{"id":419488,"date":"2026-01-20T21:40:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/419488\/"},"modified":"2026-01-20T21:40:10","modified_gmt":"2026-01-20T21:40:10","slug":"even-george-r-r-martin-was-surprised-by-that-poop-scene-in-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/419488\/","title":{"rendered":"Even George R.R. Martin Was Surprised by That Poop Scene in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’"},"content":{"rendered":"

By now, if you\u2019re a Game of Thrones fan, you\u2019ve seen the first episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/a>. The new HBO series set in George R.R. Martin\u2019s Westeros introduces a more humble hero<\/a>: Ser Duncan the Tall, or Dunk, a hedge knight with dreams of glory but whose nerves aren\u2019t quite up to the task\u2014yet. This is vividly illustrated in the first act of episode one, when Dunk declares he just might try his luck at a nearby tournament\u2026 then finds his enthusiasm briefly undercut by a sudden bout of gastrointestinal distress.<\/p>\n

io9 asked showrunner Ira Parker<\/a> about the scene at a recent A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms press day<\/a>, specifically in the context of Dunk hearing the Game of Thrones theme music as he fantasizes about his future tourney success.<\/p>\n

\u201cImmediately, as soon as he hears that music, the reality of what it takes to actually go off and do that, and how terrifying it is, hits him and forces him into a very unheroic [situation],\u201d Parker said. \u201cWhich hopefully is very understandable to a lot of people who have had big ideas and [then] they\u2019ve been hit with the reality of \u2018How do I go off and do this?\u201d<\/p>\n

We redacted \u201csituation\u201d there so as not to spoil the moment itself, which sees Dunk crouch behind a tree as projectile diarrhea spews out of his butt. It\u2019s vivid and memorable and rather disgusting, and Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin\u2014an outspoken fan<\/a> of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, unlike certain other adaptations of his works<\/a>\u2014wasn\u2019t so sure about the choice at first.<\/p>\n

Speaking to the Hollywood Reporter<\/a>, Martin admitted, \u201cYeah, that was a bit of a surprise.\u201d<\/p>\n

But trusting Parker\u2019s vision, he rolled with it. \u201cNot to say that my characters don\u2019t take shits, but I normally don\u2019t write about them at any length. When I saw the rough cut, I wrote, \u2018What is this? Where did this come from? I don\u2019t know if we really need the shit.\u2019 But [showrunner Ira Parker] liked it for whatever reason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker told THR the poop scene wasn\u2019t meant to be disrespectful to Game of Thrones or Martin\u2019s characters and story. It\u2019s more meant to capture Dunk\u2019s relatable feelings of self-doubt in what ends up being a pivotal moment in his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll we\u2019re trying to say here is that Dunk is not a hero yet. He\u2019s just a nervy kid with a nervous stomach\u2014just like me,\u201d Parker said. \u201cAnd as badly as you want to do something great, as soon as you actually have to go off and do it, it becomes trickier. And that\u2019s what the whole season is for him.\u201d<\/p>\n

The next episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms arrives Sunday 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":"By now, if you\u2019re a Game of Thrones fan, you\u2019ve seen the first episode of A Knight of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419489,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33],"tags":[120897,88,52585,140243],"class_list":["post-419488","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-george-r-r-martin"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419488","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419488"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419488\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419489"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419488"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419488"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419488"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}