' GAME OF THRONES ' : NEW HBO SERIES SNIPPET

Peter Claffey as Ser Duncan the Tall in the premiere of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”Credit...Steffan Hill/HBO

Dressed in gleaming armor and trudging through mud, a knight swung a medieval weapon called a flail around his head, then tried to crash its spiky ball into a rival's skull.

Nearby, another knight on horseback charged his steed at an opponent, then smashed his lance into his shield, the impact sending shards of wood skyward and the rival flying from his mount.

ON a viewing platform, robed nobles barely glanced at the mayhem below. They weren't needed for the take, after all.

It was September 2024, in a valley in Northern Ireland, and the combatants were stuntmen filming a scene for '' A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,'' the latest addition to HBO's '' Game of Thrones '' franchise.

Based on the novella by R. R. Martin, the show's first season tells the story of Dunk [ Peter Claffey ], a 6-foot-6 aspiring knight, and his adventures at a jousting tournament with Egg [ Dexter Sol Ansell ], his 9-year-old squire.

A major scene in the first season is meant to be a battle in which 14 knights face off in ferocious combat. It is a setup familiar to any '' Game of Thrones '' fan, and at first glance, '' A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms '' appears to have all the hallmarks of a show set in the mythical land of Westeros.

As in the original and its prequel, '' House of the Dragon,'' there are knights and dastardly villains, romance and gore.

The World Students Society thanks Alex Marshall.