A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

HBO's latest journey to Westeros lands a century before the Iron Throne's chaos, and it couldn't feel more different from Game of Thrones. Created by George R.R. Martin and Ira Parker, this six-episode series adapts Martin's novella collection Tales of Dunk and Egg. It follows Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), a former Flea Bottom orphan turned hedge knight, and his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), a boy hiding a Targaryen prince's identity. The show aired weekly from January 18 to February 22, 2026, on HBO and Max.

Where its predecessor thrived on backstabbing and dragonfire, this show finds its drama in muddy tournaments, village disputes, and the quiet tension between chivalric ideals and feudal reality. Claffey's Dunk is an earnest giant whose decency never feels naive; Ansell's Egg matches him with sharp wit and hidden longing. Critics praised the intimate scale and sincere tone, with the Rotten Tomatoes critics' score landing at 89% and an IMDb rating of 8.4.

The series was shot primarily in Northern Ireland and Croatia, with a budget estimated at $15-20 million per episode, leaner than House of the Dragon, reflecting its grounded focus. Dan Romer's score, recorded with a 40-piece orchestra in Vienna, weaves medieval instruments like the hurdy-gurdy into the fabric of each scene. The premiere drew 4.2 million linear viewers and 2.8 million streams on Max within its first week.[edit]

Around 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones, a young hedge knight named Ser Duncan the Tall wanders the Seven Kingdoms with his squire, a boy called Egg. Duncan grew up in the gutters of Flea Bottom and earned his knighthood through sheer grit, not noble birth. Egg, sharp-tongued and observant, hides a secret: he is Prince Aegon Targaryen, fifth in line to the Iron Throne. Together, they travel from the Reach to the Riverlands, taking on odd jobs, entering tournaments, and trying to scrape together enough coin to survive through winter.

The first season unfolds across a single year of their journey. Each episode presents a self-contained adventure, a trial at a lord's keep, a dispute over stolen grain, a tournament where Dunk hopes to win glory, but a larger shape emerges. The Targaryen court begins to stir, with Prince Maekar, Egg's father, sending agents to track the runaway prince. Dunk, unaware of his squire's true identity at first, must navigate the growing tension between his oath to protect the boy and the demands of a kingdom that sees him as nothing more than a common sellsword.

The show's tone balances warmth with a satirical edge. Dunk's rigid belief in chivalry clashes with the cynical lords and smallfolk they meet. Egg's hidden royal perspective lets him see the absurdities of the class system. A mysterious figure named Brynden Rivers, later known as the Three-Eyed Crow, appears in fleeting glimpses, offering cryptic warnings about a threat brewing beyond the Wall. But the immediate stakes remain personal: Can a poor knight with a big heart keep his promise to a boy who cannot tell him the truth?

The season's arc follows the pair from a spring tournament in the Reach to a tense confrontation in the Riverlands. Along the way they encounter a bitter lord nursing an old grievance, a band of traveling performers, a clever maester with forbidden knowledge, and a woman whose past entangles with Dunk's. The climax arrives at a small tournament where Dunk must choose between winning the prize money and protecting Egg from being forcibly returned to his family. The season ends with the two riding north, toward the Wall, having chosen each other over comfort or safety. No major characters die. No dynastic war begins. The story stays small, personal, and deeply human.[edit]