Westeros has landed at New York Comic Con this year, with HBO hosting a panel to kick off the festivities by giving fans a first look at the latest Game of Thrones spinoff series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Taking the stage to discuss the new series were showrunner Ira Parker, stars Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, and the author himself, George R.R. Martin. After showcasing the first trailer, the panel gave fans a deeper look into the new show that expands the ever-growing Song and Fire universe that Martin has created.
The series is based off of the author’s novella, The Hedge Knight, which is set 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones. During this time period, the Targaryen dragons are all but extinct from the world. The show follows a fresh knight named Ser Duncan the Tall, played by Claffey, as he is on a quest to honor his former hedge knight master by entering a jousting tournament at Ashford Meadow to earn some coin. Known to be called Dunk, the tall knight is one of the few men participating in the jousting competition. The Irish actor spoke about the challenge of playing the character and learning how to ride horseback. He added how much he enjoyed the experience on set, being a major fan of the series.
George R.R. Martin gave his remarks on being able to visit Northern Ireland to see the filming process, expressing his excitement on how his work is being brought to life. He said that the Dunk and Egg series is perhaps his most enjoyable work he’s done and is glad to see the show being mostly faithful to his work. Claffey added how much of the set was used, seeing how huge it was in order to tell this story of Westeros. The young Dexter, who played Dunk’s squire Egg, discussed how he was only nine at the time when it was filming two years ago and how much he has bonded with his older and taller co-star through arcade games and Mario Kart.
Much like the relationship between Dunk and Egg, showrunner Parker says he sees the similarities with the two actors on set on how they act towards one another. Dexter chatted on the amazing chemistry the two characters have. Claffey added that he sees Dexter a bit mature for his age, so he would go to him for guidance while his young co-star does the same.
When it comes to the big jousting sequence that Martin revealed would be a part of the show, he said he was inspired by medieval tournaments growing up in his youth. The New Jersey native also mentioned it was one of his favorite sequences on the show, which took a lot of work to pull off. Parker added that they would often film the fight at night, which was a first for the series.
Parker expressed how gritty and grounded the series would be and it would focus more on the common people of King’s Landing rather than the rich and powerful. Martin later went on about how the show would solely be In Duncan’s point of view rather than being with multiple characters like the other shows in the series. The co-creators said that it would be a different tone from the mothership show in that it has some groundedness and lightness to it with the characters.
As the panel came to a close, the cast and crew answered some fan questions, particularly their favorite episodes. The majority picked the fifth episode, which is the penultimate one of the season due to the big jousting sequence. Dexter pointed out the tug of war that takes place in the season, which he is a fan of when he worked on it. Despite this being the first season, Martin does have high hopes for the series to continue with the other novellas in the Dunk and Egg stories.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs on January 18, 2026 on HBO.
Stay tuned for more news coming straight from New York Comic Con.
