Dancing with Dragons
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Valar Morghulis
Dancing with Dragons
Tales of Dunk and Egg
The episode explores the upcoming spin-off series "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," focusing on the adventures of Dunk and Egg amidst the backdrop of Westeros. Minwa and Tony discuss the show's character-driven narrative, humor, and potential impact while addressing fan concerns about the absence of large-scale battles and dragons.
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It's Arthur Dayne.
Speaker 2:The sword of the morning. Had the attack on the Kingswood Brotherhood Defeated the Smiling Knight in single combat, sir Duncan, the Tall Four pages for Sir Duncan, he must have been quite a man.
Speaker 2:So they say Hello everyone, welcome to Dancing with Dragons, a podcast dedicated to Game of Thrones, house of the Dragon and everything else in the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, created by George RR Martin. My name is Minwa and, as always, I'm here with my co-host, tony, for a pretty important episode of our podcast. As you know, we dive into Game of Thrones, house of the Dragon and, as always, I'm here with my co-host, tony, for a pretty important episode of our podcast. As you know, we dive into Game of Thrones, house of the Dragon and the rest of the Song of Ice and Fire universe on this podcast, as I've mentioned. But today's episode is going to be an important one. We're diving into the second Game of Thrones spin-off series that we'll soon be able to add to our intro A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In this episode, we're breaking down everything you need to know about the upcoming series. We'll give you a general overview of what to expect, some behind-the-scenes info and even a look at how this show came together, the road to getting it greenlit and onto our screens. Essentially Now, the show is set to premiere this year.
Speaker 2:We're not entirely sure, when We've heard reports that it could be this summer or later this year it's not that clear as of yet, but we want to record and release this episode as soon as possible anyways, firstly because we've been told by our lovely listeners that they cannot wait for us to talk about it, but also because we're bound to be getting updates about the show in the upcoming months and any day now, including trailers for us to break down.
Speaker 2:So we want to make sure that you guys have this episode as a solid reference point to come back to, with all the key information you need to know. That way, when we start breaking down new updates or diving into the show itself, you'll be ready to go. I'm super excited for this. Our listeners are excited. I had people in person coming up to me and telling me that they want this episode because they were excited about the next spinoff of Game of Thrones. I hope everyone listening is as excited as I am. But I've talked long enough so I'll pass the mic to Tony to take us from here.
Speaker 1:Tony, are you excited for this episode or excited for the series? I'm very excited for the series, excited that it was coming out, like in june or maybe july, but now that I saw a report that said late in 2025, like all the shows we have nowadays, we have to wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. So the stark difference start. Uh, I was you always pause there when you say stark.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love saying that, I love saying that.
Speaker 1:Is that this show is going to be more grounded?
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:The series might focus more on personal journeys of characters rather than the large scale political drama that we see in GOT and HOTD, and the tone is a little bit lighter at times and Dunk as a character has a certain kind of humor and charm, which provides a contrast to the always darker tone that we see in Westeros with the political struggle that we always get Like. We don't get that many moments of levity in Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon. That's why moments with Tyrion or Bronn or you know those moments, they're so much funnier because we don't get it as much.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I think that those moments like with Tyrion Bronn you know those traditionally funny characters, tormund too when we get them in the show it is funny and appreciated because they're so very obviously moments of lightheartedness in the show. But I also think that sometimes, looking back as Game of Thrones, you can really find the humour in some awkward moments with Cersei, with those moments when she just I don't know she gets embarrassed or something. I can't recall exactly each moment off the top of my head but yeah, looking back, even with um cast the dragon, there are some really funny moments and you just need to find the humor in them. But with the knights of the seven kingdoms I think that's at least I hope it's going to be mostly light-hearted, like we will get some more like levity for sure.
Speaker 1:I I think the heart of the show lies in the bond between Dunk and Egg, so it offers the adventure, the humor and the character growth. I think people are going to love the character of Sir Duncan because he not only stands tall but he is that rare character or beacon of honor and humility in this crazy, brutal world. He stands out, he's kind of like a Ned Stark and Embarrassed and Somi. They're so honorable and no matter what people you can not like about Ned, even his enemies will say well, ned Stark was an honorable man, no matter what. And I think that despite his size, he's what 6'7", 6'5", whatever. He's deeply grounded, he shows kindness, fairness and he has a strong moral compass. In contrast to the other knights that you'll see around him, he believes in doing what's right, even if it's inconvenient, you know. So he's kind of like a symbol of hope and integrity that you don't see in this world. Because he considers himself a hedge knight, right? So hedge knights they go from turning to they're just trying to make money.
