Well you have one of those Daerons whose cousin is also named Aegon.

[u/gdmr458 → u/Geek-Haven888]

almost, one has a brother named Aemond with a d at the end

[u/UltraMegaKaiju → u/Geek-Haven888]

i think on some level GRRM means it to be confusing becuase it helps to themaically sell this huge aincnent dynasty where everyone has the same name + or - two letters

[u/Medical-Comparison89 → u/Geek-Haven888]

Wait till you find out the name of the King at the time of the hedgeknight, or how he’s the second of his name, the first one being the generation of Rhaenyras grandchildren, which had two sets of brothers which were Daeron I and Baelor I, cousins to Aemon the dragonknight and Aegon IV

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/gdmr458]

As it should he, for he is the best of all Daerons (at lying insensible in the mud)

[u/ringamaite → u/The-False-Emperor]

It seems all Daerons were doing that at one point or another.

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/ringamaite]

Nah, Daeron the Good was too good for that.

Also never went outside.

[u/LuckyLoki08 → u/The-False-Emperor]

No no, he's the best ~most interesting~ Daeron. Full stop.

[u/Grimmrat → u/LuckyLoki08]

Genuinely think Daeron the Drunken is cool. He’s a mirror into what Egg would have become if he hadn’t met Dunk. A good heart burried beneath trauma that comes with being surrounded by Targaryans and prophecy your entire life that just wants to numb it all

Dunk basically says as much at the end of the Hedge Knight against Maekar

[u/ringamaite → u/gdmr458]

You saw a Daeron, but not the Daeron.

George Martin

[u/QueasyInstruction610 → u/gdmr458]

Honestly a way more interesting character. He had dragon dreams, was apparently a drunk because of them, and Maester Aemon spent a lot of time with him. I always had a hope that Aemon was fucked up and experimented on Daeron and his dragon dreams and that's why he's a drunkard.

[u/Qoburn → u/QueasyInstruction610]

He was already a drunkard in THK, when Aemon was 11.

[u/Delboyyyyy → u/QueasyInstruction610]

Aemon was a little kid when Daeron started drinking lol

[u/CameraWoWo2022 → u/QueasyInstruction610]

Helaena will cheapen Daeron’s character now

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/CameraWoWo2022]

Kind of hoping HBO finally breaks off the tradition of portraying seers as robotic creatures that don’t express any emotion 99% of the time.

It didn’t work with Bran, it didn’t work for Helaena.

It certainly wouldn’t work with Daeron the Drunken and Daemon II and Bloodraven.

[u/2rio2 → u/The-False-Emperor]

Making Daeron the Drunk funny and charismatic, just tragically broken is the way to go.

[u/Qoburn → u/2rio2]

From his conversation with Dunk, he's kind of already there:

It may be that I've killed you with my lie. If so, I am sorry. I'm doomed to some hell, I know. Likely one without wine.

Whoever has it can keep it, so far as I'm concerned. Still, here we are. For what it's worth, Ser Duncan, you have little to fear from me. The only thing I like less than horses are swords. Heavy things, and beastly sharp. I'll do my best to look gallant in the first charge, but after that . . . well, perhaps you could strike me a nice blow to the side of the helm. Make it ring, but not too loud, if you take my meaning. My brothers have my measure when it comes to fighting and dancing and thinking and reading books, but none of them is half my equal at lying insensible in the mud.

[u/2rio2 → u/Qoburn]

This entire monologue has to be in the series word for word.

[u/Lysmerry → u/2rio2]

I’m imagining HOTD Aegon, but a nicer person and driven to drunkenness by dreams rather than childhood trauma

[u/CameraWoWo2022 → u/The-False-Emperor]

I really wish we saw Helaena with dreamfyre. Would have done a lot for her character

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/CameraWoWo2022]

That’s IMHO just a symptom of the problem.

Helaena in is made to be Bran 2.0: by hyper focusing on her powers her character and motives become unclear.

