A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

Hey everyone, and welcome, today we will be talking about the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Fun Fact: This season is based on George R.R. Martin's novella " The Hedge Knight", the first in a series of 3 novellas known as Tales of Dunk and Egg or A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. This show came out in 2026 and stars Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansel, and Daniel Ings, and was created by Ira Parker and George R.R. Martin. So without further ado, let's get right into it.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, or as I usually call it, Dunk and Egg, follows a hedge knight who plans to enter a tournament to win money and glory. A simple dream becomes more complicated when he gets a squire and comes across a familiar family that is obsessed with dragons.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a medieval action comedy. It has similar vibes to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, or The Witcher.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms caught my eye because I love a Westeros story that further dives into the lore. Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are both very serious, while this show is very comedic, but then mixes in some action and drama to remind the viewer that we are in Westeros. One of my favorite comedic moments was early on when the guy in the stable asked Are you Baelor Targaryen? Then will you move the fuck out of the way? It’s a shorter story with 30-minute episodes, but it did so well telling this story of Dunk and Egg and this birthday party that turned into a trial.

Dunk is played by Peter Claffey, who is known for being tall. He’s kind of awkward but has nothing to loose so he tries putting his life on the line to become a valued knight. He was a squire to Ser Arlan, and he tries to see if anyone remembers him, but not many do, except for Prince Baelor, who lets him join in on the tournament. I love how he took Egg in and really was just trying to do what’s right, which got him into a mess and added to this trial. After Egg announced himself, he was mean to him because Egg lied to him, and he was right to be upset, but I was also like don’t be mean to Egg. I loved seeing him getting his own shield with a sigil from the girl he had a crush on, and later seeing him have to use it. In the trial, he was getting sliced up by Aerion, and it had me nervous, but he prevailed. He may not be an amazing knight, but what he lacks in skill, he makes up for with brute force.

Danny Webb plays Ser Arlan is who taught Dunk all he knows about being a knight and heard so many stories and learned from him. At first, i didn’t really understand why he looked up to him, but as the show went on i realized that through the ups and downs, he shaped who Dunk was. His teaching wasn’t conventional, but he imparted important lessons that taught Dunk how to be a respectable knight, not one who would go out of his way to abuse his power. I loved it at the end of the season, we see him walking with Dunk and Egg, and then we see him deaprt which signals that he’s done all he can do for dunk and it’s time for Dunk to chart his own path with his squire.

Dexter Sol Ansell plays Egg, aka Aegon V Targaryen, who shaved off all his hair to hide or become a sith lord. I haven’t appreciated a bald character this much since I was introduced to Aang in Avatar: The Last Airbender. I loved how he questioned everything Dunk did, and I think sometimes when kids do that its annoying, but it’s funny here because he really knows better because of his formal upbringing. It’s funny that Dunk never realized he may be hiding something by the way he talked so properly, and his knowledge of random things. His reveal as a Targaryen was shocking in the show, even though I had figured it out before, but I thought they did a great job of hiding it. I loved how he hated his brother so much and was rooting for his death. He was Dunk’s number one supporter, and it was sweet to see how he looked up to Dunk because even though Dunk was raised poor, he respected his values and treated him as a squire, not a prince.

Lyonel Baratheon, played by  Daniel Ings, gets introduced early on, and if you’ve watched any GOT stuff, you know that last name and the sigil is a stag. He pays homage to his house by having a stag horn crown, which is just so dope to see, and I wanted it. He seemed like one of the funnest people to be around and just enjoyed life. I loved how, when it came to the trial of 7, he was mainly interested because he’d never experienced one before. I feel like he had more faith in Dunk sometimes than Dunk did. 

