Dunk and Egg Take Centre Stage in New Thrones Spin-Off

The much-anticipated Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is set to introduce viewers to a new pair of unlikely mates: Dunk and Egg. Unlike its predecessor, this series ditches the tangled web of politics and supernatural chaos, focusing instead on a more straightforward journey. Creator Ira Parker summed it up neatly during a recent roundtable chat:

I would say the main difference is that we’re just Game of Thrones without all the stuff. We don’t have the dead coming to kill mankind. We don’t have the politics, really. We don’t have the massive roving POVs from different families and different characters. We have one character: we have Dunk, and we have Egg, our little stable boy, and I would say that relationship is probably closest to the dynamic of something from Game of Thrones along the lines of the Hound and Arya or Pod and Brienne.

Fans of the original series might recall the memorable duos that made the show tick. Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane, better known as the Hound, spent seasons three and four trekking across Westeros, with the Hound constantly trying (and failing) to cash in on Arya’s ransom. Meanwhile, Podrick Payne was handed over to Brienne of Tarth by Jaime Lannister, tagging along as her squire while she searched for Sansa Stark after her disappearance from King’s Landing.

Odd Couple Energy

Parker reckons George R.R. Martin has a knack for pairing up characters who shouldn’t work together but somehow do.

George does odd couple pairings better than anyone, and those were always my favourite moments from the original series. So now we have an entire series just based on a little odd couple pairing here, and it’s a lot of fun, and hopefully it’s enough for audiences.

This time around, the spotlight is firmly on Ser Duncan the Tall, a hedge knight with not much to his name, and Egg, a mysterious stable lad keen to become his squire. Their journey is set about ninety years before the events of Thrones, and roughly a century after House of the Dragon, giving punters a fresh slice of Westeros history without the usual baggage.

Back to Basics in Westeros

Instead of sprawling family feuds and world-ending threats, the story zeroes in on Dunk’s attempt to make a name for himself at a tourney. Along the way, he picks up Egg, whose real identity is shrouded in mystery. The focus is on their growing bond and the challenges they face together, offering a more personal look at life in the Seven Kingdoms.

The series is set to premiere on HBO and HBO Max in the States, and on Sky and NOW for UK viewers, all kicking off on January 18. For those keen to see what else is brewing in the Thrones universe, there’s plenty more on the horizon, with other shows and films in the pipeline.