After the disastrous (some might even say unprecedented, or generational) crash and burn of the once revered HBO series Game of Thrones, followed by a dreary slog through just the first half of the first season of House of the Dragon, I was certain my days frolicking through the Westerosi Cinematic Universe™ were finished for good. I do have a marginally higher regard for the books - despite the fact many of the most contentious aspects of the Game of Thrones’ finale came directly from George R. R. Martin’s outlines for the story (sorry, G.R.R.M. simps, but it’s the truth) - and I’ve always intended to finish reading the series (such as it is) at some unspecified future date.
Now, I’ve talked my fair share of trash about G.R.R.M. over the years, but I do think he is an objectively good writer. This is why the first four seasons of Game of Thrones are unquestionably the peak era of the show - they were mostly based on events from the books (mostly). Season Five, while still one of the better seasons, is when things started going off the rails somewhat: all those little departures from the source material were adding up and starting to become unwieldy; not to mention the fact that said source material was quickly running out.
While I think G.R.R.M. is a good writer, I also think he is ridiculously overrated. Much of his lore/worldbuilding is directly cribbed from the likes of Tad Williams’ Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn trilogy, or Michael Moorcock’s Elric novels. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wearing your influences on your sleeve (Lord knows I do it all the time in my own fiction writing), but G.R.R.M. gets all manner of praise heaped upon him that he, frankly, doesn’t really deserve.
It also doesn’t help my opinion of him that he’s quite obviously a miserable person. Martin is notoriously difficult to work with, he’s bizarrely adversarial with his own fans (who really just want him to deliver what he himself promised them), and he’s constantly throwing shade at his literary forebears - specifically one John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. I’m not going to get bogged down in the veritable quagmire of whether or not G.R.R.M. loves or hates Tolkien, but I will say it is abundantly clear that he is insanely jealous of the man, as well as the outsized influence ol’ J.R.R. continues to wield over the fantasy genre.
Getting back to the aforementioned Westerosi Cinematic Universe™, I share a similar opinion of the now infamous TV show based on Martin’s flagship literary series. It was (for the most part) objectively good television, but it was hardly, like, totally the greatest thing EVAR. I can think of several shows going off roughly around the same time that were better than Game of Thrones, even at its peak: the first season of HBO’s own True Detective, most of Dexter, Banshee, Breaking Bad, The Last Kingdom, and the first three seasons of Outlander were all superior; in my not-so-humble opinion.
Which brings us (at long last) to what I really want to discuss, which is A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; the latest HBO offering to be based on yet another of G.R.R.M.’s unfinished works - the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas.
I could not possibly have been less interested in this show when the hype train started rolling out for it. Heck, I didn’t even bother watching any of the trailers! Yet there I was, like the proverbial battered spouse who inexplicably keeps coming back for more, watching the first two episodes not long after they debuted.
Boy, was I pleasantly surprised, I tell you hwhat.
There is so much to like about this show. For starters A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a feast for the senses: the cinematography; the sharp, precise editing; the lyrical and enchanting score; and the costume design, which is easily the best of any fantasy series since the first few seasons of Game of Thrones itself (possibly even better). Seriously, the armor and costumes in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms far outclass the laughable efforts of shows with bigger budgets such as The Witcher (the first two seasons of which I actually quite enjoyed), The Wheel of Time, and especially the execrable Rings of Power.
The acting and character work is also top-notch across the board. It is nothing short of remarkable how effectively (and efficiently) this colorful cast of characters is imbued with their own defining set personalities and motivations. Granted, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms isn’t exactly a sprawling epic that spans innumerable storylines like its predecessor, but the brevity of the story does nothing to diminish the admirable work done to establish sympathetic and believable characters, along with real and tragic stakes.
The Tales of Dunk and Egg are noteworthy among George R. R. Martin’s bibliography for not being as relentlessly grim and brutal compared to his best known works, and the same holds true for the television series. That being said, these characters still face some hard choices; where even the smallest and most seemingly insignificant decisions have far reaching consequences - which is a facet of G.R.R.M.’s work that I have always appreciated, if I’m being honest (except for those times when the good characters make excruciatingly dumb decisions because the plot demands that the bad characters absolutely must come out on top).
I do, of course, have a few minor quibbles:
This is yet another fantasy show where supposedly Medieval European inspired characters casually speak in discordantly modern vernacular, complete with copious amounts of vulgarity.
The gross out gags in the first couple of episodes are jarring and entirely unnecessary.
The flashback that occupies a large chunk of the penultimate episode takes far too long to go anywhere, especially taking into account how short each episode’s runtime actually is.
The showrunners did make some minor concessions to modern casting trends (IYKYK), but these are few and far between, and mostly in the background (mostly).
Overall, though, I’m delighted to say that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a delectable and satisfying morsel of quality entertainment for those of us who have lately been so thoroughly starved of any such thing.
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Good and fair review.
I really enjoyed Dunk & Egg and that’s what I’m calling it, The Tales of Dunk and Egg. A much better title in my opinion, but I digress. I love the three novellas and the main series as well. I’m probably amongst the few on this site that defends Martin and his work and his influence from men like Michael Moorcock is well known and George admits it, I think he and Moorcock were even friends/acquaintances. As for the nature of A Song of Ice & Fire, I don’t believe it’s a gray and grimdark as most believe and this image comes from the show and HBO’s constant attempts at being “adult” & “gritty.” The gist of the books are about how evil can and will sometimes gain a temporary upper hand, but will inevitably collapse under its own weight and the good guys will rally behind the legacy of their fallen heroes and fight for their homes, land, and families.