The Real Reason Sophie Turner Won’t Watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

So, HBO is rolling out yet another Game of Thrones spinoff, but don’t expect Sansa Stark herself to be tuning in. Sophie Turner—yep, all eight seasons of trauma and sass—has made it very clear she’s not exactly lining up for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. And honestly, her reasoning is super relatable if you spent your twenties basically living in Westeros.

Sophie Turner: Hard Pass on Returning to Westeros (Even as a Viewer)

Here’s how it went down: Turner hit the red carpet for her new Amazon Prime thriller, Steal, and someone asked the obvious question: are you watching the shiny new Game of Thrones show?

In her words:

'If I’m totally honest, anything Game of Thrones, I don’t think I can… I can’t even hear the theme tune. It gives me like… crazy anxiety. I don’t know why. I had the best time on that show, but I can’t watch anything related to it.'

She did the classic actor good-luck wave too, saying she’s genuinely excited for everyone who’s working on the new series—she just won’t be joining them in front of the TV. 'I won’t be watching it, but I’ll be rooting for you.'

What’s This New Thrones Show, Anyway?

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is not your typical Thrones fare. This one jumps back in time almost an entire century before the main series—it’s that spinoff based on George R.R. Martin’s “Dunk and Egg” novellas. (If you ask me, those have always been some of George’s most digestible, actually fun stories. But maybe that’s just the lack of mass killings and political trauma talking.)

• Peter Claffey is Dunk (that’s Ser Duncan the Tall, for the lore nerds)—a squire who levels up by snagging a knight’s gear off a corpse. No, really.
• Dexter Sol Ansell is Egg, Dunk’s young squire—who, and I’ll leave it at this, is waaaay more important to Targaryen history than you might expect.

It’s more quest and buddy-comedy than all-out war or dragons-eating-people, so don’t expect House of the Dragon reheated leftovers.

So... Is It Any Good?

Our very own Alex Maidy has watched it (and is probably still picking medieval mud out of his shoes). His verdict? It’s a nice change of pace. He points out that you're not getting the usual dragon dogfights and dysfunctional Targaryen therapy sessions, but—surprise!—it still actually feels worth watching. In Alex’s words, there’s enough meat on the bones to make the story compelling, and the episode format keeps you interested in the next adventure. He actually thinks A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a 'welcome addition' and not a tired Game of Thrones cash-in. Not bad for a series that could have been squished into one movie.

So if you miss Westeros but want to skip the existential dread (or are physically incapable of hearing that theme song again, like Sophie), this might actually be the rare Thrones spinoff worth the hype. Just don’t expect to spot Sansa in the audience.