‘A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms’ Did One Thing Exactly the Way ‘Game of Thrones’ Would Have

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has set itself apart from Game of Thrones from the start. Shorter runtimes, tighter focus, fewer main characters, and lower stakes. The world may be the same, but our view into it is new and, frankly, refreshing. Or at least it was, until episode five dropped. Titled “In the Name of the Mother,” the penultimate episode of the first season did what any self-respecting GoT penultimate episode would: unleashed a spectacle of brutality and bloodshed, with a nice little unexpected character death as the cherry on top.

Not that I’m complaining! We knew the Trial of Seven was coming this week, and despite the festive atmosphere of the tourney, it was hardly surprising that the mini-battle would be gruesome. Poor Dunk takes a lance in the side and loses his horse almost immediately, and the rest of the fight unfolds from his perspective, down in the mud - but not before an equally unsettling flashback cuts in, finally revealing how Dunk met Ser Arlan. Dunk grew up in Flea Bottom, where he and his friend Rafe (Chloe Lea, Dune: Prophecy) looted battlefields to save enough money for passage to the Free Cities. Dunk isn’t sold on leaving, though, in part because he wonders if his mother (who is probably dead) might be looking for him, and in part because, well, what if the Free Cities are as bad as King’s Landing? What if Westeros is the best there is? But he loves Rafe and is willing to follow her anywhere, until she pick-pockets a nasty city guardsman, who tracks them down and robs them right back - and kills Rafe.

Dunk tries to fight back, but he’s quickly overpowered. Then Ser Arlan emerges from a nearby bar, shouting, “Leave that boy be!” and kills all the guards to protect Dunk. It’s clear Ser Arlan is a drunk and teetering on the edge of washed-up, but when he sets out from King’s Landing with his three horses, Dunk follows anyway, maintaining a not-terribly discrete distance. Along the way, Dunk grows sicker and sicker, until eventually he collapses in view of Ser Arlan, who finally approaches the boy. “Get up,” says the knight, and it’s those words that continue to rouse Dunk every time he falters in the present.

Though Dunk isn’t a natural at combat, he is strong and incredibly resilient. He winds up clashing with Aerion, who seems to have the upper hand until Dunk once again rises and beats Aerion to a pulp. He forces the prince to yield, in full view of the stands - where the commoners and even some nobles have begun cheering Dunk on. When the horn blows to end the trial, Dunk is hustled away to tend his wounds, unsure who has survived and who has fallen.

When Prince Baelor comes to check on Dunk, the grateful lunk swears to be his man, and Baelor - heir to the Iron Throne - seems to accept. Good men are hard to find, after all, and the Gods themselves have proven Dunk’s innocence through this trial. Unfortunately, Baelor isn’t feeling so hot, and when his helmet is finally removed, it’s painfully clear why: his skull has been bashed in by his brother Maekar’s mace. The prince collapses, dying in Dunk’s arms in a gut-punch of an ending that proves Daeron’s dream was right. The dragon collapsed on Dunk after all.

So now we know why the story of a wannabe knight and his secret prince of a squire would be important enough to chronicle alongside the other political tribulations of Westeros. By taking up Dunk’s cause against the accusations of his own family, Baelor forfeited his life - and the line of succession for the Iron Throne will shift. To the show’s credit, though, it’s hard to care about the now-apparent stakes compared to the emotional turmoil of poor Dunk, who seems to lose everyone he cares about. He tried to do what he thought a knight ought to - protect the innocent - only he isn’t a knight at all, and now people have sacrificed themselves in his honor. And Egg, who was cheering as Dunk fought his own brother, has just watched his uncle fall. Next week, we’ll see where the pair go from here, but for now, let’s just appreciate another insane GoT penultimate episode for the books. When Baelor turned and revealed that the back of his skull was missing? I haven’t gasped that loud since “The Rains of Castamere.”