A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Welcome back to Westeros, the land of blood, steel, fire, misfits, dragons and everything you can only imagine. So, why are we there again? The reason is pretty simple – an adaptation of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, based on the set of George RR Martin’s gorgeous novellas, is finally here. Telling a gripping story of Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall (Bad Sisters’ Peter Claffey) and his mysterious squire, “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell), the show is set some 90 years before the events from the main novels. In the first season (the second has already been announced), this (un)fortunate pair fights for their reputation, taking part in a prestigious tournament.

What makes a prequel like this so different from other TV shows premiering around the same time? Well, the showrunners’ opting for newcomers is its greatest merit. Tall Claffey and little Ansell make a duo like nothing else you have seen before; one built around contrasts: audacity versus hesitancy, strength versus wit and wisdom versus knowledge. If it were a film, it would have a real chance of competing in the Oscars category for best casting. While Claffey superbly adapts the clumsiness of our eponymous knight, Ansell steals every scene with his personal allure.

Apart from this, every single character appearing in the series only contributes to the ensemble and completes this potent world. One cannot forget about Tanzyn Crawford’s élan (she stars as Tanselle, the Dornish puppeteer Dunk falls in love with), Daniel Ings’s Lyonel Baratheon (slightly reminiscent of his performance in The Gentlemen), or the three musketeers – Sam Spruell, Bertie Carvel and Finn Bennett – who become different kinds of Targaryens. The first is grieving, the second is wise, the third, a little bit too cruel.

Another quality of this prequel is its humour’s immediacy, something that we were not accustomed to in the previous shows. To be fair, not only are the gags and silly one-liners delivered without an overdue exposition, everything else is, too. As A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the only book in Martin’s universe solely written from one POV, so is its adaptation. Whenever Dunk learns anything about Westeros and his current state of affairs, we do as well. And, when he’s perplexed – so we are, as we can readily notice that it’s a much tougher existence in this violent world when you’re not a king, or at least an heir to the throne.

There is this classic vine with the older lady oddly saying, “I am confusion,” when discussing the names of American states. Our Dunk is nothing but this “confusion”, and we’re there for it – ready to be entertained by his spontaneity and the lack of socio-political awareness. This is what drives us throughout these episodes, this need that Dunk has to be better, wiser, and more honourable. One that keeps pushing him against all odds. So, we stick around, happy to serve him our swords – the TV remote.