A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' Ambitious Multi-Season Plan Explained By Creator

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" was a welcome return to Westeros, and one of the best things we've seen from this franchise. The adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novella "The Hedge Knight" delivered the kind of political intrigue and brutal action fans expect from Martin's world, yet it also gave us a small-scale story with plenty of humor and heart.

Thankfully, fans won't have to wait that long to see more of this show. "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is already confirmed to return for a second season, expected to be released in 2027. After that? Who knows. There are currently three published "Tales of Dunk and Egg" novellas, but we know Martin has detailed the outline of at least 12 unpublished stories with those characters to showrunner Ira Parker. Now, Parker told The Wrap his ambitious plan to keep this show going for years on end.

"I would love to make 12 of these," Parker said. "I'd like to do four with Egg the boy, four with Egg the Prince and four with Egg the king — but do them every 10 years."

That's right. Ira Parker wants to do Richard Linklater's "Boyhood" in Westeros!

According to Parker, the idea would be to do a couple of seasons, then take a break. "Peter [Claffey] and Dexter [Sol Ansell] can go off, have their careers, everybody goes and then in ten years we'll come back and we'll do another four of these. Just chart them through their whole life, because they do have such interesting lives."

Where we left off, Dunk (Peter Claffey) made a name for himself at the tourney at Ashford. Not because of his prowess as a knight, but because he inadvertedly caused the death of the heir to the Iron Throne during a trial of the seven. He did earn himself some great friends, a sigil, and a new squire — Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who happens to be a Targaryen prince. They embark on a journey across the seven kingdoms (well, nine) in hopes of glory and adventure.

If "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" were a cheap indie production, returning every 10 years would absolutely be doable. After all, Richard Linklater did it with "Boyhood," which went on to get six Oscar nominations. But, again, that movie had a budget of $4 million, which is reportedly cheaper than the budget of a single episode of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." It's hard to imagine HBO allowing Ira Parker to wait ten years in-between seasons of this show, no matter how good it is. (Then again, who knows who will own HBO in ten years' time?)

So, if not 12 seasons spread out over 40 or so years, how long can "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" go for? There are three published novellas, but that's only because George R. R. Martin hasn't written more, not because he considers the story complete. The proper ending would mean "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" answering some important lore questions by showing us the tragedy at Summerhall. Still, that doesn't happen until Egg is an adult, so it's probably not feasible without recasting.

Even if we don't get a Westerosi version of "Boyhood," the people want Dunk and Egg for years to come!