Don't Look Now But 'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Is Awesome
If you're like me, you were probably a little bit thrones'd out. The main series ended with a whimper that pissed basically everyone off. 'House of The Dragon' started a little hot but it seems like a lot of people were so-so on season 2. Enter 'A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms'.
I read all the mainline Thrones books back in college but never got around to Martin's spinoff stuff. What I knew about this story was confined to secondhand stories and references. What I understood is that it's basically 'The Mandalorian' within the confines of Thrones. After seeing the trailer, that was confirmed along with something very interesting: The new vibe. One anchored in comedy.
Don't get me wrong, GoT was certainly funny at points but it is a pretty dour show for the most part. So this is a pretty major tonal shift and I honestly can't think of another show that did a spinoff with that major of a change. The thing is, though, it totally works!
This show is funny, easy to watch and gives you a different, small-scale look into the world of Thrones. The primary duo, Peter Claffey and Dexter Sol Ansell, are perfect. Claffey is a big, lovable oaf that you want to root for and Ansell is the perfect kid. What I mean by that sometimes writers have a hard time making dialogue for kids and directors struggle making them seem like actual children. Ansell (and his character Aegon) feel like a real kid. Everyone has a cousin, nephew etc that has this kids mannerisms.
The story is also really fun and, from what I can tell via fan reaction, they've been sticking pretty close to the book (it's worth noting that George R.R. Martin has had a fairly public split with HotD showrunner Ryan Condal but seems to be on great terms with KotSK showrunner Ira Parker). In only three episodes they have established the new world, had the trademark GoT twists and made me crave more just like the 1st season of the show did.
Can they land this plane after takeoff? Who knows. I'm ready to find out, though (and happy that they moved the next episode to Friday to avoid the Super Bowl)