Speaker 1:He's not bound to any house, so he's not like part of House Stark or whatever. He's just going around. That's his dream, though, I think his dream, and he's like he wants to be a part of something he wants to like. He just wants to get in somehow some entry-level job, that way he could have a bed and he could eat that. That's how simple he is. Like he and he although he doesn't care about sleeping outside like he's so humble. And that's why I think I can't wait to see this on screen, because you see this big, giant guy. He's always trying to earn the respect of the world, no matter what, and if done right, he will be everybody's favorite. Well, not everybody's favorite, but he'll be one of the best characters we have in this universe.
Speaker 2:I hope so. I mean, everything that you said is entirely accurate about Dunk, and you know you made a very good point about him necessarily like, not being a part of any house, so he doesn't treat, he's not loyal to anyone, but he has that, that honor code within him and that, I think, is something that many people will respect, or at least I hope that they do, because you know we were so charmed by that when we first were introduced to Ned Stark. That's why everyone considered him the hero and wanted to see him on the throne. You know, I don't remember a single person that was either bored by Ned Stark or didn't like him. And this is I mean for the first time watch us on rewatches. We can get along with him sometimes, but like, like, if anything, you know you respect him no matter what.
Speaker 2:So I think that dunk will definitely be a version of that, as you said, and you know it's a novella, it's just like 100 pages and they're stretching it out to be like six episodes. So I think that there's room there for them to, as you said, make him one of the most memorable, beloved characters in the universe. In the universe, in the universe, I mean like, in the the um, like westeros universe. You know, like you included that clip of joffrey saying that, like he has four pages and like the book of the greatest knights I'm sure that we're gonna see scenes of dunk writing wrongs, if he sees it, yeah and everyone loves to see that yeah, I mean that's, that's an easy I won't say cheap way, but to endear us to a character.
Speaker 1:We see somebody who's who is weaker or needs help. You get a character to swoop in. Oh, he's the hero. You know that we like him. Automatically they combine the three novellas into one book. So the first novella was which I didn't know, you just told me before the recording, and it kind of blew my mind because I, I I bought the book in 2012 or 2013 or something like that, so I just assumed that it was written like all three were written together. But you told me that this first part, which is um has is called the hedge knight, is, yeah, what we're gonna see in the first season. That was written in 1998. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 2:That's before he released clash of kings yeah, it was between like book one and book two of song of ice and fire so he said let me write this little 100 page novella real quick before I write my second part of my. A song of ice and fire, yeah yeah, I mean, and then that makes you wonder, like just how much he had like up in his brain already, because on this first story you get list of all of like the different houses, like so they're, you know, like just like there's already.
Speaker 1:You know we probably got more uh targaryen name drop in the first hundred page of there than all of the first game of thrones book. Yeah, we got more uh targaryen name drop in the first hundred page of there than all of the first game of thrones book yeah we got more information on on the past kings of the targaryen dynasty, so that's kind of that's kind of funny.
Speaker 1:I'm hoping that the hundred pages or the writers who are in charge they could fill those episodes. And I don't know, I mean, we don't know about the runtime. It could be like 50 minutes or whatever. But even if they stretch it out, I would love to just see them like walking and just chatting. You know what I mean, like I don't care about that, just it doesn't have to be action all the time.
Speaker 2:We could see people walk and chat and get into, you know, whatever they get into yeah, we need to go back to like that slower pace of game of thrones, season one, because, like season one, two, three, you know, like those, you know the slower era because, um, like that's when it was at its greatest, you know when they took their time to to tell a story, to add things to a story thoughtfully, you know, not like just out of nowhere and things that don't make sense. But I'm going to bear in mind some more, because you were surprised about the 1998 point and that the story is that old and you know that George had so many of his world benched in his head already at that point. But like it gets even more surprising, I guess, and it's, I guess, reassuring but also maybe not. So he released the three stories. The first one is called the Hedge Knight. That's going to be season one.
