It would be foolish to say, definitively, that after only three half-hour episodes I’m certain that this is by far the best on-screen adaption of any of George Martin’s work.

But it is.

I liked season one of HOTD well enough, but I had constant reservations about the show throughout. At first it was just little things, like I thought the tone or pacing or scripting in this or that scene were just a little off. Then there were some bigger missteps but it was never enough to overshadow the good parts of the season. Season two was a considerable drop in the quality of the writing, but the rest of the production held fast. Taking the two seasons together, if they were the sum of HOTD I’d say the show ranks somewhere between season 4 and 5 (S4 and S5) of GOT. The highs of HOTD are never quite as good as S4 but they are better than those of S5, and an inverse relationship for the lows. And of course GOT itself can be ranked sequentially best to worst, 1 to 8, except you swap 2 and 3 around because Qarth is quite bad in season 2.

But AKOTSK… I have a lot of fondness for GOT S1–3, but you can tell there are a lot of compromises made that alter the feel of the work overall. Whereas A Knight… is just hitting on all cylinders. The tone, the acting, the action, the score, the COSTUMES. It really feels like Martin’s vision come to life.