A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Is Exactly What You Want From Game Of Thrones
The novella adaptation gives the unsung heroes of Westeros their due.
When a franchise goes big, you have two choices for what to do next. You can zoom out and reveal the wider context of the original story, or you can zoom in and spotlight a story that has lower stakes. This latter approach is high-risk, high-reward, but it could serve to completely redefine the entire property.
Take, for example, the DC Universe. For every lower-stakes show like The Penguin that rakes in awards, there’s something like Powerless, a strange genre-bending series that has a fun premise (superhero workplace sitcom!) but is now in the dustbin of history.
The Game of Thrones universe first took the zoom-out approach with House of the Dragon, and it works perfectly well to flesh out the history of Westeros and the mysterious Targaryen family. But the next entry, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, swings completely to the other side of the spectrum: a small-scale story that brings to mind tales of medieval chivalry and Arthurian legends, with enough heart to feed Daenerys for weeks.
Ser Duncan is a hero that feels more at home in a chivalric tale than a gritty Game of Thrones adventure.
I knew that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was a great show in the first few minutes, when Dunk (Peter Claffey) realizes that, after the passing of his mentor, Ser Arlen Pennytree, it’s up to him to make his fortune as a freelance knight (aka hedge knight). “It fits my grip as well as it ever fit his,” he says to his horses, swinging Ser Pennytree’s sword. “And there is a tourney in Ashford Meadow.”
As he stares into the middle distance, steely-jawed, the thrums of the string line opening to the Game of Thrones theme play, building to a crescendo that... stops abruptly when the show cuts to a shot of Dunk defecating by a tree. This isn’t your septa’s Game of Thrones. This one’s a little off.
Dunk doesn’t have much going for him: he’s got a sword, three horses, and a set of armor that is way too small for him. He sets off to join the lists in Ashford, but along the way runs into the small, bald, and smart-alecky child named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). Dunk dismisses him at first, but sure as a Lannister pays his debts, Egg shows up again in Ashford, asking to be Dunk’s squire like Dunk was to Ser Arlen. Dunk agrees, but it soon becomes clear he can’t just join the lists, win, and become a great knight. First, he has to find someone to vouch for him, then he has to find (and pay for) armor that would fit his 6’5” frame, before he even gets to find an opponent.
In between the tense moments, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finds time to be goofy and joyful in a way Game of Thrones and The House of the Dragon often cannot.
The first two are Herculean efforts for him, but the third is relatively easy, as defending a beautiful puppeteer’s honor leads him to a fearsome clash head-to-head with a Targaryen. As those who have read The Tales of Dunk and Egg, George R.R. Martin’s novellas that serve as source material, know, this simple action ends up having huge effects on the future of the Seven Kingdoms.
It’s difficult to explain the tone of this series. Imagine an adaptation of Ivanhoe starring a rugby player with a West Country accent, with the hustle-and-grind stress of Marty Supreme, and a couple of 30 Rock-style cutaway gags thrown in. It’s irreverent, with an edge. That doesn’t lessen what we’ve come to expect from a Game of Thrones show, however. There are so many edge-of-your-seat moments, epically choreographed combat sequences, and betrayals along the way.
Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
It may be tempting to compare Dunk to another epic spinoff character: Din Djarin of The Mandalorian. The similarities are there: both are obsessed with honor, be that The Way or the Knight’s Code. Both are freelancers, Din as a bounty hunter and Dunk as a hedge knight. Both were foundlings, plucked from obscurity to serve a greater purpose, and both are begrudgingly accompanied by small sidekicks they learn to love. But as the six episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms unfold, there’s no temptation to make Dunk the hero of the entire realm. He’s just a guy. A really tall, really nice guy.
For those who have read the book, it’s very obvious the role Dunk plays in the bigger Game of Thrones universe. But for those just meeting him for the first time, you’re about to get a sense of just how heroic anyone can be with the right attitude. If this is Game of Thrones’ Mandalorian, then it’s also Game of Thrones’ Andor.
