One Genius ‘Game of Thrones’ Scene Unintentionally Teased ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Spin-off Years Ago and It Could Mean a Big Surprise to Awaiting Fans

HBO’s fantasy drama series created by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss, Game of Thrones, introduced some of the audience to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, a series of fantasy novels by George R. R. Martin. The show to date is regarded as one of the greatest television series of all time, recording a groundbreaking viewership upon release.

The prequel series House of the Dragon premiered in 2022 and received the same amount of love and support from the critics and the audience. The show was praised for its writing, character development, visual effects, and performances. Ahead of the release of another prequel series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, fans noticed one scene from Game Of Thrones that teased the upcoming show before it was announced.

Will Games of Thrones‘ Maester Aemon Targaryen make an appearance in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is an upcoming prequel series of HBO’s Game of Thrones based on Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas by George R.R. Martin. It stars Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Dol as Ansell as Egg. According to Deadline, the story is set about 72 years after House of the Dragon but 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones.

George R. R. Martin explained why the series is not named Dunk & Egg when the story is about them. (via Deadline) He shared that he knows that his fans love Dunk & Egg stories, but there are millions of people out there who do not know the stories, and they need a title to intrigue them. He noted that they wanted ‘Knight’ in the title, as knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of the stories.

Now, eagle-eyed fans of Game of Thrones who are excited about the prequel pointed out that one specific scene from Game of Thrones teased the upcoming show years before it was announced. Maester Aemon, before passing away, had provided one last counsel to Jon Snow at Castle Black to kill the boy within him and let the man be born. He explained (via Joe Movies),

Allow me to give my lord one last piece of counsel, the same counsel that I once gave my brother when we parted for the last time. He was 33 when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grows with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg (Aegon) had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the wall. It takes a man to rule.

He is technically not in the novellas but there is a passage in the second book about how Dunk and Egg went to the Citadel and visited Aemon and he gifted them a Mule named Maester

There is room to show this if they wanted to

— Andrew Pellom (@souljaboypellom) September 15, 2024

Maester Aemon calls for ‘Egg,’ while on his deathbed, and reportedly it’s going to be the same Egg that the audience will be introduced to in the upcoming show. This scene also raises the question amongst fans if Maester Aemon is going to appear on the show.

Fans have mentioned that witnessing Egg’s journey in the show is going to add so much depth to Maester Aemon’s memories that fans heard in GOT. They also noted that there is room to bring Maester Aemon to the show if the makers want.

Prequel series A Knight of Seven Kingdoms wraps filming

According to reports from Winter Is Coming, the filming for A Knight of Seven Kingdoms has wrapped up. It has been reported that the show is going to have six episodes for season one, and the run time for the episodes will be shorter than the run time for HOTD. The prequel is scheduled for release in 2025, but no specific date has been mentioned.

The author Martin has now praised A Knight of Seven Kingdoms by stating (via Geek Tyrant)

I visited the set in Northern Ireland in July and loved what I saw. Great cast. Dunk and Egg look as if they walked out of the pages of my book. My readers are going to love them. I certainly do. Showrunner Ira Parker is doing a great job.

Praises for A Knight of Seven Kingdoms come a week after the author criticized the changes made in House of the Dragon. He wrote in his blog (via Geek Tyrant) that he promised the audience some further thoughts about Blood and Cheese and Maelor the Missing after his commentary on the first two episodes. He added,

Those were terrific episodes; well-written, well-directed, and powerfully acted. A great way to kick off the new season. Fans and critics alike seemed to agree. There was only one aspect of the episode that drew significant criticism: the handling of Blood and Cheese and the death of Prince Jaehaerys.

Martin goes on to explain in the book that when Blood and Cheese break into the room, they ask Halaena about which son she’d sacrifice. Martin reminded the fans that Halaena had three children in the book: twins (6) and a younger Maelor (2). She offers her life instead, and later when they tell her that they’d kill all three if she didn’t pick one, she chooses Maelor, but they kill Jaehaerys instead.

In the show, she offers them a necklace, but they are not tempted and eventually kill Prince Jaehaerys. The problem he had with the scene was the fact that it was powerful in the book but looked weak on-screen. He clarified that the actors did a good job, but they should have been more frightening. He deleted the post after warning the fans about the changes in upcoming season three.

House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones are streaming on HBO.