October 13, 2025 • 37 mins
We break down the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms trailer and explain why a smaller, brighter, and funnier Westeros might be the boldest choice yet. From Dunk’s humble courage to Egg’s sharp questions, we track how class, honor, and a dragonless crown reshape the board.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:08):
Welcome back lords and ladies, small folk and
scholars, to Dancing withDragons, a podcast dedicated to
the world of a song of ice andfire created by George R.
Martin.
I'm your host Tony, and with meis my partner, the Lady Minois.
Today is a very excitingepisode.
We finally get to discuss anddissect the trailer of the
newest Game of Thrones prequelseries titled A Knight of the
(00:29):
Seven Kingdoms.
It feels surreal seeing thistrailer since we and everyone
thought the show would premierein 2025.
And last February we started toget a little nervous that there
was no promotion trailer for theshow and that it was scheduled
to be out this summer.
Nevertheless, we finally get thetrailer.
It premiered at New York CityComic-Con, which is still
happening at the moment.
With the stars of the show,Peter Claffy, Dexter Ansul,
(00:52):
showrunner Ira Parker, and theman responsible for it all, Mr.
George R.
Martin.
Alright, that is enough of me.
Minwa, how have you been?
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
I've been doing okay.
I've been doing fine, been a bitbusy.
How about you?
How have you been doing, Sony?
I think you're you sound a bitsick.
Are you sick?
Are you okay?
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
Oh, I I think I have allergies.
So, um, if you hear me snoringfor any reason, this it's been a
drill.
Just wake me up.
Yeah, we haven't recorded forwhat it seems to be ages since
we keep getting busy and justlife keeps getting in the way.
Just regular life stuff.
So it keeps pushing back ourrecording sessions.
So for those who've asked forthe Rob Stark podcast that we
(01:29):
have been promoting for it seemslike a month already, thank you
for your patience.
We will get that out as soon aspossible.
But we thought that this newesttrailer of the newest show
should take priority.
So before we dive into the NewYork Comic-Con panel with all
the stars, we actuallyre-watched the trailer before we
pressed record.
And I asked you or texted youthe other day.
(01:52):
I said, Don't tell me anything,let's wait for us to be in front
of the camera or you know,recording, and then we could get
then we could talk about what wethought of the trailer.
So we just re-watched it.
I saw you clapping your hands,so I'm assuming that you like
the trailer.
SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Uh yeah, I mean, I guess I like I did a silent like
clapping of my hands, I guess,uh, when when the trailer ended,
just because I was excited forit.
Um, it's not necessarily I thinkit's the best trader ever made
or anything like that, but uhit's out of excitement, I think.
And I think that it was a welldone trailer.
Like, you know, we did talk onthe podcast before about how our
(02:32):
confidence was a bit shaken, youknow, when the show like, or we
had reasons at least to to doubtwhen I saw the trailer, I was
really reassured, but alsopleasantly surprised because um
if you watch the trailer, whichif you're listening, I'm sure
you already did, um, it has avery like comedic tone, which I
don't know if I expected becauseat the beginning we talked about
it being um like when we weretrying to set the expectations
(02:54):
for our listeners, we were likeuh like a buddy road strip
comedy set in Westeros.
But at the same time, once likeas time passed and we started
talking about Dunk a little bithere and there, and how he's
very noble, I guess I didn'treally uh remember that
description.
It came back to me when I waswatching the trainer because I
expected it to just be a bit, Idon't want to call it more
(03:14):
serious, but I guess not aslighthearted.
But I think that it's good thatthey're going in that way
because it is going to be suchlike a breath of fresh air for
uh the the fantasy genre as wellas you know the Westerosi
on-screen universe because youknow, with Game of Thrones, Half
the Dragon, they're very likeheavy, lore-filled shows that
are just you know all aboutdragons and royalty, and this is
(03:37):
gonna be completely different.
And I like that they'restretching that to even the tone
of the show.
So it's gonna be somethingcompletely new.
I'm excited.
Like it's a trailer that made meexcited for what's to come.
But I yeah, I feel like I talkeda lot.
What were your initial thoughts?
SPEAKER_01 (03:50):
No, I think I really liked it, I really enjoyed it.
I won't say which, well, thefirst shot you see of the
trailer is essentially the firstpages of the book where he's
burying Sir Arlen or Penetry,and then I won't say what shot
in the trailer, but you alsohave the first episode and
they're showing you the lastepisode of the season already.
(04:10):
Because there's a you know, butI won't say what it is.
Um, I like the lightheartedness.
I I kind of threw me off whenthe guy said get the F out of my
way because that sounded kind ofmodern.
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Um, but they threw that in to say, hey, you know,
this is still Game of Thrones,it's gonna be funny.
But what really um got to me isthe part when Egg says, Why do
you think these people arebetter than you?
And he goes, They are they arebetter than me.
Like he's Sir Duncan, he's sucha noble person, he feels uh
inferior, and he has that notthat he has a complex, but he's
(04:44):
just been taught that way, andhe's still a nice person, and
he's still he's still gonna bethe one of the most loyal
people.
So that really struck me when hesaid that, you know, just seeing
Egg on screen and just you know,he kind of reminds me he's
precocious and he's gonna becharming and he's gonna be
funny.
And Dunk is probably, you know,Dunk, for people who don't know,
(05:06):
is an orphan from Flea Bottom.
Like he's come from he is comesfrom nothing, he's trying his
best to move up in the world asnobly as possible.
And I I think you could see thatin in the trailer.
People were talking about thisphoto that was released, and go,
oh my god, is that color?
On the scene.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Yeah, I saw that.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Because everything with Game of Thrones and House
of the Dragon is always likemuted, you don't really see
color.
Yeah, uh, so that was prettyfunny.
I mean, we get to see all thesecharacters from the book.
It was nice to see Tensor TwoTall from there's a Dornish
girl.
She's uh she's basically part oflike not a circus, but a travel.
What would that be called?
Like they go to like tournamentsand like traveling like
(05:49):
puppeteering, you know.
She they do puppets and likejust to put on a show to make
money, and you can kind of seeDunk.
And it's funny because when yousee this shot, he is so much
taller than everybody else.
You see that?
SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
It's like yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
So that was a nice little shot to see the the the
contrast and height, and thenyou can see her, and her, they
call her too tall because duh,she's too tall.
So back to the trailer.
I'll ask you, we get to seeArian, the Targaryen, who's
played by Finn Bennett.
The one I love the the tone ofhis voice.
(06:25):
I like the look.
Okay, I won't say I like thelook.
It's kind of weird to see aTargaryen with short hair.
You know what I mean?
So it's it kind of threw me off.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
He has he's like a bit's a bit modern.
SPEAKER_01 (06:35):
He has a crew cut.
Like, you know, he's calledBright Flame, he's called Arian
the Monstrous.
So he you you're gonna have toworry about him.
And then you also see Sir LionelBaratheon, which is kind of nice
because we we get to meet aBaratheon who was pre-Roberts
Rebellion, and and uh he'scalled the Laughing Storm.
(06:56):
He has a big laugh and he'salways cracking jokes.
So you get to see him quite abit in the trailer, actually.
There is, you see, there'sjousting, you know, there's
always some kind of jousting inGame of Thrones.
And I saw a quote from Georgethat said in the panel, he said,
I always love medievaltournaments in other pictures.
We had several tournaments inGame of Thrones, they were in
(07:19):
the background, but not thecenter.
I wanted to do something duringthe tournament.
I sent the TV writers achallenge.
Let's do the best joustingsequence that's ever been done
on a film.
So I guess this is gonna be aproper jousting tournament.
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
I love that George fixated on because he said
something in the Comic Conpanels when he was like, This is
where he just kept emphasizinglike tournaments and and toys
and how important that is to hisworld building.
So, you know, George, I lovethat I love when he fixates on
on something so like specificabout the world, because he also
(07:53):
really fixates on like the waythat his dragons are different
than all the other dragons,yeah.
And like different than so manyother dragons, and he goes
specifics about it.
So I just love hearing him talkabout that.
And I don't know, it's it's it'sa nice Georgie detail to look
out for in this in this uhproject.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
Yeah, I have two people DM the our page and like,
well, so are there gonna be anylike big battles here?
Like, what's I'm like, well, Idon't want to spoil it.
I posted the trailer on our feedand somebody asked us, well,
I'll DM you.
I don't want to say it on thecomments.
And I said, Well, no, there's nobig battles.
This is more focusing on thesmall folk, and this is what
(08:32):
George, I think I saw him say inthe pan, I don't know if you
have the quote saying that thisis the first time we're not
gonna focus on the biggerpicture, the lords and the
ladies and the big noble housesis more about you know, people
kind of like House of the Dragondid that small folk episode, and
we'll focus on people there.
(08:53):
So I and I think also it's gonnashow the class extension between
lores and then.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
And that's I think why thatquote from Egg to Duncan is
like, why do you you gotta stopwith the they're better than you
just because they're you know,it's probably oh yeah, yeah.
