Characters keep “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” focused

I loved “Game of Thrones.” The last season was a huge mess, and the ending was a massive disappointment, but that does not diminish the fact that the show was mostly great. With how brutal the show could be in terms of violence and cruelty, it was not an easy show to watch. I started watching the spinoff series “The House of the Dragon,” set hundreds of years before “Game of Thrones.” It was more of the same, and I just did not want to watch something that unpleasant again. I have heard nothing but great things about the series, but it just doesn’t appeal to me—the newest spinoff. “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” just aired its season finale, and it is unlike the two shows that came before it.

Based on George R. Martin’s novella series,” Tales of Dunk and Egg,” follows Ser Duncan “Dunk” The Tall (Peter Claffey), a knight looking to prove himself. He reluctantly allows a young boy named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) to be his squire. They go to a tournament in hopes of gaining the attention of one of the major houses and becoming a true knight.

The only reason I gave this show a chance was that I knew it was not going to boil down to a war for the throne. One of the other reasons I bailed on “House of the Dragon” was because it was just “Game of Thrones” with more dragons. Dunk is a nobody, and not even a knight. He was rescued by Ser Arlen of Pennytree (Danny Webb) when he was young and became his squire. Ser Arlen was a Hedge Knight, meaning he was not bound to a house and roamed all over Westeros helping others. The stakes of this show are much lower, making it easier to watch.

Having far fewer characters and a simpler, focused story makes this show much stronger. The focus is not on the drama between the different houses; it is squarely on Dunk and Egg. There are no scenes where we see someone plotting Dunk’s demise; we learn the machinations of the plot as Dunk does. I am hard-pressed to think of a scene that doesn’t have Dunk in it. He, moreso than Egg, is the audience surrogate. We see all he has gone through and see how honorable and loyal he is, so his fate is one of the few we care about. The show relies on character moments and not huge CGI battles with dragons.

This is a show for people like me who have fallen out of love with the “Game of Thrones” universe. It addresses everything I was tired of seeing in this world: an overcurrent of unpleasantness, too many characters, and too many storylines. It is the best thing set in this world since the first season of “Game of Thrones.” It is easy to recommend because of its simplicity; you are not required to follow 20 different characters across a massive world. It’s a knight in search of a purpose and a young boy looking for a better life.

Season One of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is on HBOMax