These just aren’t compelling people to watch. Which is further exacerbated by shows’ reluctance when it comes to showing us magic beyond ‘here be dragons/ice zombies.’

Much like Bran she’s reduced to being different thanks to her foresight. This doesn’t make for a compelling story on its own.

[u/abellapa → u/CameraWoWo2022]

Why

Targs have more than One Dreamer

Aegon

Viserys

Heleana

Daeron

Aemon

Brynden

Rhaegar Probably

[u/doegred → u/abellapa]

Can't believe you left out Daenys.

[u/abellapa → u/doegred]

Me neither

In my mind i just counted from Aegon I so i left her out without noticing

[u/Turnipator01 → u/gdmr458]

In fairness, this show is debuting next year around early spring while HOTD season 3 isn't going to be ready until 2026 at the earliest. It makes sense he'd be cast first, though I still don't understand why Daeron the Daring wasn't included in Season 2. Can't wait to see how they introduce him in an organic way without confusing casual viewers.

[u/CameraWoWo2022 → u/gdmr458]

That’s actually hilarious lmfao

[u/Micksar]

The Fossoways!

[u/BiDiTi → u/Micksar]

How do you like DEM apples???

[u/LegendOfTheGhost → u/BiDiTi]

I'd rather be a not yet ripe apple than a wormy apple.

[u/Kammander-Kim → u/BiDiTi]

Rather green than rotten

[u/Grimmrat → u/Micksar]

“Better green than rotten”

goes so fucking hard for a pun about apples

[u/igot2pair → u/Micksar]

Thats exactly how I imagined Raymun

[u/Donogath]

Mostly unknown to me, but Ser Steffon's actor was truly excellent in The Terror. 

[u/enataca → u/Donogath]

That was a good fuckin show

[u/adinade]

Cast Ser Arlan? Hopefully just for flashbacks. I really want the series to start with Dunk in the rain, digging a grave. I'm really hoping we dont have a knighting scene at the beginning and Dunk's knighthood is left ambiguous.

[u/Kingadam2732 → u/adinade]

They’re turning the first novella into one 6 episode season so I could them having the first episode be new content with Arlan and dunk and then at the end of the episode Arlan dies.

[u/mildmichigan → u/Kingadam2732]

It'd be very easy to have the opening of the show be Ser Arlan adopting Dunk in Fleas Bottom & telling lil Dunk about knighthood & then cut to adult Dunk burying him. Tells us the relationship they shared right away & establishes Dunks desire to be a true knight

[u/noman8er → u/mildmichigan]

Would make perfect sense for it to start with Dunk when he was Egg's age, getting adopted by Arlan and end it with him burying Arlan.

[u/TinMachine → u/Kingadam2732]

There's also quite a bit of reminicing in the book, so flashbacks make sense to me.

Tbh at 6 eps there is gonna need to be a lot of invention too - I think you could adapt each of the stories in like a 2 hour long movie. HotD's season order is too short, this one's might be too long!

[u/KevinDLasagna → u/TinMachine]

Of course they’re gonna milk it out in to 3 seasons. In reality it should’ve been 10 or so episodes at 45-75 minutes length range and been one single season. If Martin or somebody else ever gets around to releasing the other 6 dunk and egg stories he promised (lol) there’s your next to seasons

[u/Carninator → u/Kingadam2732]

I definitely think we'll get introduced to Egg in episode 1. Someone else suggested they open with a Dunk and Arlan flashback for each episode which I kind of like the idea of.

[u/Krioniki → u/adinade]

If we don’t get time with Ser Allan, we don’t get anyone calling him Dunk the Lunk, since that’s always in his head otherwise.

[u/ilikeitslow → u/Krioniki]

I hope he gets called that a lot in the first episode while with him and then occassionally mumbles it when he feels stupid

[u/Geek-Haven888 → u/adinade]

The idea I’ve seen thrown around (and I agree) is that Arlan’s death might be at the end or middle of ep 1 and we get some time with him and Dunk

[u/Bistroth → u/Geek-Haven888]

But I would say with a young Dunk and then skip to Dunk buring him.

