Diksha Sundriyal
The penultimate episode of HBO’s ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ brings the Trial of the Seven, where Ser Duncan the Tall has to rely on the outcome of a deadly joust to prove his innocence in front of gods and men. In his defense, he had asked for a trial by combat, on Prince Baelor’s advice, who believed it would at least give him a chance to survive the trial. But Aerion did him one better and asked for the Trial of the Seven, believing that a nobody like Dunk would never find six knights to fight for him. Not only is he proven wrong, but his own uncle decides to fight against him for Ser Duncan. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Flashbacks Reveal Dunk’s Origins
The time of Dunk’s reckoning finally arrives. When he came to Ashford to fight in the tourney, he never imagined he would have to fight like this. This is his first joust, and so is it Raymun Fossoway’s, who was knighted a few minutes ago by Lyonel Baratheon, in an exemplary display of honor and loyalty. However, now that the reality of the situation is upon them, both Dunk and Raymun throw up, while the other, more experienced knights, prepare to charge. Egg, as a dutiful squire, stands by his side and hands him his lance. Before leaving, Dunk tells him not to run away, referencing their conversation from a few episodes back. As the horns bellow and all the knights rush towards one another, Dunk takes a second before charging himself.
The scene unfolds from the point of view of the narrow slit in his helmet, which feels more like a hurdle than a shield. His inexperience shows in the first round itself as he is knocked off the horse, while also getting stabbed below his chest. As Aerion charges past him, hitting him brutally, Dunk passes out. The episode jumps into a flashback. The audience is transported to King’s Landing. A knight is found stuck under his dead horse, waiting for help or death. He is found by a young Dunk who has been digging around the place, full of dead horses and dead people, to find something valuable that he and his friend, Rafe, can sell. Unable to free him from the horse, Dunk decides to do the merciful thing and kill the man.
He and Rafe find valuable silver, with which they return to Flea Bottom, where things seem more desperate than ever. They sell some of their findings, but it doesn’t fetch them enough. There is also the talk of Daemon Blackfyre’s rebellion. (He was the legitimised Targaryen bastard who decided to lay a claim to the throne by stoking a rebellion. By the time the events of ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ happen, the first Blackfyre Rebellion has been crushed.) Rafe, it seems, is intent on leaving Westeros. She wants to sail to the Free Cities, hoping to get a fresh start and a chance to live a better life than the one she has in Flea Bottom. Dunk, on the other hand, worries that the whole world may be like Flea Bottom, and no matter where they run off to, things will be exactly the same.
Dunk Meets Ser Arlan of Pennytree
The only reason Dunk would leave Flea Bottom is because of Rafe, whom he is ready to follow till the end of the world, not just because he loves her, but also because she is the only family he has. When the duo goes to buy the ship tickets, they discover that the prices have risen because, apparently, everyone wants to leave King’s Landing and seats are getting packed pretty quickly. Rafe and Dunk have enough for just one person, but because they are a team, neither can leave without the other. Dunk follows a disappointed Rafe back home, but as they pass the streets, they come across a man (seemingly a knight) who is nothing but trouble. The duo had crossed paths with him before, and the man doesn’t like the fact that Rafe robbed him.
He corners her and Dunk, finds their silver, and keeps it for himself. He lets them go, but before leaving, Rafe steals his knife and is found out in a matter of seconds. This angers the man, and he slits her throat. Seeing his friend getting killed in front of him breaks young Dunk’s heart, but he doesn’t get the time to mourn. He is the next target, and before the man can kill him, an old knight appears out of nowhere to save the day. He fights the man and his accomplice and, after a brief fight, kills them both. Once the fight is over, the old knight doesn’t even take notice of Dunk and walks away.
Realising that this is his only chance to run away, rather than continuing to live a meaningless life in Flea Bottom, Dunk makes the hard choice of leaving his dead friend behind and starts following the old knight. While the knight is on horseback, Dunk follows him on foot, keeping his distance. For days, the knight doesn’t seem to notice him. He keeps his pace, stopping for food and rest, while Dunk hides at a safe distance, suffering cold and hunger, on top of the injury on his leg, which gets worse. As days pass, his condition worsens, but he still keeps following the knight. One day, as he falls unconscious, the knight notices him. He saves Dunk and takes the boy under his wing.
