We return to Westeros this week for a brief but engaging half hour in a much tighter and more rewarding episode than last week. With Dunk and Egg now paired up, the show is quite energetic, with good humour and some solid characterization for our towering lead.

The episode opens with Dunk recounting Ser Arlan’s many deeds and accomplishments to the nobility at the tourney. Despite his chivalry and accomplishments, no one seems to remember the poor hedge knight. This frustrates and saddens Dunk, who was raised on Arlan’s lessons of honour and chivalry, only to come face to face with dozens of noble knights who are anything but the storied knights he’s been told to emulate his whole life. It’s like meeting your favourite celebrity, only to learn they’re a huge douchebag. There’s also the question if Arlan really was as awesome as Dunk remembers, or does he have rose-tinted glasses and hero-worship an otherwise unremarkable figure?

But his saving grace comes from the most unlikely of places, and that’s the Targaryens themselves, who arrive at the tourney grounds this episode. We’ve been so conditioned to expect the Targaryens to be cold and ruthless that having one actually be nice can be seen as jarring. But Prince Baelor actually remembers Ser Arlan and vouches for Dunk to enroll in the lists, despite there being stress in the family thanks to missing family members. But it’s when the jousting actually starts, and Dunk sees the violence on display that he realizes that he may be out of his depth, both in terms of skill and violent determination.

The show continues to strike a much lighter tone than the preceding two series. It’s often absurd, but there’s a charm to it that results in laughs more often than not. This is relative peace time in Westeros, so the people aren’t suffering, and the vibe is, overall, more pleasant for a rural medieval society. Dunk resents being called a lunk and a dummy, but he kind of is, and that’s part of the charm of the character. He’s laughably out of his depth, but despite his lack of resources, title, and education, he may be standing taller than most, in more ways than some. Egg is amazing in the show as well, offering enough sass to be endearing and funny, without ever becoming obnoxious. It’s a difficult line to balance on, but Dexter Sol is honestly stealing the show here.

I do think with these episodes being so short (and there being only six of them), this could have much easily been a two and a half hour film, released either on HBO or theatrically. Breaking them up into such tiny chunks does feel like a disservice and breaks up the momentum. I do appreciate the smaller scope and scale, but I think a long-form story as a movie would’ve been the better option for this.