Speaker 2:And then we have the Soren Sword, which is the second chapter slash, the second story in the book Released in 2003. That's going to be season two. And then we have the Mystery Knight, which is the third chapter and the third story and going to be season three. And then, as we know, it's just going to be those three seasons, one season for each story. I completely forgot to mention this, but george just released a new blog post about this. He he talked about tonight the seven kingdoms. We said we're going to mention george in every episode and check up on his blog post and give updates on that, but we got to get better assets and keeping up with him.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it was kind of funny because we had this idea of doing this episode and it's like he knows our podcast and he goes. Let me drop this info, maybe, so they can share it.
Speaker 2:Oh God, that means I have to finish his books as soon as possible. I'm going to finish everything by like March or something. I'll pick up my pace, guys, Don't worry. But anyways, let's go back to George and his slow pace with his own books as well. It's not just me. So in his blog he says about tonight to the seven kingdoms the series. It's done. Ira. Ira Parker, one of the showrunners, and his team wrapped the first season months ago and moved right on to post-production. I've seen all six episodes now, the last two in rough cuts, admittedly and I loved them. Duncan and Ike have always been favorites of mine, and the actors we found to portray them are just incredible. The rest of the cast are terrific as well. Wait until you guys meet the laughing storm in Tanzal Tuol. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is an adaptation of the Hedge Knight, the first of the novellas I wrote about them. It's as faithful an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for, and you all know how incredibly reasonable I am on that particular subject.
Speaker 1:That's no shade at all. No shade at all to GOT and.
Speaker 2:HOTD no no, no.
Speaker 2:He continues saying Viewers who are looking for action and more action and only action. Well, this one may not satisfy you. There's a huge fight scene here, as exciting as anyone could ask for, but there are no dragons this time around, no huge bathers, no white walkers. This is a character piece and its focus is on duty and honor, on chivalry and all its means. Thank you. This one ranks as one of the best stories I've ever written and I am so, so, so pleased that Ira Parker, ty Mickle, Aziza Barnes may they rest in peace Owen Harris and our astonishing cast and crew did right by them.
Speaker 2:The series will make its debut late this year. I am now told how late. I could not say. Maybe in the fall. I hope you will love this show as much as I do. Love this show as much as I do. Meanwhile, we'll be moving on to the Soren Sword, the second tale of Duncan Egg, and once I finish the Winds of Winter, I will need to get hopping on the Village Hero and all the other tales that await the lads. Don't worry, I'm sure your focus will remind me. And then he ends his blog post. He does this with all his posts. He ends it with how he's feeling, like feeling mood, stuff like that, and he keeps like happy, nervous, and he ends this with excitement so that's fun.
Speaker 1:He's done this before. When he talks about, uh, the show, like he did it for game of thrones, he did it for house of the dragon. I feel with this show it's a little different. It feels like a proud papa. I don't know. I feel excited to see him. That's excited. I honestly think this is just him being genuinely excited for the show and I'm happy that he actually threw in that winds of winter little tidbit there just for us, because he has to.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I'm just happy. He's happy for now. Yeah, um, I will say.
Speaker 1:I will say before you go on there, that he does mention, like we've mentioned before, um, when talking about this show, it's going to rely, it's more grounded, it's going to rely on the dynamic of the characters and the chemistry and not that many battle scenes and you know fighting scenes, uh. But then he mentions something about this fight sequence scene, battle, and I wouldn't call it a battle. Uh, it's something we've never seen before, never heard of before. We heard of the concept before of like a trial by combat For Duncan A they're going to have something called a trial by seven, and that's all I'm going to say and it's something we've never, seen in any of the shows, so that would be something new to look forward to.
Speaker 2:At the end of his blog post, George says once I finish Winds of Winter, I will need to get hopping on the Village Hero. So now you guys might be asking what is the Village Hero? Well, it's the fifth Dunkin' Egg story. And you might be wondering fifth, Didn't we say that there are just three? Well, yeah, we did mention that there are three currently published Dunkin' Egg novellas and that the show will be based on each of the existing novellas.