Dunk and Aerion Come Face to Face on the Battlefield
Back in the jousting field, Dunk is woken up by the sound of Ser Arlan of Pennytree ringing in his ears. A worried Egg shouts for him to wake up from the stands, while the crowd already seems to have given up on him. As soon as he wakes up, Dunk is attacked, and he falls again. Aerion charges on him mercilessly, and an injured and confused Dunk tries to fight seemingly fruitlessly. Eventually, he takes off his helmet, which is when he gets a better sense of his surroundings, improving his fighting style. Meanwhile, the fight between the other knights continues, though we never get to see more than a few glimpses of it as we are entirely focused on Dunk and Aerion, both of whom are now fighting in the dirt.
At first, Aerion takes the lead, and for a minute, it looks like he has killed Dunk, who falls unconscious on the field. Aerion declares him dead and asks Lord Ashford to stop the joust and declare the results. As he is about to rule in favor of Aerion, Egg points out that Dunk is alive. This throws the crowd into an uproar, as they are rooting for Dunk. As Dunk comes back to life to fight again, he gives his all to attack Aerion, whom he beats to a pulp before making him admit defeat and take back his accusation.
Aerion is all too happy to end the fight since he doesn’t want to be beaten to death by Dunk, and with that, the jousting comes to an end. Dunk is helped off the field by Raymun Fossoway and Steeley Pate, both of whom commend him on his fight, while also updating him on the losses their side faced. It seems Daeron kept his end of the bargain. He pretended to be thrown off his horse and didn’t bother getting up again, thanks to which, Raymun didn’t have to fight anyone any further, allowing him to survive something that could have definitely killed him.
Dunk’s Side Sustains Some Heavy Losses
Before the jousting begins, Prince Baelor tells Dunk and their team to have courage and fight valiantly. He reveals that he will fight the two Kingsguards on Aerion’s side. While they may be fighting for his nephew, the law prevents them from harming a person of royal blood, which means they won’t attack Baelor, giving them an advantage. He also tells his team not to die, but this instruction is not followed by everyone, including Baelor himself. While Dunk is being tended to, the Prince walks in, commending Dunk on the win, while the hedge knight thanks him for fighting by his side. Baelor asks for Raymun’s help in removing his helmet, which seems to have gotten stuck.
Raymun asks for Pate’s help, and as soon as the helmet is removed, a major problem comes into the picture. It turns out that there is a massive hole in the back of Baelor’s head. He’d mentioned that he was hit by Maekar, but he didn’t anticipate how bad his injury was. Seconds after the helmet is removed, Baelor falls to the ground and dies, while everyone looks on helplessly. Dunk takes him in his arms and cries, apologising because if it weren’t for him, Baelor wouldn’t have had to participate in the joust, and he would still be alive. In any case, the damage is done, and the Crown Prince is dead. This brings Daeron’s dream to fruition, where he talked about a dragon falling on Dunk and dying.
Though curiously, there is no fire around, so there is a good chance that his dream prophecy hasn’t come to pass yet. What makes it worse is that Baelor isn’t the only casualty of the day. While all the knights on Aerion’s side survive, Dunk’s side sustains heavy losses. Fortunately, the fan-favourite, Lyonel Baratheon, survives the day. The one-eyed Ser Robyn Rhysling also survives, though he does suffer some injuries that take their sweet time to heal. Ser Humfrey Hardyng is not so lucky. He’d suffered a broken leg a day before, thanks to Aerion killing his horse.
His desire for revenge was one of the major factors behind his joining Dunk’s side. Unfortunately, he sustained grievous injuries in the process. So, while he may have come out of the joust alive, he died shortly after. Ser Humfrey Bessbury had even worse luck. He was killed in the first pass, struck in the chest by the lance of Ser Donnel of Duskendale of the Kingsguard. Thus, while Dunk got justice for himself and got his name cleared, he had to pay for it with the lives of three knights, one of them the beloved Prince whose death would change the course of Westeros’ history.
Read More: What does the Prophecy About Egg Mean in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
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