A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner admits this book change was “mistake”

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker has revealed that he regrets one deviation from the book in the Game of Thrones prequel series.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a pretty faithful adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s first Dunk and Egg novella.

Telling that tale across six short episodes, the series captures the lighter tone of the source material, while following exactly the same plot, with much the same dialogue.

But during a Reddit AMA, one fan called Ira Parker out for losing a line from the book, and the showrunner expressed regret over its absence. Episode 4 SPOILERS ahead…

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner reveals Episode 4 mistake he regrets

During the Q&A, one Redditor wrote: “Many readers consider Dunk’s exchange with Steely Pate – ‘Who am I to them?’ ‘A knight who remembered his vows’ – to be the soul and the moral of the entire novella.

“The impact comes not just from the exchange itself, but it’s careful placement at Dunk’s lowest point, before he realizes any champions have answered his call, let alone Breakspear joining him.

“Could you speak to your reasoning in removing (or potentially moving to a later episode) the exchange? Removing it entirely diminishes the soul of the story, and moving it to a later moment weakens its impact as Dunk already has the favor of the Prince of Dragonstone. It’s an odd choice given how faithful you’ve otherwise been to the novella.”

Ira Parker was brutally honest in his response, admitting: “Honestly it was a mistake on my part. Not my first not my last on this show. That scene was in the script at one point, then fell out.

“I agree that ‘a knight who remembers his vows’ is the soul of this story, but I think that is still very much at the core of the show, even if I stupidly left out this scene… it may not be said explicitly, but Dunk’s actions remain the same.”

Though in Parker’s defense, actions do speak louder than words, so perhaps the exchange wasn’t necessary to the onscreen story.

Ira Parker cops to second slip-up

The hits then kept coming, with another viewer writing: “Noticed that Maekar’s and Aerion’s personal coats of arms don’t appear in the show. Was this a conscious creative choice, or was it avoided for practical reasons like visual clarity or production constraints? As a personal fan of heraldry, I would have loved to see them.”

Parker responded by again holding his hands up, writing: “So far I’ve seen fans point out two mistakes in this show that I was unaware of. This is one of them. Definitely should have had Maekar’s… that would have made it soooo easy to distinguish him in the fog. Whoops.”