New Game of Thrones Prequel ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’
Credit: HBO
Westeros has returned to its “home of Thrones” as HBO’s latest prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, arrives on screens on Monday, bringing large-scale production back to Northern Ireland.
Based on George RR Martin’s acclaimed “Dunk and Egg” novellas, the series follows Ser Duncan the Tall and his young squire Egg around a century before the events of Game of Thrones, and roughly 100 years after the start of House of the Dragon. Unlike the more CGI-heavy Dragon prequel, this new chapter leans on rugged landscapes, practical sets and outdoor filming.
It was confirmed in 2024 that the production would be based in Northern Ireland, reversing the trend set by House of the Dragon, which relocated to England. For many fans and industry workers here, that decision feels like a homecoming.
‘Could only be filmed in Northern Ireland’
Tour operator and long-time fan Robert Dowling, who runs Game of Thrones tours, believes the new series is inseparable from its Northern Irish backdrop.
“This particular Westeros story could only be filmed in Northern Ireland,” he told BBC News NI, pointing to its reliance on natural scenery rather than digital effects.
Key filming locations include:
- Glenarm Castle, County Antrim
- Myra Castle, County Down
- Tollymore Forest Park
- Hen Mountain in the Mournes
- Cave Hill, Belfast
- The “Hidden Village” of Galboly in the Glens of Antrim
- Titanic Studios, Belfast
Dowling argues that the character-driven, on-the-road narrative of Dunk and Egg feels closer to early Game of Thrones, when sweeping landscapes and sharp dialogue carried the story.
“The story is full of beautiful landscape, involving character development of two people going on a journey together and having interesting dialogue – much like the early seasons of Game of Thrones,” he said. “That kind of outdoor filming could only happen in Northern Ireland.”
Tours expand as Westeros map grows
Dowling launched his Game of Thrones Tours in 2014, built around now-iconic locations from the original show such as:
- Castle Ward (Winterfell)
- Ballintoy Harbour (the Iron Islands)
- The Dark Hedges (the King’s Road)
- Inch Abbey (the Riverlands)
Those itineraries will now blend old and new, with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sites added to the route.
“We believe that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms locations are going to grow over time because, although everybody knows there’ll be three seasons of this new show, we have strong reason to believe there’ll be more,”
Dowling said.
More ‘Dunk and Egg’ stories on the way?
The TV series adapts Martin’s three novellas:
- The Hedge Knight
- The Sworn Sword
- The Mystery Knight
HBO drama chief Francesca Orsi has previously said the aim is to produce three seasons, one for each story. Season two has already been greenlit, with filming beginning in December 2025 and a release pencilled in for 2027.
Martin himself has repeatedly hinted that Dunk and Egg’s journey is far from over. Speaking on the official Game of Thrones companion podcast, he said that “if I have the time, there’s more stories to tell about Dunk and Egg and their education and what’s going to befall them in future years.”
In a 2014 blog post, he went further, teasing at least two additional tales and expressing his ambition to “write a whole series of novellas… chronicling their entire lives.”
Any extension of the saga would be welcome in Northern Ireland, where Game of Thrones transformed the screen industry and delivered a major tourism boost over the last decade.
Extras return and hope for a tourism revival
For people like Adrian Hanna, the return of a major Westeros production to Northern Ireland is both professional relief and personal nostalgia. Hanna, who worked as an extra on the original series and later as a private tour guide and Ser Davos Seaworth lookalike, has also appeared in the new prequel.
He said stepping back on set meant reuniting with familiar faces.
“You see the same faces, the sound people and the props people and makeup, they’re all the same, they’re all lovely,”
he told BBC News NI.
“We were all saying: ‘Good to see you again… Do you think you’re going to enjoy this one?’”
Joking about “more days out standing in a field in the rain,” Hanna added that many local crew members were “really disappointed” when they learned House of the Dragon was being shot elsewhere.
“So it is nice that it’s come back, and I would hope that it would bring a resurgence of travel back,”
he said.
‘Home of Thrones’ status renewed
For NI Screen chief executive Richard Williams, HBO’s decision to return confirms Northern Ireland’s long-term place inside the Game of Thrones universe.
“We always knew that we had this ongoing relationship with HBO – our biggest ever customer – and the touchstone of quality global TV drama, so we were absolutely ecstatic to have it back,” he said.
“This reaffirms, both from an industry perspective, and from an audience and tourism point of view, that we are the home of Thrones.”
Williams described the scale of the production as vast.
“If you go to the set on one of these large productions – whatever your notion of the scale is – is always wrong, the thing is always 10 times bigger. It’ll be muddy I suspect, but it’ll still look fabulous.”
On the prospect of further seasons, he remains cautiously optimistic:
“Time will tell if the series grows, as others have suggested, but we would be absolutely delighted and ecstatic for it to continue on.”
“What we want is for our relationship with HBO to continue on. They’ve been here for 15 years; we want them to be here for another 15 years. If that’s an extension of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – fabulous. If that’s other strands and stories coming out of the never-endingly rich Westeros/Game of Thrones world – equally great.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is available on Sky Atlantic and NOW TV from 19 January.
