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Book readers are eating good today. The dialogue in the premiere wasn't just 'inspired by' the book; it was ripped straight from the page. Hearing Dunk say 'Dunk the lunk, thick as a castle wall' out loud was perfect. They even nailed the colors of the Targaryen armor. It is rare for an adaptation to respect the source material this much. HBO finally learned that you don't need to 'fix' George R.R. Martin's writing; you just need to film it.

I'm going to say it: This feels like a CW show with an HBO budget. The stakes in Episode 1 were... a tournament entry fee?. We went from 'The Long Night' to worrying about a puppet show. I get that it's a 'smaller story,' but the humor felt forced—almost like Marvel dialogue. If this is the future of the franchise, I’m bored. I don't tune into Westeros for 'heartwarming adventures'; I tune in for political backstabbing and war. This feels like filler.

After years of incest, dragons burning children, and weddings turning into bloodbaths, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the detox we needed. The premiere was genuinely funny. Peter Claffey (Dunk) has this golden retriever energy that makes you root for him instantly, and Dexter Sol Ansell (Egg) is a sarcastic little menace. It feels like The Mandalorian meets A Knight’s Tale. If you skipped House of the Dragon because it was too depressing, you need to watch this. It proves Westeros doesn't need a world-ending threat to be interesting.