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The following contains spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5.
The penultimate episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ first season features what, by all rights, should be its most epic moment. A trial of seven hasn’t been held in Westeros for over a century, and this one features not just a simple hedge knight but also the heir to the Iron Throne, multiple high-ranking members of the Targaryen royal family, a future Lord of Storm’s End, and more. In theory, this is the kind of big, bloody event the Game of Thrones’ universe is famous for, and you’d be forgiven for coming into this installment expecting something akin to a slightly smaller-scale take on the Battle of the Bastards. However, much like almost everything else involved with this show, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues to play with our expectations of what we expect this franchise to be and do.
First, roughly half the episode isn’t even about Ser Dunk’s trial. Instead, it kicks off with a flashback to his youth, as Dunk (Bamber Todd) scavenges a battlefield with his girlfriend Rafe (Chloe Lea) for coin and armor to sell. Daemon Blackfyre is dead, and the latest Targaryen interfamily war is over. But not much has changed either way for the residents of Flea Bottom in King’s Landing, where rats, filth, and death are all around. Presumably, like many others, Dunk and Rafe are plotting to escape, hoarding their coin in the hopes of affording passage to the Free Cities of Essos. But young Dunk is nervous, afraid his long-missing mother won’t be able to find him across the sea, or that life in another place will turn out to be as shit as the one he’s currently living.
But as so much in these stories often is, it’s all for naught anyway. The death of the Black Dragon means that fares to Essos have doubled, the pair are robbed of their silver, and Rafe is killed. Young Dunk is rescued by a drunken Ser Arlan of Pennytree, who, despite puking everywhere, is actually quite handy with a sword. But this also isn’t the mentorish meet-cute many may have imagined. Ser Arlan is a mess who drinks too much and rants in the woods like a madman, occasionally doing training exercises and generally ignoring the boy who’s trailed after him for miles with no food or shelter. Yet, Dunk suffers on, seemingly determined to become part of his entourage for reasons that feel an awful lot like Stockholm Syndrome. Yes, Ser Arlan saved him and reoriented the trajectory of his life by giving him the motivation to become a knight in the first place, but it doesn’t seem like he did him many kindnesses along the way. (And there’s potentially an argument to be made that he — and perhaps Westeros itself — might have turned out better if he hadn’t.)
We don’t return to the action of the trial of seven until over 20 minutes into the episode, as Dunk regains consciousness on a field that’s so full of mud and fog it’s difficult to track what’s happening. Knights on horseback fly past, maces swing alongside his helmet, and lances shatter overhead. Nothing about this is sexy or feels like the stuff of legend, though it’s a given that this event will almost immediately be reframed as such once it’s over. Dunk and Aerion grunt and wrestle in the dirt, stabbing and scrabbling at each other, dishing out the sort of wounds that make you wonder how either of them is still standing, let alone fighting. And for a moment, Dunk isn’t. But these are the Dunk and Egg novellas, so, spoiler alert, it turns out okay for him in the end.
But while he does get a traditional hero-type moment, dragging himself back to his feet amidst the crowd’s cheers, what’s shocking is how useless it all ultimately feels. Yes, eventually forces Aerion to yield, and the Targaryen ultimately withdraws his accusation over what was, objectively, an incredibly ridiculous charge. But the cost of it all turns out to be well beyond what anyone likely expected. Heck, maybe we should have all guessed immediately that Baelor Targaryen was doomed the moment he stepped forward to do something simply because it was right. That’s how it rolls in this universe, after all, and Baelor joins a long list of good men — Eddard Stark, Oberyn Martell, Robb Stark, Jorah Mormont, to name a few — who were arguably too pure for this world of blood and gore. That he dies is maybe the least shocking thing that’s happened on the show all season, but man, it sure does suck.
Not for the least of which reason being that his death is simply horrible. Bashed in the back of the head by his younger brother’s mace, Baelor essentially dies the minute he takes his helm off, because…it was pretty much the only thing holding his brain in. It’s a horrifying visual — and not to mention downright cruel in terms of its framing, considering the show gleefully leads us to believe everything’s fine mere moments before. For a second, we’re allowed to hope that the only deaths Dunk would have to live with on his conscience are those of Ser Humfrey Beesbury (whom he just met) and Ser Humfrey Hardying (who was already gravely injured anyway). That’s not all that bad, considering! Instead, he’s not only gotten the heir to the Iron Throne killed, but the one Targaryen who didn’t seem like a complete monster. He’s essentially changed Westeros’ history, and most likely not for the better, given the folks involved.
Though, in Dunk’s defense, it does seem as though Baelor’s death was foretold, meaning that it likely couldn’t have been prevented. In last week’s episode, we learned that his (drunken) nephew Daeron, like House of the Dragon’s Helaena, is gifted with what’s known as dragon dreams. These visions are not usually clear or straightforward, but they’re also never wrong. And, before the tournament, Daeron dreamed of Dunk; specifically, of Dunk and a dead dragon with a massive wingspan that had fallen on top of him but left him alive. In hindsight, it feels obvious what Daeron’s dream meant — Baelor dying in Dunk’s arms — but at the time, with so many Targaryens participating in the trial, no one could have guessed which it most probably referred to.
Perhaps it’s weird to mourn Baelor so intensely, given how little time we actually spent with him. But it’s hard not to wonder what could have been, what tragedies might have been avoided, had Baelor taken the throne. Plus, there’s the sheer novelty of getting to watch a Targaryen like him, who has been purposefully set against so much of what his family typically stands for. Alas, Prince Baelor, we hardly knew you. Here’s hoping that Dunk can hang on to the world you would have made.
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiere Sundays at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max, culminating with the finale on February 22.
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