Posted in: Game Of Thrones, HBO, TV | Tagged: A Knight in the Seven Kingdoms, game of thrones

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Showrunner Talks "Boogie Nights" Nod

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker discusses the second episode's "impressive" opening and how "Boogie Nights" inspired it.

As far as where A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms fits in Game of Thrones in terms of gratuity, it's generally been up front, quite literally, with its "flashy" moments at the beginning of the episode. First, we see star Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan "Dunk" the Tall performing his morning chores, including performing a natural act behind the tree, like how horses do in the premiere episode "The Hedge Knight." In the following episode, "Hard Salt Beef," we see Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) in a flashback sequence doing something similar, draining the lizard. Speaking with Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Ira Parker broke down the opening scene.

A Knight in the Seven Kingdoms Showrunner on Ser Arlan's Full Frontal Scene

As we see Ser Arlan go about his day, it culminates in him relieving himself nonchalantly in front of others. Of course, EW wondered if the lizard he drained was his own. "Was that a prosthetic? I forget," Parker joked. "I thought he just showed up on set that way, but maybe it was prosthetic." Before the opening credit scene, we see Ser Arlan dying and Ser Dunk carrying him to his final resting place. "I felt bad for Ser Arlan at some point," Parker reflects. "He was the only person who's ever looked out for Dunk and really stuck with Dunk. And he died on a muddy road in the middle of nowhere, was buried without ceremony, and now Dunk is going around trying to find somebody who just even remembers him — people that he served for, people that he bled for, these knights and these lords. They can't even remember his name. I felt the need to give him his one special thing, to channel a little 'Boogie Nights', I suppose," referencing the 1997 Paul Thomas Anderson film and star Mark Wahlberg's character's closing shot.

The series, which takes place 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones, follows Ser Duncan the Tall as he tries to prove himself in the realm during the Targaryen dynasty, and accompanying him is his squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). We see throughout the series how Ser Arlan helped shape Dunk to be the man he is today. "I can't say it zips past you at 100 miles per hour because, you know, it's out there, but it's not the story that we're telling. It is just a flourish of the story that we're telling. It changes nothing else," Parker continues. "In order to survive to be an Old Man Hedge Knight, you had to be made of solid fucking iron. Those were tough days for anyone, let alone a fighting warrior who lived under trees in the 14th century. So, you know, he's a small guy, and he's slim. I figured he's got something that helps him get through those really intense battles. He's got a certain energy about him, if you will." New episodes of A Knight in the Seven Kingdoms air Sundays on HBO.

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