Westeros returned to HBO in the 2026 TV schedule with A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which seemingly established itself right away as a comedic take on the Game of Thrones world that wouldn't be preoccupied with the Targaryen family tree quite like House of the Dragon. Well, the first season ended with the Targaryen heir to the throne dead and Dunk rather short on laughs, but the dynamic duo of Dunk and Egg optimistically set off for some new adventures elsewhere. I found myself thinking back on Egg's song as one of my favorite jokes, and what showrunner Ira Parker said about its significance.
First things first! The song in question is called "The Hammer and the Anvil," and it tells the story of the Battle of the Redgrass Field from George R.R. Martin's lore. The fun of it isn't that it's a history lesson, however, but in the clever wordplay that almost had young Dexter Sol Ansell dropping some very unprincely language. You can find the song for yourself about eight minutes into Episode 3 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms with an HBO Max subscription, or just read out the lyrics below:
- "Prince Baelor was the first born, Prince Maekar spring out last
- Daemon was the bastard, so they kicked his bastard–
- Grass is green in summer, green grass I adore
- But grass is red all over when you kill a rebel–
- Horses die in battle, this battle was the front
- Blackfyre's not a trueborn, he came from the wrong–
- Country was in peril, the Anvil was a rock,
- The Hammer smashed the bastard with his giant veiny–
- Host of Dornish spearmen!"
Even if you haven't read George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga or all of his lore books cover to cover, I think the wordplay turns the song into one of the funniest parts of the first season. Aside from the fun of young Egg cheerfully singing these lyrics perched in a tree while Dunk vomited just off camera, they also touch on an era of Westeros that the showrunner has already said will be important.
Even though Baelor is dead and Maekar seemed out of the story by the end of the first season, Daemon Blackfyre is going to cast a shadow over Season 2 despite being smashed by his uncle's host of veiny Dornish spearmen years earlier. Speaking with CinemaBlend about Egg's song, Ira Parker explained the real meaning of its inclusion:
When you go back through, I wanted people to sort of get a sense of, 'Oh, yeah, he was a Targaryen all along.' So there's little bits of that, his reaction to Targaryens coming, him singing this song about his dad and his uncle, essentially. And also, the Blackfyre Rebellion is so crucial. It's so important to their entire lives.
I won't go deep into the lore here, by the Blackfyre Rebellion (and later Rebellions) stem from one Targaryen king who legitimized all of his many bastards right before dying, setting off a conflict in which Daemon Blackfyre tried to seize the throne from his trueborn half brother. The conflict also affects Dunk and Egg during the events of The Sword Sword, the second of George R.R. Martin's novellas following the duo. Ira Parker went on:
They're in and out of six of these [rebellions], and obviously, Book 2 deals with it in a much more significant way. Anything that we could possibly get in and help our hand later on down the line was good for us, and so that was the intention of the song.
Season 2 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was already in production by the time the Season 1 finale released, and the show is expected back with new episodes in 2027. The show debuted amidst George R.R. Martin opening up about his "abysmal" relationship with House of the Dragon's showrunner, and AKOTSK has been quite faithful to Martin's novellas in a way that House of the Dragon hasn't been to Fire & Blood.
Star Peter Claffey revealed how the author reacted when he visited the set, and Ira Parker has expressed hopes that they can adapt all three novellas so far. As for whether A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will outpace the show just like Game of Thrones did with the A Song of Ice and Fire books... well, only time will tell.
For now, you can always revisit the full first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms streaming on HBO Max, but you won't have to wait until Season 2 in 2027 to go back to the world of Westeros. House of the Dragon Season 3 will arrive on HBO in June.
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