“How good a knight are you?” Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) asks the rangy, ragged Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) not once, but twice in HBO‘s new half-hour series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Baelor’s question ponders the deeper meaning of HBO’s latest Game of Thrones spin-off series. Is Ser Duncan the Tall, known simply as “Dunk” to his closest friends and foes, a good knight or not? Is he good at jousting? Is he talented with a sword? Can Dunk woo fair maidens and count powerful lords amongst his friends? Does any of that matter at all? When Prince Baelor asks Dunk “How good a knight are you?”, is he instead asking how good of a man the orphaned hedge knight is?
The Westeros viewers have seen in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon revel in gory ultra-violence and taboo sexual behavior, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms chooses a different path entirely. Everything about this new series, from its half-hour run-time to its naive hero, emphasizes the virtue of humility. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms upends what we know of Westeros by championing the masses derisively called “smallfolk” in its narrative. It’s not just a welcome shift for the Game of Thrones brand, but a cathartic watch against the backdrop of 2026.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is closely based on the first of George R.R. Martin‘s three published “Dunk and Egg” novellas. These super-sized short stories follow the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall one hundred years before Game of Thrones. The HBO show opens with Dunk burying his former master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), and weighing what to do next. He decides to test his mettle as a knight at a nearby tournament in Ashford. Along the way, he meets a cheeky bald boy named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), the beautiful puppeteer and painter Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), and a rogue’s gallery of big characters with recognizable last names like Baratheon, Dondarrion, and, of course, Targaryen.
This story is set during a time when the Targaryens still rule the realm, but without the fire power of the dragons who died nearly a century earlier because of the events of House of the Dragon. Some of these royals, like the noble Prince Baelor, don’t even have the clan’s iconic silver hair anymore. The Targaryens’ new “normalcy” leaves the various noble houses of Westeros wondering why they have to bend the knee to this foreign family in the first place. Dunk’s pal Raymun Fossaway (Shaun Thomas) scornfully calls them “incestuous aliens” and “tyrants,” and Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) ominously warns that a war is brewing.
Ser Duncan is at Ashford to prove he can be a knight, but the Targaryen princes are there to practice retail politics. Despite his dark looks, Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen is the soul of chivalry, while his gruff silver-haired brother Maekar (Sam Spruell) spends his time stewing over his sons. When Maekar’s most vicious son, Prince Aerion (Finn Bennet), takes his wrath out poor Tanselle, the honorable Ser Duncan has no choice but to stand up to this royal bully. Soon, Dunk has to fight for his life (and the very idea of justice) in a sacred trial by combat.
If Game of Thrones was envisioned as “The Sopranos in Middle-earth,” the elevator pitch for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms might as well be “A Knight’s Tale in Westeros.” Like the Heath Ledger film, it follows a young man shedding his life as a lowly squire to enter the lists against greater, richer, vainer men. The HBO show also features raucous feasts, silly comic moments, and even an anachronistic needle drop in the final episode. However, it also carries with it the dark edge that defines George R. R. Martin’s work. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms shows us how the people of Westeros are consistently betrayed by their so-called betters. By daring to stick up for what’s right, Dunk instantly becomes a champion, not of some noble house, but of the common man. He’s the kind of hero who is sorely needed in our own current, real world era of rampant injustice.
Ser Duncan the Tall gets both his impressive height and exceptional heart from Peter Claffey, a 6’5″ Irish actor who fills the screen with a warm, boyish presence that’s impossible to resist. His pint-sized scene partner, 11-year-old Dexter Sol Ansell, gives Egg a precociousness that never grates. Together, Dunk and Egg are an irrepressibly charming double act, aka the perfect unlikely heroes for this new Game of Thrones chapter. Other standouts include Daniel Ings, who plays Ser Lyonel Baratheon like he’s the living embodiment of the tumultuous weather that rages outside the family’s castle, Storm’s End, and Rowan Robinson, who turns a red-headed sex worker literally just named “Red” into the show’s sharpest scene-stealer.
Showrunner Ira Parker has crafted a Game of Thrones prequel that takes the franchise back to basics, focusing on characters over CGI battles. He has also created for book readers the single most faithful adaptation of any fantasy novel ever made. Even the changes Parker spearheads — Red and her friends, bawdy tunes, food porn — feel inherently true to George R.R. Martin. However, the show’s light, comic tone might turn off some viewers who prefer the grandeur of House of the Dragon‘s courtly drama.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a charming new addition to the Game of Thrones franchise that will woo you back to Westeros. It’s a story that doesn’t need the pyrotechnics of dragon fire because it has plenty of human heart, soul, and heroism. Ser Duncan the Tall isn’t a good knight; he’s a great one, a champion worth following into the heat of pitched battle for the next six Sunday nights.
How To Watch A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on Sunday, January 18 at 10 PM ET on HBO and HBO Max.
If you’re new to HBO Max, you can sign up for as low as $10.99/month with ads, but an ad-free subscription will cost $18.49/month.
If you want to stream even more and save a few bucks a month while you’re at it, we recommend subscribing to one of the discounted Disney+ Bundles with Hulu and HBO Max. With ads, the bundle costs $19.99/month and without ads, $32.99/month.