A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1

Sitting in the minority who enjoyed the second season of House of the Dragon, talk of another Game of Thrones spin-off had me intrigued and then very hopeful when the trailer landed for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. By this point, many of us had grown accustomed to the bleak and nihilistic tone to the series but here was something that looked humourous and almost, dare I say, optimistic. But would I have this optimism crushed the way of Robb Stark's grand plans?

Set more or less a hundred years after HOTD and a hundred years prior to GOT, Westeros is still under Targaryen rule but the dragons are now long gone in a peace time of sorts. It's here we meet Dunk, a lowborn squire to a lowly hedge knight who dies and leaves him with three horses, and a sword. With little prospects or coin, he takes up his mentor's sword and heads to a jousting tournament with many of Westeros' highborn families where he hopes to prove himself as a worthy knight if anyone might vouch for him.

Unlike the other shows, AKOTSK is refreshingly low-stakes and features a far more manageable amount of characters that will make this accessible to newcomers of George RR Martin's work. The third season of HOTD will require an intense amount of homework before the first episode if I have any hope of keeping up but this was far more easy to follow, and is also just so so good. The cast, story, visuals and direction are all perfect in this six episode season which is tightly paced and will have you eager to see where the story goes next.

AKOTSK's first season is so much fun to watch and a refreshing change of pace for the series. I haven't read the books for this but will be sure to continue watching and this is very much an easy recommendation. There are no filler episodes that bloat the experience or overbearing amount of research required; you can quite simply press play and prepare to be very much entertained.