A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has finally arrived on HBO and with an HBO Max subscription, and the first Game of Thrones spinoff of the 2026 TV schedule wasted no time in proving that’s not House of the Dragon 2.0. The introduction to Dunk revealed a well-intentioned young (and very tall) man who wanted to be the best squire-turned-knight possible… and then paying the price for whatever he ate that day so violently that even squatting behind a tree didn’t keep it off screen. Showrunner Ira Parker opened up about the early “poop jokes,” which even surprised author George R.R. Martin.
There was of course plenty to talk about after the premiere of the fresh take on the Game of Thrones universe with short episodes and a comedic tone, even trolling viewers with the tease of the iconic theme song. Star Peter Claffey shared with CinemaBlend that George R.R. Martin, the author of the novella that inspired the series, was “super happy” when he visited the set. The A Song of Ice and Fire author weighed in a little differently on the premiere’s toilet humor, telling THR:
Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise. Not to say that my characters don’t take shits, but I normally don’t write about them at any length. 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.
As a reader of the A Song of Ice and Fire saga that inspired Game of Thrones, I can vouch that while he doesn’t “normally” write about such topics, there are some memorable exceptions. They just aren’t played as much for comedy as in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Speaking with CinemaBlend and other outlets about whether any jokes had to be cut from Season 1, Ira Parker explained the reason why he did like it:
Look, I think nothing’s too far. Westeros is just a representation of our world in a medieval fantasy setting, so if it’s possible here on Earth, it should be possible there… I swear to God, I only use like three poop jokes this entire series, and everybody keeps asking questions about these. And I promise they’re all character-based. There was gonna be another one. I probably shouldn’t bring this up because that’s all people are gonna be quoting me for, but it came very early on in the writers room.
Viewers, don’t expect that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is out of these jokes just because that’s how the show opened! Parker’s point about them being “character-based” is worth a laugh, because we did arguably learn a lot about Drunk as the POV of the series from that first sequence. When you’re following someone’s point of view, it’s not always going to be pretty. The showrunner went on:
We were talking about where people have to go to the bathroom during a tournament because they’re all out camping in the middle of nowhere, and back in the day trenches were dug and just a big, long line [of people] . And there were also these things that were set up, like if you did it in the woods, sort of ropes attached to trees so that you could lean back in sort of a crouch, squatting-ish position over top of this trench that was taking all this out of the way, hopefully going downhill. Just Dunk and Egg having a good conversation while people are doing that next to them. And somebody’s rope snaps and they fall into the thing.
Dunk and Egg haven’t yet shared too much screentime in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but apparently a scene with a latrine trench in the woods was ruled out. Perhaps fans don’t need to see absolutely everything that comes from a medieval tournament in a fantasy setting! Ira Parker went on to admit that particular idea “was too far for us,” and continued:
There is a limit as to how much poop and fart jokes that we will allow in this show. But what’s funnier than a fart? Come on, people. We don’t have to be so highbrow about everything all the time. We have plenty of that in this show. Look, that’s what happened. We are a show. We are an earthy show. We are a gritty show. We’re an unpolished show. We’re showing it as it is, and this is a part of life… Every now and then, [Dunk] hears that call to greatness, and his nerves get the better of him.
I wouldn’t necessarily describe Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon as “highbrow” once the wars start, but it’s definitely safe to say that the royals and nobles at the center of those shows would be mortified to be involved in Ira Parker’s description of “poop jokes.” (Maybe Robert Baratheon would be an exception in Season 1, making it all the more interesting that the wonderful Daniel Ings is already stealing scenes Lyonel Baratheon.)
All in all, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms quickly established itself as a very different show than the ones involving political machinations and civil wars, with Ira Parker finding a very quick and direct way to make that clear to viewers. Check out a preview for what’s to come:
Whether or not you’re usually a fan of a “fart joke” in the world of Westeros, I think that full first sequence did a great job of introducing Dunk as an endearingly well-intentioned but largely unpolished young man, and certainly made me want to watch the rest of his adventures with Egg. He’s not a Targaryen or a Lannister or a Stark, and that’s a break I didn’t know I needed.
Tune in to HBO on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET for new episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, or streaming with a subscription to HBO Max.
