• Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan "Dunk" the Tall, a lowborn hedge knight
  • Bamber Todd portrays young Dunk
• Dexter Sol Ansell as Prince Aegon "Egg" Targaryen, a child whom Dunk takes as his squire

• Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel Baratheon, a knight known as the "Laughing Storm" and the heir to House Baratheon of Storm's End
• Shaun Thomas as Raymun Fossoway, Steffon's cousin and squire
• Tanzyn Crawford as Tanselle, a Dornish puppeteer
• Danny Webb as Ser Arlan of Pennytree, an old hedge knight and Dunk's mentor
• Henry Ashton as Prince Daeron "The Drunken" Targaryen, Egg's eldest brother
• Daniel Monks as Ser Manfred Dondarrion, a knight of House Dondarrion of Blackhaven
• Tom Vaughan-Lawlor as Plummer, the steward of Ashford
• Carla Harrison-Hodge as Beony, a prostitute in Manfred's service
• Rowan Robinson as Red, a prostitute in Manfred's service
• Edward Ashley as Ser Steffon Fossoway, a knight of House Fossoway of Cider Hall
• Danny Collins as Ser Humfrey Beesbury, a knight of House Beesbury of Honeyholt
• Ross Anderson as Ser Humfrey Hardyng, a knight of House Hardyng
• Bertie Carvel as Prince Baelor "Breakspear" Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King and Protector of the Realm, eldest son of King Daeron II Targaryen, heir to the Iron Throne, and Egg's uncle
• Sam Spruell as Prince Maekar "The Anvil" Targaryen, Prince of Summerhall, Baelor's younger brother, and the father of Daeron, Aerion, and Egg
• Finn Bennett as Prince Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen, Egg's older brother
• Youssef Kerkour as Steely Pate, a blacksmith hailing from the Reach
• Steve Wall as Lord Leo "Longthorn" Tyrell, lord of Highgarden and head of House Tyrell
• Paul Hunter as Lord Ashford, lord of Ashford and head of House Ashford, who hosts a tournament to celebrate his daughter's name day
• Cara Harris as Lady Gwin Ashford, the young daughter of Lord Ashford
• Oscar Morgan as Prince Valarr Targaryen, Baelor's son
• Wade Briggs as Ser Roland Crakehall, a member of Daeron II's Kingsguard
• Bill Ward as Ser Donnel of Duskendale, a member of Daeron II's Kingsguard
• Russell Simpson as Lord Medgar Tully, lord of Riverrun and head of House Tully
• William Houston as Ser Robyn Rhysling, a one-eyed knight of House Rhysling
• Chloe Lea as Rafe, Dunk's childhood friend
• Edward Davis as Alester, a member of the City Watch of King's Landing

In February 2013, George R. R. Martin commented that he had been in discussions with HBO regarding a potential adaptation of his Dunk and Egg novellas.^[11] In March 2014, Martin expressed interest in adapting his Dunk and Egg stories for the screen, suggesting that they could serve as the basis for a film.^[12] In July 2015, HBO programming president Michael Lombardo remarked that there was "enormous storytelling to be mined" in a prequel to Game of Thrones.^[13] In April 2016, Lombardo clarified that no Game of Thrones spin-offs were in development.^[14] Shortly after, Martin suggested that the most "natural successor" to the series would be an adaptation of his Dunk and Egg stories, adding that his preferred format would be a "two-hour standalone television film" for each novella.^[15] In November 2016, HBO's new programming president Casey Bloys confirmed that preliminary discussions were underway regarding a prequel project.^[16]

In May 2017, Martin stated that a Dunk and Egg television adaptation was not in development, explaining that while he would like to pursue the project, he preferred to wait until the novella series—three stories published at the time, with seven to eight more planned—was complete, to avoid a situation similar to Game of Thrones, in which the television series outpaced the source material.^[17] In July 2022, it was revealed that Martin had formally pitched a Dunk and Egg adaptation to HBO in 2016. The network ultimately declined the proposal in favor of another concept, The Dance of the Dragons, which later entered development as House of the Dragon.^[18]

Ryan Condal, showrunner for House of the Dragon, explained in a 2020 interview that he participated in the first and last stages of the initial cycle of prequel proposals. In early 2016, he approached Martin to suggest a series based on Dunk & Egg, but Martin rejected the idea because he wanted to finish that saga first. For that reason, Condal's suggestion never became a formal proposal nor was it part of the group of projects that HBO initially evaluated and rejected. After that failed attempt, Condal returned to the process in 2019 to lead House of the Dragon.^[19] Martin offered a different version in a podcast with Condal in September 2021. There, he acknowledged that Dunk & Egg was among the two prequel proposals he originally presented to HBO, along with The Dance of the Dragons. According to Martin, HBO rejected Dunk & Egg and asked him for more alternatives, which led to four additional ideas. Condal independently proposed to Martin a Dunk & Egg series without knowing that HBO had already scrapped the project. This crossover of versions confirms that Martin ended up considering Dunk & Egg as one of his two preferred options for a prequel series, along with The Dance of the Dragons.^[20]