(09:14):
And that's something that'sexciting, and I hope that that
is a big big thing that we getto see in the show.
Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:21):
I I I have the quotes um about from Shor it's
this is from Shoriner Ira Parkerwho says, I'm just gonna say
everything that I've writtendown.
He says it's not the bigsprawling game of thrones we've
come to know and love.
This is intimate, this isbruted, and this is hard.
These novellas have so muchhope, but they also have really
brutal elements of this worldthat I think we've all come to
love in West Ross where anythingcan happen.
(09:43):
There is a level ofunpredictability that resonates
with people because that's justhow your life is.
And in this time period, this isme talking.
Um, but he's talking about thetime period of um and I think
kingdoms, he says this is a likea place where nobody's thinking
about magic.
Uh, this could easily be 14thcentury Britain.
This is hard nose, grinded out,Christy, medieval knights, cold
(10:04):
with a really light, hopefultouch.
It's a wonderful place to be.
We are ground up in this series.
We are starting right at thebottom.
We're not with the lords andladies, the kings and queens.
He describes it also as saying,we have one character with a lot
of hearts.
So that just backs up what Tonyjust told you.
There are no characters that arelike vying for the throne and
you know, in a in a powerstruggle and you know, uh trying
to outwit one another and likeplay their hand and overpower
(10:27):
one another, and like there areno Varus and Litted Fingers, you
know, competing in this in theseries.
There's no like palace drama,you know, there's none of that.
It's um what you don't see inGame of Thrones, everything that
you don't see.
So it's very interesting.
Like as I said before, it's verydifferent.
Um, you know, that's whatthey've been emphasizing as
well.
Um, and I don't think youmentioned this or either of us
(10:49):
mentioned this before, but umit's actually they they want to
emphasize how different it is tothe point where um they're not
gonna use any like there's gonnabe no opening theme for
Nathaniel.
So I guess like a meaningspoiler.
Yeah, I guess I think it'ssomething that people were
expecting.
I think we talked about this onthe podcast as well.
Like, oh, are they gonna use anew theme or they're gonna just
reuse it from like Game ofThrones House of the Dragon and
(11:12):
this, but they really want tolike emphasize the point that
this is not going to be whatyou've seen before.
This is just like a similarworld.
You will see like elements ofwhat you already know, you will
see the Targaryans here andthere, you will see the
Baratheans, but it's not it'snot the same.
So uh it's exciting.
I'm I'm I'm I'm intrigued.
(11:32):
And you were gonna saysomething, Tony, as well, right?
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Yeah, I wanted to put some context first for those
who are listening for the firsttime or who don't know, you
know, Dunkin' Egg novellas,which are three of them.
So the first season is gonnafocus on the hedge knight, and
it's set about 90 years beforethe Game of Thrones, 70 years
after the House of the Dragon,uh, approximately around 209 AC.
And by this time, the Targaryenshave lost all their dragons,
(11:58):
they died decades earlier.
Uh, but they're still ruling.
But their power is morepolitical than magical, which is
it's funny that you would thinkhouses around Westeros, okay,
they don't have any dragons,let's let's move in, let's try
to do something.
Um, but there was a bigrebellion prior to this first
story of Dunk, which is theBlack Fire Rebellion, which is
(12:22):
something we want to touch on inthe future.
Um, so that that's that.
Um, I also wanted to add a quotefrom George.
I don't I don't know if it's adig to Game of Thrones.
Maybe it is.
Because he goes, it's asfaithful as an adaptation as a
reasonable man could hope for.
And you know how incrediblyreasonable I am on that
(12:46):
particular subject.
I've never seen him, but he'salways talked about Game of
Thrones in the past and House ofthe Dragon, but he's treating a
Knight of the Seven Kingdomslike his baby.
Like I want to be, I want to bea part of this every step of the
way.
Like he's there.
Like I was happy to see himthere, but it just kind of feels
(13:07):
different.
Like we always talked about youknow, George always saying stuff
and then posting his blog that'ssomething different.
I think this is gonna be as trueto his vision as any other other
other show.
So I that's why I'm reallyexcited about it.
I I know people are just kind ofbummed that it's only 30
minutes.
Now, in hindsight, I'm a littlebummed because I want to be in
(13:30):
this world as long as possible.
And now, you know, think aboutyou can binge this in in less
than three hours if he watchedseason one, which is yeah.
And my hope is that we're notgonna have to wait two, three
years to get a season two.
Probably gonna be the case,right?
We probably won't get the seasontwo to twenty twenty-eight.
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, at least because they need another
season, like another year foranother season, and then if
they're if they're on track withwhat it seemed like they're
going to do, which is the seasonper novella, then it's gonna be
like 2027, hopefully.
And or 2028, did you say it?
2027, 2027, end of it, probably,right?
SPEAKER_01 (14:13):
Yeah, I'm I'm gonna tell these people look, House of
the Dragon season three is gonnacome up summer of 2026.
That's gonna take two years.
Please make season two of thehedge of not the hedge night, of
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for2027.
That way we have something in2027.
(14:34):
Yeah, and not just have I'massuming that's hopefully that's
what they're gonna do.
I don't think their plan was tohave two shows in one year.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
No, no, no, because they were supposed to, it was
already supposed to be out,supposed to be already decked
now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
I keep uh forgetting the names of the book.
So the first novella is TheHedge Knight, the second one,
which was written in 1998, thesecond one is called The Sworn
Sword in 2003, and then thethird one is called The Mystery
Night 2010.
So those are the three.
So season one is the hedgenight, and then season two will
be the sworn sword.
(15:09):
Did I ever ask you which one wasyour favorite of the three?
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
Uh I don't think you did, but I don't think I can
answer that because I read thisso long ago.
Um that I I I need to reread itlike now in these coming months
before season one's app, justbecause I remember like parts of
it because I read the firststory not too long ago when we
we said we were going to do alike a deep dive on it, but then
(15:34):
I we did, but it was differentthan what we originally planned.
So um I I reread the first onerecently, but it's been a while
since I read Neveras 2 and 3,and I hope to do that soon.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
I had the audiobook on for like a couple weeks, and
um for those who don't know, uhthe audiobook is narrated by
Harry Lloyd, who played PrinceViserys.
SPEAKER_00 (15:56):
Oh, no way, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
In Game of Thrones, uh season one.
Um he has a nice voice, so he hedoes it really well.
Also, uh it's kind of like alittle lesson here.
For those who don't know what,like I I had somebody ask me
what's a hedge night.
So a hedge night is a hedgenight is kind of like a
freelance night.
You know, they're just goingfrom house to house seeing that
(16:18):
they can find work.
So it's not like a person who isloyal or has a note to any
particular house.
They just go around seeing theycould find if they could uh take
part of tournaments, they couldhelp, they can work, you know,
that they're just going aroundwhatseros, see what they can do.
So they're not affiliated withany certain house.
SPEAKER_00 (16:39):
Yeah, and on that note, I do want to like just
give some more information onour main character, Dunk.
I'm not gonna spoil anything,obviously.
This is just like to get youexcited with us.
Um, because you know, wedescribed him as sorts of being
like a Ned Starky type ofcharacter because he's very
noble and uh his morals reallymatter to him.
I don't think that really comesacross in the trailer.
He just comes off as like this,like um, I don't know how to
(17:01):
describe him, but like a funny,like kind of guy you'd like to
make fun of a bit, maybe.
Um like an awkward guy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:08):
Maybe it's not I won't push over is is a little
harsh.
Like, you know, the guy's like,get the F out of the way.
He's like, uh oh sorry, sorry,sorry.
Like like he like he like he'sso like out of his element
there.
Like he's trying to, he'stiptoeing around these people,
and he's saying, like, I I don'tbelong with these people.
And so that's gonna be a funlittle uh aspect of his
(17:31):
character to s to see come on,you know, on screen.
SPEAKER_00 (17:35):
He's not super confident, you know, he's a bit
awkward.
Um, and I think that's that'skind of one of the most like a
one of the central themes of theshow, because we did describe it
as sort of like a buddy comedy,but at the same time, um, it
seems like the show is gonnafocus more on Dunk than Egg,
like on this squire, on squire,on this knight, Sir Duncan.
Um, so just to give you like abit of an idea of where he's
(17:56):
coming from and why he is kindof in this state.
So he was, uh I think Tonymentioned this earlier on, he
was the squire to Sir Arden ofPenny Tree, so another knight,
but then Sir Arden dies, andthen Dunk takes up his armor and
travels to uh the throughWesteros and ends up at the
tourney we see in the traitor.
So that's kind of like where westart the show.
(18:17):
Um I'm not spoiling that.
That's like the beginning ofepisode one.
That should be the beginning ofepisode one.
So that's kind of where he iscoming from.
So you can see that like he kindof just lost his mentor.
He's gonna be going through somesort of like a coming-of-age
story as that kind of doubt.
He's gonna come into his own alittle bit.
