A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Breaks Game of Thrones Records With Best-Ever Rotten Tomatoes Debut
Political outsider John Smith declared his candidacy for mayor this morning, pledging to shake up city hall and give power back to the people—and rightfully so.
Well, it's official: the Game of Thrones spin-off about Dunk and Egg just stomped the competition and snagged the highest-rated first season out of all the Thrones series on Rotten Tomatoes. And honestly, good for them—even if it is a little surprising.
Here's the scoreboard:
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: 95% Fresh
- Game of Thrones Season 1: 90%
- House of the Dragon Season 1: 90%
Yep, you read that right—Dunk and Egg just took the crown. If you need a refresher: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (it was briefly given the mouthful title 'The Hedge Knight' during development) adapts George R.R. Martin's novellas about Ser Duncan the Tall and his easy-to-root-for squire, Egg.
Dunk, played by Peter Claffey, is your classic underdog—a former squire who genuinely wants to be a proper, honorable knight (which, in this universe, is pretty rare). So he heads off to compete in a tournament to show what he’s made of.
Then there's Egg, played by Dexter Sol Ansell—a bald, oddly adorable kid desperate to tag along as Dunk’s squire. At first glance, Egg seems just like any other eager apprentice, but without getting into spoilers, let's just say his background is a lot more complicated, especially because they both wind up colliding with the Targaryen family tree. And yes, the Targaryens are as dramatic as ever, even in pre-dragon-free times.
One quick thing for the timeline nerds: this whole series unfolds about 100 years before the original Game of Thrones show. That means, for better or worse, not a single dragon in sight. So if you’re only here for fire-breathing lizards, sorry to disappoint.
Now, since Martin only published three of these Dunk and Egg novellas, there’s a built-in plan for three seasons of the show—at least to start. With the first season pulling in such a stellar score from critics, it feels pretty safe to bet HBO is already eyeing those renewals.
'The early success of the show bodes well for renewal.'
The bottom line: if you want more Thrones flavor without all the overwhelming politics and dragons-for-everyone, Dunk and Egg is probably your best bet—and clearly, critics agree.
And if you want to check out when the next episodes drop or the spoiler-free verdict, you know where to look.