A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker has admitted that removing a scene from George R.R. Martin’s novella The Hedge Knight was “a mistake.”
The omitted moment featured an exchange between Dunk and the blacksmith Steely Pate, including the line many readers consider the moral heart of the story: “A knight who remembered his vows.”
In the novella, as Dunk heads toward what he believes may be his doom, he is greeted respectfully by the smallfolk. Confused, he asks, “Why? Who am I to them?” Steely Pate replies, “A knight who remembered his vows.”
Speaking during a Reddit AMA, Parker said the scene had been included in the script of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms at one point but ultimately fell out during the adaptation process. While acknowledging the line’s importance, he maintained that the show still conveys the same theme through Dunk’s actions, even if it is no longer stated explicitly.
The HBO prequel has been widely praised for its faithfulness to Martin’s source material. A second season has already been greenlit; although the overall budget remains the same, rising production costs due to inflation and new filming locations are expected to increase expenses.
Click here to read our interview with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms creator Ira Parker.