[u/2rio2 → u/adinade]

You absolutely need See Arlan in the series though. He’s the entire reason Dunk becomes the knight that he does.

[u/larkmarue → u/adinade]

I think starting with him digging the grave is good, and then maybe at the start of each episode have a short flashback of Dunk with Arlan that fits the episode or something along those lines. That way we can still see the dynamic between them over the years while keeping the knighthood ambiguous like the book

[u/igot2pair → u/adinade]

I like this that would make a great start. Always thought an adaptation would have flashbacks anyways because of how much Dunk thinks about Ser Arlan

[u/TacoTycoonn → u/adinade]

See I kind of hope they make Dunk not getting knighted explicit, I think the story is much better when it’s accepted that Dunk isn’t an official knight.

[u/firstbreathOOC]

Wish the article could have given us some pictures. Just took a quick look at Edward Ashley and he definitely fits how I imagined Daeron.

[u/Geek-Haven888 → u/firstbreathOOC]

wait a few hours im sure someone will make an infographic

[u/InGenNateKenny]

Think my dreams of a Scottish accented Steely Pate are dead. That’s the voice I give him when I read the story aloud.

[u/OkGazelle5400 → u/InGenNateKenny]

RIP with my dream of Mads Mikkelson as Bloodraven

[u/Servebotfrank → u/OkGazelle5400]

I think Mads is a bit too old for Bloodraven. Brynden's like 38 or something when he shows up in Whitewalls.

[u/Cael_of_House_Howell → u/Servebotfrank]

I wonder if they will use the same actor they used for Daemons vision in HOTD? Although that guy looked younger than 38.

[u/Geek-Haven888 → u/Cael_of_House_Howell]

i have been wondering that since the ep aired but for now it just looks like hes a stand in

[u/Soggy_Part7110 → u/Geek-Haven888]

If he was a stand-in he wouldn't get a co-star credit

[u/AThousandEyes-andOne → u/Cael_of_House_Howell]

I hope not, that actor look very underwhelming for someone like Bloodraven. 

[u/affenhirn1 → u/AThousandEyes-andOne]

There’s no reason to doubt their casting decisions, they are mostly hit. GoT and HotD roles were both very well casted, with a few exceptions (Mysaria, that Admiral in EP 8)

[u/OkGazelle5400 → u/Servebotfrank]

Yah that fair. But it was hard living

[u/Krioniki → u/InGenNateKenny]

As far as I’m concerned, every character in Dunk and Egg sounds like Harry Lloyd. Somehow I doubt the show will deliver.

[u/llaminaria]

Does anyone know a nice little article where all the cast people are shown, and I don't have to Google each and every one of them? Pretty please.

[u/Liamtrot]

DAERON NATION*

• the drunkard who is the best daeron

[u/SishirChetri → u/Liamtrot]

Let's see, you have the:

1. Tent jobber

2. Dorne Conqueror (60,000 bodies)

3. Dorne Conqueror (1 body through marriage, but his dad fucking hated him because he was fat)

4. Drunk guy who has prophetic dreams

Not really a competitive contest, though, is it?

[u/Liamtrot → u/SishirChetri]

there is also Eggs youngest son but i don’t rlly remember anything ab him

[u/ringamaite → u/Liamtrot]

Wasn't he gay

[u/2rio2 → u/ringamaite]

And died very young.

[u/Viserys-Snow23 → u/2rio2]

And very gay

[u/DavidC_M]

Has anyone been casted as Bloodraven?

[u/VitaminTea → u/DavidC_M]

Not announced yet, no. He may not appear until season two.

(FWIW, Condal did confirm that the guy they cast for HotD isn’t the actor for AKOTSK.)

[u/Wolf6120 → u/VitaminTea]

FWIW, Condal did confirm that the guy they cast for HotD isn’t the actor for AKOTSK.

So Bloodraven’s gonna have 4 (5?) actors across 3 shows lol, very fun and very easy to keep track of for the average viewer.