Speaker 2:But George actually intended for there to be 12 Dunkin' Egg novellas. Yes, we intended to write those 12 about Dunkin' Egg, covering their entire lives, spanning like 50 to 60 years, I think, like their entire entire lives and like the last few books, I think, or the last novella or two would even bridge the gap between Duncan Egg's timeline and the Game of Thrones timeline. So you'll see a lot of characters who are in Game of Thrones supposedly will make an appearance at the end of the Duncan Egg novellas, People like a young Tywin and a young Olenna, those characters, the elderly ones has he worked on them yet? Well, for a while, what we had known was that the fourth and fifth novellas are nearly complete and George has significant detailed outlines already laid out for the remaining novellas, but he paused writing on them to focus on finishing the main A Song of Ice and Fire series. And now, as I mentioned in the blog post, George shared an update for the first time in a while. He mentions that you need to get hopping on the Village Hero, which is the fifth one. So I'm assuming he hasn't written it yet, contrary to what we had believed. Maybe he only just wrote the fourth, we don't know for sure.
Speaker 2:But let me give you a quick rundown on what we know in novellas four and five, because the details are, because the outlines that he has in place for the rest of the series, for the whole Duncan Egg story, is so, so specific that, like his collaborators on some of the other Song of Ice and Fire books, like the, the, you know the universe books like the, the ones that you can get, that's like give you more like info on the world. So people that's helped him work on those books. They were like very careful about what to include in those books because they were going to spoil Duncan Egg for people. So it's very detailed, like laid out, it's not just in his head, basically. So novella four has a working title at the moment, but it's an incredibly cool working title with an incredibly cool story.
Speaker 2:It's currently titled the She-Wolves of Winterfell. It was originally intended to be published in an anthology named Dangerous Women, but now it's been postponed and we don't know when these novellas are coming out. The novella is set in Winterfell, featuring Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg as they meet the She-Wolves, a group of formidable Stark wives, widows and mothers and grandmothers. Four may be widows of previous lords of Winterfell and one, the current, Lady Stark, whose husband, Baron Stark, is dying from a wound taken while fighting. Ironborn may be a house stark succession crisis, a struggle for power among the ladies on behalf of their children. We would love to see that this would be like a mini game of thrones kind of an all-female cast kind of, except for duncan egg yeah um, like, instead of having the token women in some, as we have in some fiction series, you know like the quotes are just okay.
Speaker 2:One woman in the background, I think duncan, and we'll just be like okay, we'll just have two men there, just for face holders the main story will be among the women.
Speaker 2:I think that that's so cool. I really hope that that gets published one day. And then the fifth novella, the one that George said he'll hop onto after the Winds of Winter, is titled the Village Hero, as he mentioned, and all we know about it is that it's said to take place in the Riverlands. So okay, exciting stuff. And it is that it's said to take place in the riverlands, so okay, um, exciting stuff. And I love duncan egg and I know george really does as well. But can he hop onto a dream of spring after winds of winter?
Speaker 1:because, like a song of ice and fire is waiting george, I wish you lived to 110 and maybe once you finish a dream in spring you can hop on to the rest of the stories, and I seem to see there's a theme here. So the fourth novella is in Winterfell, the fifth one is in Riverlands, so I'm just going to assume the sixth and they're all going to be in different locations. You know, because, duncan, they go everywhere. So that's kind of cool, like every season, even if we get to like a season seven or season five, we're like, okay, it's kind of cool that every season is going to be in a different location, not just king's landing, not just winterfell you know, you mentioned the location thing, how, like, each season might be set in a different location and I think that would be really cool, you know, to allow us to see more of the world of, of you know, of w Westeros on screen, Even though you know they have these incredibly detailed outlines and the She-Wolf's idea is really cool.
Speaker 2:I hope they stick to their plan. But, you know, considering we have all of this left you know, books four to 12 left it makes me worried about how they're going to end the show. I assume they're just going to end it with a flash forward, which I hope again is satisfactory. Because they're just going to end it with a flash forward, which I hope again is satisfactory, because, like, how are you going to wrap up the story so neatly if it's supposed to be 12 novellas and you're just doing three, makes me a bit concerned as to how they're going to end the series. But I trust them and if George is happy, I'm happy.
Speaker 1:Well, well, wait a minute. I hope it's good, don't say I trust.
Speaker 2:No, I trust George, sorry sorry. I trust George, I trust George.
Speaker 1:I think that Trust. George, it depends on True, true.
Speaker 2:Thank you for catching me saying that. I trust George, I trust.
Speaker 1:George, I think it depends on the success of the show. If it's really popular, I'm pretty sure they'll be like okay, george, we're on season two now. Season four will be in four years. Can you help on that? If it's a show that people kind of dig like, oh, we like it, but it's not really popular, I think they'll be like we're done with three.
