After years of television trying to outdo itself with shocking violence, explicit sex, and a truly impressive number of penises, the Game of Thrones universe has apparently decided to go in a bold new direction: bathroom realism.
HBO’s upcoming spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms opens not with dragons, betrayal, or ominous political scheming — but with its hero, Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall, squatting behind a tree as the iconic Game of Thrones theme blares in the background. And according to George R.R. Martin, that moment stopped him in his tracks. In a recent interview, Martin admitted the scene was not exactly what he expected.
“Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise. Not to say that my characters don’t take s***s, but I normally don’t write about them at any length.”
Martin went on to reveal that after watching an early cut of the episode, he openly questioned the creative choice.
“When I saw the rough cut, I wrote, ‘What is this? Where did this come from? I don’t know if we really need the s***,’” Martin said. “But (showrunner Ira Parker) liked it for whatever reason.”
Why Did ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Open Like That?
According to Parker, the moment was very much intentional — and very much about undercutting fantasy expectations right out of the gate. The original script described Dunk “hearing the hero theme in his head” as he begins to imagine his destiny. Parker chose to literalize that clash between ambition and reality in a… more visceral way.
“He’s hearing that call to greatness,” Parker explained. “But the reality of actually doing it — how scary it is — that turns his guts to water.”
In other words, Dunk isn’t a hero yet. He’s just a nervous kid with a nervous stomach. Parker added that the scene is meant to immediately ground the character and set the tone for the series, which focuses more on uncertainty and growth than instant legend-making. And in case anyone was wondering just how real the moment was, Parker joked that “a magician never gives it away,” before clarifying:
“We don’t have the budget for fake anything on this show. Very, very little is done fake. That’s his butt.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and is set roughly a century before the events of Game of Thrones. The six-episode series follows Dunk (played by Peter Claffey) and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as they wander Westeros long before dragons and dynasties dominate the landscape.
Whether the opening bathroom break becomes an iconic character moment or a deeply cursed piece of franchise trivia remains to be seen. But one thing’s clear: even George R.R. Martin wasn’t ready for this particular evolution of the fantasy genre.
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms air Sundays on HBO.
- Release Date
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January 18, 2026
- Network
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HBO
- Showrunner
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Ira Parker
- Directors
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Owen Harris
- Writers
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George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
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Peter Claffey
Ser Duncan ‘Dunk’ the Tall
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