'Knight of Seven Kingdoms' showrunner explains omission of iconic scene

The creators of a knight of the seven kingdoms take the same oath: to always own up to their mistakes.

Ira Parker, the showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — the latest Game of Thrones spinoff — admitted he made a “mistake” by cutting a fan-favourite scene from George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight — a moment many readers consider the emotional core of the story.

The omitted exchange occurs before Dunk’s Trial of the Seven, when the would-be knight asks blacksmith Steely Pate, “Why? Who am I to them?” In the novella, Pate replies, “A knight who remembered his vows.”

During a recent Reddit AMA, a fan called the decision to omit the scene “an odd choice.” Parker responded candidly: “Honestly it was a mistake on my part. Not my first, not my last on this show.”

He explained that the scene had originally been scripted but “fell out” during revisions. “I agree that 'a knight who remembers his vows' is the soul of this story, but I think that is still very much at the core of the show, even if I stupidly left out this scene. It may not be said explicitly, but Dunk's actions remain the same.”

Parker also acknowledged another oversight involving Prince Maekar’s heraldry, joking, “That would have made it soooo easy to distinguish him in the fog. Whoops.”

Despite the slip-ups, the series has earned strong reviews and high praise from Martin himself, proving that even in Westeros, a little humility goes a long way.