HBO’s second Game of Thrones spin-off, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, is already a certified hit on Rotten Tomatoes. Set to premiere its first of six episodes this coming weekend, this return to Westeros may lack in dynastic, psychological duels, and fire-spewing beasts, yet the charming central pairing of Peter Claffey’s Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell’s Prince Aegon Targaryen makes for equally pleasurable viewing, according to the critics. And thanks to their various reviews doing the rounds, the series has debuted with an 84% score on the aggregator site.
Referred to as ‘Dunk’ and ‘Egg’, the hedge knight and his young, royal-blooded squire travel around the seven kingdoms a century prior to the events of Thrones. George R. R. Martin’s novella The Hedge Knight is adapted in full here, with two more stories, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight, both intended to make it to the small screen too. So how do the first online reactions read? Well, IGN hailed the series as “the most purely enjoyable and heartfelt excursion to Westeros in some time.” So we’re off to a promising start.
“It is the most purely enjoyable and heartfelt excursion to Westeros in some time, and one that can serve as an entry point to the franchise for viewers who may feel they are too far behind on all the lore to join now. Thanks to its compact storytelling – Season 1 is just six episodes, with most running roughly 30 minutes long, the first three directed by Owen Harris and the latter three by Sarah Adina Smith – A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms never feels bloated or like it’s spinning its wheels waiting to get to some big payoff the way that House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones sometimes did.”
‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ is a “Total Delight From Start to Finish”
As for how the BBC rated Dunk and Egg’s maiden outing, reviewer Neil Armstrong labeled it “a total delight from start to finish” while also claiming that it’s the most “fun” version of Westeros fans have seen “for a long time – maybe ever.”
“The old gods and the new were smiling over the production when Claffey and Ansell were cast. They are brilliant individually and the chemistry between them is extraordinary. You’d think they’d been working together in a Laurel and Hardy-style double act for decades, yet Claffey – a hulking former rugby player – has only been acting for a couple of years and this is his first lead part. It’s very funny. There’s humor in the other shows, but this is of a different order altogether: done with a lightness of touch and positively oozing charm. There is physical comedy, dry humor and almost Monty Pythonesque absurdity.”
Empire Magazine‘s piece noted its “splendidly and handsomely shot” visuals; “the muddy helmet-eye-view camera angles of the jousting scenes in particular prove a highlight. And like its heroes, it keeps an old-fashioned, chivalric moral compass: a series simply sworn to protect the innocent.” Over at Polygon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms received applause for “excellent character work and scene-setting” that makes it “an easy starting point for Game of Thrones newbies and a refreshing palate-cleanser for existing fans.”
Highlighting “the specter of oversaturation” that “loomed” over the new series, GamesRadar+ mentioned how showrunner Ira Parker delivers “a resonant, at times dramatic, and always heartfelt tale that needs only six episodes to earn its place in the Song of Ice and Fire pantheon, expertly grounding itself in familiar Game of Thrones trappings while also striking out effectively on its own.”
More praise for Claffey and Ansell’s dynamic cropped up at THR, which called them “a perfect comic duo” who are “attuned to each other naturally and likably […] Putting this offshoot on the shoulders of two inexperienced stars could have been a disaster. Instead it’s the Claffey/Ansell rapport, and not anything in the ongoing plot, that already has me eager for further — a second season was already ordered — tales of Dunk and Egg.” Judging by Parker’s most recent insight, it sounds like Dunk and Egg are well and truly here to stay, and could even break a Thrones record.
- Release Date
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January 18, 2026
- Network
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HBO
- Directors
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Owen Harris
- Writers
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George R. R. Martin, Ira Parker
