The Penultimate ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Brings Peril and Ache

Last week on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Dunk assembled his champions—with an enormous shock addition—in “Seven.” This week, “Within the Identify of the Mom” sees Dunk’s trial by fight hit the ring.

However there’s a detour to the previous we should additionally take, as we study extra about how the hedge knight turned the kind of man who’s now preventing for his life.

And, how about one other large twist? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is low on raunchy gags this week, however it’ll shock you but once more.

We open instantly after “Seven” ended. Baelor, a shock addition to Dunk’s aspect, offers a pep discuss so terrifying Dunk and Raymun barf their method by way of it. Baelor says to not fear in regards to the Kingsguard; he’ll deal with them, since they’re not allowed to hurt a prince of the blood. The eccentric Ser Robyn wonders if that’s honorable.

“The gods will tell us,” Baelor says, reminding us that the Trial of Seven has non secular underpinnings. The responsible will fall, and the harmless will prevail, in line with the judgment of the gods.

He additionally says “Be vigilant. Don’t die.” Everybody heads towards the ring, however Dunk has one final second with Egg, and so they do some repeat of their “rob me, and I’ll hunt you down with canines” bit. This time, Egg barks playfully in response, however as Dunk rides away, intense concern washes over his face.

Rightfully so. The battle begins—we get slender POV pictures looking by way of Dunk’s helm, and listen to his panicked, gasping breath—and it’s instantly terrible. As Egg shrieks from the sidelines, Dunk rides into the fray and is shortly stabbed by our pal Aerion Targaryen. No sooner has Dunk yanked the lance tip out, Aerion wheels again round together with his flail and knocks Dunk from his horse, splat into the mud.

We minimize to black. However Dunk isn’t lifeless, clearly—he’s simply drifting into the prolonged flashback that takes up most of “Within the Identify of the Mom.”

It’s actually a reduction to chop away from the agony of the battlefield, till we notice we’ve arrived on one other, very completely different battlefield. Right here, the preventing has ended, and solely corpses stay.

Not less than, that’s what a youthful model of Dunk, performed by Bamber Todd (his nostril and mouth coated, little question to dam the hideous stench of demise) thinks as he’s scavenging horseshoes off a fallen steed. However then the person trapped beneath the horse abruptly wheezes. Dunk decides the one factor he can do is suffocate the person and put him out of his distress.

However abruptly, a woman seems—equally masked towards the odor—and stops him. He’s highborn, she factors out. If they’ll drag him off the battlefield, somebody may pay them for his return.

This new character is performed by Chloe Lea, a well-known face to anybody who watched HBO’s Dune: Prophecy sequence. (She was additionally on Apple TV’s Basis, so: a style celebrity within the making.) Her A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms character is known as Rafe, and he or she’s Dunk’s finest and solely good friend.

The children are unable to get the person out from beneath the horse, and he quickly breathes his final. We will see that is taking place simply outdoors of King’s Touchdown, with the Crimson Hold looming within the background. Followers of Westeros historical past will notice we’re seeing the aftermath of the primary Blackfyre Riot—a Targaryen vs. Targaryen bastard battle for the throne that noticed Daeron II, who’s in energy throughout A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, emerge victorious.

They received’t be gathering any ransom on the wealthy man, alas, however it was nonetheless a profitable outing for Dunk and Rafe, who head again to town to rework what they’ve scavenged into money. There’s urgency, a minimum of in line with Rafe, as a result of their purpose is to lift sufficient cash to get the hell out of Flea Backside, and Westeros for that matter, as shortly as potential.

Dunk is extra hesitant. “The battle is over,” he reminds her. “The Black Dragon is lifeless!”

Her worldview, although, is much extra cynical. Rafe could also be tiny, however she’s product of a lot more durable stuff than Dunk. “Nothing’s over,” she insists. “Nobody forgets shit. You harm somebody, they harm you again.”

As soon as they’re in Flea Backside, you perceive why Rafe’s give you a plan to flee. It’s a crowded, dirty maze and hazard lurkes round each nook. Alester, an opportunistic bully, makes a transfer on Dunk and Rafe’s bag of spoils. However the quick-fingered Rafe steals his aleskin flask earlier than he can rip them off, and so they escape down an alleyway.

After pawning their stash, Rafe says they lastly have sufficient to safe passage throughout the slender sea. Dunk has considerations. “What if the Free Cities aren’t any higher than right here? What in the event that they’re worse?” he wonders.

