Warning: The following contains spoilers of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
The tourney of Ashford Meadow has ended in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Although Ser Duncan the Tall barely walked away from the Trial of Seven with his life, the fight still ended with the death of Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen. Episode six, “The Morrow”, officially confirms this when House Targaryen holds a funeral for the fallen prince and heir to the Iron Throne, with Dunk in attendance.
Though this tragic loss is strongly felt between Dunk and Baelor’s son Valarr, there is one person who is not sad to see the favorite Targaryen prince go: Lyonel Baratheon. While Game of Thrones fans are well aware of the longstanding rivalry between House Baratheon and House Targaryen, Lyonel’s contempt for Baelor isn’t necessarily personal. Instead, Lyonel points out Baelor was never at real risk of losing his life compared to himself and the other knights who fought on Dunk’s behalf at the Trial of Seven.
While Lyonel raises a very valid point about Baelor being protected by the Kingsguard’s oath to never harm a Targaryen prince (a privilege neither Lyonel nor the other knights shared at the trial), he is still wrong about the impact of his loss. Compared to the other members of House Targaryen at this point in Westeros history, Baelor was the more compassionate member of his family. Fans saw this firsthand throughout season one when Baelor vouched for Dunk to enter the tourney. He also took his side when his own nephew, Aerion, threatened to cut off Dunk’s hand and foot for defending a woman said nephew assaulted.
Photo: Steffan Hill/HBO
In addition to Baelor being the buffer to Aerion’s violent impulses and the voice of reason among his other family members, Baelor was also the Hand of the King to his own father, King Daeron II. This alone indicated that the sitting king trusted Baelor’s judgment and advice. This is especially important in a society where House Targaryen isn’t necessarily respected and is consistently fighting coup attempts by other families. The more recent one that’s been discussed throughout season one has been the First Blackfyre Rebellion, which was a civil war between King Daeron II and his half-brother, Daemon I Blackfyre.
The other reason Baelor’s death is a significant loss for Westeros is the fact that he was in line to succeed his father as king. Given that the Targaryen dynasty has been consistently defined by civil wars within the house, violent invasion of other lands, and the subjugation of the other kingdoms to a single ruler, a monarch like Baelor was exactly what Westeros needed. Not only would Baelor have ruled with compassion (as noted by both Valarr and Baelor’s brother Maekar), but he could have done a lot to win the people’s favor.
With Baelor now dead, this puts Maekar in line to succeed the Iron Throne, and he doesn’t have the clout his brother had. Maekar is well aware of this, as noted in his conversation with Dunk in episode six. More specifically, he knows that people will spread rumors about Maekar intentionally killing his own brother, even though Maekar himself confirms he never planned to take Baelor’s life. He even notes that people will also blame Dunk for losing the best heir to the Iron Throne the Seven Kingdoms actually had.
Photo: Steffan Hill/HBO
Though Maekar at least carries himself as a reasonable person, he also lacks the empathy that Baelor consistently displayed in life. Whereas Baelor didn’t think less of hedge knights like Dunk, Maekar profoundly objects to his own son, Aegon (“Egg”) “living like a peasant” while training to be a knight. His low opinion of hedge knights even comes through when he only allows Dunk to train his son Aegon on the condition that he do so at Summerhall and with his own master of arms finishing Dunk’s training.
In the source material by George R. R. Martin, Maekar’s less than favorable view of people who are not members of House Targaryen is also consistent with how he’s presented in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. These qualities continue to define his character when he does ascend to the Iron Throne. Though Maekar is at least remembered in the books as being an effective ruler who also squashed future Blackfyre rebellions, he’s also remembered for being less forgiving.
Given what’s in store for Westeros now that it has lost its most benevolent future king, it’s likely Lyonel will swallow his words to Dunk about Baelor’s death being a blessing. Even more so once he experiences firsthand the iron hand Maekar will later rule with. Then again, Maekar may only end up validating Lyonel’s existing prejudice against House Targaryen, which would still be consistent with how House Baratheon sees the family in later generations.
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