Ryan Kirksey
The following recap contains spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms S1E4, “Seven” (written by Aziza Barnes & Annie Julia Wyman, and Ira Parker and directed by Sarah Adina Smith). Spoilers also include plot points from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
“You have another choice. Whether it is a better one or a worse, I cannot say. And so, I ask you again, Ser Duncan the Tall, how good a knight are you, truly?”
Ser Duncan the Tall’s (Peter Claffey) attack on Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) at the end of Episode 3 has put the giant hedge knight in quite the unwinnable situation. The reveal that Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is actually Aegon V Targaryen opens up Dunk to an entire list of complex problems beyond the fact that Aerion wants to kill him immediately.
The events of Episode 4 lay the groundwork for the revelation that Dunk is going to have a chance to show just how good a knight he is on the tournament grounds at Ashford, but certainly not in the way he was anticipating.
The episode opens with Dunk imprisoned, but Egg (freshly clothed in his Targaryen attire) visits him to beg for his forgiveness. We learn the truth behind why Egg’s identity was concealed. He was supposed to squire for his older brother Daeron Targaryen (Henry Ashton), but Daeron “The Drunken” was too buried in his wine and had no desire to join the lists of the tournament. He was hiding in the inn where he first met Dunk, and he shaved Egg’s head so no one would identify them.
Egg desperately wanted to attend the tournament, so he hitched his horse to the first knight that came through the door, Ser Duncan. Even after Dunk told Egg he didn’t want him coming to the tournament, Egg snuck in anyway, clearly wanting to participate, but also because I think he saw something different about Dunk. Something Egg doesn’t normally see in the House of the Dragon.
Unfortunately, Dunk is then informed by Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) that when Daeron was finally located by his father, Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell), Daeron lied and told his father that Dunk kidnapped Egg and forced him to accompany him to the tournament. Because of this, Dunk is now accused of both assaulting one prince and kidnapping another one.
Prince Baelor then asks Dunk the question everyone has been asking through four episodes. How good a knight are you, truly? He recognizes that the only way Dunk likely keeps his life is if he invokes trial by combat, a right given to any highborn or knight. (This was famously used in Game of Thrones in Season 1 when Bronn acts as Tyrion Lannister’s champion against Ser Vardis Egen, winning by throwing Egen out of the Moon Door. And again in Season 4, when Tyrion faces a trial by combat after he is accused of murdering Joffrey. Oberyn “The Viper” Martell fights for Tyrion against Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane.)
When confronted with all of Baelor, Maekar, and Aerion, Dunk invokes his right, but Aerion counterpunches with an “ancient, seldom invoked” alternative. Because Dunk wronged both Aerion and Daeron, Aerion calls for a Trial of Seven. An ancient practice brought to Westeros by the Andals, the thought is that the gods are more likely to intervene and determine the winner if the accuser and the accused each fight with six other champions on their side.
Whether Aerion is afraid of fighting Dunk one-on-one or whether he thinks Dunk will not be able to attract six other knights to his side (thus rendering him guilty) is unclear. But Egg confesses later that Aerion thinks of himself as a true dragon, so my thoughts lean to the latter. As Aerion leaves to gather his team, Dunk is sent out to find six other knights who think his cause is just enough to stand with him in combat.
His first stop is Raymun Fossway (Shaun Thomas), the cousin and squire to the great knight Ser Steffon Fossway (Edward Ashley). Not only does Ser Steffon agree to fight for Duncan because of his hatred of the Targaryens, but he also promises to return with other knights who will join their cause. Egg arrives and volunteers to round up knights who will fight with Dunk. He reveals that Aerion has recruited his father, Maekar, three members of the Kingsguard, and his brother Daeron to fight with the accusers.
Daeron, however, delivers the news to Dunk that he will pretend to fight valiantly for Aerion, but will crumble at the start and not participate in the fight. It seems both Aegon and Daeron think Aerion is a “monster,” and they recount times from their youth when he would torture them and throw their cats down the well.
When Dunk arrives at the tournament grounds at dawn after procuring his new shield and armor from Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour), a series of surprises awaits him. Aegon has recruited Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings), who befriended Dunk in the first two episodes. Ser Humfrey Beesbury (Danny Collins), Ser Humfrey Hardyng (Ross Anderson), and Ser Robyn Rhysling (William Houston) have also joined Team Dunk. That’s the good news.
The bad news is Ser Steffon Fossway tells Dunk he is joining the other side, and – in the words of Steffon’s cousin Raynum – “sold your honor for a lordship.” This is just mere hours after he told Dunk he would not let him die and promised him fighters. Steffon’s desertion leaves Dunk two men short. Lyonel Baratheon agrees to knight Raymun Fossway to give them six, while Dunk rides to the crowd to try to recruit one more knight.
In an impassioned speech, he begs the crowd one more “true knight,” but finding no volunteers, he begins to accept his fate.
But wait! Is that Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen’s music we hear? Baelor emerges through the fog and declares his allegiance to Dunk because Dunk “protected the innocent, as every true knight must.” And that music you hear crescendoing in the background is the famous Game of Thrones theme, which these showrunners waited until the perfect time in this season to deploy. If you didn’t feel some things when you heard that score play, I’m not quite sure what I can do to help you.
As dawn rises and Episode 5 looms, we are left with the following teams:
The Accused:
Ser Duncan the Tall
Prince Baelor Targaryen
Ser Lyonel Baratheon
Ser Raymun Fossoway
Ser Humfrey Beesbury
Ser Humfrey Hardyng
Ser Robyn Rhysling
Versus
The Accuser:
Prince Aerion Targaryen
Prince Daeron Targaryen
Prince Maekar Targaryen
Ser Steffon Fossoway
Ser Willem Wylde of the Kingsguard
Ser Donnel of Duskendale of the Kingsguard
Ser Roland Crakehall of the Kingsguard
The battle to determine the fate of these men comes next. What the gods have in store for each of them should truly be the spectacle that defines this first season of what is turning out to be a magnificent entry into the Game of Thrones universe.
