“Game of Thrones” prequel “The Hedge Knight” finds its Dunk and Egg

EW can exclusively confirm that Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell will star in HBO's next Westeros-set drama.

Meet the Dunk and Egg of HBO's Game of Thrones franchise.

Peter Claffey (Bad Sisters) and Dexter Sol Ansell (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) have landed the two lead roles in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, the next Thrones spinoff series to follow House of the Dragon, Entertainment Weekly can exclusively report.

The prequel is based on author George R.R. Martin's Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and is set about a century before the events of Game of Thrones. Claffey will star as "Dunk," a.k.a. Ser Duncan the Tall, a young, naïve, and courageous knight; and Ansell will star as "Egg," the nickname for Duncan's diminutive squire.

"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," the official series description reads.

Claffey, a former Connacht Rugby player in Ireland, made his stage debut at Dublin's Abbey Theatre in A Whistle in the Dark by Tom Murphy. He was seen in 2022's Bad Sisters and Wreck, and he's set to star opposite Cillian Murphy in Small Things Like These and to appear in season 3 of Vikings: Valhalla.

Ansell, now 9 years old, started his acting career at the age of 4 on ITV's 2019 show Emmerdale. His credits include Sky's thriller series The Midwich Cuckoos and Netflix's comedy film Christmas on Mistletoe Farm, but he more recently portrayed a younger Coriolanus Snow in last year's The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. Ansell also has roles lined up in The Moor, Channel 4's Hullraisers, and Robin and The Hood.

Martin wrote in a 2023 blog entry that season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight will adapt the first of his three novellas, 1998's The Hedge Knight, which was followed by 2003's The Sworn Sword and 2010's The Mystery Knight.

The author writes and executive produces the prequel series with Ira Parker, who worked in the writers' room on House of the Dragon. (Parker wrote season 1's fourth episode, "King of the Narrow Sea.") House of the Dragon co-creator Ryan Condal, franchise veteran Vince Gerardis, Owen Harris (Mrs. Davis), and Sarah Bradshaw (Citadel) are also on board as executive producers.

Officially announced almost a year ago with a series order, The Hedge Knight closed its writers' room for the duration of the Hollywood WGA strike. However, HBO confirmed in February that the series is now in preproduction ahead of a planned premiere in late 2025 on Max.

Back in November, Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav made clear the company's mission to "have a real focus on franchises" moving forward, and Game of Thrones was one of the properties that came to mind. In addition to House of the Dragon and now The Hedge Knight, multiple other spinoffs are currently being considered for a green light. Those range from a Kit Harington-pitched Jon Snow show, animated projects like the concept about a younger Sea Snake/Corlys Velaryon (Steve Toussaint's role on House of the Dragon), and, as reported more recently, a drama about Aegon's conquest of Westeros. Nothing official has been announced beyond the first two projects.

Meanwhile, House of the Dragon returns for season 2 on June 16, continuing the adaptation of the Dance of the Dragons, the civil war chronicled in Martin's book Fire and Blood. Set during the height of Targaryen power in Westeros, the prequel stars Emma D'Arcy as Rhaenyra Targaryen and Olivia Cooke as Alicent Hightower, former childhood friends turned adversaries who are both credited and blamed for sparking one of the bloodiest conflicts Westeros has ever seen.

Season 2 will kick off the war between Rhaenyra and her half-brother Aegon II Targaryen (Tom Glynn-Carney), Alicent's son, over who will sit the Iron Throne. The cast also features Matt Smith, Rhys Ifans, Steve Toussaint, Eve Best, Fabien Frankel, Ewan Mitchell, and Sonoya Mizuno.

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