REVIEW: ‘A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ Is Fantasy At Its Best

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is Westeros from the perspective of the smallfolk. The lens that the audience is looking through is one facing up toward royalty and lordship, without missing the intricacies and danger that come with just being defined as one of the smallfolk, the everyday citizens of Westeros. 

 This smallfolk’s point of view comes from Dunk (Peter Claffey), the squire for a hedge knight named Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb). When his knight dies, Dunk takes up the title of Ser Duncan the Tall and decides to prove his knighthood at the Ashford tournament. 

What follows is a story of trying to get recognition for Ser Arlan, and ultimately trying to compete in the tournament with his newfound squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), a young boy who has taken to Dunk after meeting at an inn. Dunk plans to prove his knighthood through the tournament, but his world is tested instead.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is deliberately simple and emotionally deep.

After gaining admittance to the tournament with Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), the heir to the throne, Dunk’s life changes when Egg is revealed to be a Targaryen, and Dunk is at risk of losing his foot and hand for beating Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett) after he harmed one of the puppeteers at the tournament. 

Instead of accepting the punishment, Dunk, with the help of Baelor, put in a request to trial by combat, only to have it turned into a Trial of the Seven, where he and six other knights compete against Aerion and six other accusers. 

That’s essentially what happens in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1; however, the circumstances exist to paint a larger message for the audience. Dunk is a good man with a view of knighthood indistinguishable from his views on justice and honor. 

To Dunk, a knight is just goodhearted and will always protect the innocent. However, the men that Dunk meets all cause him to reflect on his idea of a knight. The reality of Westerosi knights is that many seek glory and title above all else, leaving a simple hedge knight on the outs. 

Ser Duncan the Tall is one of the best knights in fiction. 

As a hedge knight, Dunk, like Ser Arlan before him, has no land or lordship or great house that he serves. Instead, he sleeps in the hedges, on the road, and because of that, he’s looked down on. But not for Egg, who sees greatness in Dunk’s measured and sometimes naive worldview. Egg trusts Dunk implicitly, and more importantly, he wants to be him. 

The heart of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is its cast and, in particular, how well Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell’s performances individually and as a duo. Peter Claffey’s performance is part naivete and part willful hope, changing as he begins to experience knights who aren’t his own for the first time. 

As Dunk’s worldview is challenged, his sadness begins to surface, and each event slowly erodes his belief that all knights are good and selfless. But even as his belief in others begins to dissipate, his belief in a knight’s purpose doesn’t. 

We see this when he chooses to give Aerion the chance to live and recant his accusation instead of killing him outright in the Trial of the Seven. And in his guilt after the deaths in the trial, he also calls on the kindness he holds in his heart, despite the gritty world around him. 

Dunk’s compassion shows up even when his pain should outweigh it. 

Claffey’s performance, both physically and verbally, is wholeheartedly moving, even in his simplest moments. But more importantly, it’s that Claffey’s Dunk is allowed to be both tender and angry, sad and hopeful; he is allowed to be more than one archetype, even given how much I have jokingly called him a himbo. He may be ignorant of the world, but his dedication to knighthood and his unshakeable moral grit speak incredibly loudly. 

Egg’s ignorance and niavete is also on display. He’s a kid who wants to be a knight. Egg plays with the horses, the armor, and the sword. He wants to squire for a great knight, but he is cursed by his lineage.

One older brother, Daeron Targaryen (Henry Ashton), is a drunk, and the other, Aerion, is violent and directly abused Egg in the past. The Targaryen men in Egg’s life are not driven by honor, but rather power, and that even includes his guilt-ridden father, Prince Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell).

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is about youth and learning, and hope. 

The success of Dexter Sol Ansell’s performance stems from the audience never being shown Egg as anything other than a child. We are seeing the world through Dunk’s perspective, and for him, Egg is and will always be a “good kid” even when he does wrong. 

Their relationship is hard not to get invested in, and, more importantly, the tenderness between the two is rare on television. Dunk is who we need right now, and he’s also who Egg needs. A hopeful man with nothing but tragedy marking his path who still chooses to believe in people and do good in spite of what those around him say.

When Dunk finally decided to officially allow Egg to swear for him in the season finale, Dunk shows that he enters this mentorship thoughtfully. He can save Egg from the fate promised if forced to learn from his brothers, and Egg meets that with curiosity and joy.

Dexter Sol Ansell’s performance is one of the best ever from a young actor on television. But that is because he brings the uncertainty of childhood and holds onto joy even when his life has been filled with anything but. This is especially evident in every scene he shares with older actors, balancing youth with the wisdom of a life marred by abuse.

Dexter Sol Ansell’s performance is one of the best ever from a young actor on television. 