That's gonna be, I think, acentral theme for uh Dunk in
this series.
Uh, he is a bit awkward and hehas like his own charm, you
(18:39):
know.
He travels with, he will we willsee him travel with these three
horses and he uses just like arope for a sword hilt.
He's not, he's a very humbleguy, simple guy, and he travels
with three horses that he talksto.
Like that's a thing that hedoes.
When have you ever seen that inGame of Thrones?
Yeah.
Um, yeah, so it's just about thevery ordinary guy.
He's coming from nothing, youknow, he didn't have a name, uh,
(19:00):
uh an inheritance or money.
He's just trying to make it.
That's what uh Ira Parker, theshowrunner, described him as.
And he also has something veryinteresting in the Comic-Con
panel.
He says, you don't exactly knowthe final destination, but you
just keep at it.
That's all Dunk has.
That's his only superpower.
He gets up and keeps going.
And when he said that, it's kindof reminded me of the monologue
(19:21):
in the the Seer Superman moviewhere he's like, I get up every
day, I put one foot in front ofthe other, and I'm just trying
to live my life, and he saidsomething like that.
So I think that like the factthat that's what that quote
reminded me of.
It shows you like it gives youan idea.
He is like a, in a way, like aSuperman Clark Kent.
Ned Stark, kind of like nobleguy, but even though Ned was a
(19:42):
bit too serious and you can't hewasn't like lighthearted in any
way.
Um, like that's gonna kind ofjust give you the idea of where
uh uh Dunk is coming from.
Like, imagine Superman in thatmovie when he's like kind of
coming into his own.
That's kind of the journey we'llsee for uh Sir Duncan in in this
story.
So it's very interesting, it'svery new.
(20:03):
Um, and the perspective isn'tgoing to shift to anyone uh like
Nobel or Royal for this show atall.
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
It's gonna be mainly him, uh, and it's
character-driven so I think theTargaryens will be the side
characters or the Baratheans,and I think for and he's such a
character that you want to rootfor because there's a quote, I
don't know if he says it in thetrailer, but I as a quote that
he says in the book, he says, Ineed to fight honorably, but
(20:33):
sometimes I think I buried mycourage alongside the old man.
Was that in the trailer?
SPEAKER_00 (20:38):
And that's something I think so, because that sounds
so familiar to me.
Yeah, it feels like I just heardthat.
SPEAKER_01 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So it's just that that'ssomething that you go, oh man,
just I want to root for thisguy.
And it's a show that I hopedoesn't get like um review bomb
because people are not like, oh,we don't like it because there's
no you know, dragons, there's nobig battles, and and I I just
want people to give it a chance.
And I and I think it, you know,it it it's a tonal shift from
(21:07):
the sweeping shows, you know.
It's oh yeah, we're talkingabout and it's probably nice to
see humble grounded charactersinstead of the people that we
always I mean, there are humblegrounded characters in Game of
Thrones, um, but they're far andfew.
That's why they stand, that'swhy they stand out.
Yeah, you know, well, Ned Starkstands out because he's so
(21:30):
honorable.
Um Barris and Summy, like thosepeople just stand up because
you're like everybody else isjust conniving and trying to do
whatever.
Um so yeah, I I I'm reallyenjoyed this uh trailer.
I'm hoping I was it, it wasalmost two minutes, so I don't
think that was a teaser.
I think that was the fulltrailer, correct?
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
It was a little over two minutes, and they still call
it a teaser trailer, so I'massuming we're going to be
getting another longer soon.
SPEAKER_01 (22:00):
I don't know.
I mean, I guess for the peoplewho know the material, you don't
need another trailer.
So, but maybe who are people whodon't know might need another
trailer.
Because, like I said, you get tosee probably the whole season in
the trailer, like not you knowwhat I mean, like you get to see
moments that you know from thebook, okay, that's this and this
is that.
(22:20):
Um, so we'll see.
I'm assuming they'll haveanother trailer come out before
the series um in January 18th,which I'm so happy that we got a
date.
Now we know.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
A birthday gift for me, a late birthday gift.
It's two days after my birthday.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, and it's uh we now we can schedule okay, we're
gonna come out of our littlebreak and then boom, we'll be
ready.
SPEAKER_00 (22:43):
What's kind of a bit funny is that we've been talking
about the show, but we didn'treally go into that premise,
like what the show is actuallyabout.
Obviously, if you're listeningto this, you have an idea
already.
We described it in detail, butlike the quick little premise
that you get, like the officialdescription of the show, to give
you a very clear-cut idea ofwhat it is.
We haven't really read that toyou guys.
(23:03):
And um before reading one of thesynopsis, synopses to you guys,
we do want to warn you that umtry not looking it up because
some sources um include aspoiler.
And lots of Game of Thrones likeaccounts or like um, you know,
accounts of the post aboutmovies, TV shows, and you know
(23:23):
uh George's World on Screen.
There's they share a very uhcrucial spoiler to this uh show.
It's argued that it isn't aspoiler, so that's why um some
people are very open whentalking about it.
And we don't know uh how openthe show is going to be with it,
which is why me and Tony are notgoing to talk about it, because
we kind of just want to keepthat a mystery.
(23:47):
If the show's gonna keep it amystery, we don't want to ruin
the fun for everyone.
So um, we're going to be readinga synopsis that doesn't uh
divulge a key spoiler to theshow.
So be careful when looking upthe show because you might come
across a spoiler if you haven'talready.
Here's a quick little premise toAnnight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Essentially before Game ofThrones, Sir Duncan the Todd and
his squire, Egg, wander throughWesteros while the Targaryen
(24:09):
dynasty rule the Iron Throne,and dragons were still
remembered.
Great destinies and enemiesawait the incomparable friends.
So obviously, this is we'vetalked about this, this is set
in a time post-Targarion.
So in between House of theDragon and Game of Thrones,
we've already said that before.
But it's very interestingbecause you know, like we're not
(24:30):
just seeing a post-dragon world,we even got that in the trailer
where we're seeing theTargaryen's popularity decline.
Something that Egg himself saysin the trailer, and the
showrunner explains that nowthat Targaryans don't have their
dragons, they find themselvesfinally without the thing that's
put them in power.
And 50 years on from thedragons, people are asking,
well, why are we still lettingthem be in power?
(24:51):
And that's kind of one of thekey themes that's going to be
explored in the show.
Um, as Tony said, it's gonnatouch on class, it's gonna touch
on um like no nobility, um, interms of not just the like not
the noble people, but one's ownco-code of conduct and uh honor.
Um when describing the tone, uhno, when asked about when asked
(25:13):
about the show, the showrunnersaid finding its place
sandwiched between these twogiants, aka game of one's house
the dragon, um, was just tone,tone, tone.
They needed a different tone todifferentiate us, and that's
obviously what we talked aboutbefore with the comedic roots
and how they're gonna make itcompletely different.
And he says these novellas areso lovely and sweet with so much
hope, but they also have rootedelements of this world that
(25:34):
people that people love aboutWesteros, and it's described as
a story of hope, hardship, andsurvival from the ground level
of Westeros.
So uh it's very, very different.
I I don't remember it beinghopeful, honestly.
I don't know if you remember itthat way, Tony.
I just remember it being fun.
So I'm curious to revisit itthrough the show and the book as
well and and reread the book aswell and see if I can like see
(25:57):
that.
I don't I don't remember that atall.
I just remember it being fun.
It's been a while, so um, I withall of that uh being said, as
well as like the the colorfulvisuals that we're seeing on
screen, I wonder how it's goingto resonate with audiences
because it's a new take on thefantasy genre, kind of according
based on what I know.
And I hope people I hope it'sgood.
(26:17):
I hope people are accepting ofit.
Um and you know, they're notjust looking for something so
gritty and dark because we havethat.
This is just fun, let's be fun,let fantasy be fun.
So I'm excited.
I I I I love the premise, I lovethe concepts, yeah, the tone.
It's just it's speaking to me.
SPEAKER_01 (26:39):
I will say that you know, this show it will focus on
you know the small folk, butthere will be some big shakeups
when it comes to the rulingclass, which I don't know
they'll focus on, because at thetime of when the show opens,
they're on the second or they'reon the good, uh, is king.
(27:01):
And again, no spoilers, some youknow, there's gonna be a big
shakeup of who's ruling and how.
So it's not a simple and cut anddry of his, you know, he has a
lot of sons, and um I don't knowif I'm talking too much here,
but I I I want to see how theyum inject that into the show
(27:22):
because it is a big deal.
Um, you know, a new monarchy, oryou know, how that that all is
gonna be involved.
That's all I'll say because youknow, people are like, oh,
there's not gonna be Targaryen.
There will be Targaryen in theshow heavily, I think.
Uh and this shakeup willprobably be in the first you
(27:43):
know, few episodes.
And the last shot of the trailergave me chills because there's
seven nights going.
It's very, you know, foggy.
It looks really nice that howthey set it up.