Speaker 1:We'll give you a little five minute montage of, or have like a scene of them, and then you see like Taiwan in the back or them introducing them to taiwan, or you know some cheesy thing like that. If it's not successful, then I think you know. And then that's what happened with the game of thrones. It became so huge, it was like a global phenomenon and they got nervous and they go oh we gotta, we can't let these people wait. We got to hurry up, which is funny because even back then they were doing every two years. They weren't doing every year. They could have said okay, everybody, we're going to take a three-year break, but trust us, we're going to have 10 great episodes. You know what I mean? I would have been fine with that for season seven and eight to have 10 episodes, if they made us wait.
Speaker 2:And I think thatorge said it himself, where he said it should have been 10 seasons and everyone wanted it to be 10 seasons. I think no one expected it to be eight and no one expected season seven and eight. I don't know if six is, but I don't think it it's counts. I don't think it applies where they have less episodes.
Speaker 1:You know like I think season six is ten, but no one wanted it to be to end that soon can you imagine a season, like a half a season, if they had 10, 11 seasons, and half of one of those seasons would have been exploring the what, where and why or motivations of the white walkers? Okay, why are they doing this? Like why, you know what I mean, like you don't want to hear them talk, but just kind of give us a background of them and you know. Just don't be like, okay, we're at your doorstep and then the next day everything is done. We have a couple of questions that I want to just ask them right now. First question is from Casey Elaine, underscore 13. She asked do you think the show can succeed without the big spectacles, dragons and battles?
Speaker 2:Personally, I'd say that I think that it could.
Speaker 2:I think that people walked away from season two of House of Dragons, kind of needing a break from all the dragon-ness. You know, like when I talk to friends or people like, oh, what do you think, what do you want to see about Game of Thrones, like in the prequel, because they or people like, oh, what do you think, what do you want to see about game thrones, like in the prequel, because they were asking me like what's in the works and stuff. And then they were like, to be honest, like I don't think I want to see any dragons for a while. Like I told them, oh, but you're egg and the conqueror, like that's a very cool story, I'd love to see it. They were like, yeah, like, but I, I kind of need a break from from all that now.
Speaker 2:So the fact that more than one person told me like that that's where they're at, I kind of feel like like duncan, and weirdly is premiering at the right time, like, luckily enough for them, that, um, people are feeling this way that they've had enough dragons and battles and stuff and people wanted, I think, a silver paste from house the dragon season two. It's time is going to help it succeed and land well with audiences. That's my, my, my take on it like one of the reasons why it could succeed.
Speaker 1:It could succeed whereas otherwise it wouldn't have I think, the show being more grounded, not focusing so heavily on, like the lords, and more of the small folk commoners, the show will be more character driven, we'll have these fresh stories to tell and but it will still have that game of Thrones-esque vibe to it. When I say the vibe is because we'll be encountering Baratheons and Targaryens and Tullys and all those people, even though we're not going to be seeing dragon battles or seeing dragons at all. I think it can work because the heart of the story is going to be Dunk and Egg, their chemistry and how they deal with situations that come out. And I just want to say something about egg. He's a great character because he's eight years old in the book, but I think, uh, dexter sol anzo, who plays the egg in the show, he's 10 and I think um peter claffey, is that his name?
Speaker 1:Who's playing, sir Duncan?
Speaker 1:Yeah, Peter Claffey, I'd say he's 28 years old but Dunk is like 17 in the book, so that's kind of a big age jump there, but to Egg he's going to be. I don't know why he reminds me of Arya a bit sometimes, like he, and I don't know why he reminds me of aria a bit sometimes, like he, and I don't want to explain why he reminds me of aria. It's hard, because for me to explain that it'll give you the spoilers but I'm just saying yeah that he's gonna bring that.
Speaker 1:That sass, he's, he's, he's a smart ass.
Speaker 2:Yeah, he's a know-it-all and it's gonna be the Arya, sorry the. Arya example is very accurate. Like gave a very clear picture of what they should expect, I'd say, from Egg. Because you don't want to say anything more, I'm so scared to say something.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, yeah. And I think once you watch the first episode or when you're introduced to Egg, that you'll know right away what's going on and you'll know where the show's gonna go. And it's funny because they, they, they casted this kid, which I've never seen before. He's the cutest little kid he is. So if you see his um instagram, he is so excited to be playing this role. He shaved his head, head like for real, and I think it said that he previously played young coriolanus snow yes I was reading.
