If You Miss Game Of Thrones, Check Out Netflix's New YA Epic The Letter For The King

Netflix’s The Letter for the King is just what we need once we’re all hunkered down at home: a bingeable show for the whole family.


Set in medieval times, the new series follows a novice knight from Eviellan, the kingdom of the south, named Tiuri (Amir Wilson). An outcast by nature, he’s not the most skillful fighter, “but he has the heart and courage,” Wilson says. “Whether it's for the people against him or the people with him, he’ll routinely do the correct things for the correct reasons.”


In the middle of knighthood qualifications, Tiuri is tapped by a dying knight to deliver a urgent letter to the king. His task isn’t an eas mail run. In the midst of a war between Eviellan and the kingdom of the north, Unauwen, there really are people who don’t want him to succeed in his quest, and they’ll use whichever powers they have — physical, mental, or mystical — to make sure his failure.


It’s somewhat reminiscent of Game of Thrones, with a series of interlocking characters and storylines all geared around a prophecy predicting the downfall of a prince, as well as sweeping landscapes, epic battles, and free-flowing fantasy.


“The more the show progresses, the more fantasy it gets,” Gijs Blom tells MTV News. “The more you just let go of your expectations and your beliefs and everything, the more you could adore it. It is irrelevant if you are a 12-year-old child or a 60-year-old.”


Blom plays Prince Viridian, the aforementioned royal from the north who is destined for conquer. Yet, he cautions, attempt to think of his character “not in terms of good and bad, however in terms of intentions.” For Viridian, the ends justify the means, and Blom adds, “he really wants what is beneficial for the world.”


Because these two major forces both truly believe they’re working toward the greater good, the inevitable battles they fight are far less intense than those bloody, gory scenes Game of Thrones became known for. They’re tense, although not traumatizing. “You can root for both sides,” Thaddea Graham, who plays aspiring knight Iona, says. “I think that’s what’s so exhilarating to watch. You sort of want both of these to win.” Every battle is character driven, Graham adds, helping to drive plot forward rather than totally cut off one character’s plot at a time.


Graham’s Iona is, like Tiuri, a novice, in training toward full knighthood. Their youth adds a coming-of-age element to the story, grounding this fantasy in relatable themes about self-discovery. “Regardless of the time period, teenagers attempting to find out who they are is routinely going to be a thing,” she says.


But for Iona, the stakes are a little higher. Not coming from the same privilege because the other novices, Iona is a fierce and decided competitor. She has to be — if knighthood doesn’t work out, she has nothing and no one else to fall back on. So, immediately after Tiuri sets off on his mission, once Iona and the other novices are instructed to go immediately after him and thwart his efforts, she listens, meaning while in this north-versus-south war, forces from both the north and the south are working against Tiuri.


Fortunately, Tiuri finds one ally earlier into Lavinia (Ruby Ashbourne Serkis). Though their partnership is characterized by reluctance, both need each other, and both can benefit from what the other offers. Lavinia gives Tiuri an escape route from the captors closing in on him, while Tiuri offers Lavinia the freedom and adventure she’s been craving.


Action-packed from the very starting, the cast thinks the ideal way to create for The Letter for the King is to not prepare at all. There will be intense moments, however as far as they’re concerned, the far less you know, the better. “All those emotions in life are so unpredictable and just hit you at random times and I think that's what makes it so impactful, whenever you don't expect also it comes without knowing,” Graham says.


Nevertheless, Ashbourne Serkis adds, do ensure to collect the complete family member around the TV to appreciate the series with each other. Not only was The Letter for the King shot in CinemaScope (essentially making it theater-ready), yet the show also “works on so several levels that people of all ages will have the ability to watch it,” she says. “You forget how nice being able to watch something as a collective experience is.”


The Letter for the King is accessible to stream on Netflix now.