HBO announced that it was developing a new television prequel series to Game of Thrones in January 2021. The series follows the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and a young Aegon V Targaryen, nicknamed Egg, and is based on the novellas by George R. R. Martin that constitute the Tales of Dunk and Egg, taking place 90 years before A Song of Ice and Fire.^[21] There were reports that Steven Conrad was hired to write for the series in November 2021. The series received an official order from HBO in April 2023.^[23] By then, Ira Parker, a writer on the first season of House of the Dragon, had already written the script for a pilot episode.^[24] According to Martin, the series' writers' room shut down during the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.^[25] Casting began in October 2023 with plans to begin filming in 2024.^[26] By February 2024, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav confirmed that the series had begun pre-production and that Martin was serving as creator and executive producer.^[27]

In May, Owen Harris was hired to direct the first three episodes of the series and serve as an executive producer, setting the tone for the series.^[28] That June, Sarah Adina Smith was announced to direct three of the six episodes of the first season.^[29][30] Dan Romer scored the series.^[31] In November 2025, ahead of the first-season premiere, the series was renewed for a second season, which is expected to be released in 2027.^[32] In January 2026, Parker disclosed that Martin had provided him with outlines for twelve unpublished Dunk and Egg stories. According to Parker, HBO intends to adapt only the three novellas that have been officially published. Parker, however, envisions adapting all twelve stories, planning to release four initially, followed by four more a decade later, and the final four ten years thereafter.^[4]

In April 2024, the lead roles were cast with Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg.^[33] In June, it was announced that Finn Bennett, Bertie Carvel, Tanzyn Crawford, Daniel Ings, and Sam Spruell had joined the cast as Prince Aerion Targaryen, Prince Baelor Targaryen, Tanselle, Ser Lyonel Baratheon, and Prince Maekar Targaryen, respectively.^[30][29] In August, Edward Ashley, Henry Ashton, Youssef Kerkour, Daniel Monks, Shaun Thomas, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, and Danny Webb were cast as Ser Steffon Fossoway, Daeron Targaryen, Steely Pate, Ser Manfred Dondarrion, Raymun Fossoway, Plummer, and Ser Arlan of Pennytree, respectively.^[34] Additionally, Ross Anderson appears as Ser Humfrey Hardyng and Steve Wall as Lord Leo Tyrell.^[35]

In March 2026, Lucy Boynton, Babou Ceesay, and Peter Mullan were cast as Lady Rohanne Webber, Ser Bennis of the Brown Shield, and Ser Eustace Osgrey, respectively, for the second season.^[36]

Production began in June 2024 in Belfast, Northern Ireland,^[30] and wrapped in September.^[37] Filming for the second season began in December 2025 in Belfast.^[38]

The review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes reported a 94% approval rating, based on 175 critic reviews, with an average rating of 8.25/10. The website's critics consensus reads: "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a welcome return to Westeros that works better in the buddy-comedy arena rather than solely slaying its competition."^[43] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, gave a score of 75 out of 100, based on 38 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.^[44]

Four days after the series premiere, Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) said the episode had been viewed by an estimated 6.7 million viewers in the U.S. on its first three nights of availability – including linear viewers and streams on HBO Max – which it said was the third-largest three-day viewership for a series debut in the service's history.^[50] Three days after the premiere of episode five, "In the Name of the Mother", HBO announced that the series was averaging nearly 13 million viewers per episode in the United States. This placed the show on track to become the third-largest series debut in the history of HBO Max. The network also reported that three-day viewership had increased week over week for each episode, with the exception of episode four, which was released earlier than usual due to Super Bowl LX.^[51] On February 26, 2026, four days after the broadcast of "The Morrow", WBD announced that the first season was averaging 14 million viewers per episode in the United States and 26 million worldwide; this performance made the series the third most-watched series premiere since the launch of HBO Max.^[52]

By February 2026, the graphic novel adaptation of The Hedge Knight—the first of Martin's three Dunk and Egg novellas—had reached No. 3 on Amazon's Comics and Graphic Novels chart, outselling Absolute Batman Vol. 1. The second installment, The Sworn Sword, ranked No. 7, while The Mystery Knight had yet to enter the top 100.^[53]