King Arthur gets the “Game of Thrones” treatment within the gritty latest drama “The Winter King.”
The period piece, airing Sundays (9 p.m. ET on MGM+), is predicated on “The Warlord Chronicles” novels by Bernard Cromwell. It’s a retelling of the famous King Arthur story set in Dark Ages Britain, where the land is split into warring tribes who’re consistently battling with the Saxons.
The show is gritty, bloody and sometimes campy, with bad wigs galore.
It’s no masterpiece but, despite its flaws, there’s nonetheless enough in it to captivate fans of shows comparable to “Vikings” and its spinoff, and “House of the Dragon.”
“The Winter King” begins with Arthur (Iain De Caestecker), the illegitimate son of the king who’s a warrior on a battlefield. (Naturally, there are numerous closeups of his face looking grim and smeared with dirt and blood to determine what form of show this is true off the bat.)
When Arthur brings his slain brother’s body home to his abusive father, King Uther (Eddie Marsan), he’s furious and nearly kills Arthur. However the king’s advisor, Merlin (Nathaniel Martello-White), convinces the king to banish Arthur as a substitute.
From there, the show jumps around in time — with the screen often reading “3 months later” or “8 years later.” It follows several different characters and their plotlines, together with Arthur, including Merlin’s protégé, Nimue (Ellie James), a witchy woman who can communicate with the gods but struggles between her apparent destiny and her desire for an everyday life with a family; and Derfel (Stuart Campbell), a boy whom Arthur rescues from a mass grave.
The eight-year time jump shows that Derfel grew up within the idyllic village of Avalon following his rescue, but he feels compelled towards life as a warrior as a substitute of a quiet farm life. (He and Nimue even have a little bit of a star-crossed love.)
When the king has a latest baby boy, Mordred, and names him as his heir, Merlin has a vision that the boy will likely be a tyrant who destroys Britain. So, Merlin sets out to bring the exiled Arthur back, since he thinks that Arthur is the just one who can stop that from happening and unite their kingdom against outside threats.
Much like “Game of Thrones,” the series tries to concurrently be a grounded pseudo-historical drama and a fantastic fantasy; for instance, it’s set in a historical era, and a few characters comparable to Derfel are real (he was a Celtic Christian monk from the sixth century), while other characters comparable to Merlin are legendary figures.
Magic is real on this world: Merlin is shown having visions, and Nimue communicates with the “gods” in the shape of a wolf in an apparition.
The setting isn’t the Camelot from legends but Dumnonia, which is the historical name for a kingdom in Britain that existed during this time period.
And there aren’t any Knights of the round table (yet).
“The Winter King” also plays fast and loose with the King Arthur story. As an illustration, in some versions of the famous tale, the villainous Mordred is Arthur’s illegitimate son or nephew. On this version, Mordred is his half-brother.
The writing is usually clunky, with characters who feel like archetypes greater than people.
Nevertheless, there’s something absorbing about “The Winter King,” and its pacing never drags.
It’s not excellent TV but should appeal to any fans of gritty “swords and sandals” epics.
