In the lead-up to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' premiere on January 18, 2026, the Official Game of Thrones Podcast dropped Episode 1of their AKOTSK, focusing on the new Game of Thrones prequel. Hosts Greta Johnsen and Jason Concepcion got a chance to sit down with the creator of A Song of Ice and Fire himself, George R.R. Martin, and pick his brain about The Tales of Dunk and Egg and his latest HBO adaptation of the Game of Thrones universe.
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Interestingly, George R.R. Martin revealed he still has plans for Dunk and Egg, and future novellas have not been shelved – albeit, he did note the caveat of time. Martin has gone on the record saying that he has no plans of writing any other A Song of Ice and Fire stories until the next book, The Winds of Winter, is complete. Unfortunately, it's been nearly 15 years since the last book, A Dance with Dragons, released, and there's no news suggesting Winds is coming anytime soon.
George R.R. Martin Confirms He Has More Dunk and Egg Stories to Write – But Only If He Has The Time
After discussing his feelings on the latest A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms adaptation with the Official Game of Thrones Podcast, George said, “If I have the time, you know, there’s more stories to tell about Dunk and Egg, and their education, and what’s going to befall them in future years.” Martin has been on record stating that he still has plenty more novellas to write for Dunk and Egg, all of them building up to the Tragedy at Summerhall, an even the new prequel will eventually cover assuming the show goes past the books.
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Each season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set to run for six episodes and cover one novella. This, unfortunately, means that the series will run out of book material even sooner than Game of Thrones did. Unless George R.R. Martin releases more novellas between now and 2028, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will catch up to the books by Season 3. At that point, HBO will either need to end the show altogether or move forward by adapting outlines like Game of Thrones did for Seasons 6 through 8.
George R.R. Martin Reveals His Inspiration For The Game of Thrones Prequel & Why He Couldn't Write A Tyrion Story
Near the beginning of his interview on the Official Game of Thrones Podcast, George R.R. Martin shared why he started writing a Game of Thrones prequel so early into A Song of Ice and Fire's history. “I had written and published Game of Thrones, and I was working on the second book, Clash of Kings – which, of course, was late; but Bob Silverberg, a friend of mine, one of the great, great writers and editors in the field of science fiction, had sold an anthology called Legends, an original anthology.
"Those were very big in that day, and Legends sold for a lot of money. It was an all-star collection full of the biggest names in fantasy, in particular. Ten original stories set in the universes of ten of the biggest fantasy writers in the world. Robert Jordan was in there, he had Stephen King in there, Anne McCaffrey, Ursula K. Le Guin – really all-star line-up of people – and me! Who really didn’t belong in there at that time.
"I had one book out that had done pretty well. But my second book was not out yet, and so I signed a contract to write an original Westeros story. It had to be a Westeros story. And then afterward, I said, 'Oh God, what do I do? I don’t have a Westeros story for him. And I’m not finished [with] this story yet. How can I write a Tyrion story? Then it would give away what happens to Tyrion in later books!'
"I said, 'No, it’s got to be a prequel.' For a long time, I didn’t know what it would be, but then the idea came to me for what would become The Hedge Knigh t. Beginning with Dunk, I wanted to tell a story that focused to some extent on the small folk, as I call them, on the people who were not lords. They were not contending. They weren’t even going to get the Iron Throne unless everybody else in Westeros died. All these things that are going on – the civil wars, and the magic, and the threat of the Others, or the White Walkers in the North – how does that affect the ordinary people? So I started writing what would become The Hedge Knight eventually."
Dunk and Egg Might Have To Face The White Walkers in a Future Story, Setting Up Game of Thrones' Long Night
What's notable about the above quote is that it suggests George R.R. Martin has even more plans for the White Walkers than the current books suggest. House of the Dragon has garnered some controversy for tying The Long Night to the Targaryen dynasty, but his mention of Dunk, Egg, and smallfolk dealing with the threat of the Others suggests that Martin's future plans for The Tales of Dunk and Egg will eventually have Ser Duncan the Tall and his ward coming face to face with the White Walkers.
Alternatively, a future Dunk and Egg novella could be used to introduce Aegon the Conqueror's prophecy into the A Song of Ice and Fire books. Revealed in the House of the Dragon series premiere, Viserys I Targaryen describes Aegon's prophecy to Rhaenyra, "Our histories... They tell us that Aegon looked across the Blackwater from Dragonstone, and saw a rich land ripe for the capture. But ambition alone is not what drove him to conquest. It was a dream. And just as Daenys foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men.
'Tis to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds. And whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. When this Great Winter comes, Rhaenyra... All of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen, strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream 'The Song of Ice and Fire.' This secret... It's been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time."
The Song of Ice and Fire prophecy so far only exists in the show canon, but fans have since speculated that the information came from George's plans for the books himself, and his most recent interview certainly adds more fuel to the wildfire.
Source: YouTube (@GameofThrones)
- Release Date
- January 18, 2026
- Network
- HBO
- Showrunner
- Ira Parker
- Directors
- Owen Harris
- Writers
- George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
WHERE TO WATCH
- Cast
- Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Finn Bennett, Bertie Carvel, Tanzyn Crawford, Daniel Ings, Sam Spruell, Henry Ashton, Edward Ashley, Shaun Thomas
- Franchise(s)
- Game of Thrones
- Creator(s)
- George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