You see seven nights chargingforward, and then you see
(28:03):
another seven nights comingtowards those seven nights, and
that is something called thetrial of the seven, which is
something that I never thoughtwe'll see, and I'm very excited
about that.
Uh, don't look up the trial ofthe seven, just wait until the
show comes out.
Uh, you know, we have trial byby combat, we have trial by you
know, all those stuff in thegame of thrones.
(28:24):
So um, yeah, I it's it's gonnabe very um I'm happy.
I'm happy that it's gettingpositive uh from all the big
people who are online from Gameof Thrones, that they're really
enjoying it.
So um I think obviously we'regonna be knee deep into the show
(28:44):
and weekly reviews of everyepisode, which again is only
six, but still that's betterthan nothing.
And it's and I think it'senough.
You know, like like I'm like I'mbeing spoiled.
I want 45 minutes, but no, wedon't need that.
I think the story, when you readthe book, you're like, this is
not ten episodes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
This is this is six.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
Yeah, this is six, and I think that last episode is
gonna be very, very exciting andum thrilling, and can't wait to
see it.
I have a couple more quotes fromGeorge.
He says, and I quote, I've seenall six episodes now, the last
two in Rough Cuts, admittedly,and I love them, Martin said.
(29:30):
Um, Duncan Egg have always beena favorites of mine, and the
actors we found to portray themare just incredible.
The rest of the cast areterrific as well.
Wait until you guys meet TheLaughing Storm and Tanzall
Tutal.
I'll finish my thoughts here onthe trailer.
I like the fact that they didn'tpromise dragons, it gave you a
(29:51):
little fire from a little pay orwhatever mechanical, not
mechanical, but whatever thatdragon was.
Uh but it does, I think, promisea story.
About honor, part.
If the series delivers on whatis teasing, like the conflict,
the growth, like true stakes oflike the real world, of the real
people, the small folk, it couldbe you know a real gem in this
(30:13):
thrones franchise.
Yeah, and also it reminds usthat Westeros isn't just made of
crowns, it's made of thesepeople.
And I think uh it's a nice uhbreak from the the war and the
constant conflict that we seefrom Game of Thrones and now
House of the Dragon, which isgonna be season three, it's just
(30:34):
gonna be chaos.
SPEAKER_00 (30:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
Now we're in full-fledged war with you know,
civil war.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yeah, you know, you said that's gonna be like kind
of like a breath of fresh airfor uh Game of Thrones can be
different.
I think that is can be said,like that can be said for the
fantasy genre.
I've said that now, I think, acouple of times, just because I
do think it's going to be I I Iexpect it's going to be uh
different and fun.
Not that fantasy isn't fun, bythe way, not that uh like that
(31:00):
this is completely new or thatthere isn't some lighthearted
fancy out there, but I just feellike in recent years, um like
there's just been a bit less ofthat, you know, like yeah, it
seems like everything is doomand gloom.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
Everything's like uh the world is ending stakes.
SPEAKER_00 (31:17):
So I think like you're saying here, we get to
sit back and enjoy charactersand not yeah, and like most TV
shows, like or I guess many TVshows nowadays as well, don't
really focus on projects thatare or like stories that uh
don't really add, I guess, ormuch.
You know what I mean?
Like this doesn't add much tolike it doesn't bridge a gap.
(31:40):
Like, oh, what's the backstoryof this character?
Like that's what a lot ofstudios seem to be excited in
nowadays, right?
Like, what's the backstory ofthis or that?
Like they're interested inworking with kind of uh I guess
yeah, Game of Thrones, somethingyou already know, but it's it's
gonna be character driven, it'sgonna be fancy, it's gonna be
people that you don't know.
Infuse new life, I guess, intointo HBO's lineup, the the
(32:03):
what's on TV nowadays, the fancygenre.
And I just hope like it'scompatible with audiences.
I hope it's good and thataudiences love it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Not I don't I hope it's not just oh it's so
underrated, and you know, like Ithink it's gonna be um received
well by critics, but you justdon't know and all about people.
I think that's gonna be all forour coverage.
I mean, we didn't really want todive deep into the trailer
because we don't want to spoilanything.
And I'm I'm sure there's peopleout there with with you know
(32:33):
YouTube videos already withexplaining every single Easter
egg that you see, which is kindof cool.
If you want to know that, if youwant to be spoiled, go ahead and
do it.
Because um, I do that all thetime.
I'll go and be like, okay,what's going on here?
Like when I watch Lost of theDragon, there's this channel has
like a millions of subscribers,they'll go from like frame to
(32:55):
frame, we'll be like, okay,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
which is fine.
SPEAKER_00 (32:59):
Yeah.
Um, like uh if we did that aswell, we would be giving away
the stuff that we don't want togive out, you know.
And yeah, yeah.
We do want to leave some of theexcitements for you and for us
as well, because there has beencases where I think I
experienced this with Game ofThrones more than more than any
other show, but just because Iwas that type of person at that
time, where I would break downor watch those breakdowns of
(33:19):
every single frame, every singlesecond.
And to the point where it kindof took away some I don't want
to say some of the excitement,but I guess some of the mystery
for me.
And I don't wanna I don't wannado that anymore.
Like even though I I I read itand I know what's gonna happen.
I I just I would rather limit mymy analysis and just focus on
(33:41):
what I need to know, what'salready being communicated to me
without dissecting it too muchnow.
You know what I mean?
Like I don't wanna I feel likedoing that with this trader
would ruin it for our listenersand us.
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
So and I'm I'm just surprised and disappointed with
not even like regular people whohave pages on Instagram or
TikTok.
We're talking about like theofficial accounts.
Well, just post spoilers now.
Like I'm what I'm I'm watching,I'm watching Task, uh the HBO,
Mark Ruffalo and Crispy Cole, uhFabian Frankel.
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
So he's amazing, by the way.
He he has this Philadelphiaaccent to a T.
Great job.
And then I see HBO Max uh post apicture of him, and then if you
slide over, it's him as KristenCole.
I'm like, and they say somethingabout his character.
I'm like, why are you doingthat?
(34:41):
You're just spoiling the showfor everyone.
Like, you people just have thisurge, they have to like, oh, we
have to share this.
Like, no, you don't.
You know, not you, not theofficial.
Like, I get it if other peopledo, but not the official
account.
But anyway, if you want to watcha good show, watch Task.
It's uh seven episodes, it's upto episode five.
(35:05):
Uh, I think Mark Ruffalo is agreat actor.
Um, but it's so funny.
I didn't know that uh Fabian wasin the show until my son was
like, You gotta watch Task.
And then I was watching episodetwo, and he goes, There he is,
and I go, Oh, there's Crispy.
Um, but yeah, he does a greatjob.
It just it's it's crazy howpeople can you know turn on that
(35:26):
accent because that's a hardaccent to do.
SPEAKER_00 (35:29):
Okay, I I mean uh I don't know how the accent sounds
like as someone that's notAmerican, but I need to see the
actor in a non-Kristen Cole rolejust because I need a Kristen
Cole takes away from him.
You know what I mean?
Like Kristen is so crispy is soannoying that we can't focus on
him.
And I would like to focus on hima little bit because he's worth
(35:53):
focusing on.
So let me do that with task.
If it's if he's not annoying init, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01 (35:58):
No, I mean I think he comes out in the second
episode or first, or yeah.
I mean, he's uh FBI or not FBI,but he's working with the FBI,
he's uh uh a police officer andhe's joining in this
investigation with Mark Ruffalo.
Um it's the same people who diduh East uh Merit East of
(36:18):
Meritown with that wasincredible, limited series.
I highly recommend it.
I hope you enjoyed uh thisepisode of us um talking about
the trailer of the Knight ofSeven Kingdoms.
It does come out January 18th ofnext year.
That is what we're it is October11th, so three months from now
(36:38):
or so, we'll get to see the newshow.
And in the meantime, we're gonnabe doing some episodes for real
now.
I think our next episode will beThe Townfall of Rob Stark.
Uh, again, if you have any otherum topics you want us to talk
about, please DM us.
SPEAKER_00 (36:56):
I don't think Tony mentioned it, but our Instagram
handle is at dancing withunderscore dragons.
If you want to reach out to usfor anything, you can also
follow that account as we'll besharing Game of Thrones, Night
and Seven Kingdoms, House of theDragon updates, as well as other
magnificent Westerosy contentregularly.
That's where you can find us andif we can get that from us.
Um and be sure to add, listen,and download our episodes on
(37:17):
your preferred listeningplatforms and give us a rating
review as well.
If you get the chance, we'dreally appreciate it.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of Dancing with
Dragons.
Welcome back lords and ladies, small folk and
scholars, to Dancing withDragons, a podcast dedicated to
the world of a song of ice andfire created by George R.
Martin.
I'm your host Tony, and with meis my partner, the Lady Minois.
Today is a very excitingepisode.
We finally get to discuss anddissect the trailer of the
newest Game of Thrones prequelseries titled A Knight of the
(00:29):
Seven Kingdoms.