It’s not just the leads of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 that shape the series’ impact. Bertie Carvel, Shaun Thomas, and Daniel Ings, who star as Baelor Targaryen, Raymun Fossoway, and Lyonel Baratheon, respectively, showcase the message of the series through their support of Dunk, but also in their actions. 

As Baelor, Carvel was endearing in his portrayal of a Targaryen led by honor. He is the only one to remember Ser Arlan of Pennytree, the only one to side with Dunk in the Trial of Seven, and he was kind. Carvel’s performance is entirely capable of being intimidating, but more difficult is that he is also incredibly tender, even in his coldness. Baelor’s wisdom reflects his heart, which is continuously on display.  

That said, Raymun’s inexperience first appears as naivety and innocence, only to way to conviction and an understanding of the world that can only be shaped by looking up. Raymun and Thomas’s performance is a spot of humor throughout the season, with them continuously laughing when they shouldn’t or simply bonding with Dunk. Still, there are moments where his joy cracks, and you can see what he has had to deal with and witnessed as his cousin’s squire. 

Ser Duncan the Tall matters because of the impact he has on the men around him. 

Then, there’s Lyonel “The Laughing Storm” Barathreon. As Baratheon, Ings captures excess. He’s crude, chaotic, and oozing with charisma and sex appeal in every scene. But in that performance, there is also an undercurrent of seriousness that speaks to the reality that this man, whose tent is always a part, wants glory and respect. 

With each man being endearing and charismatic in their own way, they’re the cornerstones of seeing Dunk’s impact on Westeros. This isn’t just about how much he has and will continue to shape Egg, the littlest Targaryen and future king. It’s about how he shapes the world around him. In the ways that whoever he has met in the story has been changed by him—from a blacksmith to the next in line to the Iron Throne. 

What sticks out most prominently about the cinematography for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is that the gritty, natural lighting is still there. However, it sticks out against the daytime, the humor, and the joy that we see in the other parts of the series. Egg and Dunk’s friendship is bright and joyful, even when its dower. But when the two are pulled into politics and danger, we see the old Game of Thrones peaking through. 

HBO’s latest Game of Thrones series excels thanks to its ensemble cast.

This isn’t an issue, however. In fact, it is a constant reminder of the world in which this hopeful story is set. One we know all too well, and one that captures the danger of being a good man and of allowing honor, not legacy, to guide your path. Those visual differences signal to the audience what is happening in the world of Westeros, but the fact that Dunk always returns is a continued focus on just how much he refuses to let his light go out. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms puts this into focus in the penultimate episode of its debut season, keeping all of the time in the present clouded in fog and darkness. That fog of trauma continues into Dunk’s flashback sequence in Flea Bottom, only to be broken as he begins to follow Ser Arlan. The near sepia hues of Flea Bottom are replaced with the vibrant landscape of Westeros as it exists untouched or undisrupted by the men in the realm who do harm. 

As a series, this title eschews the nihilism of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Even though Dunk is fighting for his survival, this is not about who gets to be king (though, yes, Baelor’s death does impact this), nor is it about revenge.

The fantasy in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is what we need right now: a good man.

This is a story about being a good man. It’s about honoring justice and preserving the belief in people, even when they give you no reason to. It’s about bending and not breaking. But as we see Dunk’s impact on Egg, we also see the clear message that what we choose to do shapes those who look up to us. Our choice to be good inspires the next person to do so, and it’s why someone like Raymun Fossoway or the Crown Prince Baelor will risk their lives to follow suit. 

Whether it was shaped by George R.R. Martin’s hand as a co-showrunner or Ira Parker’s, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the first time an HBO-produced fantasy has come close to capturing the hope and joy I felt experiencing The Lord of the Rings for the first time. And I could not help but see Dunk as one of the smallest of folk despite his stature. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is fantasy at its best. Not because of magic or dragons, but because it is fulfilling something that we so desperately need to see right now: A good man. It is too easy to lose yourself in the hopelessness of the current moment, and for those of us who walk around with our passports and cling to a hope that someone next to us will be brave enough to do what’s right instead of turning their head because it’s easy, a good man is a fantasy. 

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the very best of George R.R. Martin’s world on HBO.

Protect the innocent. Be just. Dunk is a hero as much as he is a knight, but more importantly, it’s what he inspires in others that truly captures exactly what we need right now. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms might as well be considered a slice-of-life fantasy series, but like others before it, primarily Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, that deliberate simplicity is a bold statement.

The series taps into our emotions, our fears, and our hopes, and ultimately reminds us, as the audience, that doing what’s right will be hard. We will be beaten within an inch of our lives, but if we choose to still stand in that truth undeterred, the small ripples around us will change things. In a world of Targaryens, we need to be Ser Duncan the Tall.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 is streaming now on HBO Max.

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