I watched all of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — and the new HBO Max show is the triumphant underdog tale that HBO's Game of Thrones franchise needs
· TechRadarTechRadar Verdict
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finally introduces two beloved characters from George R.R. Martin's popular high-fantasy universe to a wider audience – and their live-action debuts have been worth the wait. A classic soul-stirring story about overcoming adversity that's also as faithful an adaptation as you're ever likely to see, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms makes HBO's Game of Thrones universe all the better for having the fan-favorite pair in it.
Why you can trust TechRadar We spend hours testing every product or service we review, so you can be sure you're buying the best. Find out more about how we test.
Light spoilers follow for all six episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
HBO's Game of Thrones (GoT) franchise could use a boost right now. The eponymous show's incredibly divisive finale is still being discussed to this day, and while House of the Dragon's (HotD) first season repaired some of the damage its forebear's last-ever episode caused, its most recent eight-part installment was similarly not without criticism for narratively spinning its wheels.
The hope, then, is that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (AKotSK) will course-correct HBO's Thrones-Verse once more – and it does. It may lack Thrones' apocalyptic stakes and the ongoing fiery family feud that permeates HotD, but HBO's latest retelling of another George R.R. Martin book series more than makes up for it with a rib-tickling, haunting, and triumphant tale of beating the odds.
A knight's tale
Based on The Hedge Knight, the first entry in Martin's 'Dunk and Egg' novella trilogy, and set a century before Game of Thrones, AKotSK tells the story of Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) – or, to use his less formal moniker, Dunk.
After burying his deceased mentor and hedge knight – the term used for a wandering, chivalrous sword-for-hire – Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), Dunk travels to Ashford Meadow to try and win its latest tourney and prove his worth as a noble warrior. There, he encounters Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), an unruly but intelligent boy who implores Dunk to let Egg be his squire. Thus begins a fellowship that, unbeknownst to the pair, will forever etch their names into Westeros' history.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms isn't averse to dialling up the humor when required
AKotSK's premise – one that positions it as a dirt-covered folktale (think of street-level scenes from GoT and HotD, and you'll get the idea) – sets it out as an unusually intimate story compared to its more illustrious and narratively epic siblings, but that's intentional.
It doesn't possess the multi-House fight for The Iron Throne or the grimdark, apocalyptic events of Game of Thrones, nor does it come close to matching the destructive intrafamilial warfare on display in House of the Dragon. And, sure, high-ranking clans – the Targaryens and Barathons being the most noteworthy – feature throughout AKotSK, so characters from privileged backgrounds have increasingly prominent parts to play in the HBO Max TV Original.
Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox
Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
Contact me with news and offers from other Future brandsReceive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors