The first season of HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the first bit of Game of Thrones I've truly enjoyed since the fifth season of the original series. AKSK's short, six-episode run packed in more heart, humor, and character development than I've seen from the franchise in a very long time. I'm not ashamed to say the damn thing gave me goosebumps on a couple of occasions.
Small spoiler warning: the climax of the first season involves a seven-on-seven melee during a tournament being put on by the royal household. It's a brutal affair that lets you feel the exhaustion and pain of slogging through heavy mud in a heavy metal suit as people try their best to kill you. How realistic was this portrayal of medieval combat? According to Matt Easton at ScholaGladiatoria, it's pretty accurate. In this brief video, he breaks down the big donnybrook and explains what the show got right.
If you haven't watched the series yet, give it a shot. It has so much more going for it than the can of whoopass that gets opened up here.
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