A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Spoiler-Free Review

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms wasn’t exactly what I was expecting. Minutes into episode one, after simple squire Dunk has buried his master, he lifts the dead knight’s sword to the sky and the familiar, rousing theme music starts up… only for a quick cut to show Dunk loudly relieving himself behind a tree.    

It’s as though Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire franchise is going down the Marvel route and using wildly different formats for its properties. Because if Game of Thrones was its sweeping Shakespearean drama, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a small-scale, mismatched-buddy comedy. And the only dragon that appears is a puppet.

The tonal shift from GOT to AKOT7K makes a lot of sense. After George R.R. Martin tied himself up in the “Meereenese knot” – when the plot of his A Song of Ice and Fire saga had become so discouragingly complicated that he all but abandoned it – he moved on to write a series of simple prequel novellas, Tales of Dunk and Egg. The first of these, The Hedge Knight, is the basis for the new series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

It’s set in the world of GOT, but the events take place 90 years earlier (and 100 years after the other TV spin-off, House of the Dragon). Instead of GOT’s multiple perspectives, there’s one. And instead of the many-stranded plot, the pace is leisurely, the scope small and the story contained in one time and place.

Episode one follows wannabe knight, Dunk, as he buries his master, accidentally obtains a squire and attempts to enter a tournament.

And that’s about all that happens. The episode is over 40 minutes long, but the other five episodes of season one are closer to 30. And it proves plenty of time to tell this very modest tale.  

Protagonist Dunk is played by Irish actor Peter Claffey. He certainly has the build for a character whose one notable feature is his height (he goes on to title himself Ser Duncan the Tall), and he’s a warm, likeable presence. At 29, he looks significantly older than the teenage Dunk of the novellas, thus altering the dynamic between Dunk and the nine-year-old Egg, which could potentially disappoint existing fans.

However, the young Dexter Sol Ansell, who plays would-be squire Egg, is a wonderful actor, and the two build up a rapport that anchors the show and provides most of its funniest moments.

Warner Bros.

The rest of the comedy errs on the side of slapstick, with Dunk repeatedly banging his head on a low doorway and looking uncomfortably out of place among the rich, established knights assembled for the tournament.

At the same time, though, there’s enough of the traditional GOT nudity and violence to make it unsuitable for family viewing.

Interest does pick up significantly when the sardonic Lyonel Baratheon (magnetically played by Daniel Ings) appears, a performance that’s all the more of a standout when most of the other supporting characters fail to make much of an impression.

Warner Bros.

Fans of Game of Thrones will enjoy seeing members of familiar houses appear, but this is a very different world, with different rules. The innocent, lumbering Dunk wouldn’t make it through the first episode of Game of Thrones – in which, if you recall, plucky young Bran was callously defenestrated – and I found myself missing George R.R. Martin’s ruthless way with a plot twist, as well as the show’s glamour, intrigue and magic.

Should you watch A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?

It’s a gently enjoyable show, but not the unmissable event TV of its older sibling.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on Sunday, 18 January, on HBO and HBO Max. There are six episodes in all and they’ll be aired weekly.

You don’t have to be in the US to enjoy HBO. Here’s how to watch from the UK and other countries.