Premiere: Monday, January 19
Runtime: ~30 minutes per episode
Age Rating: MA15+
- Tighter episodes
- Great casting
- Fantastic soundtrack
- The lack of source material on the horizon
- Not enough Lyonel Baratheon
Love them or hate them, the Game of Thrones spin-offs just keep on coming.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the third HBO-produced adaptation set in George RR Martin’s gritty fantasy world of Westeros and there’s no shortage of distinctions to be drawn here between this new spin-off and the franchises’ last one. Where House of the Dragon is all about the high-level politicking of the most wealthy and powerful family in the realm, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is much more concerned with the plight of the little guy.
The sense of danger that the franchise is famous for remains largely intact, but the problems faced by Ser Duncan (played by Peter Claffey) are significantly lower stakes than what fans might be used to. He’s not looking to reclaim his ancestral throne or settle a quest for vengeance. He’s just looking for someone willing to recognise his status as a knight, which was bestowed upon him by his mentor on their death-bed with no witnesses aside from himself.
Dodo's NBN 500 Unlimited plan is our pick for the best NBN 500 plan for September.
|
Dodo
FTTP, HFC
Editor's Pick
nbn500 Unlimited Plan
$62.99/mth
Min. cost $62.99
|
The six episodes that make up the first season of A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms follow Dunk as he pursues this relatively straightforward quest for validation, which lead him both into trouble at a local tourney and into contact with a young boy named Egg (played by Dexter Sol Ansell). A “Lone Wolf and Cub” dynamic quickly develops, so if you’re a fan of shows like The Mandalorian or The Last of Us, you’ll feel right at home before too long.
This relationship is the core of the story, but for all that it is familiar with, it’s very much in line with the source material. Unlike House of the Dragon – which adapts a slice of Westeros' history – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a more direct adaptation of “The Hedge Knight”. The story of this particular novella is a simple one, but it’s told well and it’s mostly for the best that this HBO-backed take on it doesn’t try to reinvent the wheel. Much like the first few seasons of its predecessors, the series’ knows when to sit back and let George RR Martin’s dialogue – and a phenomenal soundtrack – do the heavy-lifting.
And although A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is broadly faithful to both the spirit and letter of the source material, it’s peppered with small tweaks that give the characters a little more room to breathe while making the most of the cast that the story brings into the fray and the time and place in which it takes place. We haven’t quite reached the post-Targaryen era seen in Game of Thrones but we’re far from the height seen in House of the Dragon.
Another key difference between this and House of the Dragon is that A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms has largely been filmed on-location in Northern Ireland. That creative choice pays off in a big way, lending the series a really grounded feel and sense of texture that elevates everything you see on screen.
It also helps that the episodes themselves are a smaller 30-minutes rather than the usual 60-70 minute runtimes that Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are infamous for. Each episode does a great job of leaving you wanting a little more, but the season as a whole doesn’t outstay its welcome.
Of course, there is one cause for concern here for those that do find themselves falling in with the exploits of Dunk & Egg. For almost any other TV show, I wouldn’t mention it. However, for this one it feels remiss to omit the reality that although George RR Martin has expressed a desire to tell as many as nine tales about the pair, he has only written and published three stories to date.
A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms has already been greenlit for a second season, which will presumably cover the second novella. However, should the series go on beyond a third season, it’s very easy to imagine it running out of source material in much the same fashion as its predecessor.
It’s not impossible to imagine the creative team behind this series will handle that transition from adapting a fully-finished story to adapting the “idea of a plan” more gracefully than Game of Thrones did. All the same, I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t something on the horizon that I thought about while watching the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Still, for all these differences and detail, those who do prefer more politicking in their fantasy TV will still find plenty to like here. Like The Hedge Knight before it, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms finds magic in the mundane and rediscovers the romanticism that has always been a key ingredient of George RR Martins’ take on epic fantasy.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres exclusively on HBO Max, Monday January 19. Episodes will be released weekly. HBO Max is one of the more expensive streaming services on the market but there are a few good deals available if you know where to look.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is available exclusively on HBO Max in Australia. That might be confusing to anyone who previously got their Game of Thrones fix through services like Foxtel and Binge but in early 2025, HBO brought its own streaming service to Australia, and took back all of its exclusive TV shows in the process.
HBO Max plans cost between $11.99 and $21.99 per month, with the lowest tier offering ad-supported HD streaming on two devices, and the highest tier offering ad-free 4K streaming on four devices.
|
HBO Max
From
$11.99/mth
or $119.99/yr
|
|
HBO Max
From
$15.99/mth
or $159.99/yr
|
|
HBO Max
From
$21.99/mth
or $219.99/yr
|
Fergus Halliday
Digital Content Editor
Related Articles
Find a Better Pay TV Package
Compare options from Foxtel, Fetch TV, Netflix, Stan and more.
