A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ showrunner has admitted he made a “mistake” by cutting one key moment in the source material. The new Game of Thrones prequel is based on author George RR Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, and tells the story of titular hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell).
The latest episode sees Dunk face a trial by seven, requiring him to find six other knights to battle the villainous Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) after attacking the latter in defence of Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), whom the prince had violently assaulted.
However, while answering questions in a Reddit AMA, one fan noted that the show hadn’t included a notable exchange between Dunk and Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour) in the build-up to the fateful battle from book The Hedge Knight.
There, Dunk is on the way to the joust and is greeted by Smallfolk, as Dunk asks the character: “Why? Who am I to them?”, before Steely Pete notes he is “a knight who remembered his vows”.
The poster notes that many fans consider this to “be the soul and the moral of the entire novella”, and showrunner Ira Parker expressed some regret about directly omitting it, adding that it was in the original script.
HBO
Related: Best streaming services
“Honestly it was a mistake on my part,” he responded. “Not my first not my last on this show. That scene was in the script at one point, then fell out.
“I agree that ‘a knight who remembers his vows’ is the soul of this story, but I think that is still very much at the core of the show, even if I stupidly left out this scene… it may not be said explicitly, but Dunk’s actions remain the same.”
HBO
Fans subsequently praised Parker’s “honest answer”, one writing: “It’s been so long since the last time i saw showrunner being able to admit they made a mistake.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered last month, with Digital Spy awarding it four stars in our review.
“Just like its predecessors it knows how to create those vital connections between characters that become the bedrock for gratifying emotional moments that stay with you, making it more than just a throwaway show that you watch and forget about,” we said.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs on Sky and NOW, airing weekly on Mondays.
The new edition of Living Legends, a 100-page all-colour celebration of Taylor Swift, is here! Buy Taylor in newsagents or online, priced at just £8.99.
Sam is a freelance reporter and sub-editor who has a particular interest in movies, TV and music. After completing a journalism Masters at City University, London, Sam joined Digital Spy as a reporter, and has also freelanced for publications such as NME and Screen International. Â Sam, who also has a degree in Film, can wax lyrical about everything from Lord of the Rings to Love Is Blind, and is equally in his element crossing every ‘t’ and dotting every ‘i’ as a sub-editor.