The newest Game of Thrones spinoff just finished its first season. Steve and Jason are here to discuss the first season for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and what we want to see from the show in future seasons. Spoilers for season one below!
Steve: I really enjoyed the first season for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (AKOTSK). I was on the fence before it came out, feeling a little fatigue from a franchise that I like a lot. House of the Dragon is good, but it really doubles down on the grand spectacle, to the point that when you don’t have an episode where a dragon destroys an entire battalion, it’s a massive disappointment. AKOTSK, however, is refreshingly character-based and low key, focusing entirely on Ser Duncan the Tall (Dunk) and Aegon Targaryen (Egg).
Jason: Like yourself I was REALLY scared about what an adaptation of the Dunk and Egg tales would look like on the screen. My lasting hope that it would stay grounded and very true to the source material without expanding too much into what hasn’t been written. Lucky for myself and fans, this delivered on all fronts. Not only did it stay true to the overall message of the first novella, it did expand on it in little ways to breathe deeper meaning to the story and characters. AKOTSK almost feels like an antithesis of what Game of Thrones (GoT) & House of the Dragon (HotD) were and are. The latter two aren’t lesser in retrospect, but it was nice to see this universe on a smaller scale without too many fantastical elements. I thought the casting was absolutely brilliant, particularly those who played Dunk, Egg, Lyonel Baratheon, Raymun Fossoway, and Baelor Targaryen.
Steve: The casting really was outstanding. Dunk and Egg are PERFECT. Peter Claffey brings both size and physicality to Dunk and balances it with kindness and affability that makes him one of the most rootable characters on TV. Dexter Sol Ansell is an amazing find for Egg. He gives the character an intelligence and nobility that hints just enough at his true identity as royalty before making the actual reveal on the show. If you haven’t seen him do interviews for the show, he is also adorable. “I don’t like cursing at all and I only do it because it is my job,” cracks me up. Additionally, Daniel Ings as Ser Lyonel ‘The Laughing Storm’ Baratheon absolutely rocked. He instantly became my favorite Baratheon.
Jason: Dexter is beyond adorable, I can’t get enough of him. He perfectly embodied everything I’ve ever pictured of Egg in my head as I’ve read the novellas. Same goes with Peter Claffey with his affable nature, but clear peasant level understanding of what is going on around him. I love the added depth they gave him in the flashbacks, which we obviously don’t get in the novella. Seeing his upbringing and how he actually meets Ser Arlan was a treat. Now that I mention it, Danny Webb was outstanding as Ser Arlen of Pennytree too in his very little screentime.
I thought the practical, close combat action that was delivered in this series was some of the best in the entire larger saga. The jousting was intense and not something we’ve seen all that much since Season 1 of GoT. Needless to say, the actual Trial of the Seven was beautifully done. In the book we only see and hear as much as what Dunk does and they didn’t really break from that. Even knowing the outcome of the trial, the intensity and grittiness had me on the edge of my seat the entire time. That episode is reason enough to invest in surround sound in your home.
Steve: The POV shot during the Trial of the Seven was so cool. What a way to show the chaos and claustrophobia of a medieval battle. The grounded nature of this show is what made it so refreshing in the GoT universe. We’re seeing what the people think of their rulers. We get to see the muck and the mire. It’s as relatable as a story can be set in a universe where dragons and ice zombies exist. I also appreciate the more humorous tone as compared to HotD, which is typically deathly serious. GoT had its share of humor, mainly from Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister. AKOTSK, however, definitely has the largest ratio of seriousness of all of the Westeros shows.
Jason: Yes, and even though the stakes are high, it finds that sweet spot between the two that I don’t think we’ve ever gotten in a medieval fantasy show before. This is our first ever look at the Targaryens without dragons in this universe (save for most of S1 of GoT). You see the whispers from both Lyonel and Raymun that folks aren’t so happy with the “Dragon Lords” and now that they know they don’t have dragons are more vulnerable than ever before. You no longer see that supremacy and fear of the Targs in HotD. Speaking of which, going back to the flashbacks, I loved how they started dropping historical context of the First Blackfyre Rebellion (which is deserving of its own show IMO). It felt natural and its extremely important to the backstory and story that unfolds in both S2 (The Sworn Sword) and presumably S3 (The Mystery Knight). The battlefield we see in the Dunk childhood flashback is the aftermath of one of those battles and it wasn’t just happenchance that they included it. I’m going to be interested in how fans who haven’t read the novels connect with this next season because its very different in scale.
Steve: Weirdly, I thought I had read the novels, but I don’t think I actually have! I’m very torn on whether I want to while the series is going. On the one hand, getting the greater context and nuance that you get from a novel can really enrich the overall experience. On the other hand, I love to be surprised by a show, especially one with such rich visuals as this one. Regardless, despite my reservations, I’m really glad that this show exists and it’s been a blast so far. I’d recommend AKOTSK to even the most jaded of GoT fans.
Jason: I have actually recommended it to the downtrodden GoT fanatics because of how different it is! What helps make it special is how approachable it is. I don’t believe you necessarily have to be a GoT fan to appreciate the show for what it is. At its heart, it’s just a coming-of-age story based in a medieval setting. There is no deeper history needed or spreadsheets to keep track of everything going on. My mother, god love her, will always text me after GoT and HotD asking me to explain certain characters actions, backgrounds, etc to better understand what is going on because a lot of the time it can be too much or unclear for her. I rarely got that with AKOTSK. I’m really hoping with the even smaller scale of S2’s story that this won’t take nearly as long to film and come out like a HotD. I’m already highly encouraged by casting for S2 so far, especially getting Peter Mullan to play Ser Eustace Osgrey who I have a feeling is going to be a delight in that role.
With how much I’ve liked this first season, I do hope that they don’t go beyond three seasons as George R.R. Martin (GRRM) hasn’t published any stories beyond that. He’s hinted over the years of a few future stories he’d like to write about, but nothing has happened on that front because he is “dedicated” to releasing the next A Song of Ice and Fire novel, “The Winds of Winter.” I don’t know how I feel about going beyond even if GRRM has given the showrunner 12 additional Dunk and Egg stories. Maybe it’s PTSD from the last 3-4 GoT seasons where the showrunners/writers tried to adapt and finish a story based on no written material. It shows it can get messy and divisive. With how well received S1 has been, I’d hate to see its legacy slip away.
Steve: I said in the BSH Slack earlier today that I would not re-read A Song of Ice and Fire until GRRM released an official release date for The Winds of Winter, so I’m predicting that I will never re-read it. This franchise badly needs the source material. I am in agreement that I only want it to go as far as the books that the show is based on. That said, I really loved the first season and am pumped to see where we go with season two!
