Warning! The following contains spoilers for A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Season 1 finale "The Morrow." Stream the episode with an HBO Max subscription, and read at your own risk!
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms got super heavy in the penultimate, but the comedy returned in time for the Season 1 finale. This included an end card that seemingly changed the show's title to "A Knight Of The Nine Kingdoms," but will the HBO series stick with that name ahead of Season 2?
Co-creator and showrunner Ira Parker spoke to Variety about the Season 1 finale, and specifically, about Egg's revelation that there are actually "nine" kingdoms in Westeros to a bewildered Dunk. When asked to clarify what the end card, seemingly renaming the show, meant, he said this:
That’s maybe me getting a little too jokey. People may hate it or crucify me for that, but there’s a bit of a lighter touch to these shows. And I’m going to learn some things. People are going to have a reaction to it, and I’m going to have a reaction to it after not seeing it for a few months. And we’ll see. I like it. Enough of the wonderful creatives that I worked with liked it, too. It came from an honest place. It’s all true. It’s nine kingdoms at that point.
It feels like Parker was mostly making another joke, rather than having plans to change the show's name after its first season. It's an interesting situation because, as Egg explained after running down the various Kingdoms, the title of the show is incorrect. That said, will people who tuned in to the critically acclaimed series be confused if the show has a new name after just six episodes? Name recognition can be a real concern for branding, so I'm sure some people at HBO are wondering if it's wise to go with the new show title.
As for what George R.R. Martin thought about the title, he only had one request. Ira Parker recalled his conversation with the writer, who made the books with a special goal in mind, and talked about the one title the creator wouldn't sign off on under any circumstances:
Early on, George was like, ‘Just don’t call it Dunk & Egg — it sounds like Laverne & Shirley. It sounds like a sitcom.’ I said, ‘Oh, absolutely fine'. As it got really late in the game when we were putting the final touches in the post-production process, I did sort of waver a little bit. I said, ‘Everyone’s just gonna call it Dunk & Egg, so why don’t we call it that?’ Then I was talked down by my assistant that it wasn’t a wise idea. And I agree. It’s nice to see a show called ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,’ and come there to find out that it is just a little lighter and has some fun, rather than setting people up with ‘Dunk & Egg’ and you sort of know what you’re gonna get. I hope.
I have to applaud Ira Parker for the decision A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms ultimately landed on, because it completely blindsided me with its unexpected optimism and mix of humor. I think, if the series were called "Dunk & Egg," I would've seen the comedy coming for sure.
I do wonder just how long A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms can stave off the darkness from Westeros, given all the dark events that will eventually lead to Aegon becoming the king. A lot of Targaryens will have to die for him to ascend to the throne, and yet, we already know it's going to happen because of Game of Thrones. I'm curious to see how the show will handle that, especially since it's gotten so much acclaim for how it's stood apart from the flagship series and House of the Dragon.
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms was already confirmed to be returning for Season 2, so be ready for more Dunk and Egg going forward! Now, it's time to get amped for House of the Dragon Season 3, and after that wild trailer, I know I need to get my head right for a lot of violence.
