“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” the third installment in the Game of Thrones TV franchise, marks a departure from its TV predecessors.
Set roughly 70 years after the events of “House of the Dragon” and nearly a century before the “Game of Thrones” saga, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” hews closer to a comedy than a work of prestige fantasy drama and consistently makes a point of undercutting any hint at excessive seriousness.
When any opportunity arises to make a joke, even a crude one, this series — based on George R.R. Martin’s “Dunk and Egg” novellas — takes it.
Unlike its sweeping siblings and in keeping with the tighter focus of a novella, “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” adapted for the screen by Martin and “House of the Dragon” writer and executive producer Ira Parker, is deliberately more modest in scope.
Each of the first season’s six episodes (a second season has already been confirmed) are well under an hour in length. Most unfold within a crisp 30 minutes or so.
The show is not only focused in terms of run time, but in its storytelling, which zeroes in on one key relationship: the one between Ser Duncan the Tall, or Dunk (Peter Claffey), and his young squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), that serves as the beating heart that keeps blood flowing to the narrative’s other vital organs.
It is crucial that both of these characters come across as compelling and empathetic, and they do, thanks in no small part to the actors who bring them to life. Claffey, a former professional Irish rugby player turned actor, brings a charming and good-natured naiveté to his portrayal of Dunk. Physically, Dunk is a massive brick wall of a human, but Claffey makes sure we can sense the softness behind the massiveness.
Sol Ansell, who had small roles in “The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes” and Robert Zemeckis’ film “Here,” is a bundle of vulnerability and still-evolving hypermasculinity whose wide eyes evoke the awe and horror he continues to discover in the ruthless world around him.
When Claffey and Sol Ansell are together in the frame, this mountain of a man and tiny grain of salt of a boy look like a comically disproportionate pair of jigsaw puzzle pieces that inexplicably fit.
As much of a left turn as it may be, “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” still has a lot in common with its television brethren. It is set in Westeros and, albeit to a lesser extent than “Game of Thrones” and “House of the Dragon,” follows the betrayals and dynamics within key families who either possess or covet the Iron Throne.
It features a vast array of characters whose names contain more vowels than should be permissible by law. (Aerion Targaryen? Daeron Targaryen? Are you ki(ae)dding me?)
“Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” also is peppered with occasionally violent action sequences that may compel the squeamish to squeeze their eyes shut, another central element in any Game of Thrones series.
The penultimate episode is grounded in a battle as intense as anything in the original drama, but it achieves that intensity by drawing the viewer into the intimate terror of the moment rather than allowing the audience to see the breadth of it. At times, we witness the chaos from inside a knight’s helmet, where our perspective is intentionally blinkered.
Where “Thrones” went big to make its impact, “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” just as effectively goes small.
What may resonate most with viewers is the show’s emphasis on the inequities in Westeros society, which rewards privilege and wealth even as it purports to prioritize integrity. To his credit and possible peril, Dunk believes fervently that it is a knight’s duty to stand up for anyone who is being mistreated, no matter the circumstances.
Even as it becomes increasingly clear that Dunk is not always the most reliable narrator, his decency is never in doubt. He stands for justice, but “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” implies that such a stance does not make him a hero. It just makes him a man, but one who deems himself worthy of a higher calling.