HBO’s latest venture into the Game of Thrones universe, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, boldly distinguishes itself by altering a core element that contributed to the original series’ immense popularity.

**Be advised, spoilers ahead for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 1, “The Hedge Knight,” available now on HBO Max**

In contrast to its predecessor, House of the Dragon, which retained Ramin Djawadi’s iconic Game of Thrones theme for its opening sequence, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes a different route. This prequel omits elaborate opening credits altogether. Intriguingly, the show hints at the familiar GoT theme in its initial scenes, only to transition abruptly to the main character, Dunk (portrayed by Peter Claffey), in a rather unceremonious act.

By literally dismissing the Game of Thrones theme, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sets itself apart as a fresh narrative in the realm of Westeros.

This humorous introduction is a deliberate choice by the series’ creator and showrunner, Ira Parker, who crafted the moment to reflect the unique personality of the character.

“Dunk is picking up Ser Arlan’s sword, and he’s saying, ‘I’m going to go be the guy. I’m going to go out there, I’m going to fight. I’m going to do the hard thing. I’m going to be a knight,’” Parker told DECIDER. “But then the reality of what that takes dawns on him and all of a sudden he finds his guts have turned to water.”

“You know, in the exact opposite of a heroic position: an unheroic crouch,” Parker said.

“That was probably the funniest day I’ve had on set, I think. Yeah, for sure,” A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star Peter Claffey told DECIDER last October. “Because it was a bit of a closed set, as well, because nobody wants to see my butt or anything like that.”

“So it was just the director and the cameraman [Sebastian Barraclough]. And Seb, he was just laughing his head off and I was laughing my head off and we had to just try and get at least ten or fifteen seconds without me laughing,” Claffey said. “And it was just great fun, so much fun.”

According to Parker, this moment wasn’t always going to include the Game of Thrones theme song. That was a decision that came about organically during post-production.

“Look, the line in the script is, ‘Dunk hears the “hero theme” in his head,’” Parker said. “Well, look, we tried a lot of hero themes, in addition to [A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms composer] Dan Romer’s beautiful theme that he wrote for Dunk.”

“What we found, though, is that Dunk’s theme is so much a reflection of who he is right now. It’s simple and it’s pared down. It’s not that big, orchestral, epic piece that Ramin put together. That it didn’t feel right. It wasn’t the call to greatness, yet,” Parker said. “It’s simple Dunk, as he is.”

Soon it became obvious that if they needed a “big, orchestral, epic piece” for this moment, Djawadi’s work was right there.

“What was more quintessential than the Game of Thrones theme? That’s what [Dunk] wants. That’s what he’s going towards,” Parker said. “So we put that in.”

Okay, but did we have to see Dunk poop in the very first few minutes of the series? “Any time you think about doing something that difficult or that you know probably isn’t going to work out, is going to ruin you… You know, it fills your stomach with butterflies,” Parker said. And the butterflies have got to go somewhere.

The good news is, though, that no real poop was used on set.

“It was not real poop, as well. That’s for sure,” Claffey said. “Yeah. Just let me make that clear.” 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will return next Sunday at 10 PM on HBO and HBO Max.