Spoilers are ahead for the first two episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms in the 2026 TV schedule, available streaming now with an HBO Max subscription.
The newest Game of Thrones spinoff wasted no time in establishing that it's taking a much funnier approach to Westeros than House of the Dragon, and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continued that with Episode 2. While the duo of Dunk and Egg are supplying a lot of the lightheartedness, the biggest scene-stealer of the show at this point might be Lyonel Baratheon, a.k.a. the Laughing Storm. Before even becoming the fan-favorite he is now, Daniel Ings opened up about the "chaos" he wanted to bring as the future lord of Storm's End at the Ashford Tourney.
Lyonel bonded with Dunk on his first night at Ashford, and I knew I'd love them as scene partners as soon as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms cut over to them having a drunken heart-to-heart with Dunk wearing Lyonel's antlers. The Baratheon heir went even further in winning me over in Episode 2, when he recruited Dunk (and the less helpful Egg) to a tug of war contest, complete with some extremely creative insults. And as it turned out, none of the morning's revelries stopped him from putting up a good showing in the joust! What's not to love?
The former The Gold cast member spoke with CinemaBlend and other outlets ahead of AKOTSK's premiere about making Lyonel his own while still honoring the character penned by George R.R Martin. Ings shared:
Ira [Parker], our showrunner had done so much of the work for us, I think, in terms of taking the books, the source material, and adapting it, and sort of giving life to these characters, and fleshing them out. And Peter [Claffey] is kind of Dunk-like, in a way. He's very sweet and good-natured and fun to be around and funny. So for me, playing these scenes opposite him, it was very easy to kind of imagine myself as a guy hanging out with someone who's fun and just generally a good time.
"Fun and just generally a good time" seems to be Lyonel's #1 goal in the series so far, and Dunk – deliberately or not – has been providing just that at Ashford. Daniel Ings only had good things to say about working with Peter Claffey as Dunk, and it remains to be seen if he'll share many scenes with young Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg. The squire has been Dunk's shadow since he agreed to let him stay, and the hedge knight seems destined to be roped into any of Lyonel's shenanigans whenever the noble spots him.
That's not a bad thing for any fans who were immediately won over by the character, and Ings when on to share his approach to a character known as "the Laughing Storm" in the source material. He said:
I was playing the Laughing Storm, so there was an element to which it was gonna have to be a lot of fun. I wanted to try and create a character that would inject some chaos and some anarchic fun and bon vivant energy into Westeros... It was easy to do because Ira was super open to kind of ad libbing and building out these sequences. Owen [Harris], our director would, Ira and Owen would just constantly be egging me on, and Peter's so open. Those guys made it easy.
In a beat that seems accurate to House of the Dragon, AKOTSK showed the smallfolk almost immediately having less fun once the Targaryens rode into the tourney. (That at least appears to be true for Aerion, who thus far is the closest the new show has delivered to a Daemon Targaryen.) Lyonel still seemed to be having a pretty grand time at the tourney, however. Should we expect any different from a knight who loves "anarchic fun" at an event?
Daniel Ings' comment about ad libbing does make me wonder how many of Lyonel's comments during the tug of war were improvised, because I watched that scene twice: first for the visual of what was actually happening (complete with little Egg holding on for dear life), and second to hear all of the Laughing Storm's drunken commentary.
I'm also certainly not the only one who has already become a fan. Check out just a sampling of what AKOTSK viewers are saying about Lyonel Baratheon on X (edited for clarity):
- "Found family in that Lyonel found them and decided they're his family now." - @binarysvnrise
- "Lyonel Baratheon, it seems I've grown quite fond of you." - @Mayham_H
- "Lyonel Baratheon, you’ve charmed me." - @rhaenyrism
- "Credit to Daniel Ings for playing Lyonel Baratheon as charismatically as he's meant to be. I absolutely love this house." - @Argel899
- "I can’t believe I'm about to say this but Lyonel Baratheon… you have my heart." - @livieprqts
- "Lyonel Baratheon single handedly restoring Baratheon PR." - @nedstcnnis
Honestly, after Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon so far, I'd say that the Baratheons need some good PR! It's at least fun to imagine what GOT's Stannis and AKOTSK's Lyonel would make of each other. Check out the preview for the upcoming third episode, which proves that Lyonel hasn't run out of his chaos just yet:
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms air on Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and stream on HBO Max. While a six-episode run means that the season is nearly half over, fans can rest easy on at least one count: a second season is already on the way. The funniest show in the world of Westeros was renewed for Season 2 months before it even premiered to show critics the fresh new take on the Game of Thrones franchise.
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