By JJ Ledewitz, Senior Arts and Culture Editor
Game of Thrones is finally back! Sort of.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a fantasy series set a century before the events of Game of Thrones. While Game of Thrones dealt with kings, queens, lords and politics, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms deals with the problems of the common folk. Mainly, it follows Ser Duncan the Tall, aka “Dunk,” a young, poor “hedge knight” — a knight who wanders from kingdom to kingdom, never knowing where they’ll sleep or where they’ll get their next meal — along with his witty squire, a little boy named Egg.
Unlike Game of Thrones, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does not rely on 10 hour-long episodes with multiple grand storylines. In this series, we only have six half-hour episodes to follow one storyline: Dunk and Egg on their little adventures, where they do everything from accidentally getting involved with the draconian Targaryen family and watching a puppet show go horribly wrong, to attempting to enter a tournament that may spell death for the both of them. It’s a buddy cop dynamic, and it plays out very well on screen. Almost every single scene is from Dunk’s perspective, which sets the show apart from everything else in the GOT universe by letting us get emotionally attached to the two main characters, who are the only ones we need. We don’t need to follow everyone else or the larger world around the characters. All we focus on are Dunk and Egg.
Dunk is given a lot of depth in the series. It begins with him burying his mentor, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, a fellow hedge knight whom Dunk squired for and respected immensely, even when Ser Arlan clearly didn’t deserve respect. As the series progresses, it becomes clear that everything Dunk is doing is in Ser Arlan’s memory, proving how much his mentor inspired him. Dunk’s connection to Ser Arlan is also strengthened by the fact that the many friends Ser Arlan helped throughout the years barely remember him — the unfortunate consequence of being a hedge knight that Dunk realizes is in his own future too.
This relationship in Dunk’s past lends itself spectacularly to his relationship with Egg. Egg is a nine-year-old boy with no hair but a lot to say. He is witty and helpful, but it’s clear that Dunk’s own past as a squire for Ser Arlan influences the way he treats and views Egg. It doesn’t help that Egg is full of secrets, but the two characters still work incredibly well together, and their chemistry is clear.
Thankfully, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues the Game of Thrones tradition of fantastic visuals. The world around the characters feels real; the costumes are, once again, fantastic (especially in some of the combat scenes in the later episodes), and the set design is immaculate. Because of its premise, this series masters a more dirty, rugged look that Game of Thrones never needed.
Overall, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms plants itself as a short, fun addition to the Game of Thrones mythos. It’s got two compelling protagonists who just want to be recognized as a respected knight and respected squire, and that’s it. It’s a very special series because of its simplicity and a series I highly recommend you watch.
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