'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' review: 'Game of Thrones' prequel should win hearts

WHAT IT'S ABOUT Ser Duncan the Tall, or just plain old "Dunk" (Peter Claffey), is a would-be knight who wants a chance to prove himself. An orphan who was squired by a true knight (and who dies before the events of this six-parter), he finally gets that when he wanders into a village where a jousting tournament is underway. Dunk, in the meantime, has already befriended another apparent foundling — a little boy with a shaved head who calls himself "Egg" (Dexter Sol Ansell). In fact, Egg is scion of a dynasty that had once ruled Westeros with the help of dragons. The dragons are gone by the time of this "Game of Thrones" prequel — set about 100 years before the time of "GoT" — but the House Targaryen still rules the Seven Kingdoms.

MY SAY Back when "Game of Thrones" was king of the world, HBO went to show creator George R.R. Martin for more. We want more Westeros! More violence! More Targaryens! More dragons! A master in the craft of "more," Martin came through (2022's "House of the Dragon"). But then, he apparently wondered: now, how about less?

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is that less. A caesura in the march of time through Westeros history and Targaryen dynasties, this is a long step away from White Walkers, Children of the Forest, and dire wolves. Epic TV on a small scale, or human scale, it's a mud-and-excrement-splattered one too.

Mostly, this is a Western, or one of those George Stevens classics, where the loner rides into a town where the guys in black hats have already staked a claim. "Shane" comes to mind. The gunslinger befriends the kid, wherein the former sees an idealized version of himself in the latter, and vice versa. The well-traveled tropes are all here. That gunslinger — a tall, silent Gary Cooper-type — is filled with troubles and self-doubt except we know how this movie ends (even if he doesn't) because we've already seen it.

"Dunk," in fact, is the star of a trio of Martin novellas called "Tales of Dunk and Egg" from the late 1990s. Strong, moody and perhaps not the brightest of bulbs — some referred to him as Duncan the Dim — the actor who plays him is a former professional "rugger" who's 6 feet, 5 inches tall. His bulk confers him some special status in this town firmly under the thumb of the more diminutive Targaryens.

Dunk does look like someone who can hold his own on the field of battle but he's not entirely certain. Shoulders stooped, head hung, he says little because he has little to say. Besides, he has a habit of inserting his size 15 foot into his mouth. The less said the better. Clearly bright, forthright and chatty, his opposite is Egg who believes in this hulking giant with impostor syndrome.

"Knight," obviously, is for Martin fans. They'll (you'll) love this soft-focus feature that's really only about four hours long and that takes time to explore themes from the novels and "GoT," most notably what it truly means to be a hedge knight of the realm, where virtues like honor, kindness and chivalry are subsidiary to the astonishing cruelty of this world. At first uninteresting (Duncan the Dull!), and ultimately heroic, Dunk shows us what those words mean, or we can be certain he will.

Sure, the violence can be gratuitous, but fans expect that. What's left here is a comforting sense that even tropes can ring eternal — Dunk prevailing against all odds; honor and decency rising triumphant above the blood, dust and din; Shane riding off into the sunset. Cue the closing credits. You'll feel better when they roll.

BOTTOM LINE Slow at first, with gratuitous violence, but Dunk and Egg should win hearts.