A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Debut Trailer Reveals Jousting, a Fake Dragon, and an Altogether More Light-Hearted Atmosphere Than Game of Thrones

HBO Max has released the debut trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which contains plenty of jousting, a fake dragon, and an altogether more light-hearted atmosphere than Game of Thrones.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, due out on HBO Max on January 18, 2026, adapts George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novella trilogy, itself a prequel to Game of Thrones set 100 years before the events of the main books. Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell play Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, respectively.

The trailer reveals a show very different tonally from the grim Game of Thrones, with a few lines designed to make you smirk, not wince. We see Dunk make his way as a hedge knight (a wandering knight without a master), and his emerging relationship with his squire, Egg.

A tall tale that became legend.

The new #GameOfThrones series, #AKnightoftheSevenKingdoms, premieres January 18 on HBO Max. pic.twitter.com/lMaiTHCv6Y

— HBO Max (@hbomax) October 9, 2025

Here’s the logline:

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A century before the events of Game of Thrones, two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros… a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes, and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms cast in full:

Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall, Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg, Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel Baratheon, Bertie Carvel as Baelor Targaryen, Danny Webb as Ser Arlan of Pennytree, Sam Spruell as Maekar Targaryen, Shaun Thomas as Raymun Fossoway, Finn Bennett as Aerion Targaryen, Edward Ashley as Ser Steffon Fossoway, Tanzyn Crawford as Tanselle, Henry Ashton as Daeron Targaryen, Youssef Kerkour as Steely Pate, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Plummer and Daniel Monks as Ser Manfred Dondarrion.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms New Actors August 2024

As detailed by Entertainment Weekly, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does not have an opening title sequence, in contrast to Game of Thrones’ iconic opening sequence, which is embedded in the memory of an army of fans. Instead, as EW described it, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has “a simple title card with medieval typography in between the beginning action of each episode.”

Showrunner Ira Parker said the decision was made due to the type of show A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is and who its characters, Ser Duncan the Tall and Egg, are.

“All decisions came down to Dunk, trying to channel the type of person he is into every aspect of this show, even the title sequence,” Parker explained.

“The title sequences on the original [Game of Thrones] and House of the Dragon are big and epic and incredible. Ramin Djawadi’s score is orchestral and large and beautiful. That’s not really Dunk’s M.O. He’s plain and he’s simple and he’s to-the-point. He doesn’t have a lot of flash to him.”

Don’t expect dragons and a big, magical scale to this show, either. “Nobody’s thinking about magic,” Parker said. “This could basically be 14th century Britain. This is hard nose, grind it out, gritty, medieval knights, cold with a really light, hopeful touch. It’s a wonderful place to be. We are ground up in this series, we are starting right at the bottom. We’re not with the lords and ladies, the kings and queens.”

George R. R. Martin has expressed his enthusiasm about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in the past — Martin teased earlier this year that he couldn’t wait to see Dunk and Egg’s story come to TV screens.

“I’ve seen all six episodes now (the last two in rough cuts, admittedly), and I loved them,” Martin said in a blog post in January. “Dunk and Egg have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the Laughing Storm and Tanselle Too-Tall.”

Martin continued to celebrate A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, adding: “It’s as faithful an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for (and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject).”

The six-episode season debuts Sunday, January 18 at 10pm ET / PT on HBO and will be available to stream on HBO Max. New episodes will debut subsequent Sundays.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.