It feels surreal seeing thistrailer since we and everyone
thought the show would premierein 2025.
And last February we started toget a little nervous that there
was no promotion trailer for theshow and that it was scheduled
to be out this summer.
Nevertheless, we finally get thetrailer.
It premiered at New York CityComic-Con, which is still
happening at the moment.
With the stars of the show,Peter Claffy, Dexter Ansul,
(00:52):
showrunner Ira Parker, and theman responsible for it all, Mr.
George R.
Martin.
Alright, that is enough of me.
Minwa, how have you been?
SPEAKER_00 (00:59):
I've been doing okay.
I've been doing fine, been a bitbusy.
How about you?
How have you been doing, Sony?
I think you're you sound a bitsick.
Are you sick?
Are you okay?
SPEAKER_01 (01:07):
Oh, I I think I have allergies.
So, um, if you hear me snoringfor any reason, this it's been a
drill.
Just wake me up.
Yeah, we haven't recorded forwhat it seems to be ages since
we keep getting busy and justlife keeps getting in the way.
Just regular life stuff.
So it keeps pushing back ourrecording sessions.
So for those who've asked forthe Rob Stark podcast that we
(01:29):
have been promoting for it seemslike a month already, thank you
for your patience.
We will get that out as soon aspossible.
But we thought that this newesttrailer of the newest show
should take priority.
So before we dive into the NewYork Comic-Con panel with all
the stars, we actuallyre-watched the trailer before we
pressed record.
And I asked you or texted youthe other day.
(01:52):
I said, Don't tell me anything,let's wait for us to be in front
of the camera or you know,recording, and then we could get
then we could talk about what wethought of the trailer.
So we just re-watched it.
I saw you clapping your hands,so I'm assuming that you like
the trailer.
SPEAKER_00 (02:10):
Uh yeah, I mean, I guess I like I did a silent like
clapping of my hands, I guess,uh, when when the trailer ended,
just because I was excited forit.
Um, it's not necessarily I thinkit's the best trader ever made
or anything like that, but uhit's out of excitement, I think.
And I think that it was a welldone trailer.
Like, you know, we did talk onthe podcast before about how our
(02:32):
confidence was a bit shaken, youknow, when the show like, or we
had reasons at least to to doubtwhen I saw the trailer, I was
really reassured, but alsopleasantly surprised because um
if you watch the trailer, whichif you're listening, I'm sure
you already did, um, it has avery like comedic tone, which I
don't know if I expected becauseat the beginning we talked about
it being um like when we weretrying to set the expectations
(02:54):
for our listeners, we were likeuh like a buddy road strip
comedy set in Westeros.
But at the same time, once likeas time passed and we started
talking about Dunk a little bithere and there, and how he's
very noble, I guess I didn'treally uh remember that
description.
It came back to me when I waswatching the trainer because I
expected it to just be a bit, Idon't want to call it more
(03:14):
serious, but I guess not aslighthearted.
But I think that it's good thatthey're going in that way
because it is going to be suchlike a breath of fresh air for
uh the the fantasy genre as wellas you know the Westerosi
on-screen universe because youknow, with Game of Thrones, Half
the Dragon, they're very likeheavy, lore-filled shows that
are just you know all aboutdragons and royalty, and this is
(03:37):
gonna be completely different.
And I like that they'restretching that to even the tone
of the show.
So it's gonna be somethingcompletely new.
I'm excited.
Like it's a trailer that made meexcited for what's to come.
But I yeah, I feel like I talkeda lot.
What were your initial thoughts?
SPEAKER_01 (03:50):
No, I think I really liked it, I really enjoyed it.
I won't say which, well, thefirst shot you see of the
trailer is essentially the firstpages of the book where he's
burying Sir Arlen or Penetry,and then I won't say what shot
in the trailer, but you alsohave the first episode and
they're showing you the lastepisode of the season already.
(04:10):
Because there's a you know, butI won't say what it is.
Um, I like the lightheartedness.
I I kind of threw me off whenthe guy said get the F out of my
way because that sounded kind ofmodern.
SPEAKER_00 (04:20):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (04:21):
Um, but they threw that in to say, hey, you know,
this is still Game of Thrones,it's gonna be funny.
But what really um got to me isthe part when Egg says, Why do
you think these people arebetter than you?
And he goes, They are they arebetter than me.
Like he's Sir Duncan, he's sucha noble person, he feels uh
inferior, and he has that notthat he has a complex, but he's
(04:44):
just been taught that way, andhe's still a nice person, and
he's still he's still gonna bethe one of the most loyal
people.
So that really struck me when hesaid that, you know, just seeing
Egg on screen and just you know,he kind of reminds me he's
precocious and he's gonna becharming and he's gonna be
funny.
And Dunk is probably, you know,Dunk, for people who don't know,
(05:06):
is an orphan from Flea Bottom.
Like he's come from he is comesfrom nothing, he's trying his
best to move up in the world asnobly as possible.
And I I think you could see thatin in the trailer.
People were talking about thisphoto that was released, and go,
oh my god, is that color?
On the scene.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Yeah, I saw that.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
Because everything with Game of Thrones and House
of the Dragon is always likemuted, you don't really see
color.
Yeah, uh, so that was prettyfunny.
I mean, we get to see all thesecharacters from the book.
It was nice to see Tensor TwoTall from there's a Dornish
girl.
She's uh she's basically part oflike not a circus, but a travel.
What would that be called?
Like they go to like tournamentsand like traveling like
(05:49):
puppeteering, you know.
She they do puppets and likejust to put on a show to make
money, and you can kind of seeDunk.
And it's funny because when yousee this shot, he is so much
taller than everybody else.
You see that?
SPEAKER_00 (06:02):
It's like yeah, yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (06:04):
So that was a nice little shot to see the the the
contrast and height, and thenyou can see her, and her, they
call her too tall because duh,she's too tall.
So back to the trailer.
I'll ask you, we get to seeArian, the Targaryen, who's
played by Finn Bennett.
The one I love the the tone ofhis voice.
(06:25):
I like the look.
Okay, I won't say I like thelook.
It's kind of weird to see aTargaryen with short hair.
You know what I mean?
So it's it kind of threw me off.
SPEAKER_00 (06:33):
He has he's like a bit's a bit modern.
SPEAKER_01 (06:35):
He has a crew cut.
Like, you know, he's calledBright Flame, he's called Arian
the Monstrous.
So he you you're gonna have toworry about him.
And then you also see Sir LionelBaratheon, which is kind of nice
because we we get to meet aBaratheon who was pre-Roberts
Rebellion, and and uh he'scalled the Laughing Storm.
(06:56):
He has a big laugh and he'salways cracking jokes.
So you get to see him quite abit in the trailer, actually.
There is, you see, there'sjousting, you know, there's
always some kind of jousting inGame of Thrones.
And I saw a quote from Georgethat said in the panel, he said,
I always love medievaltournaments in other pictures.
We had several tournaments inGame of Thrones, they were in
(07:19):
the background, but not thecenter.
I wanted to do something duringthe tournament.
I sent the TV writers achallenge.
Let's do the best joustingsequence that's ever been done
on a film.
So I guess this is gonna be aproper jousting tournament.
SPEAKER_00 (07:32):
I love that George fixated on because he said
something in the Comic Conpanels when he was like, This is
where he just kept emphasizinglike tournaments and and toys
and how important that is to hisworld building.
So, you know, George, I lovethat I love when he fixates on
on something so like specificabout the world, because he also
(07:53):
really fixates on like the waythat his dragons are different
than all the other dragons,yeah.
And like different than so manyother dragons, and he goes
specifics about it.
So I just love hearing him talkabout that.
And I don't know, it's it's it'sa nice Georgie detail to look
out for in this in this uhproject.
SPEAKER_01 (08:09):
Yeah, I have two people DM the our page and like,
well, so are there gonna be anylike big battles here?
Like, what's I'm like, well, Idon't want to spoil it.
I posted the trailer on our feedand somebody asked us, well,
I'll DM you.
I don't want to say it on thecomments.
And I said, Well, no, there's nobig battles.
This is more focusing on thesmall folk, and this is what
(08:32):
George, I think I saw him say inthe pan, I don't know if you
have the quote saying that thisis the first time we're not
gonna focus on the biggerpicture, the lords and the
ladies and the big noble housesis more about you know, people
kind of like House of the Dragondid that small folk episode, and
we'll focus on people there.
(08:53):
So I and I think also it's gonnashow the class extension between
lores and then.
Oh, yeah, definitely.
And that's I think why thatquote from Egg to Duncan is
like, why do you you gotta stopwith the they're better than you
just because they're you know,it's probably oh yeah, yeah.
(09:14):
And that's something that'sexciting, and I hope that that
is a big big thing that we getto see in the show.
Um Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (09:21):
I I I have the quotes um about from Shor it's
this is from Shoriner Ira Parkerwho says, I'm just gonna say
everything that I've writtendown.
