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Personally, I loved A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, finding it a near-perfect adaptation of George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and a refreshing change of pace for the franchise. However, not everyone would agree with that assessment. At the time of writing, Season 1 of the show has a score of 95% with critics on Rotten Tomatoes, but just 64% with audiences. That gives it several records when it comes to the saga’s scores on the review platform, including:
- The highest-rated first season of any Westeros show with critics. Game of Thrones Season 1 and House of the Dragon Season 1 both have 90%.
- The lowest-rated first season of any Westeros show with audiences. Game of Thrones Season 1 has 96%, and HOTD Season 1 is a still-respectable 82%. Indeed, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ 64% is the second-lowest audience score in the franchise, behind only GOT Season 8 (30%).
- The 31-point difference between critics and audiences makes this the most divisive season of the entire franchise. This was previously held by GOT Season 8, which has a critics’ score of 55%, 25 points above its audience score.
| Show/Season | RT Critics Score | RT Audience Score |
|---|---|---|
| Game of Thrones Season 1 | 90% | 96% |
| Game of Thrones Season 2 | 97% | 97% |
| Game of Thrones Season 3 | 96% | 97% |
| Game of Thrones Season 4 | 97% | 97% |
| Game of Thrones Season 5 | 93% | 91% |
| Game of Thrones Season 6 | 94% | 93% |
| Game of Thrones Season 7 | 93% | 81% |
| Game of Thrones Season 8 | 55% | 30% |
| House of the Dragon Season 1 | 90% | 82% |
| House of the Dragon Season 2 | 84% | 72% |
| A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 | 95% | 64% |
Why Is A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms So Divisive?
This franchise, despite some misfires, still has a high bar and high expectations, and that has clearly worked both for and against A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. The most curious thing about the differences in critic and audience scores is that they’re largely a response to the same things, only varying wildly in terms of actual opinion.
The show has been heavily praised by reviewers for being a breath of fresh air in Westeros. It has smaller stakes, a much lighter tone, but still plenty of heart and heroism, with a real depth to it as well. However, that’s also a point of contention among audiences, because it is absolutely not the kind of epic spectacle we’re used to seeing from this franchise, and that’s not going to be for everyone given its smaller, slower approach. I also noted in my own review that the overuse of toilet humor was one of the only drawbacks, and that’s something raised quite a bit on Rotten Tomatoes.
