This is another spin-off in the Westeros universe, set about a century earlier than Game of Thrones. Ser Duncan the Tall was a humble hedge (landless) knight whose strength, bravery and good nature brought him into contact, and eventually in favor, with the powerful families. He was said to be 6’11”, although the actor playing him is much shorter than that. Previous revelations have indicated that he is an ancestor of the giantess Brienne of Tarth, who played a major role in Game of Thrones, although their specific blood tie has not been revealed.
The original 1998 print source is called The Hedge Knight, one of the Tales of Dunk and Egg, three novellas that were published together about a decade ago as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. According to Wikipedia, The Hedge Knight was also issued as a six-part series of graphic novels.
The female nudity was disappointing – an insignificant character topless on her back for a second or two. I’m not even sure who this woman is. She has a line, so she’s probably credited. My best guess is Abigail O’Regan.
En passant: “The House of Ashur” was not aired this week, for reasons unclear.
This is the only female nudity in the entire show lol. It’s already been confirmed. But don’t worry, you’ll see plenty of fully naked men on this show. America likes it.
Dunk and Egg stories are great. First episode of the show is a snooze fest though. GRRM needs to go back to finishing TWoW. It’s only been 14 years.
Talk about reverse marketing. You’re supposed to start a series with a big opening episode, and you’re supposed to start that episode with a big, eye-catching intro. The show failed on both counts. The episode is dull, and the first few minutes is the dullest part.
I know they did follow the plot of the novella quite faithfully, but they might have sped through that crap faster to get to some action.
Funny. Because they started the GoT theme song like something cool was about to happen and then it went to him having diarrhea. Sums up the first episode pretty well.
As I remember the short story was tight enough that it would have been better to film it as a movie instead.
I think the actress here may actually be Abigail O’Regan. Rowan Robinson has pics on her imdb profile from the episode.
HTH
You’re right. Rowan is identified here.
I have a theory on why House of Ashur was pushed back, and if true, it’s pretty shitty. Amazon was offering a 2 month special for a subscription to Starz for 1.99 a month (?). House of Ashur Episode 1/2 aired December 5th. Episode 10 is currently scheduled to now air Feb 6th. The one week delay will cause amazons two month offer to now renew an entire month at full rate. They won’t catch everyone but I bet they catch enough to make it worth it.