Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Has One Major Difference From Previous Game Of Thrones Shows

When you think of "Game of Thrones," the massive HBO series based on George R.R. Martin's novel series "A Song of Ice and Fire," you either think of the show's lackluster yet infuriating ending ... or you think of the sprawling, continent-spanning title sequence that kicked off every episode throughout the series' eight seasons. This opening, scored by Ramin Djawadi, is so epic and so excellent that — incredibly — the first major "Game of Thrones" spin-off used the exact same conceit, showing different locations important to the Targaryen family before each episode of "House of the Dragon" (which centers around said family and their civil war known as the "Dance of the Dragons"). A new "Game of Thrones" show, though, won't have a big epic title sequence.

According to an Entertainment Weekly exclusive about the next big "Game of Thrones" TV show coming to HBO, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" — based on Martin's "Tales of Dunk and Egg" novellas — centers around a simple freelance knight of sorts known as Ser Duncan the Tall, to be played by Peter Claffey. Without allegiance to any of the great houses of Westeros, "Dunk," who operates in a time period between "House of the Dragon" and "Game of Thrones," is what's called a "hedge knight" (referring to the whole lack-of-allegiance thing), and when he meets a young man known simply as "Egg" (Dexter Sol Ansell), he takes him on as his squire, unaware that Egg is actually Prince Aegon "Egg" Targaryen.

As Ira Parker, the showrunner for "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," alongside Martin, who wrote for "House of the Dragon," explained to the outlet, Dunk felt like too simple a character for a big, flashy opening credits sequence. "All decisions came down to Dunk, trying to channel the type of person he is into every aspect of this show, even the title sequence," Parker said. "The title sequences on the original ['Game of Thrones'] and 'House of the Dragon' are big and epic, and incredible. Ramin Djawadi's score is orchestral and large, and beautiful. That's not really Dunk's M.O. He's plain and he's simple and he's to-the-point. He doesn't have a lot of flash to him."

There's something else that's going to set "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" apart from other big "Game of Thrones" projects, according to Ira Parker, and it's a more grounded approach to the matter at hand. Don't expect dragons or magic from this one, according to Parker. "Nobody's thinking about magic," Parker told Entertainment Weekly, stressing that the series is set to take place roughly half a century after the death of the last dragon, so fantastical elements aren't feeling particularly relevant to the characters within its universe. He continued:

"This could basically be 14th century Britain. This is hard nose, grind it out, gritty, medieval knights, cold with a really light, hopeful touch. It's a wonderful place to be. We are ground up in this series, we are starting right at the bottom. We're not with the lords and ladies, the kings and queens."

This is all quite notable because, if you have even a passing familiarity with either "Game of Thrones" or "House of the Dragon," you know that both of those series focus almost exclusively on highborn characters (but I'll circle back to that shortly). As far as Parker is concerned, this big shift in tone and perspective is actually really exciting.

"To find a totally different version of this world that everybody seems to know so well was very, very appealing," Parker went on. "The fact that we live in this world, though, where magic once existed, is very interesting to me. This is the ground and the grass that has seen dragons and dragon fire before. So everything is just like how the world is, but a little stranger, a little different."

"Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" are both stocked full of prophecies, magic, and supernatural forces; think of the eerie goings-on at Harrenhal witnessed by Prince Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) in season 2 of the latter or literally anything the Red Priestess Melisandre (Carice van Houten) does throughout the former. It's actually quite refreshing, if I'm being honest — even as a self-proclaimed fan of "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon," for better and for worse — to see a different side of Westeros about someone like Ser Duncan the Tall rather than yet another tale about people fighting over that one pointy chair everyone wants so much.

As far as George R.R. Martin himself is concerned, he's really happy with "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" — he said as much in a post on his own blog in January 2025 — and he also told Entertainment Weekly that he thinks a different, less epic title sequence for this newest show is a really fantastic move. In thinking about the stakes, Martin looked back on his previous two adaptations:  "Is it the dead coming to kill mankind? Is it the dragons? Is it the politics? Is it the big roving POVs, warring families?" Ultimately, Martin said not using a big, mood-setting title sequence "was probably the most stressful decision I made on this," but he stands by it, saying, "It was not entered into lightly, but it serves our show."

Parker chimed in and agreed, saying, "We have one character and a lot of heart." After the massive scale of previous "Game of Thrones" properties, this honestly sounds great. "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon" are both streaming on HBO Max, and "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" premieres on HBO in early 2026.