One of the hallmarks of Game of Thrones and its prequel series House of the Dragon is that they feature a staggering number of characters and a mythology that is quite dense. Fans of the franchise will likely expect the newest TV series from the world of George R.R. Martin to be similar but it couldn’t be any further from that. This half-hour show often feels more like a comedy than a lofty period drama and essentially follows a single character whose entire universe feels far too simple to unpack and not at all worthy of association with this typically awe-inspiring franchise.
Based on Tales of Dunk and Egg, a series of novellas published by Martin between 1998 and 2010, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows Dunk (Peter Claffley), a hedge knight who adopts the moniker Ser Duncan the Tall and seeks to prove himself so that he may acquire a sense of purpose and greater standing in life. He meets a child named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who similarly wants to make something of himself and eagerly becomes his squire. Together, they travel with the aim of Ser Duncan the Tall becoming a household name and ascending to a position that, as the show’s tagline terms this journey, is far from the throne.
There’s much that sets this show apart from the two that come before it, and while it is based on existing material by the same auteur, it really should be considered something separate. It’s almost deliberately trying not to be like the others yet still includes a handful of easter eggs and familiar family names, but given the short length of its episodes – roughly half an hour – the entire season of six installments encompasses less than a third of what a typical season of the weightier dramas would be able to cover. Game of Thrones and the entire A Song of Ice and Fire franchise is highbrow, sophisticated fare that’s packed to the brim with stunning visual effects and more characters than a sane person could possibly keep track of, but this show feels hopelessly simplistic and out of place when compared with what’s previously been produced.
In the show’s first two episodes, there’s so little happening that audiences are treated to Dunk both urinating and defecating on screen, scenes that feel entirely unnecessary and only serve to indicate that this young man, searching for his destiny, is hopelessly bored. Egg’s willingness to serve helps create a slightly more interesting setup, but there’s barely a noteworthy development until halfway through the season. An abrupt change in tone and content feels jarring and isn’t all that more enthralling, and the fact that this show received a second season renewal several months ago only suggests that future iterations will be equally aimless and uninspired.
Both Claffley and Ansell have fewer than a dozen credits each to their names but will surely find their profiles raised immeasurably by their involvement on this show. They’re both trying hard enough – and Ansell is a particularly impressive find at just eleven years old – but the writing offers them very little. This often feels more than a comedy than a drama, but the tone balance is far from the tightrope that Game of Thrones walked with a dark humor to underscore its very vicious and bloody plot. This concept feels disappointingly underdeveloped, a semblance of an idea that isn’t fully formed. That it’s airing not at 9pm like the two shows that came before it but in the 10pm slot after HBO’s much more established yet still under-the-radar Industry is indicative that it’s by no means a main course but instead more of a side dish, one that isn’t at all able to stand on its own. Preexisting fans of this world will almost certainly be underwhelmed, while newcomers will fail to see the allure of this thin premise. Greenlighting a show set in this universe makes complete sense, but this one is a true dud.
Series grade: 2/10
