A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Review: John Winterson Richards

So, it turns out that people like likeable people - and like spending time with them. Who knew? Not modern Hollywood apparently, or at least they seem to have forgotten, which is why the surprise success of the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (on Prime Video) came as such a surprise to them.

It was also a surprise to those of us who loved the first four seasons of Game of Thrones but became increasingly more disillusioned by the lazy writing of the last four. The first season of House of the Dragon revived interest in George RR Martin's fantasy land of Westeros, but the second proved a slight disappointment - it was not exactly bad: it was simply that not much happened. So hopes were not high for a relatively low budget show based on a series of Martin novellas set in Westeros in the years between GoT and HotD. To give some notion of the timescale, the character played memorably as a very old man by Peter Vaughan in GoT is mentioned in passing as a youngster here.

The plot at first seems to owe a great deal to the feature film A Knight's Tale starting Heath Ledger as a low born squire who takes on the identity of a Knight in the 14th Century, but the first novella predates the film. They may, however, still share a common lineage, because the film is based very loosely on the true story of the 12th Century William Marshal. He was actually the son of a minor Baron, but an impecunious younger son. Nevertheless, he ended up a champion jouster, very rich, Earl of Pembroke, Regent of England, and the man whose seal is on the legally valid version of the Magna Carta, and he has been called "the Greatest Knight." Truth is often much stranger than fiction, and might indeed be more difficult to believe than fiction.

Our Marshal analogue Ser Duncan "the Tall" is mentioned in passing in Game of Thrones as the epitome of knighthood. Like the Marshal, Dunk is a huge lump of a man. Unlike the Marshal, he really is as low born as it is possible to get and not exactly the sharpest sword in the armoury. He is actually a bit brighter than he appears - a fact proved by one of his most relatable habits, his repeated self reproach at his poor handling of social situations that make him look stupider than he is - but some very amusing scenes confirm that thinking really is not what he does best. What counts is that he is good hearted with a high concept of knighthood, apparently learned from the wandering mercenary knight he served as squire. However, the difference between what he says about his mentor and some of what we see in flashback suggests Dunk is not an entirely reliable narrator. There are at least two very heavy hints that this paragon of knighthood was in fact never even knighted as he claims.

So it is just as well that he teams up with someone far more intelligent, a suspiciously well-spoken young boy who calls himself "Egg" and whose shaven head makes him look a bit like one. Egg obviously has a secret, a secret which anyone with an IQ higher than room temperature - which means anyone other than Dunk - will have worked out long before the supposed big reveal halfway through the first season.

Egg is a delight. He is sometimes nervous, sometimes overconfident, nearly always chatty, but with a hint of something poignant beneath. He seems to have a wisdom well beyond his years. Some of his best scenes are those in which he is half training and half playing, oblivious of the line of seriousness that separates the two, simply a little boy enjoying himself.

Former professional rugby player Peter Claffey as Dunk exudes the sort of natural charm that made Paul Gross such easy company in Due South and Kevin Sorbo in Hercules: the Legendary Journeys, while Dexter Sol Ansell is so precocious as Egg that one has to keep reminding oneself that this is a child actor not a forty year old of very short stature. Each is loveable in his own way but put them together and the likeability factor is not so much multiplied as increased exponentially. They have such a wonderful big brother/little brother dynamic that simply spending time with them is entertaining even before the plot suddenly kicks into high gear in the second half of the season. One scene in particular will probably trigger a craving for a bacon and egg roll.

The relationship between Dunk and Egg is the beating heart of the show, but there are at least four other performances each of which on its own would make the first season worth watching. Most memorable is the shameless scene stealing by Daniel Ings (W1A, The Gentlemen) who plays Lyonel Baratheon as a Medieval Tony Stark. From Mark Addy's entrance in the very first episode of GoT the distinguishing feature of the Baratheons is their casual assumption that the world moves around them and Lyonel is so confident in himself that he has no need to impress anyone, which is always perversely attractive. More importantly, he is enormous fun, an aristocratic force of Nature, truly "the Laughing Storm" and just as unpredictable. You would definitely want him as your friend, but perhaps not too close a friend.