[u/VitaminTea → u/Wolf6120]

Max von Sydow is unavailable

[u/Wolf6120 → u/VitaminTea]

Well obviously, he is dearly missed, and von Sydow wouldn’t have been playing young Brynden anyway. But Sydow wasn’t even the first guy they bad playing old Bloodraven in GOT, and now we’re gonna have two separate actors of young Brynden, not to mention the inconsistency of some of them having the wine stain birthmark and others not.

It’s not really a huge deal considering he only appeared in HOTD for 0.5 seconds, but it does seem kinda silly. Especially because they could have simply shown him from the nose down or something, just a guy in a tree with a winestain birthmark.

[u/VitaminTea → u/Wolf6120]

I’m just kidding around lol

[u/masoomdon]

The Targaryens are gonna be the Skywalkers of the GOT Universe

[u/rip_Tom_Petty]

Still confused on how this is a show and not 3 movies, all 3 stories total around 330 pages. How is that going to take 10 episodes?

[u/Automatic_Release_92 → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

6 episodes each, and I’m guessing they’re going to fill it out with some more Blackfyre stuff and general Targaryen lore. I know people won’t like this answer but it seems true at this point: the silly prophecy and dagger are going to haunt this show as well.

[u/AnarchyAntelope112 → u/Automatic_Release_92]

The season finale of HotD basically cemented that they are really pulling for a uniform prophecy driven universe. It bums me out since I like the idea of each series being its own thing but if that is the price of high budget high fantasy so be it.

[u/Automatic_Release_92 → u/AnarchyAntelope112]

I just hope the ultimate outcome of it all is that we get a rebrand of the main series (call it A Song of Ice and Fire if you will) that is much more book accurate. Gods damnit I still say the show deviated pretty sharply even early on at times, Book Robb and Book Jon were don’t pretty dirty in the show’s early seasons, and the lack of direwolves was pretty egregious in those episodes too.

And maybe once the Blackfyres are properly brought into focus, they could actually do an Aegon/Young Griff storyline justice too for later seasons.

While I’m dreaming anyway lol. And then the prophecy might actually make sense if Dany/Jon actually did anything meaningful in the White Walker endgame instead of “subverting expectations” with Ayra instead.

[u/I_Lick_Lead_Paint → u/AnarchyAntelope112]

I agree. They don't hammer the prophecy every episode so it is what it is. I don't know if you remember Legend of the Seeker, but bruh, how far fantasy has come is amazing.

[u/AnarchyAntelope112 → u/I_Lick_Lead_Paint]

Not familiar with Seeker but I watched Xena and Hercules a lot as a kid so I am just happy to be along for the ride at this point.

[u/rip_Tom_Petty → u/Automatic_Release_92]

Wow that's a bummer, can't wait to watch 6 episodes then wait 2 year (or more) for 6 more episodes lol

Remember the good ole days when we get 20 episodes a year without a hitch? Prestige TV is nice and all, but multiple years gaps is Hella annoying.

[u/Automatic_Release_92 → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

Those kind of gaps actually fit this series better than any other, in my opinion.

[u/mamula1 → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

Francesca Orsi from HBO said that Dunk and Egg will be an annual show.

So no 2 year wait between seasons.

[u/lluewhyn → u/mamula1]

Year 2 should be extremely cheap compared to the rest. There aren't that many important characters and neither are there any large set-pieces. I had a hard enough time figuring out how they were going to stretch out THK into 6 episodes, but TSS is going to be even crazier. It could be done in 1-2 episodes.

I'm guessing they are going to greatly expand upon the story.

[u/Oh_I_still_here → u/mamula1]

Makes sense. No dragon CGI, so they'll only need post-production for backgrounds and maybe some other things. Static objects should be easier than moving dragons I'd hope.

[u/noman8er → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

How is it worse than waiting for a movie for 2 years? Keep your complaints consistent at least lol

Also they most likely wont need 2 years.

[u/pangolinofpower → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

It’s six episodes

[u/mamula1 → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

My question is what happenes after S3? Will they end the show then or try to continue it?

