A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Book vs. Series
HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026), created by Ira Parker and George R. R. Martin, begins with The Hedge Knight, the first novella in Martin’s 2015 collection. Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell play Dunk and Egg.
From Books Adapted
Which books each season covers
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms starts with one of three shorter stories
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms begins with The Hedge Knight. The book called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms collects that story with The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight, in that order.
| Season | Story adapted |
|---|---|
| 1 | The Hedge Knight, the first Dunk and Egg story. |
| 2* | The Sworn Sword, the second story. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
* As of October 18, 2026, season 2 is announced for 2027 and has not aired.
The Sworn Sword is the next announced adaptation. The Mystery Knight remains unadapted; Martin has said he hopes to bring it to a later season.
The original series overtakes the published books
Game of Thrones begins with seasons that mainly follow the first two books. After that, the series splits books across seasons and combines stories that happen at the same time.
| Season | Books and coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 | A Game of Thrones (book 1). |
| 2 | Mainly A Clash of Kings (book 2), with some material brought forward from A Storm of Swords. |
| 3 | Roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords (book 3), with some stories moving at different speeds. |
| 4 | Mainly the later parts of A Storm of Swords, alongside material from A Feast for Crows (book 4) and A Dance with Dragons (book 5). |
| 5 | Combines A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, with substantial changes and some remaining material from A Storm of Swords. |
| 6 | Uses remaining material from books 4 and 5 while moving beyond them, drawing on Martin's plans and the television writers' own stories. |
| 7 | Continues beyond the published books, using Martin's outline and the television writers' own developments. |
| 8 | Concludes the television story beyond the published books. It is not an adaptation of a published final book. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons overlap in time and follow different groups of characters. Their stories cannot be separated neatly into two successive television seasons.
As of October 18, 2026, The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring remain unpublished. Substantial parts of books 4 and 5 remain unadapted, including stories centered on Arianne Martell and Victarion Greyjoy. Martin has said that some events in his ending will match the series and others will differ.
House of the Dragon takes several seasons from one history book
House of the Dragon adapts part of Fire & Blood. Its subject is the Dance of the Dragons and the events leading to it. The book covers a much longer stretch of Targaryen history.
| Season | Book and coverage |
|---|---|
| 1 | Fire & Blood: the succession disputes and family history leading into the Dance of the Dragons. |
| 2 | Fire & Blood: the opening stages of the civil war. |
| 3 | Fire & Blood: continues the civil war, including the Battle of the Gullet and the season finale at Tumbleton. |
| 4* | Planned final season continuing the Dance of the Dragons. A precise final book boundary has not been announced. |
| A guide, not an exact match: shows move scenes and storylines between books and seasons. | |
* As of October 18, 2026, season 4 is announced for 2028 and has not aired.
The Dance's conclusion remains ahead of the series. Earlier reigns and other parts of Fire & Blood are not covered in full by these seasons. This is a prequel drawn from a separate book, not the next part of A Song of Ice and Fire.
What changed from the book
Contains spoilersTap to show
The finale makes Egg's departure a lie
The finale reveals that Maekar has not given Egg permission to travel with Dunk, despite Egg's claim. That final scene is not in The Hedge Knight.
Parker read the novella as leaving room for Egg to have claimed permission without receiving it. He said the change matched Egg's habit of lying to get what he wants.
How it was adapted
Dunk's private thoughts become physical performance
The stories stay close to Dunk's thoughts, including his doubts about himself. The series keeps that focus on one person instead of moving between several families.
Parker said Peter Claffey's body language, eyes, and humor were central to expressing the thoughts that prose can give directly. He wanted the filming to convey a helmet's weight, Dunk's breathing, and the awkwardness of talking with Tanselle through what Dunk feels in the moment.
About the book and the series
- Author
- George R. R. Martin
- Year
- 2015
- Pages
- 368Buy book
- Audiobook length
- 10 hrGet audiobook
- Narrator
- Harry Lloyd
Dunk earns his living with a sword, a few horses, and the help of Egg, a sharp-tongued boy with a name he cannot safely advertise. These three novellas follow their travels through Westeros, where a tournament, a quarrel between neighboring landowners, and a wedding draw them into the affairs of powerful families. Dunk tries to keep his knightly promises even when his employers and social betters find them inconvenient.
- Creator
- George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
- Writer
- Ira Parker
- Year
- 2026
- Episode
- 37 minWatch on Amazon
- Seasons
- 1
- Episodes
- 6
- Network
- HBO
- Cast
- Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Daniel Ings, Bertie Carvel
- Genre
- Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
- IMDb
- View on IMDb
With his elderly master dead, Dunk arrives at Ashford hoping a place in the tournament will earn him enough money to keep going. Egg, a persistent boy who appoints himself his squire, helps him navigate a gathering of knights and princes who barely notice him. But when Dunk intervenes to protect a puppeteer from a prince, his chance to prove himself becomes a fight to survive royal punishment.
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