In a break from Thrones tradition, HBO’s upcoming spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will not be opening with the usual sweeping animated title sequence. Instead, we’re getting something far more stripped-back, a single title card in medieval typography slotted between the action.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, co-creator and showrunner Ira Parker explained the decision: “All decisions came down to Dunk,” he said, referring to the show’s lead character. “He’s plain and he’s simple and he’s to-the-point. He doesn't have a lot of flash to him.” In short: no animated map, no thunderous orchestra, no giant cogs spinning over King’s Landing. Just vibes. Very medieval ones.
It’s a bold move, especially given how iconic Game of Thrones' opening titles have become and how House of the Dragon reused Ramin Djawadi’s original theme song for its own intro. But Parker stands by the change. “It was probably the most stressful decision I made,” he said, “but it serves our show.”
Set about a century before the original series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Ser Duncan the Tall (played by Bad Sisters and Small Things Like These actor Peter Claffey) and his unlikely squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), a bald-headed boy with more royal blood than he lets on. Based on George R. R. Martin’s beloved Dunk and Egg novellas, the six-episode series is smaller in scale, focused on gritty, lowborn characters: hedge knights, barmaids, performers, and mercenaries, rather than the usual lords, queens and dragons.
“This could basically be 14th-century Britain,” said Parker. “It’s a hard-nosed, grind-it-out, muddy kind of world, with a light, hopeful touch. We are starting right at the bottom.”
George R. R. Martin has already seen all six episodes and says he “loved them,” calling the adaptation “as faithful as a reasonable man could hope for.” And with no dragons in sight and no grand title sequence to lean on, this might just be the Game of Thrones show that finally does things differently by keeping it simple. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to premiere on HBO and Max in 2026.
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