Speaker 2:You saw me reading something I can see it's trying to figure out like a choreo.
Speaker 1:Yeah, don't worry that's the newest one, right yeah okay, did you like that one, by the way?
Speaker 2:that's okay okay, it was okay.
Speaker 1:I I like the book and that's a prequel to the first okay, all right the dynamic is something that the writers have to nail and we have to, like, fall in love with them within that first episode or two, and that's how I think, uh, this show is going to work and once, if you feel that connection to them, I think them being a slower pace show, it's going to be okay.
Speaker 1:Just going to safely assume that it's going to be like towards the finale yeah and once we start covering the episodes and reviewing them, um, I'll try to remember this point right here, but this is what I was talking about, yeah, I guess I'll say.
Speaker 2:I'll say that's similar to how we saw the dragons in A New Light. This is something that we'll just see in A New Light as well. You won't imagine this. You can't really come up with it on your own. You'll be surprised. You mentioned Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk. He's a big guy, he's like 6'5", so he's a really tall guy. One might have previously seen him in bad sisters or vikings, valhalla or the movie, small things like these. I think it's really cool is that they found someone that's so perfectly dunk through, just like a normal public um, like casting call for hbo. They just kept the descriptions of the two lead characters and immediately people knew that duncan edgar was going to be adapted for sure. And for Dunk the description that they gave was this soldier is very tall and physically strong, he has a humble disposition and is perceptive and thoughtful. Any ethnicity and must be at least 6'4". So I like that they included.
Speaker 1:That must be at least 6'4" and he is a Irish actor and he played rugby. He was a professional rugby player, so you know he's pretty strong. I have one more question just let's knock that out really quick from Anna Sylvester. She says other than Duncan Egg. What other characters are you excited to see on screen?
Speaker 2:I think we share a similar answer because we talked about it before we started recording. But this is someone that's mentioned briefly by name in Game of Thrones and if you look back and try to scramble, you'll probably figure out a Duncan connection. But anyways, the person is Prince Maekar Targaryen. I think that's a really interesting character and I can't wait to see him.
Speaker 1:I mean, we're talking about your. Friends will talk to you like so much targaryenness, but we're still gonna have a heavy dose of targaryens in this show.
Speaker 2:It's not the same though.
Speaker 1:Well, dragon, let's say, we're gonna have some princes here and we have, like um, your, your makers, the big one, but then you have, like the Crown Prince, baelor Brickspear, then you have Arianne Targaryen. The other character I'm really looking forward to is Ser Lino Baratheon. He is the heir to the ancestral seat of Storm's End. He is known as the Laughing Storm and he's going to be played by Daniel Ings.
Speaker 2:He's an English actor best known for psychoville lovesick and he I remember him from the crown yeah, and another character sorry that um, uh wasn't the crown is the actor that plays um prince baylor. You mentioned him, I think, um his name is bertie carville. He played um tony blair in the crown.
Speaker 1:Yes, yes, anybody who T Carville. He played Tony Blair in the Crown. Yes, anybody who was cast in the Crown knows how to act. Another character I want to see, because I want to see the dynamics between her and Dunk, is a character called Tanzel, played by Tansin Crawford. She's an Australian actor who came out in the Servant. She also came out in Tiny Beautiful Things and Swift Street. So I mean there's a lot of different characters here. They cast it really well and it's all about the writing and hopefully it's strong writing to make up for, you know, to stretch out for six episodes. I know that George is very excited. He's like giddydy, almost talking about this show and I'm I'm hoping that uh, equals good, very good, for us I hope so.
Speaker 2:I hope so. But what I wanted to say is that I think that george, uh, like he obviously is very excited, but I think it's because he just really, really loves duncan egg. I'm pretty sure that he pitched the Dunk and Egg series to HBO at the same time as House of the Dragon. He pitched two ideas to them in 2016 and then they chose House of the Dragon. So then this was on pause for a while. This is just kind of the road to development. This is how it started.