He says it's not the bigsprawling game of thrones we've
come to know and love.
This is intimate, this isbruted, and this is hard.
These novellas have so muchhope, but they also have really
brutal elements of this worldthat I think we've all come to
love in West Ross where anythingcan happen.
(09:43):
There is a level ofunpredictability that resonates
with people because that's justhow your life is.
And in this time period, this isme talking.
Um, but he's talking about thetime period of um and I think
kingdoms, he says this is a likea place where nobody's thinking
about magic.
Uh, this could easily be 14thcentury Britain.
This is hard nose, grinded out,Christy, medieval knights, cold
(10:04):
with a really light, hopefultouch.
It's a wonderful place to be.
We are ground up in this series.
We are starting right at thebottom.
We're not with the lords andladies, the kings and queens.
He describes it also as saying,we have one character with a lot
of hearts.
So that just backs up what Tonyjust told you.
There are no characters that arelike vying for the throne and
you know, in a in a powerstruggle and you know, uh trying
to outwit one another and likeplay their hand and overpower
(10:27):
one another, and like there areno Varus and Litted Fingers, you
know, competing in this in theseries.
There's no like palace drama,you know, there's none of that.
It's um what you don't see inGame of Thrones, everything that
you don't see.
So it's very interesting.
Like as I said before, it's verydifferent.
Um, you know, that's whatthey've been emphasizing as
well.
Um, and I don't think youmentioned this or either of us
(10:49):
mentioned this before, but umit's actually they they want to
emphasize how different it is tothe point where um they're not
gonna use any like there's gonnabe no opening theme for
Nathaniel.
So I guess like a meaningspoiler.
Yeah, I guess I think it'ssomething that people were
expecting.
I think we talked about this onthe podcast as well.
Like, oh, are they gonna use anew theme or they're gonna just
reuse it from like Game ofThrones House of the Dragon and
(11:12):
this, but they really want tolike emphasize the point that
this is not going to be whatyou've seen before.
This is just like a similarworld.
You will see like elements ofwhat you already know, you will
see the Targaryans here andthere, you will see the
Baratheans, but it's not it'snot the same.
So uh it's exciting.
I'm I'm I'm I'm intrigued.
(11:32):
And you were gonna saysomething, Tony, as well, right?
SPEAKER_01 (11:34):
Yeah, I wanted to put some context first for those
who are listening for the firsttime or who don't know, you
know, Dunkin' Egg novellas,which are three of them.
So the first season is gonnafocus on the hedge knight, and
it's set about 90 years beforethe Game of Thrones, 70 years
after the House of the Dragon,uh, approximately around 209 AC.
And by this time, the Targaryenshave lost all their dragons,
(11:58):
they died decades earlier.
Uh, but they're still ruling.
But their power is morepolitical than magical, which is
it's funny that you would thinkhouses around Westeros, okay,
they don't have any dragons,let's let's move in, let's try
to do something.
Um, but there was a bigrebellion prior to this first
story of Dunk, which is theBlack Fire Rebellion, which is
(12:22):
something we want to touch on inthe future.
Um, so that that's that.
Um, I also wanted to add a quotefrom George.
I don't I don't know if it's adig to Game of Thrones.
Maybe it is.
Because he goes, it's asfaithful as an adaptation as a
reasonable man could hope for.
And you know how incrediblyreasonable I am on that
(12:46):
particular subject.
I've never seen him, but he'salways talked about Game of
Thrones in the past and House ofthe Dragon, but he's treating a
Knight of the Seven Kingdomslike his baby.
Like I want to be, I want to bea part of this every step of the
way.
Like he's there.
Like I was happy to see himthere, but it just kind of feels
(13:07):
different.
Like we always talked about youknow, George always saying stuff
and then posting his blog that'ssomething different.
I think this is gonna be as trueto his vision as any other other
other show.
So I that's why I'm reallyexcited about it.
I I know people are just kind ofbummed that it's only 30
minutes.
Now, in hindsight, I'm a littlebummed because I want to be in
(13:30):
this world as long as possible.
And now, you know, think aboutyou can binge this in in less
than three hours if he watchedseason one, which is yeah.
And my hope is that we're notgonna have to wait two, three
years to get a season two.
Probably gonna be the case,right?
We probably won't get the seasontwo to twenty twenty-eight.
SPEAKER_00 (13:53):
Yeah, at least because they need another
season, like another year foranother season, and then if
they're if they're on track withwhat it seemed like they're
going to do, which is the seasonper novella, then it's gonna be
like 2027, hopefully.
And or 2028, did you say it?
2027, 2027, end of it, probably,right?
SPEAKER_01 (14:13):
Yeah, I'm I'm gonna tell these people look, House of
the Dragon season three is gonnacome up summer of 2026.
That's gonna take two years.
Please make season two of thehedge of not the hedge night, of
Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for2027.
That way we have something in2027.
(14:34):
Yeah, and not just have I'massuming that's hopefully that's
what they're gonna do.
I don't think their plan was tohave two shows in one year.
SPEAKER_00 (14:43):
No, no, no, because they were supposed to, it was
already supposed to be out,supposed to be already decked
now.
SPEAKER_01 (14:48):
I keep uh forgetting the names of the book.
So the first novella is TheHedge Knight, the second one,
which was written in 1998, thesecond one is called The Sworn
Sword in 2003, and then thethird one is called The Mystery
Night 2010.
So those are the three.
So season one is the hedgenight, and then season two will
be the sworn sword.
(15:09):
Did I ever ask you which one wasyour favorite of the three?
SPEAKER_00 (15:14):
Uh I don't think you did, but I don't think I can
answer that because I read thisso long ago.
Um that I I I need to reread itlike now in these coming months
before season one's app, justbecause I remember like parts of
it because I read the firststory not too long ago when we
we said we were going to do alike a deep dive on it, but then
(15:34):
I we did, but it was differentthan what we originally planned.
So um I I reread the first onerecently, but it's been a while
since I read Neveras 2 and 3,and I hope to do that soon.
SPEAKER_01 (15:45):
I had the audiobook on for like a couple weeks, and
um for those who don't know, uhthe audiobook is narrated by
Harry Lloyd, who played PrinceViserys.
SPEAKER_00 (15:56):
Oh, no way, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01 (15:57):
In Game of Thrones, uh season one.
Um he has a nice voice, so he hedoes it really well.
Also, uh it's kind of like alittle lesson here.
For those who don't know what,like I I had somebody ask me
what's a hedge night.
So a hedge night is a hedgenight is kind of like a
freelance night.
You know, they're just goingfrom house to house seeing that
(16:18):
they can find work.
So it's not like a person who isloyal or has a note to any
particular house.
They just go around seeing theycould find if they could uh take
part of tournaments, they couldhelp, they can work, you know,
that they're just going aroundwhatseros, see what they can do.
So they're not affiliated withany certain house.
SPEAKER_00 (16:39):
Yeah, and on that note, I do want to like just
give some more information onour main character, Dunk.
I'm not gonna spoil anything,obviously.
This is just like to get youexcited with us.
Um, because you know, wedescribed him as sorts of being
like a Ned Starky type ofcharacter because he's very
noble and uh his morals reallymatter to him.
I don't think that really comesacross in the trailer.
He just comes off as like this,like um, I don't know how to
(17:01):
describe him, but like a funny,like kind of guy you'd like to
make fun of a bit, maybe.
Um like an awkward guy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:08):
Maybe it's not I won't push over is is a little
harsh.
Like, you know, the guy's like,get the F out of the way.
He's like, uh oh sorry, sorry,sorry.
Like like he like he like he'sso like out of his element
there.
Like he's trying to, he'stiptoeing around these people,
and he's saying, like, I I don'tbelong with these people.
And so that's gonna be a funlittle uh aspect of his
(17:31):
character to s to see come on,you know, on screen.
SPEAKER_00 (17:35):
He's not super confident, you know, he's a bit
awkward.
Um, and I think that's that'skind of one of the most like a
one of the central themes of theshow, because we did describe it
as sort of like a buddy comedy,but at the same time, um, it
seems like the show is gonnafocus more on Dunk than Egg,
like on this squire, on squire,on this knight, Sir Duncan.
Um, so just to give you like abit of an idea of where he's
(17:56):
coming from and why he is kindof in this state.
So he was, uh I think Tonymentioned this earlier on, he
was the squire to Sir Arden ofPenny Tree, so another knight,
but then Sir Arden dies, andthen Dunk takes up his armor and
travels to uh the throughWesteros and ends up at the
tourney we see in the traitor.
So that's kind of like where westart the show.
(18:17):
Um I'm not spoiling that.
That's like the beginning ofepisode one.
That should be the beginning ofepisode one.
So that's kind of where he iscoming from.
So you can see that like he kindof just lost his mentor.
He's gonna be going through somesort of like a coming-of-age
story as that kind of doubt.
He's gonna come into his own alittle bit.
That's gonna be, I think, acentral theme for uh Dunk in
this series.
