I just binged a replay of season 1 of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms". The episodes work better when played back to back than they do when watched as the initial one episode per week. The combined runtime of the 6 episodes is only a bit longer than 3 hours, so it is quickly done.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms can be seen as lightweight Game of Thrones. The novels are short and simple. To be honest I was never a big fan of them. They are better written than "Fire and Blood" (House of the Dragon), but that doesn't say a lot. They are also well suited for a short TV show. Their simplicity and short length make them fairly easy to adapt.
The story is set in 209 AC (After the Conquest), about 90 years before Game of Thrones. Dunk [Peter Claffey] is squire for Ser Arlan of Pennytree [Danny Webb]. When the old man dies, Dunk decides to find out if he has what it takes to become a Hedge Knight in Westeros. Egg [Dexter Sol Ansell] is a mysterious boy that tags along as Dunk makes his way for the tournament at Ashford Meadow.
The good news is that AKOTSK works quite well. It stays loyal to George R. R. Martin's "The Hedge Knight" novel, with only a few additions. The show has some comedy elements with lots of shitting, pissing, puking, spitting. Overall it is not particularly amusing though. It is a slow show with a lot of build up. It is not boring it just moves rather slowly. The action scenes are pretty limited and often clouded in either darkness or fog. The amount of violence is limited apart from the few action scenes. Nudity is mostly limited to a man with a gigantic cock taking a piss.
The 2 main characters, Ser Duncan 'Dunk' the Tall and Egg are equally annoying. Dunk is a slow, annoying huge trunk of a man. His dull, slow, super serious behavior annoys me. He is not much fun. Egg annoys me because kids in movies are annoying per definition, and boys are particularly annoying, and Egg is really annoying at times. Together they make up a team that matches the novel well enough, I guess.
Prince Aerion 'Brightflame' Targaryen [Finn Bennett] manages to be a fine "stand-in" for Joffrey Baratheon. It is always good to have a mad royal villain in a Game of Thrones related show. The character building is generally fine and it is easy to understand who is who and what their motivations are.
The show looks great. There is never any doubt that we are in Westeros. Most of the show takes place at the tournament at Ashford Meadow in the Reach. In an added backstory flashback we also visit King's Landing for a short while.
The show is a good watch because it stays true to the source material. It is short and to the point. If you can deal with the annoying characters, that is. They didn't annoy me enough to quit, and I'm sure I'll be back for more when the Annoying Duo returns in the already confirmed Season 2.
Rating: 
TV Series Title: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Season: 1
Episodes: 6
Creators: George R.R. Martin, Ira Parker
Directors: Owen Harris, Sarah Adina Smith, Andrea Harkin
This Release: 2026
Genres: Action, Drama, Fantasy
Actors: Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Daniel Ings, Bertie Carvel, Shaun Thomas, Finn Bennett, Danny Webb, Sam Spruell, Henry Ashton, Tanzyn Crawford, Chloe Lea, Edward Ashley, Tom Vaughan-Lawlor, Youssef Kerkour
Movie Format: Streaming
Movie Label: HBO Max
Content Type: Movie Review
Language: 
Updated: 2026-03-01 11:04
Created: 2026-02-21 20:34
