Warning: The following contains spoilers of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The Game of Thrones franchise has primarily focused on the enduring legacy of House Targaryen, with Daenerys and her ancestor, Rhaenyra “The Black Queen”, being the more familiar faces of it. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms breaks this familiar mold by centering its story on Ser Duncan “Dunk” the Tall, a hedge knight.
In the first three episodes, Dunk has been described by others as “like a knight, but sadder” and has had to consistently prove “how good a knight” he was to other knights and even the steward of Ashford Meadow. But what exactly is a hedge knight, and are they a true knight? That is the central question of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season one, with episode four, “Seven”, deciding on a concrete answer from an unlikely source: Baelor Targaryen.
In the lore established by George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series, a hedge knight is a knight without a master and can be best described as a “wandering knight.” Because hedge knights travel the seven kingdoms in search of employment, they are often homeless and are reputed to sleep underneath hedges, hence the disparaging term “hedge knight.” Their material possessions are also limited to the clothes on their backs, any horses they own, weapons and armor, and very little money.
Photo: Steffan Hill/HBO
Because hedge knights are seen as the lowest of the low, few people trust them, and they are often disrespected, even by other knights. They also have to constantly prove their combat skills and prowess on the battlefield in order to be considered for employment by the noble houses of Westeros. For this reason, tourneys are a primary source of income for hedge knights and offer them opportunities to network. During the tournaments, they can get noticed by powerful houses, especially if they win against higher-ranking knights.
Throughout A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Dunk and his mentor, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, fit the description of a hedge knight to a T. Dunk gets made fun of a lot by the knights at Ashford Meadow, and absolutely no one remembers his mentor – except Baelor Targaryen for the one time he got lucky besting a Lannister at a tourney. Despite the numerous obstacles facing Dunk, however, he believes himself to be a true knight because he believes in upholding the knight’s oath of protecting the innocent.
Dunk’s commitment to that oath comes through in episode three, when he punches and kicks Aerion Targaryen for harming a puppeteer who performed a play that saw her slay a dragon. Given that the dragon is the symbol of House Targaryen, Aerion took offense to this and felt a need to violently punish the puppeteer for her “treasonous act.” Though Dunk beating up a Targaryen prince ruffles the feathers of his father, Maekar, he ironically wins Baelor’s admiration for protecting the puppeteer in episode four. Even more so after Dunk confronts the Targaryens with, “Don’t all knights make the same oath? To protect the innocent?”
Photo: Steffan Hill/HBO
It is Baelor who gets Dunk out of prison to inform him that Aerion wants his head for his public humiliation but also believes in keeping his nephew’s violent leniencies in check. To that end, Baelor talks his nephew into fighting Dunk in a trial by combat if he insists on accusing him of the crime of violently assaulting him in public. The alternative would be for him to drop the charge, which he knows Aerion won’t do. But this also means that Aerion will set the terms of the tournament as a way of leveraging a more favorable outcome for himself: a Trial of Seven.
As per the Andal tradition, both Aerion and Dunk must find six champions to fight alongside them in the Trial of Seven. Aerion doesn’t have trouble finding his six champions and even gets another knight, Ser Steffon Fossoway, to betray Dunk after he had promised his allegiance. This setback, however, works in Dunk’s favor as he gets Lyonel Baratheon to fight alongside him (if for no other reason than the glory of being able to humiliate a Targaryen and their Kingsguard). It is also Lyonel who knights Raymun Fossoway in the face of Steffon’s betrayal, gaining Dunk a fifth ally.
Dunk’s sixth ally that surprisingly completes his team is none other than Baelor, much to the surprise of his brother Maekar. Though Maekar is floored by his brother’s betrayal, Baelor makes his position clear: although Aerion is within his right to seek justice for his public humiliation, Dunk also upheld his oath as a knight to protect the innocent. Though Baelor hasn’t promised Dunk employment if he wins against his nephew, the fact that he chose to fight alongside him instead of his nephew is the biggest validation Dunk could ever get as to whether or not he is a true knight. In this case, Baelor sees him as such.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms debuts new episodes every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max at 10:00 PM EST.
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