Why 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Opened With That Shocking Projectile Poop Scene

• Hello, the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner is here to explain why the series opened with projectile poop.
• The moment shocked even George R.R. Martin, who said it was "a bit of a surprise."
• The scene in question involved the iconic Game of Thrones theme song, which never asked for this.

Sooooo, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiered last night on HBO Max and...went there. And by "went there," I mean the show opened with a scene involving projectile poop.

The moment in question? The iconic Game of Thrones theme song plays as our new lead, Ser Duncan, decides he's going to become a knight and enter a jousting competition. Just as the music crescendos, we see Duncan squatting behind a tree and projectile pooping everywhere. Truly nothing could have prepared me, you, or even George R.R. Martin, who stresses this was NOT in the books.

"Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise," he told The Hollywood Reporter. "Not to say that my characters don’t take shits, but I normally don’t write about them at any length. When I saw the rough cut, I wrote, 'What is this? Where did this come from? I don’t know if we really need the shit.' But [showrunner Ira Parker] liked it for whatever reason."

Steffan Hill

Enter Ira Parker, who explained "So in the script it reads, 'Duncan hears the hero theme in his head'—which wasn’t necessarily going to be the Thrones theme at that moment. He was going to hear that call to greatness that we all hear that when we decide we’re going to do something really difficult that we’ve never done before. It’s a little scary and you feel like, 'Okay, I’m gonna be the guy. I’m gonna do it!' He picks up the sword. He’s thinking about it. But then the reality of doing this, how difficult it is, how scary it is — that turns his guts to water. Because he’s not a hero yet, you know? All we’re trying to say here is that Dunk is not a hero yet. He’s just a nervy kid with a nervous stomach — just like me. And as badly as you want to do something great, as soon as you actually have to go off and do it, it becomes trickier. And that’s what the whole season is for him."

I mean....okay!