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Tales of Dunk and Egg, which follows 2022’s House of the Dragon as HBO’s other Game of Thrones-related series in development with author George R. R. Martin, has landed a writer. Reported by Variety, the task of adapting Martin’s novellas, which take place in the same universe as Thrones, falls to Steve Conrad, who will also be an executive producer.
Conrad is perhaps best known for creating the Amazon Prime series Patriot, a spy show which offered a twisty look at depression, PTSD, and the challenges for anyone, even a government spy, to get from Point A to Point B. Conrad also co-created Perpetual Grace, LTD, which Reporter Door named one of the best shows of 2019.
At the time we noted Perpetual Grace, LTD’s “colorful dialogue that borders on the poetic.” Conrad’s comfort with poetic dialogue and plot twists could prove helpful in adapting Martin’s work. Dunk and Egg refer to Ser Duncan, a knight without a master referred to as a “hedge knight,” and Egg, his young squire.
Throughout three novellas — The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight — the duo take a ground-level view of a Westeros run by Targaryens. There are tourneys, rebellions, and palace intrigues galore, especially when Dunk learns that Egg is actually Targaryen prince himself.
Image: Dabel Brothers Productions
HBO has been looking to expand its Game of Thrones universe for some time. At one point, five spinoff shows were planned, although this number has mostly recently dropped to three. House of Dragons is the furthest along, having already dropped an intriguing trailer.
But dragons are only one thing looming over Tales of Dunk and Egg. While Game of Thrones was a genuine global phenomena, the show’s finale, to quote Gretchen Felker-Martin’s series review, “unleashed a seemingly bottomless geyser of fan discontent ranging from mile-long Twitter threads to an honest-to-God petition for HBO to remake the eighth season from scratch.”
For many fans, the last season of Thrones took the wind out of the show’s sails. For some, the problems had begun much earlier. Reportedly, this group includes George R. R. Martin.
Winter is Coming spotted a quote from James Andrew Miller’s new book, Tinderbox: HBO’s Ruthless Pursuit of New Frontiers, which delves into the making of several shows on the network. Quoted in the book is Paul Haas, Martin’s agent, saying that while the author “loves” Thrones showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss, starting at “season 5 he did start to worry about the path they were [going down] because George knows where the story goes. He started saying, ‘You’re not following my template’. The first 5 seasons stuck to George’s roadmap. Then they went off George’s roadmap.”
Martin has not said any of this publicly, and after the show’s ending wrote a blog post praising Benioff and Weiss for assembling “a championship team,” although the post does not comment on the ending itself.
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