The opening few minutes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms seem to have rattled every Game of Thrones enthusiast, with the poop scene taking most of the viewers by surprise. As such, fans of the George R.R. Martin-penned franchise have flocked to the internet to express their disbelief after witnessing such an unexpected introduction to the protagonist of the much-awaited project.
Fans react to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ poop scene
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered on HBO on January 18, 2026. It presented Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a lowborn hedge knight, to the world. The opening scene of the series sees Dunk bury a knight, who also happened to be his mentor, following the warrior’s demise. Confused about his purpose now, he begins to contemplate his options.
After disregarding plans to sell his horses or enlist in the City Watch, Dunk decides to take part in a tourney (a medieval joust) at Ashford Meadow. As he dons an expression of determination while holding the sword of his dead mentor, the iconic Game of Thrones title track, originally composed by Ramin Djawadi, begins to seep in.
At this point, almost everyone expects the credits to roll in. Instead, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms cuts to a poop scene, with Dunk taking a dump behind a tree. This subversion of expectation has drawn several hilarious reactions from fans.
One X (formerly Twitter) user stated, “The way they skipped over an intro to him pooping by that tree was DIABOLICAL.”
Meanwhile, Game of Thrones’ official X account replied to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ repost of the poop scene. They simply wrote, “S— happens… ;).”
Furthermore, another GoT fan questioned the need for such a scene. They noted, “Did I really need to see this man take a projectile dump?”
Notably, in a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, George R.R. Martin revealed that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ poop scene “was a bit of a surprise” for him as well. “When I saw the rough cut, I wrote, ‘What is this? Where did this come from? I don’t know if we really need the shit.’ But [showrunner Ira Parker] liked it for whatever reason,” the acclaimed author said.
The remaining five episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will drop weekly every Sunday on HBO.
