Before you saddle up for this adventure, please be warned that there are spoilers ahead for episode four of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, “Seven.”
So far, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been hopeful, endearing, and at times, downright adorable. Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffery, Bad Sisters) and Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) make a phenomenal lone wolf and cub pairing who exist in symbiotic glory despite their differences in age and stature. They’ve joked around, watched puppet shows, sewn patches and even feasted on elite breakfast sandwiches, but this week, the series reminds us that Dunk will have to protect his feeble hold on knighthood from some of the wealthiest and most privileged nobles in the land.
This time around, when the classic Game of Thrones score swells, it isn’t subverted by Dunk’s explosive diarrhea, it is there to punctuate a moment of heroism fit for the mythos of Westeros.
Well…okay. So, there IS still a fart joke when the Brute of Bracken seemingly heeds Dunk’s call to honor only to let forth a mighty wind instead…but it happens a little bit before the GOT score, rather than existing as an attempt to subvert the themes of the show’s beloved parent IP. In other words, this show is getting serious, folks.
But how did we arrive at a moment of such traditional bravery? Let’s take a look.
“Seven” opens on Dunk condemned to a prison cell as rain falls outside. Even in his desperate position, he continues to warm our hearts as he finds gentle affection for a rat seeking refuge at his prison window. Of course, it’s more than just a sweet moment; seeing Dunk’s natural warmth takes a bit of the edge off of his upcoming angry words for Egg. Not only did Egg conceal his true identity as Prince Aegon Targaryen V, but he put Dunk in real danger by sicking him upon Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett, True Detective), Egg’s selfish and sadistic older brother. While it seems that Egg was acting with good intentions when he ran to Dunk for support during Aerion’s assault of puppeteer Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford, Tiny Beautiful Things), it’s hard not to notice how often Egg openly states he wishes Aerion were dead. It’s easy to understand why Dunk partly feels a little used and abused by his little princeling of a squire.
While it doesn’t take long for Dunk to shift back to the role of a protector, he does take an important shot at his new friend and squire. When Egg insists that he didn’t think he was doing anything wrong, Dunk punches back with, “Of course you did. That’s why you lied.” Even if Egg has a kinder heart than some of his family members, we see that he isn’t immune to falling back on the comforts of a life of privilege. He still has a thing or two to learn from Ser Duncan the Tall.
Unfortunately for Dunk, we learn that his situation has gotten even worse, because Egg has not just one, but two awful older brothers. Audiences met Prince Daeron “the Drunken” Targaryen back in episode one, and now that his father has dragged him back to the tourney grounds, Daeron decides to cover his own ass by attributing Egg’s disappearance to a kidnapping at the hands of a man who looks an awful lot like our favorite Hedge Knight. When it rains, it pours.
Fortunately for Dunk, we learn that he charmed Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel, The Crown) even more than we realized a couple of weeks ago. Not only did he earn a momentary kindness from the Hand of the King, but here, Baelor decides to insert himself into his nephew’s abuse of Dunk. Baelor advises a trial by combat that will earn Dunk a chance to prove his mettle as a knight of the realm, even if his prospects look rather grim.
Things get even bleaker when Aerion invokes the ancient rite of a Trial of Seven. While he attempts to dress up his request in robes of honor, it becomes clear that Aerion’s true goal is to punish Dunk for ever attempting to rise above his station in life. In order for the rite to take place, Dunk will have to find six other knights willing to take his side in a battle to the death against the royal family. That’s a tall order, even for some of the more honorable folks we’ve met so far. Ultimately, the power dynamics are stacked against Dunk.
It seems Aerion is likely to win this fight without ever drawing his sword, and it’s hard not to be disgusted by such open cowardice from a man who demands to be respected as the physical embodiment of a dragon. It seems the plague of Targaryen supremacy is alive and well. This is bad for the realm, but it is admittedly fun to watch the desperate and pathetic Lord Ashford (Paul Hunter, Cinderella) crawl around on the floor in search of Aerion’s discarded walnut; it’s a humorous reminder that we want to see the humility of Duncan survive, not the self-interested sycophancy of Lord Ashford and his ilk.
As if we needed any more convincing that Aerion is a coward, we soon learn that even a simple dependence on his nepo baby status isn’t enough of a shield for him to hide behind. After news of the trial makes it around the tourney, Dunk’s apple-themed bully, Ser Steffon Fossaway (Edward Ashley, Masters of the Air) seems to arrive as an unlikely hero eager to take Dunk’s side in a battle against the outsider Targaryens who unfairly usurped the throne from his ancestors. Sadly, Steffon quickly becomes the most hated Thrones character since Joffrey Baratheon when he reveals just before the trial that he will be fighting on the Targaryen side. Apparently, Aerion granted him a lordship in exchange for fucking with Ser Duncan’s chances of raising up a cohort of champions.
At his bleakest hour, we start to see Dunk’s earnest belief in honor make waves through the tourney. Ser Raymun “The Reluctant” Fossoway (Shaun Thomas, Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children) turns his back on Steffon and his family name to offer his services in exchange for a knighthood from Ser Duncan.
Dunk is surprised by this vote of loyalty, but audiences are not. He doesn’t seem to see what audiences have been watching for the last month. Every week, somebody underestimates Dunk until one look from those puppy dog eyes or one moment of opining about the honor of knighthood forces them to see his potential.
Despite his surprise, Dunk earns some confidence from Raymun’s offer, as well as the kindness of his other champions – Ser Lyonel “The Laughing Storm” Bartheon (Daniel Ings, Lovesick) seems particularly eager to enter his name into the books of legend. Dunk decides to appeal to the assembled knights and earn his final champion. It’s a powerful moment because we see a different side of Dunk. While he still believes that there is honor in knighthood, he has come to understand that chivalry is dead at the Ashford Tourney. He finally finds “the words” that he once told Egg he has so much difficulty finding in life, and seems to decide he will go out as some sort of martyr, holding the assembled lords responsible for the ideals he wishes to see alive and well in Westeros:
“I know none of you remember Ser Arlan of Pennytree, but I was his squire. We served many of you – ate at your tables, slept in your halls. He was a good man, and he taught me how to be a knight . Not just sword and lance, but honor. A knight defends the innocent. That’s all I did. I was not Ser Arlan’s blood, but I have followed his example, as your sons will follow yours. Who will stand and fight with me?
Has courage deserted the noble houses of Westeros? I will not believe it is so. Are there no true knights among you!?”
At this moment, Dunk’s personal champion, Hand of the King and Prince of Dragonstone, Lord Baelor Targaryen himself rides in to take Ser Duncan the Tall’s side (and also put his shitty nephew in his place).
The Game of Thrones score swells, and the audience weeps for the glory of a bygone era.
Next week, we get to root for honor and decency standing up to forces of entitlement and oppression. It doesn’t get any better than that.
