{"id":252574,"date":"2026-01-22T23:10:08","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:10:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252574\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T23:10:08","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T23:10:08","slug":"the-cast-of-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-digs-into-character-relationships","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/252574\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cast of \u2018A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 Digs Into Character Relationships"},"content":{"rendered":"

The first episode of<\/a> A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/a> introduced its main duo\u2014Dunk (Peter Claffey) and Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell)\u2014and a few supporting characters<\/a> who\u2019ll become more crucial as the season continues. That includes the Fossoways, Ser Steffon (Edward Ashley) and his cousin and squire, Raymun (Shaun Thomas), as well as Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), a puppeteer who catches Dunk\u2019s eye.<\/p>\n

We get to know Tanselle a little better in episode two\u2014but the main takeaways from her character so far are that she\u2019s a talented performer and that Dunk has a giant crush on her. At a recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms press day, io9 asked Crawford about just what Tanselle, one of very few female characters on the show, will make of this awkward, hulking admirer.<\/p>\n

\"Tanzyn\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

\u201cI do think that initially it is quite one-sided,\u201d Crawford explained. \u201cI think Dunk is maybe not the most charming person initially. I don\u2019t think there is a mutual attraction. Maybe like a wonder or a\u2026 I think she\u2019s just puzzled by him more than anything. And then maybe as it progresses and she kind of sees the goofiness he has, maybe there\u2019s like a little bit of something growing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later in the season, Tanselle sees Dunk\u2019s heroic streak in action. \u201cHaving someone do such a grand gesture like Dunk does for her, I think, could change her feelings about him,\u201d Crawford said. \u201cBut I like that it\u2019s a mystery, like you\u2019re not really sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Far more certain about his fondness for Dunk is Raymund, one of very few people at the Ashford tournament who wholeheartedly embraces Dunk as a friend right away. And the connection, Thomas told io9, is instant for Raymun.<\/p>\n

\"Shaun\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the initial meeting that they have when Raymun and Steffon are training,\u201d Thomas said when asked when Raymun felt the spark of kinship. In the scene, Steffon is kicking his cousin\u2019s ass as they\u2019re sparring and insulting him, too. Then he challenges the very tall stranger who\u2019s just ambled up to step into the training ring. Dunk takes in the situation and decides he\u2019d better politely move on rather than engage.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s the way Steffon communicates with Dunk, and he doesn\u2019t react in a way that Raymun expects. That resonates with Raymun, and he sees something in him that draws him to want to know more. I think he makes that kind of his task, to get to know this giant of a man, a hedge knight who he has some sort of relation to, in the sense [that he also] feels like he\u2019s a little bit \u2018less than.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

As for Dunk and Egg, Claffey said the bond that anchors A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 main characters extended off-camera too. And it didn\u2019t take much time to form; in fact, it was cemented during his first and only chemistry read with Ansell\u2014which is also where the future Dunk met the future Egg for the first time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met first in the final, or in the chemistry read, and they only did one chemistry read because I think we kind of clicked on that day,\u201d Claffey told io9. \u201cHe looks like, as George [R.R. Martin] said, he came straight out of the book. We clicked amazingly in the chemistry read, and then we had two months\u2019 prep before we got into it, which was such a great help because I had so much horse riding to do, and he had a lot to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

He continued. \u201cWe were living around the same place in Belfast, right beside an arcade in the cinema, and we spent a lot of time in the arcade. I got to know him and got to know his family\u2014they\u2019re just really, really lovely, down-to-earth, nice people. I care about the little lad now, big time, and feel quite protective of him \u2026 I don\u2019t know how he does it sometimes, but he\u2019s got a great head on his shoulders, and I find him quite inspiring. He\u2019s got a huge, huge career ahead of him, and it\u2019s just an honor to be able to do this with him for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Aknight\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms arrive Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The first episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms introduced its main duo\u2014Dunk (Peter Claffey) and Egg…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":252575,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[47090,146,463,68803,4302,6729,85,46,411],"class_list":["post-252574","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-george-r-r-martin","tag-hbo","tag-hbo-max","tag-il","tag-israel","tag-tv"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252574","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=252574"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/252574\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/252575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=252574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=252574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=252574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}