Speaker 2:But actually he was in discussion with HBO for Dunk and Egg or any prequel, I guess, back in 2013. So not long after Game of Thrones premiered, they wanted a spinoff and then he pitched Duncan Egg and House of the Dragon together. They chose House of the Dragon and then obviously House of the Dragon was also like a second option, because then they went and ordered the pilots for the long night. So it was a long road of Duncan Egg being paused and Ryan Condon was kind of involved as well. Um, he pitched it to george also, but then I think george turned it down. It's a bit of a like to me. It was a bit of a confusing situation. What happened there, but the first time we heard that dunkin egg could be adapted was in 2021. So you know, discussions for the prequel starts in 2013 and then then it was officially greenlit in 2023.
Speaker 1:So that's like a decade of back and forth, of the show being on pause, and now it's finally here in 2025 I think that it was a blessing, in disguise, that house of the dragon premiered first, because I don't think, yeah, people would have even watched dunkin egg after the no way after the failure of season eight of game of thrones people would have been like we're not watching this.
Speaker 1:They needed something big to come back the big dragons and you know what I'm saying like they needed that big of show to get people back on board. To come back to westeros.
Speaker 2:So I have something actually kind of funny to say, which is that you know, we gave our listeners so far in this podcast episode a very good, I think, idea of like the behind the scenes stuff about the Seven Kingdoms. It's essentially all they need to know. But what's actually kind of funny is that we haven't really given them the actual premise of the show and the Hedge Knight, set in an age where the Targaryen line still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the Last Dragon has not yet passed from living memory, still holds the Iron Throne and the memory of the last dragon has not yet passed from living memory. Great destiny's powerful foes and dangerous exploits await all these improbable and incomparable friends. Dunk and Egg A century before the events of Game of Thrones. They were Sir Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, and it is set 89 years before the beginning of Game of Thrones and 77 years after the second season finale of House of the Dragon. So it's like right between House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones.
Speaker 1:Before we head out. I wanted to mention something that I, a few weeks ago, I was at a casino Okay, I know this is out of left field. Anyway, I had like a $5 bill in my pocket. I found a nickel slot. I start playing and within two minutes I'm already down to my last credits. I tap it, boom, and all of a sudden I hit something and it's just like like just going crazy, and now I have like 4,900 credits, which is 4,900 times five cents. Let me just say that I was kind of not all there because I had a few drinks and I'm thinking what is this 44,900?
Speaker 2:I couldn't compute what that was I go $4,900 times $0.05.
Speaker 1:So I clicked the thing and when I got the receipt it said $230.
Speaker 2:OK.
Speaker 1:My son is like OK, let's take that money, let's bet it, let's go somewhere else. I'm like no, I'm a winner here. I bet five bucks and I got 230 back. That's it, I'm done.
Speaker 1:So anyway, the point of this story is that I took that money and bought a brand new surround sound because I had a surround sound for my TV Very old, the speakers were going out, in and out and I got it yesterday in the mail from Amazon. I hooked it up and the first thing I did was put the first disc of Season 3 of Game of Thrones to my Blu-ray and just to see, like the sound and anyway, that just got me really excited to say I really like, want to start Season 3 soon. So I think what we're trying to say is that what I'm trying to say is that I think we're going to do two to three more standalone episodes and then we're going to start our coverage and our revisit of season three of Game of Thrones probably in March. So that's, that's the official word that we have here.
Speaker 2:That sounds good. I can't wait to dive into another 17 games and go episode by episode. But I got to say I can't wait to get to game of thrones season three as well. I miss danny. I miss seeing her on screen, so I can't wait until we just dive into both of these shows game of thrones, season three and denies and deny to the seven kingdoms. I think it's also going to be such a fun experience for us, but also a treat for our listeners because we'll be diving into both shows episode by episode. So that's like a lot of of fun Game of Thrones content for them as well and for us to make.
Speaker 1:What got me excited about covering season three is that when you put on the Blu-ray, you get the music and you see all they do a little preview before you press play or anything and you see like all the little events that happen. Anyway, that's going to be all for us. Minwa and I want to thank you for tuning into this episode. Whether you're listening on Spotify, apple Podcasts or iHeartRadio, we really appreciate if you could download, save and leave us a rating. It helps a lot To stay up to date with the podcast. Be sure to follow us on Instagram at dancingwith__dragons. If you got an idea or topic you'd like us to cover, dm us there. We'd love to hear from you. So until next time, take care and peace out.