By contrast, Baelor Targaryen, as played with moving integrity by Bertie Carvel (Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell) is definitely the man you would want running your country. He is likeable in a very different way, because he is calm, brave, just, gentle, wise, compassionate, and concerned about others at all levels, basically Aragorn - so all will surely turn out well for him as it always does for such noble and well intentioned characters in Westeros. At least he gets to make one of the great boss entrances of all time at a crucial moment.

His brother Maekar is obviously set up as his opposite, brusque, arrogant, foul mouthed, and openly disinterested in most people. The way he is introduced emphasises his relative insignificance as a younger son, despite his being a very successful soldier, and it is obvious he chafes at this. Yet as events reveal more of his character, we see other sides to him, not least a genuine love for his family that ironically contributes to the family tragedy and a feeling of guilt when he sees the consequences of his mistakes that he still feels obliged to conceal. That he cannot quite conceal it is perhaps the crowning glory of Sam Spruell's subtle portrayal of a superficially unsubtle man. He quietly steals the final episode.

Finally, the veteran Danny Webb deserves credit for conveying a great deal with very few words, most of them sung drunkenly, as Dunk's deceased mentor. Dunk is depressed that hardly anyone remembers the old knight, but then anyone but Dunk would have realised that he would be more likely to be remembered if Dunk mentioned a certain physical peculiarity rather than his mediocre deeds.

The rest of the supporting cast are all true to their respective roles. The landscapes of Northern Ireland, including several already familiar from GoT, are photographed evocatively to give a lovely idyllic tone to the young Dunk's travels. The fact that most of the filming seems to have been done in the sunshine gives it all a completely different tone from the sombre GoT.

The production values are generally good, in spite - or perhaps because - of the story lacking the epic sweep of GoT and HotD. Apart from a few introductory scenes and "flashbacks," events are confined to a few days at a single location, a tournament at a second level provincial castle which has managed to attract some celebrity names. The big set piece is a melee of only fourteen knights, hardly "the Battle of the Bastards," but its authenticity has generated a great deal of generally favourable comment among HEMA (Historical European Martial Arts) types online. The director certainly seems familiar with the gold standard of such things, the Battle of Shrewsbury in Orson Welles' Chimes At Midnight, so one can forgive such questionable details as the use of a Morningstar on chain from horseback - far more likely to brain your own horse than an armoured opponent.

Yet it is in the nature of art that it is never perfect. Possibly the biggest flaw in the structure is that this dramatic fight scene is broken by a long "flashback," taking us out of the moment. Even more annoying is that the Dunk of the "flashback" does not seem entirely consistent with the Dunk he becomes, even allowing for growth and maturity.

The time would have been much better spent finding out more about some of the rest of the fourteen knights, and specifically why some of them choose to fight, possibly to the death, for a man they barely know. One is given only a single line, and no explanation of who he is or why he fights. We do not even get to see his death on camera. The poor chap deserves better.

It also has to be said that not everything in the final episode makes sense if one stops to think about it, but it is so involving that few will.  Talking of minor irritations, it might be aesthetically necessary to ignore this but Medieval lighting was expensive. Flaming torches did not last very long and were fire hazards. They would not have been kept burning unnecessarily. A tastefully lit empty stable yard at an obscure inn was jarring, even if it was admittedly quite pretty.

Yet the fact that one has to draw attention to what is no more than a common failing in historical drama is itself proof of how difficult it is to find imperfections in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. As a reviewer one feels one has to dig something up to its discredit in order to feel that one is simply not going with the flow of internet chatter about what a refreshing change this is from the usual Hollywood cynicism and nihilism. It is as if someone read your reviewer's essay here on Heroes and Happy Endings, and decided to do something about it.

Whether anyone did or not - almost certainly not - it is much appreciated. So, thank you, this was actually... satisfying. It deserves all the goodwill it has built up. More like this, please. Now, following recent precedent, we can sit back and wait to see how they mess it all up in subsequent seasons.