I really like the idea of this spinoff, but I’m afraid it’ll suffer the same fate of GOT. HBO has officially announced another GOT prequel show as it’ll be adapting the beloved Dunk & Egg novella series into a T.V. show…even though it’s not even remotely finished yet.
The intro pretty much tells it all about how I feel with this announcement.
So, for those who haven’t seen the news yet, HBO has officially announced they will be making their third entry into the GOT/ASOIAF (A Song of Ice and Fire) universe by adapting the 3-part novella series about the harrowing adventures of Sir Duncan the Tall and his young squire Prince Aegon Targaryen. Sounds great, right?
Well, it gets even better when you add in the backdrop of the Blackfyre Rebellions, which is the timeframe this series takes place.
Essentially, to give a brief description about the starting environment we’ll see in Season 1: Episode 1, the story should heavily focus on the life of Sir Duncan, a nameless, penniless, hedge knight from the streets of King’s Landing, as he tries to make a name for himself at the tourney of Ashford with the death of his master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, forcing him to fend for himself in Westeros.
And, as he journeys through the pomp and pageantry of Ashford, for all of the huge noble houses and its heirs are present, he comes across a small, bald boy, whose head looks a lot like an egg, that demands he makes him his squire for the upcoming tilts. Obviously, said little boy is Prince Aegon Targaryen, the future King Aegon V Targaryen, but that’s enough of the story I’ll spoil right now.
Needless to say, if my rushed summary got you even a little excited, then you’re going to love this story. It has all the politics, intrigue, murder, bloodshed, and battle that Game of Thrones (which occurs app. 100 years later) and House of the Dragon (which occurs app. 100 years earlier) have featured, but it also adds in the joys, comedy, romance, and heroism all great adventure stories possess.
All in all, Dunk & Egg is a much more lighthearted, heartwarming story in the ASOIAF lore as Westeros experienced a warfare break from the devastating 1st Blackfyre Rebellion that occurred about a decade prior…for the moment. There’s always some horrific conflict around the corner for the characters of Westeros, right?
Nevertheless, the reason why I’m a little reserved about this series is due to the ailment nearly every ASOIAF work is currently suffering: it’s not finished.
Out of a planned/rumored 9 entries in the novella series, author George R.R. Martin has only officially published 3 novellas (The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight) and maybe has 2-3 more semi-completed (there was a rumor the fourth entry, which was called The She Wolves of Winterfell, was almost ready) but not finalized.
(HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery-Game of Thrones-Season 1, Episode 9: “Baelor”)
So, if I’m being generous, only 50%-66% the story is currently ready to be adapted into a television series…just like Game of Thrones when it was being developed.
If you remember, GOT showrunners Dumb and Dumber (aka: David Benioff and D.B. Weiss) could only base the first 4-5 seasons of the show only Martin’s novels as the author had yet (and still has not) completed his highly anticipated 6th entry into the A Song of Ice and Fire series, The Winds of Winter.
It’s the sole reason why the show veered so differently from the books during Seasons 5-8 (especially 7 and 8), and why we got the dumpster fire that was Season 8.
Who’s to say that doesn’t happen again with this series? I mean, it’s been a full twelve years since Martin released A Dance with Dragons in the main ASOIAF series, while it’s been thirteen years since The Mystery Knight was originally published in 2010.
I know he’s involved with the scriptwriting process for this new series, but he was also involved in the opening four seasons of Game of Thrones before getting too overwhelmed and dropping out of the process. All I’m saying is that I wouldn’t get your hopes up about Martin finishing the novella series before this show hits our screens.
Anyways, I’m still super excited to see two of the best characters in one of the most exciting times of Westeros history finally get adapted!
PS: Maester Aemon is Aegon Targaryen’s (Egg) brother, so we’ll see a lot more of him!
Images Source: Featured Image: (HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery) (Game of Thrones | Official Daenerys Targaryen Trailer (HBO) – YouTube)
In Text Image 1: (HBO/Warner Bros. Discovery) (Game of Thrones-Season 1, Episode 9: “Baelor”)
