Series Leads Announced For Upcoming "Game of Thrones" Prequel "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms"!

Brace yourselves, “Game of Thrones” fans – more tales from the world of Westeros are coming to your TV screens!

Back in 2021, we told y’all about the next imminent “GoT” spinoff coming to HBO, namely an adaptation of a (unfinished, natch) series of novellas by George R.R. Martin, set before the events of the main story but after the events of “House of the Dragon", about a wandering hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall and his adolescent squire, Egg (who is actually future King Aegon V Targaryen in disguise). These novellas, collectively known as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – which is also the name of the TV series – are decidedly more lighthearted in tone than A Song of Ice & Fire, and are a much easier read.

Before today, the most recently news we heard about this series was that production would be starting this spring/summer, and HBO was actively searching for actors to play the lead characters. Now, at last, those actors have been revealed!

As the titular KotSK, relative newcomer Peter Claffey. A former rugby player, Claffey definitely has the look and stature – Duncan the Tall, aka “Dunk”, is supposed to be tall, muscular, and, let’s face it, pretty hot. Claffey, at 6’5”, appears to meet that criteria. As for his acting skills, Claffey’s handful of screen credits include Apple TV+’s “Bad Sisters” and a series called “Wreck” that you can check out on Hulu. Here’s a clip of him in action… and then some (ahem)! Oh yeah, this is gonna work out just fine!

As for Dunk’s faithful sidekick, Egg, the name and face might be a little more familiar to you. Dexter Sol Ansell was recently featured in The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes as a young Coriolanus Snow. So we know he’s got the chops, plus his blonde, almost white hair makes him perfect to play a young Targ (even though Egg has his head shaved most of the time, hence the nickname). This is sure to be a fun role of Ansell, as Egg is pretty rambunctious – think a medieval Bart Simpson.

Now, one potential problem this series might face is that it takes place only 78 years after the Dance of the Dragons, the major civil war currently being depicted in “House of the Dragon”. Being that “AKotSK” happens within living memory of that conflict, I am wondering how the writers are going to avoid major spoilers for “HotD”, seeing as how the novellas feature a wide array of next-generation Targs – survivors of, and direct descendants of survivors of, the Dance – and those events are discussed. We shall see…

There are currently 3 novellas in the AKotSK series – The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight – and each book could easily fill out a full season of a TV series, which is what I am assuming they have planned. In the meantime, as a big fan of this book series, I am very excited about these casting announcements! Stay tuned!