Martin Provides 12 Novella Outlines for Knight Spin-off Seasons
The Game of Thrones creator actively collaborates with showrunners on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, offering creative direction and story ideas that could fuel multiple seasons of the upcoming HBO series.
George R.R. Martin has taken an unusually hands-on approach with HBO's latest Game of Thrones spin-off. The author, known for his sometimes critical stance toward adaptations of his work, has been deeply involved in shaping A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Showrunner Ira Parker describes Martin's participation as transformative. "George has been such a wonderful partner in this," Parker explained during a recent interview. The collaboration included an intensive week-long creative session in Santa Fe, where Martin worked alongside his preferred writers to develop the show's direction.
Creative Breakthroughs in Santa Fe
The Santa Fe meetings produced unexpected results. Parker and his team discovered new narrative possibilities they hadn't considered. "There were a lot of surprises that came out of there, just some really wonderful ideas, things that George gravitated towards that we were doing, that we were introducing," Parker noted.
The series adapts Martin's novella The Hedge Knight. It follows Dunk, portrayed by Peter Claffey, a newly minted hedge knight attempting to establish his reputation after his master's death. His journey leads him to a tournament where he encounters Egg, played by Dexter Sol Ansell, an enthusiastic would-be squire.
Expanding the Original Vision
Martin showed particular enthusiasm for certain creative additions. The introduction of Lyonel Baratheon and the Baratheon tent sequence earned his approval. "I think he really loved the idea of the Baratheon tent and meeting Lyonel Baratheon in that capacity, which was wonderful," Parker said.
The production team also developed ambitious puppetry concepts during these sessions. Instead of the smaller hand puppets described in the original novella, they created large-scale War Horse-style puppetry. This change emerged directly from the collaborative meetings with Martin.
Parker emphasized the value of Martin's direct involvement. "It's such a rich creative experience, any time that you get to have him [and] can pull him away from all his other writings, so we got along very well, and he's only been a benefit to the show."
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms debuts January 18 on HBO.