“Knighthood has fallen on sad days,” mutters a cruel nobleman upon getting his first glimpse of the humble and bedraggled Ser Duncan the Tall, the affable underdog hero of A Knight of the SevenKingdoms, HBO’s wonderfully modest new Game of Thronesspinoff.
Au contraire. It may be true that Duncan — call him “Dunk,” which appropriately rhymes with “lunk” — is only a mere hedge knight (“like a knight, but sadder,” we’re told). He’s a man with a horse but no home, using a tree for shelter as he seeks greater purpose after the unheralded death of his former master and mentor. But Dunk could teach his supposed superiors a thing or two about honor.
Knight is a rarity in the world of fantasy: an anti-epic, small-scaled in scope at only six episodes, most clocking in at around 30 brisk minutes. As unassuming in proportion as its lumbering title character (the endearingly earnest Peter Claffey) is in temperament, the series is huge in heart and even humor, which already makes it a more appealing window into the world of Westeros than the grim and lugubrious prequel House of the Dragon (which is expected to return for a third season later this year).
Set roughly a century before Thrones, with dragons still a distant memory, this picaresque tale is instantly endearing, becoming even more so when Dunk encounters a solemn and bald boy named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who asks to become his squire.
And so begins a buddy adventure of two seeming misfits: the forlorn knight who earns less respect than Rodney Dangerfield and the precocious lad who seems wise beyond his years. (There’s a reason for that, and it’s a doozy.) Based on the first chapter of George R.R. Martin‘s short-story collection about Dunk and Egg, this vignette offers Dunk a chance to prove himself at a regional tournament — if only he can find someone to vouch for him.
The show’s tone is unusually light, until it isn’t, when Dunk’s impulsive act of chivalry makes him an enemy of Aerion (Finn Bennett), one of the ruling Targaryens, a Joffrey-level tyrant. Their conflict, which amplifies Dunk’s isolation and outsider status, leads to a messy battle of blood and mud upon a jousting field.
“Are there no true knights among you?” a disillusioned Dunk asks aloud. He should look within himself. If we’re lucky enough to get more seasons, I expect we’ll be witness to the making of a future legend who deserves to be more than a footnote in the annals of Westeros history.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,Series Premiere, Sunday, January 18, 9/8c, HBO
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