‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Is Minor ‘Game of Thrones’ — and That’s a Good Thing: TV Review

The first two television series adapted from fantasy author George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” saga are about epic struggles for the fate of Westeros — civil wars in which an entire fictional continent is plunged into sprawling, multifaceted chaos. The third, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” is a drastic switch-up in scale. The entire season spans only six episodes, all under 45 minutes in length. The action traces the arc of a single tournament over just a few days. In contrast with the massive ensemble for which Martin’s novels and subsequently “Game of Thrones” were known, there’s just a single point-of-view character: the titular Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a young wandering warrior on a quest to prove himself.

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“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” communicates this shift early and effectively. Gone are the elaborate opening credits that trace geography and family trees to guide viewers overwhelmed by exposition. In their place, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” uses a simple title card. And as Ramin Djawadi’s iconic score starts swelling in the lead-up to the first, the premiere abruptly cuts to Duncan spewing shit out of his ass. A later episode incorporates full-on jazz. If “Game of Thrones” pointedly ran counter to certain tropes, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is outright irreverent.

Adapted from Martin’s “Dunk and Egg” novellas under the supervision of co-creator and showrunner Ira Parker (“The Sympathizer,” “House of the Dragon”), “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” positions itself as the “Game of Thrones” franchise’s answer to “Andor.” (Martin himself is credited as co-creator and executive producer.) This isn’t to prematurely declare the HBO show that tremendous series’ creative equal, but to underscore the projects’ shared interest in the ordinary people, places and periods that fill the gaps between their invented worlds’ major inflection points. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” takes place about 90 years before the events of “Game of Thrones,” at a time of relative peace — though as more than one character points out, the realm is never entirely free of bloodshed and sorrow. It’s an opportunity to show how Westeros works when it isn’t being torn apart, and introduce characters who don’t (yet) play a role in its high-level machinations.

The “Dunk” of Martin’s source text, of course, refers to Duncan, the large adult squire to Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), a hedge knight — the Martinian term for a knight errant, an itinerant fighter without a fixed master, title or lands — of much-exaggerated renown. Ser Arlan’s death leaves Dunk (a childhood nickname that stuck) with little more than some horses and a sword. After he buries Ser Arlan in the opening scene, Dunk is in need of money, a reputation and a squire of his own. He resolves to enlist in a tournament in search of the first two. He finds the latter in Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), a bald-headed stableboy Dunk encounters at the world’s most depressing roadside inn. Egg’s plucky insolence belies his puny size, a comedic contrast with Claffey’s ex-rugby player physique, and perhaps his seemingly humble origins as well.

Dunk may be lowborn, but the “Game of Thrones” character he most closely recalls may be Sophie Turner’s Sansa Stark. Just as Sansa internalized the romantic ideals she learned from “the songs,” notions of which she was forcibly disabused over the course of the series, Dunk believes ardently and perhaps foolishly in what Arlan taught him about the virtues of a “true knight,” protecting the innocent first among them. (Though frequent flashbacks reveal Ser Arlan conformed to these standards loosely, if at all.) Those beliefs are put to the test when Dunk and Egg turn up at Ashford, the tourney site located in the balmy, fertile Reach.

The friction between fantasy — both the general concept and the specific genre Martin works within — and the harsh reality of human nature is where “Game of Thrones” thrives. It’s the presence of this bedrock theme, more than Targaryen monarchs or a drunken Baratheon, that marks “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” as a part of the family, despite the lowered stakes and slightly more comedic tone. The first episode may culminate in a rollicking dance in lieu of a major battle, but the story shows the same clear-eyed worldview that helped Martin’s universe become a crossover phenomenon. (And the production value, overseen by directors Owen Harris and Sarah Adina Smith, remains sky-high; even lower-lift “Game of Thrones” involves hundreds of extras in convincingly grimy period garb.) The trademark perspective is pragmatic and pessimistic while stopping short of pure nihilism. Heroes still exist here; they just have to wage a steep uphill fight to get their way.

All Dunk wants, for example, is some respect — a far cry short of the Iron Throne. To get it, however, he has to deal with prickish nobles, corrupt game masters and those skeptical he’s even a knight at all. (This last group may have a point: there were no witnesses to Dunk’s dubbing.) Claffey gives Dunk an open, infectious sincerity that makes him easy to love. We never believe his frequent threats to give Egg a “clout on the ear,” but totally buy his insistence that a hedge knight is “the truest knight of all,” even as he’s devastated to discover Ser Arlan wasn’t quite the legend he made himself out to be. Ansell continues the “Thrones” tradition of well-cast child actors; Egg’s past is initially mysterious, but it’s given him a sharp cynicism that complements Dunk’s stubborn naiveté. 

From a 10,000 foot view, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is savvy IP management, acquainting fans with lesser-known corners of Martin’s intricately constructed lore while providing a more regular fix than the flagship show. (A second season is already ordered and set to release next year, a brisker clip than the two-year gap between installments of “House of the Dragon.”) But I’m not a media executive, and it’s not my job to grade a show on its franchise expansion potential. I can report only that when Dunk and Egg ride off into their shared future before the credits roll, I knew I’d happily join them on future adventures. Dunk may be, in Egg’s words, “tall enough for the both of us.” His story is still refreshingly small.

“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” will premiere on HBO and HBO Max on Jan. 18 at 10 p.m. ET, with remaining episodes airing weekly on Sundays.