‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Trailer, Cast, Release Date

HBO is taking fans back to Westeros with a new story — and a different tone. The network unveiled the debut trailer for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” its highly anticipated “Game of Thrones” prequel series, during New York Comic Con on Thursday, alongside key cast and creators who teased what viewers can expect when the series premieres January 18.

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Trailer Teases ‘Gritty’ and ‘Intimate’ Westeros

The six-episode first season adapts George R.R. Martin’s novella “The Hedge Knight,” shifting the perspective away from sprawling royal politics and toward a grounded, character-driven journey.

“It’s not the big, sprawling ‘Game of Thrones’ we’ve come to know and love,” showrunner Ira Parker said during the panel per The Hollywood Reporter. “This is intimate, this is brutal and this is hard.”

Peter Claffey stars as Dunk, a wandering “hedge knight,” with Dexter Sol Ansell playing his young squire, Egg. The story follows the unlikely duo as they navigate the dangerous world of Westeros a century before the events of “Game of Thrones,” when the Targaryens still ruled and dragons were not yet a distant memory.

“These novellas have so much hope, but they also have really brutal elements of this world that I think we’ve all come to love in Westeros, where anything can happen,” he said. “There is a level of unpredictability that resonates with people because that’s just how your life is,” Parker explained.

He added, “Following Dunk on this journey — a very grounded, gritty, earthy, ground-up sort of feel — we’ve never had this perspective before of somebody who grew up in the slums of King’s Landing as an orphan who didn’t have a name, didn’t have an inheritance and didn’t have any money. He’s just trying to make it. He’s trying to go out and do something hard that he’s never done before. He’s out of his comfort zone. And hopefully, a lot of that will resonate with our audience.”

The ‘Game of Thrones’ Prequel Cast and Story Set Up a New Era for Westeros

The official logline reads: “A century before the events of ‘Game of Thrones,’ two unlikely heroes wandered Westeros … a young, naïve but courageous knight, Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. Set in an age when the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne, and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory, great destinies, powerful foes and dangerous exploits all await these improbable and incomparable friends.”

In addition to Claffey and Ansell, the cast includes Edward Ashley as Ser Steffon Fossoway, Youssef Kerkour as Steely Pate, Daniel Monks as Ser Manfred Dondarrion, Shaun Thomas as Raymun Fossoway, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Plummer, Danny Webb as Ser Arlan of Pennytree, and Henry Ashton as Daeron Targaryen.

The series was co-created by Martin and Parker and filmed in Northern Ireland. With its smaller scale and character focus, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” offers a fresh take on Westeros, distinct from “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon.”

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