Did We Need to See That Knight Take a Crap on 'Game of Thrones'?

Look, when TV takes chances, when TV makes bold moves, it's a great thing for the medium. That's how we get great scenes, episodes, and series.

And it's what made the whole Game of Thrones universe so fun to watch. It feels like anything could happen at any time. That sentiment has carried to the spinoffs House of the Dragon and now A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

But at what cost?

In the opening five minutes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we meet a charming knight who buries his mentor and decides to take up his armor to join a tournament.

And then, for kind of no reason at all, we see him watch a bird on a tree while using the bathroom, and then we cut to a wide shot where we see him take a very graphic crap, completely with poop flying out of his butt.

For the first time while watching TV, I was legitimately shocked. and not just because that whole moment was scored by the original Game of Thrones theme.

Mostly because I have no idea what the shot was saying, or how it fit into the otherwise charming idea of a knight stepping into his own power and daring to be something more.

Lucky for me, George R.R. Martin spoke with The Hollywood Reporter this week, along with the show's creator, Ira Parker, and they talked about the poop and much more.

Let's dive in.

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The Poop That Set The Tone

George R.R. Martin addressed the bathroom break heard around the world by saying, “Yeah, that was a bit of a surprise...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.”

Parker had a much more story-based answer when THR approached him about the bathroom scene.

He said, “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,” Parker continued, “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.”

And then comes the juxtaposition. Parker elaborates, “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.”

Here's the thing: all of that makes perfect sense. And in a world that lets you push the envelope, I can see why they chose to then manifest it as an irreverent, "This is not your typical Knight" sentiment.

And I got that while watching the scene. I think it was just the extra cut of going wide that made it feel possibly too much.

I actually think going too far is good. It means the show is willing to try different things and to do different things. That's exciting to me. It means it's not just going to rest on its famous laurels and tell a boring story; it's going to try to entertain and push us.

That kind of push is what keeps me coming back to TV and movies where people take big swings; it means they care, and it means they're passionate about their story.

Even if I don't love seeing that knight do his business, I love anyone who's willing to roll the dice on showing it.

Let me know what you think in the comments.