'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Is 'Game of Thrones' for People Who Hate 'Game of Thrones'

Game of Thrones was a global phenomenon that started with a bang and ended like a fart in a car. That said, it was one of the biggest shows in history and made HBO a sizable enough hoard of coin that it got spun off into a prequel, House of the Dragon, which was never as good as Game of Thrones at its best, but also nowhere near as bad as Game of Thrones at its worst. Which is to say, it was fine. House of the Dragon is a good enough fantasy series with some magic, lots of dragons, and, because it's on HBO Max, quite a bit of sex. Too much sex, actually, if one were to ask Matt Smith, who plays Daemon Targaryen in the series. But House of the Dragon, like Game of Thrones, suffers from the one fatal flaw in fantasy written by George R.R. Martin: the people are terrible. At least Game of Thrones had the Starks, the whipping boys of the series, who mostly tried to do the right thing but rarely got rewarded for it. Poor old Ned Stark literally lost his head. Now imagine a series that’s all just about a white-haired, incestuous, backstabbing family fighting over some stupid, really uncomfortable-looking chair. It’s like Succession (also on HBO Max) with less cocaine and more dragons and murder. 

But now there’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, set after House of the Dragon but before Game of Thrones, which means the Targaryens have already managed to fuck everything up with their infighting and there are no dragons in sight. Instead of following some royal family like The Crown, this new series is centered on an unlikely hero, a lowborn hedge knight, Dunk (Peter Claffey), and his diminutive squire, a bald little boy called Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). In Westeros, a hedge knight is basically a homeless knight who doesn’t serve a particular lord and finds lodging anywhere, or sleeps under the hedges. The first season — it’s been renewed for a second season, thank The Seven — is like A Knight’s Tale with Heath Ledger without the Queen soundtrack. It’s essentially the same story, although Martin’s novella The Hedge Knight was written in 1998 while A Knight’s Tale came out in 2001. The similarities are striking, and Edward the Black Prince from A Knight’s Tale is a parallel to Baelor I Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) in the show. Baelor is known in Westeros history as Baelor the Blessed or Baelor the Beloved, because he’s actually really kind and noble. That’s right, a kind and noble Targaryen. Imagine that.

But this is still George R.R. Martin’s universe, so there are still terrible people and terrible things still happen. But unlike House of the Dragon, there’s actually a hero worth cheering for in Ser Duncan the Tall, self-named for his gigantic stature, an inch shy of seven feet (Claffey is not quite as towering at 6’5”). Unlike most of the characters in Westeros, Dunk is a true knight who believes in kindness, honor, and defending the weak. When someone is knighted in Westeros, they are charged with the following vows:

In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave

In the name of the Father, I charge you to be just

In the name of the Mother, I charge you to defend the young and innocent

In the name of the Maid, I charge you to protect all women

Though most knights in A Song of Ice and Fire don’t take these vows seriously, Dunk takes these words to heart. A true knight. In fact, Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), one of the most noble characters in Game of Thrones, is a direct descendant of Ser Duncan the Tall.  This is what makes A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms such a refreshing change of pace in Game of Thrones’ endless stream of despicableness.

It’s still not a series for children, made clear by a defecation scene and a swinging, foot-long prosthetic penis in the first episode. People die in gruesome ways, and there are still very horrible people. Baelor I might be nice, but he’s not the only Targaryen in the series, and most of them are just like the jerks in House of the Dragon. But the main characters are truly endearing, and Dunk’s squire Egg is a well-meaning, undersized runt who is more than meets the eye. Dunk and Egg make an unlikely, lovable pair that shines bright in the oppressive darkness of Westeros. This alone makes the series worthy of attention, but the story is so finely crafted and compelling that it’s kind of a shame that there are only six episodes.

Sure, the story is kind of like A Knight’s Tale, but that’s not a flaw. A Knight’s Tale was a terrific story, and Dunk’s love and devotion to his deceased master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) has the same emotional shades as William Thatcher to his blind dad. Throw in more brutality, more cruelty, and the compelling bookends of one family’s fall in House of the Dragon and another’s rise in Game of Thrones, and you’ve got a spinoff that’s arguably better than either of the bigger-budgeted series’. Prior knowledge of Westeros isn’t even a requirement, as the show stands tall on its own and is a fine (if misleading) introduction to the world of A Song of Ice and Fire. In a real world where people get away with doing monstrous things, it’s less and less entertaining to watch stories where the main characters are monstrous. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms stands apart from its predecessors in this regard, and HBO Max serves an underserved audience with a show that’s sorely needed today.

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