Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers!

HBO Max released the pilot episode titled “The Hedge Knight” for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” on Monday, January 18, almost seven years after the finale of the hit series “Game of Thrones” and 4 years after the creation of the spin-off “House of the Dragon.” 

Despite the terrible ending of “Game of Thrones” and slightly boring production of “House of the Dragon,” I was still extremely excited for the release of this new show. After watching the first episode, the show has yet to justify my initial excitement. 

The show, adapted from George R.R. Martin’s novel of the same title, takes place about 90 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and revolves around Ser Duncan (Dunk) the Tall, a poor but very tall and talented knight. After the death of the knight he squired for, Dunk joins the lists of a nearby joust to prove his worth as a knight and make money. There, he befriends Egg, a prince of Westeros who, over the course of this show, will essentially become his partner in crime and will aid him in the many ups and downs that he faces in Westeros.

The eight episode show began production in June 2024, with official announcements regarding the show’s development released in April 2023. Playing Dunk is Peter Claffey, and Egg is Dexter Sol Ansell. 

This show starts by showing Dunk burying Ser Arlan of Pennytree, the knight he squired for. He then ventures on to Ashford, the site of the upcoming joust, with the three horses and the sword that Ser Arlan left him. Before heading to Ashford, he stops at a tavern, and there he meets a small, bald orphan boy named Egg, who asks to squire for Dunk, much to his annoyance. After rejecting Egg’s offers, Dunk leaves to attempt to join the list; however, as he was knighted right before Ser Arlan’s death and he had no proof of his status as a true knight, he is now forced to find someone who could verify his relation to Ser Arlan. His attempts are futile, and he ends up attending a party in a tent hosted by Ser Lyonel Baratheon. After leaving at night, Dunk finds Egg, who snuck onto a farmer’s cart to help him, waiting for him next to his horses. They eat fish cooked on a pile of wood and fall asleep under a tree. 

I thoroughly enjoyed the light-heartedness of the first episode, even though it was really different from what I expected after watching “House of the Dragon” and “Game of Thrones,” which are two shows that are notorious for their very dark themes, coloring, and plot. However, this shift in mood made it feel slightly unrecognizable, and to me, at some points, I felt as if there wasn’t much of a connection to the original “Game of Thrones.” Aspects like the very fast scene transitions, lively music, bright lighting, and quippy dialogue contributed to this. As someone who read the book previously, so far, the show is not visually matching what I was expecting from the book.

Last year in September, I purchased the book for my birthday, and I had an amazing experience reading it, as it reminded me of my experience reading “Game of Thrones” and even of watching it in the initial seasons. For example, things like the Anglo-Saxon art and traditions in the Middle Ages that Martin’s work is inspired by are really evident and interesting in the writing, making the reading experience so unique. 

For the most part, this show seems to align well with the plotline of the book, with the pilot covering the first 40 pages approximately.  However, I feel like a decent amount of parts that were both funny and would contribute to the introduction of Dunk and Egg’s characters were cut. For example, while it is a very small moment, I found it funny in the book where Egg says, “I’d sooner eat the horse,” in response to Dunk telling him that he has to eat salt beef, a very inexpensive but unappetizing food option for the Westerosi. In the show, Egg has no response to the mention of salt beef or cheap food and instead is satisfied with the opportunity to squire for Dunk. I feel like this change takes away some of that obvious entitlement and spoiledness that Egg displays for reasons that will be revealed sooner in the show. 

Episode 2, “Hard Salt Beef,” releases on HBO Max on January 25, 2026. Tune in to the next episode of ‘Foxes Talk Television’ reviewing episode two next week.