The initial glimpse of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms offers a scene reminiscent of George R.R. Martin’s iconic Game of Thrones universe. On a distant hill, a man digs a grave under encroaching storm clouds, with three horses standing sentinel. “I wish you didn’t die, Ser,” he laments, hinting at a story of noble houses and possibly a dragon waiting to emerge from the mountains, ready to whisk us away on a new epic fantasy adventure.

But first, the man has a more pressing task at hand.

Seven Kingdoms introduces familiar family names from Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire series—Targaryen, Baratheon, Tyrell—though not immediately. The narrative kicks off approximately 80 years post-House of the Dragon and 90 years before Game of Thrones. In this timeline, dragons, those majestic creatures that dominated Sunday night screens, are no more. The focus is on Duncan, known as “Dunk” (played by Peter Claffey), who is destined to become Ser Duncan the Tall. As he buries Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), his former mentor and a humble hedge knight, Dunk faces a new reality. He’s not from a prominent family or part of a noble house. He’s simply a man who served Arlan from a young age and, with Arlan’s passing, inherits his meager possessions—horses, a longsword, and a shield. In Westeros, a hedge knight is a wandering, landless warrior for hire, and now Dunk steps into this role.

Speaking to his horses as if they are trusted companions, Dunk decides to journey to the tournament at Ashford Meadow, located in the central region of Westeros known as The Reach. This tournament is a gathering place for knights to engage in events like jousting to enhance their reputations and gain recognition. Dunk’s ambition is to follow in his master’s footsteps, become a knight in his own right, and to do so, he must compete and prove himself in the lists.

However, this is no simple feat. Ashford Meadow is bustling with a sea of pavilion tents, a jousting field, grandstands, blacksmith camps, food stalls, and townsfolk enjoying the lively atmosphere. Ser Arlan’s name has faded from memory, even among the great house representatives he once served. Dunk is met with mixed reactions—astonishment at his size (“Look at the size of you!”) and pity for his shabby appearance, with his sword dangling from a makeshift rope belt. The title of hedge knight itself is questioned, as one woman at the event remarks, “It’s like a knight, but sadder.”

Still, there are sights to behold at Ashford, and interesting people to meet. Dunk takes in a performance by a traveling troupe of puppeteers, complete with a gorgeously-imagined representation of those fire beasts of yore, and catches the eye of the poet Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford). And in another tent, under a chandelier made of antlers, he encounters Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings). “The Laughing Storm,” they call him, for he’s as fun-loving on the jousting field as he is a fearsome fighter. But currently, at the head table for a grand tourney feast, he drunkenly can’t recall what threats he was even making. Things like rules and punishments and people respecting the power of a surname – it can all be lost to the mists of time. In the near term, Lyonel Baratheon is all about that party life.

And he immediately fixates on Dunk. Oh my is he fucking giant. Well, he should be giant, then. Lyonel calls him to the front table. “Seven above gave you tallness,” the lord declares. “So be tall.” Shake off the sheepishness, embrace your talents, and become Ser Duncan the Tall! In Lyonel’s tent they dance lustily together, and buzzed on the good stuff, Dunk believes he could become such a great man.

But not yet. And he’ll probably be beaten badly in the tourney. And he’ll lose his horses and sword to ransom in the process. He’ll be left with even less than he had when Ser Arlan had only just died. Dunk will have to look to a life of outlawery, or begging, or being a sellsword to the lowest bidder. 

On a walk back to his camp, under an Elm tree by the river just outside of Ashford, Dunk is considering his meager life options when he’s startled to see the glow of a fire ahead. It’s a small boy, bald, wearing loose-fitting sack clothing and roasting a fish on a stick. It’s the same boy Dunk encountered earlier on his journey, hanging around the stable at an inn. A boy he assumed was an orphan, just like he once was. But now the kid’s here, and asking for a job. He is the only applicant. “Every knight needs a squire, ser. Take me with you, and you can teach me.” 

Dunk isn’t a knight yet, at least not officially. But he’s closer than he was when he was burying his old master, and now he has Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), his very own squire. They turn in for the night next to the fire, and look up at the open sky, which in wandering hedge knight terms might as well be the roof of a castle. “A falling star brings luck to those who see it,” Egg says, “and the other knights are in their pavilions by now, staring up at silk instead of sky.”

Dunk pauses, and thinks about where this day has taken him. “So the luck is ours alone, then.”

Helms and Hauberks for Episode 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (“The Hedge Knight”):

• At an inn on the way to Ashford, Dunk is startled when the only other customer suddenly raises his head off a table where he was passed out, shit-faced. “I dreamed of you,” the man in the tunic of a noble slurs at Dunk, and wanders upstairs to sleep.
• Lore alert! When talking up Ser Arlan of Pennytree’s hedge knight exploits, Dunk says Arlan “hunted the Vulture King in the Red Mountains,” which is a conflict that goes back to the reign of Aenys I Targaryen on the Iron Throne, or 37AC on the Westerosi calendar.

Johnny Loftus (@johnnyloftus.bsky.social) is a Chicago-based writer. A veteran of the alternative weekly trenches, his work has also appeared in Entertainment Weekly, Pitchfork, The All Music Guide, and The Village Voice.