Uh, he is a bit awkward and hehas like his own charm, you
(18:39):
know.
He travels with, he will we willsee him travel with these three
horses and he uses just like arope for a sword hilt.
He's not, he's a very humbleguy, simple guy, and he travels
with three horses that he talksto.
Like that's a thing that hedoes.
When have you ever seen that inGame of Thrones?
Yeah.
Um, yeah, so it's just about thevery ordinary guy.
He's coming from nothing, youknow, he didn't have a name, uh,
(19:00):
uh an inheritance or money.
He's just trying to make it.
That's what uh Ira Parker, theshowrunner, described him as.
And he also has something veryinteresting in the Comic-Con
panel.
He says, you don't exactly knowthe final destination, but you
just keep at it.
That's all Dunk has.
That's his only superpower.
He gets up and keeps going.
And when he said that, it's kindof reminded me of the monologue
(19:21):
in the the Seer Superman moviewhere he's like, I get up every
day, I put one foot in front ofthe other, and I'm just trying
to live my life, and he saidsomething like that.
So I think that like the factthat that's what that quote
reminded me of.
It shows you like it gives youan idea.
He is like a, in a way, like aSuperman Clark Kent.
Ned Stark, kind of like nobleguy, but even though Ned was a
(19:42):
bit too serious and you can't hewasn't like lighthearted in any
way.
Um, like that's gonna kind ofjust give you the idea of where
uh uh Dunk is coming from.
Like, imagine Superman in thatmovie when he's like kind of
coming into his own.
That's kind of the journey we'llsee for uh Sir Duncan in in this
story.
So it's very interesting, it'svery new.
(20:03):
Um, and the perspective isn'tgoing to shift to anyone uh like
Nobel or Royal for this show atall.
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
It's gonna be mainly him, uh, and it's
character-driven so I think theTargaryens will be the side
characters or the Baratheans,and I think for and he's such a
character that you want to rootfor because there's a quote, I
don't know if he says it in thetrailer, but I as a quote that
he says in the book, he says, Ineed to fight honorably, but
(20:33):
sometimes I think I buried mycourage alongside the old man.
Was that in the trailer?
SPEAKER_00 (20:38):
And that's something I think so, because that sounds
so familiar to me.
Yeah, it feels like I just heardthat.
SPEAKER_01 (20:43):
Yeah, yeah.
So it's just that that'ssomething that you go, oh man,
just I want to root for thisguy.
And it's a show that I hopedoesn't get like um review bomb
because people are not like, oh,we don't like it because there's
no you know, dragons, there's nobig battles, and and I I just
want people to give it a chance.
And I and I think it, you know,it it it's a tonal shift from
(21:07):
the sweeping shows, you know.
It's oh yeah, we're talkingabout and it's probably nice to
see humble grounded charactersinstead of the people that we
always I mean, there are humblegrounded characters in Game of
Thrones, um, but they're far andfew.
That's why they stand, that'swhy they stand out.
Yeah, you know, well, Ned Starkstands out because he's so
(21:30):
honorable.
Um Barris and Summy, like thosepeople just stand up because
you're like everybody else isjust conniving and trying to do
whatever.
Um so yeah, I I I'm reallyenjoyed this uh trailer.
I'm hoping I was it, it wasalmost two minutes, so I don't
think that was a teaser.
I think that was the fulltrailer, correct?
SPEAKER_00 (21:50):
It was a little over two minutes, and they still call
it a teaser trailer, so I'massuming we're going to be
getting another longer soon.
SPEAKER_01 (22:00):
I don't know.
I mean, I guess for the peoplewho know the material, you don't
need another trailer.
So, but maybe who are people whodon't know might need another
trailer.
Because, like I said, you get tosee probably the whole season in
the trailer, like not you knowwhat I mean, like you get to see
moments that you know from thebook, okay, that's this and this
is that.
(22:20):
Um, so we'll see.
I'm assuming they'll haveanother trailer come out before
the series um in January 18th,which I'm so happy that we got a
date.
Now we know.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (22:33):
A birthday gift for me, a late birthday gift.
It's two days after my birthday.
SPEAKER_01 (22:37):
Yeah, and it's uh we now we can schedule okay, we're
gonna come out of our littlebreak and then boom, we'll be
ready.
SPEAKER_00 (22:43):
What's kind of a bit funny is that we've been talking
about the show, but we didn'treally go into that premise,
like what the show is actuallyabout.
Obviously, if you're listeningto this, you have an idea
already.
We described it in detail, butlike the quick little premise
that you get, like the officialdescription of the show, to give
you a very clear-cut idea ofwhat it is.
We haven't really read that toyou guys.
(23:03):
And um before reading one of thesynopsis, synopses to you guys,
we do want to warn you that umtry not looking it up because
some sources um include aspoiler.
And lots of Game of Thrones likeaccounts or like um, you know,
accounts of the post aboutmovies, TV shows, and you know
(23:23):
uh George's World on Screen.
There's they share a very uhcrucial spoiler to this uh show.
It's argued that it isn't aspoiler, so that's why um some
people are very open whentalking about it.
And we don't know uh how openthe show is going to be with it,
which is why me and Tony are notgoing to talk about it, because
we kind of just want to keepthat a mystery.
(23:47):
If the show's gonna keep it amystery, we don't want to ruin
the fun for everyone.
So um, we're going to be readinga synopsis that doesn't uh
divulge a key spoiler to theshow.
So be careful when looking upthe show because you might come
across a spoiler if you haven'talready.
Here's a quick little premise toAnnight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Essentially before Game ofThrones, Sir Duncan the Todd and
his squire, Egg, wander throughWesteros while the Targaryen
(24:09):
dynasty rule the Iron Throne,and dragons were still
remembered.
Great destinies and enemiesawait the incomparable friends.
So obviously, this is we'vetalked about this, this is set
in a time post-Targarion.
So in between House of theDragon and Game of Thrones,
we've already said that before.
But it's very interestingbecause you know, like we're not
(24:30):
just seeing a post-dragon world,we even got that in the trailer
where we're seeing theTargaryen's popularity decline.
Something that Egg himself saysin the trailer, and the
showrunner explains that nowthat Targaryans don't have their
dragons, they find themselvesfinally without the thing that's
put them in power.
And 50 years on from thedragons, people are asking,
well, why are we still lettingthem be in power?
(24:51):
And that's kind of one of thekey themes that's going to be
explored in the show.
Um, as Tony said, it's gonnatouch on class, it's gonna touch
on um like no nobility, um, interms of not just the like not
the noble people, but one's ownco-code of conduct and uh honor.
Um when describing the tone, uhno, when asked about when asked
(25:13):
about the show, the showrunnersaid finding its place
sandwiched between these twogiants, aka game of one's house
the dragon, um, was just tone,tone, tone.
They needed a different tone todifferentiate us, and that's
obviously what we talked aboutbefore with the comedic roots
and how they're gonna make itcompletely different.
And he says these novellas areso lovely and sweet with so much
hope, but they also have rootedelements of this world that
(25:34):
people that people love aboutWesteros, and it's described as
a story of hope, hardship, andsurvival from the ground level
of Westeros.
So uh it's very, very different.
I I don't remember it beinghopeful, honestly.
I don't know if you remember itthat way, Tony.
I just remember it being fun.
So I'm curious to revisit itthrough the show and the book as
well and and reread the book aswell and see if I can like see
(25:57):
that.
I don't I don't remember that atall.
I just remember it being fun.
It's been a while, so um, I withall of that uh being said, as
well as like the the colorfulvisuals that we're seeing on
screen, I wonder how it's goingto resonate with audiences
because it's a new take on thefantasy genre, kind of according
based on what I know.
And I hope people I hope it'sgood.
(26:17):
I hope people are accepting ofit.
Um and you know, they're notjust looking for something so
gritty and dark because we havethat.
This is just fun, let's be fun,let fantasy be fun.
So I'm excited.
I I I I love the premise, I lovethe concepts, yeah, the tone.
It's just it's speaking to me.
SPEAKER_01 (26:39):
I will say that you know, this show it will focus on
you know the small folk, butthere will be some big shakeups
when it comes to the rulingclass, which I don't know
they'll focus on, because at thetime of when the show opens,
they're on the second or they'reon the good, uh, is king.
(27:01):
And again, no spoilers, some youknow, there's gonna be a big
shakeup of who's ruling and how.
So it's not a simple and cut anddry of his, you know, he has a
lot of sons, and um I don't knowif I'm talking too much here,
but I I I want to see how theyum inject that into the show
(27:22):
because it is a big deal.
Um, you know, a new monarchy, oryou know, how that that all is
gonna be involved.
That's all I'll say because youknow, people are like, oh,
there's not gonna be Targaryen.
There will be Targaryen in theshow heavily, I think.
Uh and this shakeup willprobably be in the first you
(27:43):
know, few episodes.
And the last shot of the trailergave me chills because there's
seven nights going.
It's very, you know, foggy.
