HBO formally announced a new “Game of Thrones” spin-off series last week as part of the unveiling of the new streaming service Max, and while the new show adapts one of George R.R. Martin’s most beloved Westeros stories, its title leaves out the names of the two main characters. As it turns out, there’s a good reason for that.
The working title for the new show is “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight,” but it’s based on a collection of tales known as “Dunk & Egg.” Writing on his blog, Martin explained why “Dunk & Egg” was not seriously considered as a title for the new show.
“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 ‘Tales of Dunk & Egg’ or ‘The Adventures of Dunk & Egg’ or ‘Dunk & Egg’ or anything along those lines,” Martin said. “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.”
Set a century before the events of “Game of Thrones,” the new series follows Ser Duncan the Tall and his companion Egg. Martin and Ira Parker – who worked on “House of the Dragon” – serve as writers and executive producers for the new show, while Ryan Condal and Vince Gerardis also executive produce.
Martin revealed that the first season of “The Hedge Knight” – which has been given a straight-to-series order by HBO – will be based on the first of three published novellas. “The pilot script is already written, and I think it’s terrific,” Martin said, adding that it was written by Ira Parker, who has assembled a writers room and is working on building out the season. Martin added that, if all goes well, the series would adapt “The Sworn Sword” and “The Mystery Knight” in subsequent seasons.
Martin also said the first season may consist of just six episodes, but that’s not yet set in stone.
A launch date for “The Hedge Knight” has not yet been set, but the second season of “House of the Dragon” is currently in production, so more “Song of Ice and Fire” stories are on the way.
