With an emphasis on a smaller-scale story, the new Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feels special; here’s why.
Unlike Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon, season one of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms doesn’t feature a member of a great Westerosi house. Rather than focusing on the Lannisters, Starks, or Targaryens, the series shifts point of view to that of a squire-turned-knight, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey, Small Things Like These). Following the events of George R.R. Martin’s short novella “The Hedge Knight,” the show opens with Dunk burying his old master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb, The Dig). With his belongings now under Duncan’s care—three horses, a shield, a longsword, and some gold—he decides to make his way to the tourney of Ashford Meadow.
Here, Dunk looks to enter the jousting games and make a name for himself as a knight, hoping to be noticed by a lord and earn a role under their service. On his way to Ashford, Duncan stops at an inn, where he crosses paths with a bald, young child who goes by the name of Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes). The two soon become a duo when Egg follows Dunk to the tourney and becomes his squire. From building their very own pavilion under a tree outside the tourney camps to trying to acquire armor and tools for Duncan to use in the games, our leads form a brotherly bond while getting into all kinds of trouble amidst the arrival of House Targaryen. Let’s take a look at why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms feels special.
1. A Sillier Westeros
Within the initial five minutes of the show’s first episode, showrunner Ira Parker and crew establish the much lighter tone the series is aspiring for. The roughness and violence we’ve come to expect from Martin’s world are still prominent, though they’re not the main focus. Instead, the show plays out as a coming-of-age story that’s closer to The Princess Bride than your average grim medieval tale. Politics remain a part of Dunk’s journey as he must find someone to vouch for Ser Arlan’s existence, thereby proving Ser Duncan’s knighthood and allowing him to participate in the tourney. But the show has other interests beyond political negotiations.
Between episode one, “The Hedge Knight,” and episode three, “The Squire,” A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms lets the audience simply exist in the same space as our characters. Martin’s novella is approximately 120 pages long: without a lot of dead weight, it gets straight to the point. So, Parker and his writers have the unique opportunity of expanding certain threads. A throwaway supporting character in the novella, such as Lyonel ‘The Laughing Storm’ Baratheon (Daniel Ings, The Gentlemen), is then given a larger role that deepens Duncan’s understanding of chivalry. All while treating him, and us, to a dance number that demonstrates that some fun can be had in Westeros.
The fun continues anytime Dexter and Peter share the screen as Dunk and Egg. You instantly buy into their relationship because, although they were raised in drastically different parts of King’s Landing—Duncan in the streets of Flea Bottom, Egg, who is really Prince Aegon Targaryen, in the Red Keep—they’ve got similar aspirations. Dunk longs to live a simple life by serving the lords of the realm and traveling the country. Egg wants to squire for a knight with morals, away from the luxurious life that being a Prince comes with.
What makes this dynamic clever is that, by having Egg be better educated than Duncan, their roles are often reversed. Egg is the child explaining the histories of noble houses and how the tournament rules work, like an older brother; Dunk is the oblivious adult getting himself into trouble, as any little sibling would. When Duncan can’t properly flirt with the local puppeteer Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford, Tiny Beautiful Things), Egg is there to save him from embarrassment.
Dexter Sol Ansell leaves a huge mark as a young performer. It is comedic to see him scold Peter Claffey for not standing up for himself, just as it fills you with whimsy seeing him go on a Rocky-style training montage with Dunk’s horse Thunder. Not even Duncan can stay mad at him when Egg lies about his identity or whereabouts. Moments like the training montage or Dunk cooking an egg sandwich for Egg, Miyazaki-style, are why the show works. The calm before the storm is established quite well prior to things getting serious in the season’s second half.
2. A Knight Who Remembered His Vows
“In the name of the mother, I charge you to defend the young and innocent,” are words that any Westerosi knight swears to uphold. This is the entire ethos of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. A thematic point of contention made more interesting by Ira Parker, once he introduces doubt whether or not Duncan has been lying about his knighthood all along. The series never provides a clear answer, though it needs none. Knight or not, Dunk has been living by these vows, better than most. At its core, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is about what it takes to be a good man in a cruel world.
We’ve seen countless examples of men hiding their vile selves behind these vows in Martin’s books and these HBO adaptations. Game of Thrones had Ser Gregor Clegane, whose legacy includes murdering children and assaulting women. House of the Dragon has Ser Criston Cole, a man using his position as a knight of the Kingsguard to scheme against the Queen, who once rejected him. Now, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is using this trope with Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett, True Detective), punishing anyone who dares criticize his family.
After witnessing Tanselle put on a puppet show depicting the death of a dragon, the symbol of House Targaryen, Aerion snaps her fingers in front of a crowd. This introduces the show’s conflict. Duncan does the right thing and defends the innocent, but does so by beating up a Prince. The incident raises questions about the class divide between royalty and commoners and whether an entitled man should be above the law.
