Game of Thrones spin-off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has proved to be one of the TV highlights of the year, meaning fans have been desperately awaiting season 2, which is currently in production.
Since it started filming, there have been reports of difficulties due to extreme weather halting production. Now, showrunner Ira Parker has revealed just how challenging season 2 has been to make, while speaking with The Hollywood Reporter.
When asked which season of the show was harder to film, Parker said that while “Season 1 was so hard,” season 2 is “somehow 10 times harder”.
He continued: “This has been a brutal, brutal season. The biggest part has been this weather. We had to go somewhere for some heat and dryness because Book Two takes place in a drought.”
“The place we chose to shoot our drought in got a once-in-a-100-year storm,” he explained. “It kept getting water, and we got rained out of locations. We got flooded. There were national emergencies. We had to put the crew on hiatus. We were going to go back — and then it happened again. There’s been so much stopping and starting that it’s been hard to get into a real cadence.
“This has been going on too long for a six-episode season, and we still have three more weeks of shooting. But what’s helped is that Peter and Dexter are a year more experienced and have their thing down. So we’ve sidestepped some of the growing pains of season 1. Season 2 has been a f**king bastard.”
Thankfully, despite all of this, Parker did confirm that he still expects season 2 to arrive on HBO in the first half of next year – a much shorter turn-around time that other Thrones spin-off, House of the Dragon.
Parker also weighed in on his plans for the future, having previously said that he would like to adapt George RR Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, before taking a multi-year break and coming back to it when stars Dexter Sol Ansell and Peter Claffey are older, to tell new stories.
Elaborating on this, Parker said: “I’d love to expand it from three seasons to maybe four or five. Book four, which George is working on, takes place in a very cool location. And five is the last story point of Egg as a boy. So it’s a very natural ending place for us to take a break and come back when Dexter is older.
“So then we can do Egg the Prince, do some politics, do some fun stuff in Summer Hall and King’s Landing, and get a different vibe where they’re not on the road all the time.
“So if the show wraps and people are still OK with everything we’re doing and there’s still an appetite, let the show evolve along with our leads, with myself and with the rest of our creative team as we grow older and the world changes and we want to say different things. I think that would be a lovely way to tell a story about these two guys through the course of their lives.”
When asked whether, after the initial five seasons, he would be happy to recast Egg with an older actor if HBO asked for it, Parker said: “No. Dexter is our Egg. Or, at least, Dexter is my Egg – I have no controlling interest in this property. But Dexter and Peter are my guys.”
Want to see this content?
This page contains content provided by Google reCAPTCHA. We ask for your permission before anything is loaded, as Google reCAPTCHA may use cookies and other technologies. To view this content, choose ‘Accept and continue’ to allow Google reCAPTCHA and its required purposes.
Alongside the returning cast, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 2 will star Lucy Boynton as Lady Rohanne, Babou Ceesay as Ser Bennis, and Peter Mullan as Ser Eustace Osgrey, three key characters from Martin’s second Dunk and Egg novella, The Sworn Sword.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is available to watch on HBO Max, Sky Atlantic and NOW – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.
Add A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to your watchlist on the Radio Times: What to Watch app – download now for daily TV recommendations, features and more.
Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what’s on. For more TV recommendations and reviews, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.
