Mallory Rubin

And I think that the Hedge Knight, the Sworn Sword, the Mystery Knight, they're all...

I think that my favorite one tends to be the one I'm reading in real time.

I think I would, if forced at arrow or sword point, pick The Hedge Knight, which this first season is based on, but I have a great affection and fondness for the other two.

I would pick The Sworn Sword, I would say.

Sworn Sword is amazing, and there's some thematic richness in there that I already can't wait for the three of us to get to talk about maybe this time next year.

I mean, they're in production on that already.

And I think, to Jo's point, the accessibility...

The tone, the charm, you know, in the run-up to the series, I think as we're covering it, we're going to talk a lot about noble ideals, right?

What does it mean to be a knight?

The virtue at hand there, but also it's a Game of Thrones story.

And so while I think there is an abundance of charm and hope, it can be dark.

It can be scary.

Even the characters who are driven toward...

some sort of pursuit of real genuine honor, justice, purpose, meaning, whatever the case may be, are going to have pulls on their ambition or their conscience or any number of other things.

And I love that about it.

The idea of the hedge knight, right?

Just this figure who, for many in Westeros, they look at a hedge knight.

We get a lot of this in the first episode, and it's like...

You're so sad.

You have to call a hedge home.