Peter Claffey pulls off the charisma required from him to set the tone of the season’s early lighter episodes; his talent really shines through in the latter half, where he’s confronted with the reality of knighthood. Claffey must convey betrayal, fear, frustration, and naivety while retaining an imposing presence thanks to his intimidating size. You can sense he’s close to losing hope in himself and the world around him, which seems to be against his existence. Fortunately for Dunk, more than a few men are willing to support his cause in his Trial of Seven—seven knights against seven knights—opposite Aerion.
3. The Realm Needs Good Men
Game of Thrones, for all its success, trained audiences into thinking Martin’s world revels in cynicism. Sure, the man loves to subvert expectations and kill lead characters. For better or worse, I’d argue worse, these elements are what define the author’s life’s work in the eyes of many fans, due to how Martin’s ideas have been depicted on screen in the past. What people seem to miss, though, is that Martin adores fantasy tropes and hopeful stories as much as he likes to turn them upside down. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, maybe for the first time in an HBO adaptation of one of his novels, channels this.
Episode four, “Seven,” is the season’s crowning achievement. Duncan is down on his luck, forced to find men to fight alongside him, while feeling alone and hopeless. Yet, in his corner, there are individuals such as Lyonel, who views Dunk’s situation as a chance to embarrass the royals; Ser Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas, How to Have Sex), tired of seeing the little guy be kicked around; and Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel, The Crown), heir to the Iron Throne, maybe the only member of his house with a moral compass, willing to oppose his own nephew Aerion and younger brother Maekar (Sam Spruell, Fargo) to stand next to a righteous man like Ser Duncan the Tall.
During the climactic penultimate episode, “In the Name of the Mother,” Dunk nearly dies trying to prove his cause was just and noble. Ultimately, he emerges victorious once he gets Aerion to withdraw his false accusations. Still, in good ol’ Martin fashion, not all is sunshine and rainbows. There is a cost to this victory. Baelor suffers an accidental fatal blow to the head at the hands of Maekar during the trial.
It is this tragedy that serves as a cautionary tale of what happens when a system attempts to protect the criminal history of one or several individuals to maintain the status quo. Baelor had it in him to be a great king. He showed curiosity and respect for the common people. Wanted to uphold the law above his family’s reputation. He was what the realm needed: a good man as its ruler. If it weren’t for Aerion’s entitlement, they would’ve had just that.
4. What the Morrow Will Bring
In the wake of Baelor’s passing, Duncan struggles to make sense of why he got to live. Could he have simply allowed Aerion cut off an arm and leg so the realm could have crowned Baelor as their King someday? Or, as he himself wonders, will the seven kingdoms one day need the arm and leg he got to keep by standing up for the innocent? These are queries Dunk ponders in a conversation with Prince Maekar, another man consumed by guilt over his brother’s death. Amidst his resentment towards the entire situation, it’s here that Maekar admits his failure as a father. We learn Aerion wasn’t always such a monster; he used to be a kind kid who once liked fishing. He doesn’t sound much different from his younger brother, Egg. Something must’ve gone wrong in his upbringing as a privileged Prince with everything at his disposal.
The season finale, “The Morrow,” ties the questions A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been tackling: how can a man stay good in a broken world? Is it possible to stand up for what’s right when everyone else is turning a blind eye? Ira Parker and co. discuss these themes through Egg. The finale slows down after the riveting penultimate episode and essentially becomes a fight for Egg’s soul. Is he doomed to grow to be another Aerion, or can he still be a decent man?
As we inch closer to the season’s final moments, Duncan recalls what Ser Arlan once taught him: “a true knight always finishes a story.” It is this line that prepares Dunk for a new journey in season 2. He has proven he’s got a moral code. Now, with Egg joining him on the road as his squire, literally riding off into the sunset, Duncan must carry the responsibility of teaching Egg chivalry and humility. That will be Dunk’s story that he must finish one day: help raise his squire amongst commoners to be as honorable a Prince as Baelor Targaryen once was, and maybe right the wrong of losing such a promising King-to-be.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms contains all the elements that make fantasy such a special genre. There is the excitement of seeing knights riding horses into battle. You have a colorful cast of characters that lend the world weight and make it feel lived-in. Dialogue that is sharp and carries meaning. Shakespearean-like tragedies remind us that there are consequences to our lead’s actions. It does all of this with the aid of massive, stellar sets, photographed so you can spot every textured detail, accompanied by a charming Dan Romer musical score that does justice to Ramin Djawadi’s work in this universe. If A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is any indication of what can be done in Martin’s Westeros, I think we’re in good hands. Bring on more Dunk and Egg adventures!
Season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is now available to stream on HBO Max. The show has been renewed for Season 2, which will be released in 2027.