I recently finished Knightfall, a TV series from the History Channel that is exclusively available in the Philippines (Seasons 1 & 2) on iflix.
I devour all shows about the Knights Templar, I read books about them, I find them fascinating with all their secrets. Knights Templar feature prominently in the legends and stories that are touched upon in the Da Vinci Code, among other things, and particularly in stories about the Holy Grail.
So when I saw Knightfall, I just had to watch the show!
KNIGHTFALL REVIEW (No Spoilers)
I watched the first episode and I was hooked. The show takes place in the early 1300s in France. There was a scene in the first few minutes of the first episode that reminded me of an Age of Empires campaign! I couldn’t believe that a History Channel show had this much budget for an epic army battle scene. Some of it is cgi, but cgi is still expensive!
The acting is good. I found the action sequences well done. Production value is actually much better than I had expected. Watching on iflix is very clear and sharp, even on a big screen TV! It feels like Game of Thrones lite because there’s also a bit of scheming 🙂
The story follows the Knights Templar after they were defeated in the Holy Land during the previous Crusade. They returned to Paris and were still a powerful order of warrior monks, but some people were becoming jealous of their wealth and power and were starting to scheme against them.
All the while, the Knights Templar were also searching for the Holy Grail, which they had lost. Those who know their history will know what happens to the order eventually, but this doesn’t diminish my enjoyment of the show.
I really like Knightfall, especially the first season. They have knights in armor, lots of sword fighting, battle scenes, mysteries, secret love affairs, power plays, plots and schemes… What’s not to love? 🙂
I felt for the characters, I loved their friendship, their brotherhood and their loyalty to each other. I found the main characters complex enough to understand their motivations.
Season 2 veered away from the mystery / magical element of the first season. It was still nice though. At this point, I was already heavily invested in these characters and wanted to continue following their stories. Another highlight of Season 2 is that they added Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) to the main cast! His character was a grumpy, old Knight, but he did have some badass fight scenes towards the end, something that we didn’t get in The Last Jedi! So if that is a sore point for you with the new Star Wars movies, you can get your awesome Mark Hamill fight scenes fix here instead 🙂
Most of the armored knights we see in shows nowadays are in comedy and slapstick, so it was quite refreshing to me to see a serious TV show about real knights, including battles, training, and showing us how seriously they take their vows and their honor.
it’s not perfect – there are a few flaws, and it took some liberties with historical accuracy – but for the most part, I had a great time watching this TV show!
If this show sounds interesting to you, give it a shot! Season 1 and Season 2 are on iflix. The History Channel hasn’t announced Season 3 yet.
Season 1 has 10 episodes. Season 2 has 8 episodes. Each episode is around 40-45 minutes. It’s really not that long, and I didn’t find it slow, dragging or boring. I just wish they would focus on the Holy Grail aspect more. 🙂
