“Every knight needs a squire. And you look like you need one more than most.”
(SPOILER WARNING!)
Yes, I know, it’s been months since I’ve written anything here. A combination of work, then the irritating recurrence of mental problems from the past… But it’s just excuses. I needed something to discipline me to write every week. And what better than HBO’s continued attempt to milk success from George RR Martin’s sprawling world of Westeros?
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the second spinoff from ratings juggernaut Game of Thrones, after grim, slow-paced prequel House of the Dragon, which received a rather mixed reaction. With House of the Dragon currently in a two to three year wilderness period between seasons, HBO seized on the last of Martin’s unadapted Westeros-related work – several short novellas called The Tales of Dunk and Egg.
Obviously that title wasn’t grandiose enough, so A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms it became. And yet, the title has more than a hint of irony, for our central character, ‘Ser Dunk’ is barely a knight at all, and still has a lot to prove. If only he had the shrewdness to do so. Perhaps the wise beyond his years young boy he meets at a roadside inn, offering to be his squire, can be of help…
Obviously, this recalls more than a bit of classic literature, where the foolish master is bailed out of difficult situations by his wily, cunning servant – think Don Quixote, any number of Shakespeare plays, and even the first, atypical series of The Black Adder. In common with those, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms focuses on a quality that Game of Thrones did very well but has been entirely absent from the po-faced House of the Dragon – humour.
Yes, while set in the grim, medieval world of Westeros, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is, at heart, a buddy comedy. Incensed by Egg’s doubt about his status, Dunk splutters, “I suppose you know all the knights in the Seven Kingdoms?” To which comes the answer: “The good ones.”
The towering, good-natured Dunk is incarnated by former rugby player Peter Claffey, whose native Irish accent is a fair fit for the all-over-the-place accents of these series. Claffey, who co-starred in underrated BBC comedy slasher Wreck, is a perfect fit for the part, his massive stature contrasted nicely with his good nature. He’s pretty easy on the eye, too – if you’re looking for these shows’ trademark gratuitous nudity, he’s the only one to get his kit off, in a woodland bathing scene rather than a brothel, thank goodness.
His counterpart, the conspicuously bald Egg, is played by 11 year old British actor Dexter Sol Ansell, in a solemn, deadpan performance. Following Martin’s tradition of writing child characters who are preternaturally wise beyond their years – think Arya and Bran Stark – Egg has a pithy, sarcastic comeback for every one of Dunk’s naïve pronouncements, his acid wit disguised by his innocent appearance and boyish voice. It’s another great performance from a very young actor in a Thrones show.
It has to be said, not much actually happens in this first ep. Basically, we see Dunk mourning the death of his master, a foul-tempered hedge knight called Ser Arlan of Pennytree (a great performance from Danny Webb, who thankfully crops up in flashbacks). At a loss, Dunk decides to prove himself as a knight by attending a tourney in the distant town of Ashford. Along the way, he briefly meets orphan boy Egg (or is he?), but they don’t actually become knight and squire until Dunk arrives at the tourney, and after a series of comical misunderstandings, realises he could probably use a bit of help. And the competition hasn’t even started yet.
Actually, not being thrown headfirst into a convoluted plot requiring in-depth knowledge of every noble family comes as something of a relief. Rather than racing through a complex story, this first episode consists mostly of a series of set pieces where the hapless Dunk’s attempts to compete in the tourney are frustrated by a series of comedy characters. Particularly memorable is world-weary Master of the Tourney Plummer (a marvellously grotesque performance from Tom Vaughan-Lawlor), who has a revolting habit of noisily hawking up snot every other line.
Dunk encounters various other quirky characters at the tourney itself, some of whom bear familiar names – Targaryen, Dondarrion, Baratheon… Thankfully so far it seems there is no need to refresh your memory of which is currently at war with which. The most memorable is Daniel Ings’ flamboyant Ser Lyonel Baratheon (aka ‘The Laughing Storm’), who hosts what looks like a storming party at which Dunk inadvertently finds himself.
I’d guess Ser Lyonel will become an important character going forward; and thankfully, unlike its sister shows, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has an economical six episodes this season, rather than being massively padded out like House of the Dragon. I’ve not read Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas (I probably will soon), but I gather they’re pretty slim volumes. As there are three of them, I’m hoping each season will cover one – without trying vainly to extend the series’ lifespan by stretching each out to more than one season.
In the mean time, it’s been a pleasure to go back to the humour that Game of Thrones did so well, and that seems entirely absent from House of the Dragon. Particularly funny (and meta) is the pre-credits sequence in which Dunk stares thoughtfully into the distance, extolling what he’ll do next. As Ramin Djawadi’s familiar Game of Thrones theme begins (and the viewer thinks “Oh God, they’re not using that tune again”), it’s suddenly cut off by a jump cut to a scene of Dunk having a particularly violent, graphic attack of diarrhoea. That sets the tone for the series right from the beginning, and I’m looking forward to spending more time with these characters.
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