The Knights of Guinevere pilot is the most refreshing, unique, and engaging animated series I’ve watched since Dana Terrace’s The Owl House.
For many, like myself, the cancellation of The Owl House was a major blow. Not only because The Owl House gave us quality LGBTQ+ programming, but also because it threw our favorite characters into uniquely challenging situations that tested them, their empathy, and what they believe to be right or wrong in this world. It also leaned heavily into my favorite trope aka found family. I’m happy to report that Knights of Guinevere has all of these aspects swirled together with a bit of horror and psychological thriller.
At the heart of Knights of Guinevere you have two young people who are trying to make do in a world that lives and dies at the whims of a planetwide theme park in the clouds. Basically, capitalism and mega corporations are the true evil here. Which, facts.
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Andi is an android surgeon of the Park Planet labs and their best friend is Frankie, someone who is just as innovative as Andi but who works for the Park in their factories. Andi gets a lot of flack for working in the labs and is called a “crownie,” signalling a deep divide between those working in the labs and those suffering on the ground. And Frankie works herself to the bone by taking on a second job collecting trash from the Park that falls into the waters below in hopes of turning a profit with all this scrap metal.
Everything changes for Andi and Frankie when one of the Guinevere androids from the Park ends up falling in their laps.
This is where the real adventure/mystery starts for Andi and Frankie. They could sit back and let life pass them by. But these two dreamers decide to step up and help this severely damaged (and traumatized looking) Guinevere. And it reminds me of those bits that we were talking about earlier with The Owl House. Here you have two people who choose empathy first, even if they could have better lives if they just turn Guinevere in and make some money.
For Andi and Frankie, Guinevere holds a special place of childlike wonder for them that made them feel seen in their youth. And I think they’re helping Guinevere because they’re good people, of course. But they’re also helping because maybe they want to reclaim a part of that youth in a world where people are literally coughing up blue gunk from working at the Park factories. There’s also the fact that they can tell that this Guinevere has been through the ringer. And they have the knowledge and ability to help. So they will.
Considering all of this from a storytelling perspective, I also want to take time to give flowers to the actual visual aspects of Knights of Guinevere.
Knights of Guinevere has magic in every single frame of the pilot episode. There is a distinct dark fantasy kind of styling in the pilot that can be seen in everything from the color palette to the world building and the Guinevere androids themselves. And there is purposeful messaging (that we don’t know the full meaning of yet) that you can catch over and over again in this pilot to the point where I was pausing the episode to take in as much information I could in the backdrop of scenes or even to read the messages on buildings. Everything had a purpose.
If you wrap together the found family with a mystery grounded in the evils of capitalism and this visual feast, Knights of Guinevere is a worthy watch and something you should tell your friends and your friend’s friends about. Because so far we’ve only got a pilot. And with Glitch Productions, the studio behind Knights of Guinevere, being an independent production company, they need all the support they can get to get this first season up and going.
So how can you support Knights of Guinevere? (Also this isn’t sponsored or anything. This is me, a random girl on the internet who really liked the pilot and wants to support independent media.)
First, go and watch the Knights of Guinevere pilot on YouTube and make sure to leave a comment and a like. You can also head over to the Glitch Productions official website to buy merch that will support the production of the show. If you’re light on cash, that’s okay. You can also go to the official social media accounts for Glitch Productions and show your love there. Also, I know we talked about Dana Terrace, but she didn’t do this alone. Go and show support to John Bailey Owen and Zach Marcus, the co-creators of Knights of Guinevere.
Basically, the way that you can support Knights of Guinevere is by getting the word out there. And while we’re waiting for more episodes, make sure to check out other shows from Glitch Productions like The Amazing Digital Circus, Murder Drones, Sunset Paradise, or Meta Runner.
The Knights of Guinevere pilot is available to watch for free on the official GLITCH YouTube channel.
