A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: A Spoiler-Free Review

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, premiers January 18th on HBO and HBO Max in the US and Crave in Canada.

The world of George R. R. Martin’s ‘Game of Thrones’ is the gift that keeps on giving. Despite ending in controversial fashion in 2019, the franchise continues to chug along on the small screen, first with 2022’s House of the Dragon, and now, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. For a high stakes franchise known for sex, violence, along with lying, backstabbing, and political intrigue, it is certainly a nice change of pace to be treated to something a bit different. While the series turns back the dial in terms of those high stakes, it still finds a place in the GOT universe, delivering the kind of adventure tale befitting of Martin’s world. A story about a would-be knight and a would-be child squire, it is more akin to a part underdog and part buddy cop type story. Lifted by the dynamic of Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, their stellar chemistry and star-making performances make A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms the best spinoff series thus far. Delivering a simpler, more grounded premise, and a unique tone, it is easy to forget that it is set in the GOT universe, but it gives long time viewers just enough to keep going. Despite being only 6-episodes, it will undoubtedly leave many yearning for more adventures.

Set a hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes place out of the limelight of the Iron Throne. Based on George R.R. Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg”, a collection of three prequel novellas: “The Hedge Knight,” “The Sworn Sword,” and “The Mystery Knight,” the season adapts the first novella, telling the story of Ser Duncan the Tall (Claffey) and his eager squire, Egg (Ansell). Plucked out of obscurity as a Flea Bottom orphan, the squire was taller than most but for what he had in stature, he definitely lacked in experience. That being said, not lacking in courage, Duncan was a courageous man that wanted to honor Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), the hedge knight who saved his life and helped train him. Unexpectedly passing away in the middle of the night, Duncan collected Ser Arlan’s armor, equipment, horses, and remaining coin, and set out his journey to compete in a tournament at Ashford Meadow as a knight. Along the way, he meets Egg, a young boy with a shaved head who secretly followed him to Ashford. Impressed by the boy’s persistence and spirit, Duncan agreed to take him on as a squire for the tournament.

However, as far as Duncan and Egg were concerned, this was only the beginning of their uphill battle for legitimacy. Not blessed with the greatest of means, that gap became abundantly clear when up against the potential, more experienced competition. A scrappy pair, they were not willing to let those circumstances get in their way. Duncan’s biggest hurdle, ultimately, was to prove his own knighthood, a status that did not look to be as clearcut as it seemed. Nevertheless, when his journey appeared to be over before it ever started, the pair were saved thanks to a last second vouching. From that point, with Egg resting on his broad shoulders, he and Duncan became spectators of the tournament, watching fierce jousting battles between fearless knights. While the action was intense, the boy was having the time of his life. A big fan of knights, armed with a considerable knowledge of the knights of Westeros, all he wanted to do was squire for one. Though many would consider Duncan as barely a knight, perhaps their underdog nature is what drew them together.

In the end, the story was far from just fun and games, especially when the Targaryens are involved. The bad egg of the contingent at the tournament, Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) found a way to create trouble that just happened to sweep up Ser Duncan, but that was only the beginning. While A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may not be as high stakes as the previous two GOT series, that’s not to say that there aren’t stakes here. Trying to prove himself as a knight, Duncan would soon get that chance, whether he was ready or not. Opting for trial by combat, over losing a hand and foot, the Targaryens would find a way to further stack the odds against him by making his trial a trial of seven, meaning Duncan would need to recruit six additional knight to fight with him. To his credit, they were not exactly the most popular, therefore finding others to fight for his cause was not difficult. However, the battle would not be easy. Now it wouldn’t be a GOT property without an intense, climactic final battle, and this one did not disappoint, leaving a decent body count in its wake. Putting Duncan to the test, though short, was still captivating to watch.

Simmering the story down to a pure character level, Duncan and Egg, and watching their dynamic evolve over the course of the season, is a highlight. With only 6 episodes, the question of more or less is inevitable and that is no different here. Adapting short source material, more threatens to dilute the heart of the original narrative so this season finds the right balance of doing its characters justice and keeping the story moving. As potential subsequent seasons will presumably adapt more of Martin’s novellas, there are certainly more adventures on the horizon. With Claffey and Ansell, and their great chemistry, leading the way, they give their underdog characters such a compelling humanity, making them so engaging to watch. Duncan is naive, yet well-intentioned, but the strength of his convictions was enough to endure a crash course on how the real world really was. Meanwhile, Egg’s passion and energy made him such a fun character to watch, as he proved he could more than hold his own. Claffey shines as a principled character whose earnestness makes him stand out and Ansell is a scene stealer and someone viewers will fall in love with.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms delivers a stellar character-centric adventure tale that justifies its place in the GOT universe, carried by the winning pairing of Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell.

still courtesy of HBO

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Keith Noakes

The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.