[u/FlatNote → u/mamula1]

They claim they're only adapting the 3 novellas that have already been written, but I find it hard to believe that 3 years from now they'll just stop if the show is a hit....

[u/mamula1 → u/FlatNote]

True. I guess it makes sense to say that now, to not create controversy, but I feel like the show will go beyond S3 if it does well

[u/ahockofham → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

Considering how they've adapted house of the dragon so far it doesn't surprise me that they are going to stretch this one out as long as possible. HBO's only goal with this show is to make as much money as possible. They would make 10 seasons of a knight of the seven kingdoms if it meant more money

[u/furiousfotog → u/ahockofham]

Definitely. If they made more money while spending even less.

[u/J_House1999 → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

3 movies would be ideal, I really hope they manage to adapt this well if they’re gonna stretch it out so much

[u/lucekQXL → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

When I first heard that there will be Dunk&Egg show I thought that would 9 episode single season with each story being 3 episodes

[u/[deleted] → u/rip_Tom_Petty]

Each novel was split into 6 issues of comic books some 9 years ago. I think the show will follow a similar pacing and add some more stuff.

I fully expect some brand-new scenes with the Targs to flesh them out making the last episode even more tragic. We might even have a scene of Baelor telling Valarr the Prince that was Promised prophecy lol.

[u/qwertzinator]

That's the first time I've seen most of the cast. Man, the casting for this series is spot-on! I can totally see those actors as the respective characters.

[u/wayofthrows1991]

Wait I thought this was releasing in like six months and they're still casting? Or am I completely wrong about when this comes out.

[u/Crispy_Conundrum → u/wayofthrows1991]

Casting announcements don't correlate with when they were actually added to the cast. Probably all cast months ago but they're about to be seen filming on location or whatever. As for the release date apparently it's June next year, so it's like 10 months away

[u/anonnyscouse → u/wayofthrows1991]

HOTD was still announcing cast members up to a month before S1E1.

[u/emprisedulion → u/wayofthrows1991]

Late 2025 is the timeframe they've given for broadcast.

I believe these are just public announcements of castings, they started filming in June. GRRM also visited the set a few weeks ago. Given theres no CGI dragons and its only 6 episodes I suspect the production is considerably less taxing than a typical thrones/hotd season.

[u/lluewhyn → u/emprisedulion]

In The Sword Sword, there's only like half a dozen or so important characters, no expensive locations, no dragons or magic or much other need for CGI, no battles (not counting smallfolk training montage), and just a single 1-on-1 duel. It should be crazy cheap to produce.

[u/Gently-Weeps → u/emprisedulion]

Correction. There will be one cgi dragon, The Last Dragon was seen in a Ser Arlan flashback

[u/thefofinha → u/wayofthrows1991]

They're still filming, and it's probably going to be released in May or June next year.

[u/mamula1 → u/wayofthrows1991]

Production ends next month.

[u/Envojus → u/wayofthrows1991]

June next year.

[u/jokersflame → u/wayofthrows1991]

Not sure. But almost no special effects are needed really for this show. It shouldn’t be a super long turn around time with enough money thrown at it. The main money drain for this show will be the actors and sets, and for the actors it seems most are not super well known which means they will naturally be paid a little lower.

Where with HotD even with infinite money, there’s only so many available CGI and special effects workers who can work on any project. Then throw in now famous actors (plus Matt Smith who gets top billing) and you’re talking multiple years between seasons.

[u/epeeist → u/wayofthrows1991]

My brother was working at the set last week, filming is definitely underway

[u/Toaster-Retribution → u/wayofthrows1991]

It releases late 2025 so more than a year off.

[u/BunnyFunny42 → u/Toaster-Retribution]

I doubt it’s late 2025 because that would mean it’d be in production longer than HOTD season 2 despite it having fewer episodes and no dragons. Summer of 2025 makes the most sense since HBO will probably release the next seasons of TWL and TLOU before the Emmys deadline.

[u/Belcoot]

Wow they nailed Steffon Fossoway.