It looks really nice that howthey set it up.
You see seven nights chargingforward, and then you see
(28:03):
another seven nights comingtowards those seven nights, and
that is something called thetrial of the seven, which is
something that I never thoughtwe'll see, and I'm very excited
about that.
Uh, don't look up the trial ofthe seven, just wait until the
show comes out.
Uh, you know, we have trial byby combat, we have trial by you
know, all those stuff in thegame of thrones.
(28:24):
So um, yeah, I it's it's gonnabe very um I'm happy.
I'm happy that it's gettingpositive uh from all the big
people who are online from Gameof Thrones, that they're really
enjoying it.
So um I think obviously we'regonna be knee deep into the show
(28:44):
and weekly reviews of everyepisode, which again is only
six, but still that's betterthan nothing.
And it's and I think it'senough.
You know, like like I'm like I'mbeing spoiled.
I want 45 minutes, but no, wedon't need that.
I think the story, when you readthe book, you're like, this is
not ten episodes.
SPEAKER_00 (29:05):
This is this is six.
SPEAKER_01 (29:07):
Yeah, this is six, and I think that last episode is
gonna be very, very exciting andum thrilling, and can't wait to
see it.
I have a couple more quotes fromGeorge.
He says, and I quote, I've seenall six episodes now, the last
two in Rough Cuts, admittedly,and I love them, Martin said.
(29:30):
Um, Duncan Egg have always beena favorites of mine, and the
actors we found to portray themare just incredible.
The rest of the cast areterrific as well.
Wait until you guys meet TheLaughing Storm and Tanzall
Tutal.
I'll finish my thoughts here onthe trailer.
I like the fact that they didn'tpromise dragons, it gave you a
(29:51):
little fire from a little pay orwhatever mechanical, not
mechanical, but whatever thatdragon was.
Uh but it does, I think, promisea story.
About honor, part.
If the series delivers on whatis teasing, like the conflict,
the growth, like true stakes oflike the real world, of the real
people, the small folk, it couldbe you know a real gem in this
(30:13):
thrones franchise.
Yeah, and also it reminds usthat Westeros isn't just made of
crowns, it's made of thesepeople.
And I think uh it's a nice uhbreak from the the war and the
constant conflict that we seefrom Game of Thrones and now
House of the Dragon, which isgonna be season three, it's just
(30:34):
gonna be chaos.
SPEAKER_00 (30:36):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (30:36):
Now we're in full-fledged war with you know,
civil war.
SPEAKER_00 (30:40):
Yeah, you know, you said that's gonna be like kind
of like a breath of fresh airfor uh Game of Thrones can be
different.
I think that is can be said,like that can be said for the
fantasy genre.
I've said that now, I think, acouple of times, just because I
do think it's going to be I I Iexpect it's going to be uh
different and fun.
Not that fantasy isn't fun, bythe way, not that uh like that
(31:00):
this is completely new or thatthere isn't some lighthearted
fancy out there, but I just feellike in recent years, um like
there's just been a bit less ofthat, you know, like yeah, it
seems like everything is doomand gloom.
SPEAKER_01 (31:13):
Everything's like uh the world is ending stakes.
SPEAKER_00 (31:17):
So I think like you're saying here, we get to
sit back and enjoy charactersand not yeah, and like most TV
shows, like or I guess many TVshows nowadays as well, don't
really focus on projects thatare or like stories that uh
don't really add, I guess, ormuch.
You know what I mean?
Like this doesn't add much tolike it doesn't bridge a gap.
(31:40):
Like, oh, what's the backstoryof this character?
Like that's what a lot ofstudios seem to be excited in
nowadays, right?
Like, what's the backstory ofthis or that?
Like they're interested inworking with kind of uh I guess
yeah, Game of Thrones, somethingyou already know, but it's it's
gonna be character driven, it'sgonna be fancy, it's gonna be
people that you don't know.
Infuse new life, I guess, intointo HBO's lineup, the the
(32:03):
what's on TV nowadays, the fancygenre.
And I just hope like it'scompatible with audiences.
I hope it's good and thataudiences love it as well.
SPEAKER_01 (32:10):
Not I don't I hope it's not just oh it's so
underrated, and you know, like Ithink it's gonna be um received
well by critics, but you justdon't know and all about people.
I think that's gonna be all forour coverage.
I mean, we didn't really want todive deep into the trailer
because we don't want to spoilanything.
And I'm I'm sure there's peopleout there with with you know
(32:33):
YouTube videos already withexplaining every single Easter
egg that you see, which is kindof cool.
If you want to know that, if youwant to be spoiled, go ahead and
do it.
Because um, I do that all thetime.
I'll go and be like, okay,what's going on here?
Like when I watch Lost of theDragon, there's this channel has
like a millions of subscribers,they'll go from like frame to
(32:55):
frame, we'll be like, okay,boom, boom, boom, boom, boom,
which is fine.
SPEAKER_00 (32:59):
Yeah.
Um, like uh if we did that aswell, we would be giving away
the stuff that we don't want togive out, you know.
And yeah, yeah.
We do want to leave some of theexcitements for you and for us
as well, because there has beencases where I think I
experienced this with Game ofThrones more than more than any
other show, but just because Iwas that type of person at that
time, where I would break downor watch those breakdowns of
(33:19):
every single frame, every singlesecond.
And to the point where it kindof took away some I don't want
to say some of the excitement,but I guess some of the mystery
for me.
And I don't wanna I don't wannado that anymore.
Like even though I I I read itand I know what's gonna happen.
I I just I would rather limit mymy analysis and just focus on
(33:41):
what I need to know, what'salready being communicated to me
without dissecting it too muchnow.
You know what I mean?
Like I don't wanna I feel likedoing that with this trader
would ruin it for our listenersand us.
SPEAKER_01 (33:55):
So and I'm I'm just surprised and disappointed with
not even like regular people whohave pages on Instagram or
TikTok.
We're talking about like theofficial accounts.
Well, just post spoilers now.
Like I'm what I'm I'm watching,I'm watching Task, uh the HBO,
Mark Ruffalo and Crispy Cole, uhFabian Frankel.
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (34:21):
So he's amazing, by the way.
He he has this Philadelphiaaccent to a T.
Great job.
And then I see HBO Max uh post apicture of him, and then if you
slide over, it's him as KristenCole.
I'm like, and they say somethingabout his character.
I'm like, why are you doingthat?
(34:41):
You're just spoiling the showfor everyone.
Like, you people just have thisurge, they have to like, oh, we
have to share this.
Like, no, you don't.
You know, not you, not theofficial.
Like, I get it if other peopledo, but not the official
account.
But anyway, if you want to watcha good show, watch Task.
It's uh seven episodes, it's upto episode five.
(35:05):
Uh, I think Mark Ruffalo is agreat actor.
Um, but it's so funny.
I didn't know that uh Fabian wasin the show until my son was
like, You gotta watch Task.
And then I was watching episodetwo, and he goes, There he is,
and I go, Oh, there's Crispy.
Um, but yeah, he does a greatjob.
It just it's it's crazy howpeople can you know turn on that
(35:26):
accent because that's a hardaccent to do.
SPEAKER_00 (35:29):
Okay, I I mean uh I don't know how the accent sounds
like as someone that's notAmerican, but I need to see the
actor in a non-Kristen Cole rolejust because I need a Kristen
Cole takes away from him.
You know what I mean?
Like Kristen is so crispy is soannoying that we can't focus on
him.
And I would like to focus on hima little bit because he's worth
(35:53):
focusing on.
So let me do that with task.
If it's if he's not annoying init, you know what I mean?
SPEAKER_01 (35:58):
No, I mean I think he comes out in the second
episode or first, or yeah.
I mean, he's uh FBI or not FBI,but he's working with the FBI,
he's uh uh a police officer andhe's joining in this
investigation with Mark Ruffalo.
Um it's the same people who diduh East uh Merit East of
(36:18):
Meritown with that wasincredible, limited series.
I highly recommend it.
I hope you enjoyed uh thisepisode of us um talking about
the trailer of the Knight ofSeven Kingdoms.
It does come out January 18th ofnext year.
That is what we're it is October11th, so three months from now
(36:38):
or so, we'll get to see the newshow.
And in the meantime, we're gonnabe doing some episodes for real
now.
I think our next episode will beThe Townfall of Rob Stark.
Uh, again, if you have any otherum topics you want us to talk
about, please DM us.
SPEAKER_00 (36:56):
I don't think Tony mentioned it, but our Instagram
handle is at dancing withunderscore dragons.
If you want to reach out to usfor anything, you can also
follow that account as we'll besharing Game of Thrones, Night
and Seven Kingdoms, House of theDragon updates, as well as other
magnificent Westerosy contentregularly.
That's where you can find us andif we can get that from us.
Um and be sure to add, listen,and download our episodes on
(37:17):
your preferred listeningplatforms and give us a rating
review as well.
If you get the chance, we'dreally appreciate it.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of Dancing with
Dragons.
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