The other Targaryens, of course, are messy. Prince Baelor was a favorite of mine; he would’ve made a great king if not killed by his brother. He didn’t let familial ties tell him what was right and what was wrong; he knew how Aerion was and that Dunk wasn’t guilty. Sadly, he died at the hands of his brother. Baelor’s son is Valarr, whom we don’t hear much from, but is sad about his dad. He seems like a nice guy, but is visibly angry after his dad dies and doesn’t know who to blame, which should be his dumb cousin, not Dunk. Baelor’s brother Meakar is just exhausted and disappointed with his kids. One child is a psychopath, one is a drunk, and one decides to run away. He finally gets all his kids back together, and then Aerion invokes a trial of 7, which forces him to fight and eventually kill his brother, which he isn’t happy about. Aerion is just a menace and likes torturing people and treating people beneath him, but he doesn’t have the backing of his family, so they seem more irritated with him than anything. He comes off as a typical rich boy who hasn’t had any hardships and just does things because he thinks it will be fun, no matter who may get hurt. He’s a cheat and not well-liked, and while he may have training to be a knight, he’s like half the size of dunk so he is lucky Dunk got him to surrender instead of killing him. Then you have Daeron, a dreamer, who dreams a lot, but his dreams become reality. He’s an alcoholic due to these dreams and seems to want to be left alone, which isn’t really working. I love how when he discusses the trial with Dunk, he says i’ll just sit this one out and fake it got hit or something. Just a hot mess of whiteheads.

The Fossaways are shown, and I had never known about the house, but it was cool to see a house that splits. Ser Steffon is a knight we meet at the beginning of the season, and he’s so mean to his cousin and squire, Raymun, which pissed me off. He was ready to back Dunk in the trial, and at the last minute, he backs Aerion because he has no honor. His cousin Raymun is a nice guy and Dunks’ friend, and he really hates his cousin. After Stephon backs out, he really steps up and asks to be made a knight so he can support Dunk. He was a great friend, a little impulsive, but I’m glad he survived and didn’t back down from dealing with his cousin, who sucked.

I love the inclusion of people who have the sight and can see into the future. In episode 3, we meet a fortune teller who says that Dunk will be richer than a Lannister and Egg will be king and die in hot fire, and worms will feed on his ashes, and people will rejoice. It doesn’t seem to be a one-off, but something that might come true by the way the lady looks so serious. Daeron has dreams that become nightmares, and it seems like one he has might be something of a similar fate. It’s something I don’t think a lot of people will remember, but I do think it’s important to see if this actually comes true.

The outfits, of course, never fail to impress in this universe. Dunk looks bland and dull for most of the show, mostly wearing greys and greyish hues. The women performing all had different colors on and spiced up their outfits a bit more. The king’s guard are knights, but their outfits always look so clean like they either have never been in battle or just got a fresh set of clothes. The real treat is seeing people in their house regalia, especially when going to battle. I think House Targaryen always is the coolest because I like dragons, and red and black go so well together, but the Barratheons may have also proven not to count them out with the cool stag helmet and crown that they have. Even the Fossoway armor that Stefon wore was pretty cool, even though I hated him. While these look cool and pretty, it shows the class difference as well because the lower-born common folks don’t have any flair in their outfits like these richer heads of house, lords, or princes do.

My favorite part of this season was episode 5, which not only shows the trial but Dunks back story. It starts by throwing us into the trail, and I was shook 5 minutes in. I must point out this cool camera shot that took us from 3rd person watching Dunk from behind and moved into first person, which was interesting to see what the crowd would be seeing and how cool it may look to what Dunk sees, which is scary. Aerion cuts him, and it flashes back to his childhood. He hangs with a girl, Rafe, and they steal and survive, often running into some guards. When Rafe steals a knife from one of the guards, I thought she would kill him, but he slits her neck, which was horrifying and shocking. They stab Dunk in the leg and go to kill, and a drunken Ser Arlan comes out, and we truly see why Dunk admires him. He is wasted and still manages to slice the first man’s head off, and then, with a little more effort, kill the second. Up until this moment, I didn’t understand why he looked up to him, but Ser Arlan may be a drunk, but he wasn’t abusive to the people he swore to protect, and wouldn’t let innocent lives be harmed if he could stop it. Dunk follows him until he takes him in. Back in the battle, Aerion is slicing and dicing, and it’s not looking good, but Dunk has one thing over him: size. Dunk overpowers him, beats him up, and my favorite part is dragging him through the mud to say he renounces his claim. It was a crazy battle, but it had my interest. In the end, we think were all in the clear, and Dunk is talking to Prince Baelor, and he says his hands are going numb and takes off his helmet, and a chunk of his head was knocked out by his brother. I knew it was coming, but it was sad to see it because he would’ve been a good king. It goes to show that sometimes winning isn’t really winning. Overall, the episode was great and was a highlight for me of the season.

A knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a great addition to the world of Westeros that George RR Martin created. It is funny, but brings in the action and a great new bunch of characters to love or hate.