A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Review: HBO's Refreshingly Low-Stakes Spin-Off Will Cure Your Game Of Thrones Fatigue

There's a moment early on in the first episode of HBO's new "Game of Thrones" spin-off "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" when that familiar theme music starts playing, and we're expecting to witness a bit of grand heroism... but then we get to see foul bodily functions instead. That pretty much sets the tone for "Seven Kingdoms" — premiering this Sunday at 10 pm; I've seen all six episodes — which ditches the pomp and pageantry of "Thrones" to tell a humble tale of common folk in the "Andor" mold. It's a welcome change, too, giving us a refreshingly small-scale look at life in Westeros that still manages to pack a considerable emotional punch in the end.

Now I've watched "Game of Thrones" and "House of the Dragon," but I haven't read any of the George R.R. Martin books, so I was unfamiliar with the characters Dunk and Egg, who were featured in a series of novellas set a century before "Thrones." Ser Duncan the Tall, aka Dunk (played by "Bad Sisters" alum Peter Claffey), is a lowborn knight who wears a belt made of rope and is eager to prove his valor. (He's technically a hedge knight, which is "like a knight, but sadder," one character notes.) When Dunk arrives to compete in a jousting tournament, a bald boy named Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) volunteers to be his squire, and though they bicker a lot at first, they find they have a lot in common, too: a pair of scrappy underdogs squaring off against vaunted knights and princes.

"Seven Kingdoms" episodes only run about a half-hour each, which feels like a blessing, an antidote to the bloated nature of other "Thrones" adaptations. ("House of the Dragon" veteran Ira Parker serves as co-creator and showrunner here.) "Kingdoms" is more rustic and approachable than "Thrones," too, and doesn't give us reams of character names and lore to remember. It's set in the mud and muck of Westeros' lower classes, a far cry from the lavish throne rooms of King's Landing. (The only dragon we see is a puppet in a stage show.) It has a mischievous streak of crude humor as well, with more bodily functions than we're accustomed to seeing outside of an episode of "South Park." But there's an understated elegance to the cinematography, finding beauty in a simple field of grain or a blazing sunset.

The cast is filled with mostly unknown actors, which is refreshing in its own right, helping to immerse us in this far-off world. As Dunk, Claffey is thickheaded at times, but his dogged persistence is endearing; there's a sweet poignancy to his quest to prove himself worthy of knighthood. Ansell is a surprisingly adept actor for his age, and he has some nice moments as Egg reveals hidden depths to his character. Finn Bennett, from "True Detective: Night Country," is fittingly nasty as smug prince Aerion, and Daniel Ings ("Sex Education") has a ball playing jolly drunkard Lyonel Baratheon.

The humor does veer a little too scatological at times, and the story's momentum is blunted late in the game by an extended flashback that explains things that didn't need to be explained. It's almost a disappointment when Dunk's story descends into a bloody battle, but even that feels more grounded and personal than the pure spectacle of "Thrones." It's true that "Seven Kingdoms" doesn't have the scope or the depth that "Thrones" had at its peak — the entire season hinges on a single jousting tournament, after all — but it does tell a cracking good story, and one that makes the world of Westeros feel new again. For anyone who's grown tired of the overly dense and elaborate storytelling of the "Game of Thrones" universe, this might be the perfect time to climb back in the saddle.

THE TVLINE BOTTOM LINE: "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" offers a refreshing antidote to "Game of Thrones" fatigue, with crude humor and humble humanity.