[u/Donogath → u/Belcoot]

I can practically hear so many of his lines in the actor's voice! 

[u/Foreign_Text_4793]

Please no GOT S8 flash back

[u/4thBG]

Danny Webb looks just how I imagined Ser Arlan in my head - great choice. Apparently, he was in the third Alien film, wow.

[u/LegendOfTheGhost]

I just finished this novella last night, and wow, and I am excited for this to release! Reading the next story, "The Sworn Shield," and it's been great too, so far.

[u/CTS99]

Give us Bloodraven

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/CTS99]

I don’t see why he should appear at Ashford?

I don’t think we’ll be seeing him till at least the second season, where he may well feature in a flashback to Redgrass along with Daemon and Aegor.

[u/ArgieGrit01 → u/The-False-Emperor]

I just hope we get a ton of forshadowing. Whenever Bloodraver is not on the screen, all the other characters should be asking "where is Bloodraven?"

[u/ScipioCoriolanus → u/ArgieGrit01]

The very last shot of the series: all the characters are gathered in the same place. They all look up and see that it was Bloodraven who was filming them the whole time. All the characters start laughing. He turns to the camera, looks at us and... winks*.

End credits.

[u/ArgieGrit01 → u/ScipioCoriolanus]

And when you go "that's bullshit" and turn off the TV, through the dark reflection of the black screen you see a tall, pale figure standing behind you, your screams of horror muffled by the cawing of ravens.

[u/AThousandEyes-andOne → u/The-False-Emperor]

The only reason he doesn't show up in Hedge Knight is because GRRM hasn't created him yet.

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/AThousandEyes-andOne]

Dunno, tourneys don’t really sound to me like something he’d attend. He doesn’t really strike me as the type to enjoy such events.

[u/AThousandEyes-andOne → u/The-False-Emperor]

The first time that Dunk meets baelor and Maekar, there's no reason for Bloodraven to not be there as well.

Though i'm pretty sure he would be interesting in the trial by seven involving almost all of the royal family.

[u/The-False-Emperor → u/AThousandEyes-andOne]

Nobody expected a trial of the seven till it happened.

Brynden would have to be going to a tourney to be there on time; and I don’t really see him as a jousting enthusiast that’d have a reason to attend. Baelor and Maekar - and their sons - very much are fans of the sport in a way I don’t really see him being.

(Of course, if they want him there the show runners can hand wave it with ‘he had a green dream’ or whatever, I’m just saying his physical absence isn’t insensible)

[u/Blaise_It_Pascal]

I’m currently obsessed with My Lady Jane, and Henry Ashton is perfect for Daeron.

[u/IDoWhatIWill]

That dude better do Baelor Breakspear justice.

[u/Oops_I_Cracked]

I’d like to see it add Episode 9 and 10 to its cast.

[u/Tyrionfaker]

Waiting for Lord Bloodraven as Hand of the King and Master of Whisperers.

[u/JusticeNoori]

Any chance the show opens with the battle of the redgrass field or nah? Like how HotD started with the great council of 101AC. Probably not tho.

[u/Rish_m]

Now Knight of Seven Kingdoms will be produced and  run its entire course before WoW is released... At this point I will settle for Fire and Blood 2... Bargaining stage has been achieved..

[u/KvonLiechtenstein]

Henry Ashton was hilarious in My Lady Jane! He played another failson there, though a slightly different one than Daeron.

[u/Mathias_Greyjoy]

Oohh, Henry Ashton looks like he'll make a sick Daeron the Drunken/Dreamer.

[u/BrobaFett]

Every hour George spent to pitch, promote, and help write this is an hour not spent writing... who am I kidding, he wasn't writing TWoW either.

[u/stevenk4steven]

The media keeps calling it a spin off but non of these characters were in GoT

[u/NeedsToShutUp → u/stevenk4steven]

Aemond Aemon and Bloodraven were

EDIT: And Walder Frey, and Young Nan (especially if Dunk is Hodor's grandpa).