And extra poignantly: “What if my mom comes again for me?”

Rafe is unmoved. Even when his mom is alive, which appears unlikely, she’s not going to abruptly begin searching for her son. What’s extra, “I by no means bought nothing by ready round.”

Rafe and Dunk agree, although: they love one another—it’s a brother-sister vibe greater than something romantic—and wish to stick collectively. However once they go to purchase the tickets, they discover out the value has elevated. They’re nonetheless quick the required quantity.

“You’re not the one ones who imply to get the fuck out of right here,” the unsympathetic ticket service provider informs them.

Rafe is livid. “We’ll discover a method,” Dunk reassures her, weakly. However the second will get much more darkish when Alestar seems, nonetheless salty about that stunt Rafe pulled earlier. “Nobody forgets shit,” as Rafe herself mentioned, and that comes again to hang-out her.

Alestar and his equally odious good friend nook them towards a pig pen, and he calls for the return of his aleskin at knifepoint. Rafe now not has it, in fact, so Alestar as an alternative goes for her coin purse, containing the hard-earned silver she was going to make use of on the tickets.

“Stealing from lifeless nobles continues to be stealing,” Alestar tsks.

“What’s stealing from us?” Dunk shoots again.

“That’s life,” the thug shrugs.

After ripping off their life financial savings, Alestar and his pal begin to allow them to go, however not earlier than Alestar makes one final threatening transfer on Rafe, touching her hair and getting proper in her face. Disgusted, she pushes previous him—pick-pocketing his knife on the way in which.

It takes only a few seconds for him to comprehend it’s gone. After he seize it again, he swiftly makes use of it to slice her throat open.

Dunk, as we knew he would, instantly goes on the assault. He’s flung to the bottom and stabbed within the leg, however simply when it appears all is misplaced, a door opens and we hear “Within the title of the Mom… LEAVE THAT BOY BE!”

Women and gents: Ser Arlan of Pennytree. Drunk as a skunk and nonetheless out right here defending the harmless. As Dunk comforts the dying Rafe, Ser Arlan throttles Alester and his good friend—killing them each and giving A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a really satisfying decaptitation second. As swiftly as he appeared, Ser Arlan lurches away.

In the meantime, Dunk is despondent. His solely good friend is gone. His mom is (in all probability) lifeless. He has no cash or future. What is going to he do now?

The reply arrives the following morning, when he hears a well-known voice within the alley: Ser Arlan, weaving round, knocking over baskets of apples. Dunk pulls himself out of his funk and begins limping after him, oozing leg wound and all.

After darkish, Dunk creeps nearer as Ser Arlan snoozes by his campfire. Tentatively, the boy admires his defend and sword and pets his horses.

It’s not not like what Egg does years later when he pursues Dunk to Ashford Meadow, however in Dunk’s case, he has nothing to return to. No household or buddies that will likely be searching for him. Possibly he didn’t actually wish to go to the Free Cities, however he’s out of Flea Backside now, following this inebriated but fierce knight to factors unknown.

As Ser Arlan rides farther away from King’s Touchdown, he’s seemingly unaware he’s picked up a tail. Dunk watches because the outdated knight drunkenly rants to himself alone at the hours of darkness. He huddles up, freezing and hungry, on the periphery of every campsite. However in the end Ser Arlan—who could be very hardly ever sober—acknowledges this fellow traveler. Wanting again up the path, he sees Dunk take a number of exhausted steps, then collapse.

Ser Arlan walks to the fallen boy, leans over him, and gruffly orders, “Stand up!”

Stand up! The command echoes—the fateful phrases that kick-started Dunk’s time as Ser Arlan’s squire. Instantly, we’re again within the current, with Dunk on his again within the ring at Ashford Meadow.

We see, by way of the slit of his helmet, a flail coming in for one more blow, and as he staggers to his ft, he’s thwacked once more by a rider galloping previous.

Earlier than lengthy, the aggressive Aerion is knocked off his horse, and we see Egg watching—very apprehensive—as his grasp and his brother go at it. It’s stabby and muddy and grunty and hellaciously brutal, and continues for seemingly ceaselessly.

A really battered Dunk takes a jab by way of the attention slit, and he yanks his helmet off. The groaning and plunging and smacking continues; we are able to barely see what else is occurring, however it’s clear everybody on the sector goes by way of it. The group stays eerily silent towards the sounds of agony and cries of anguish.

Instantly, we are able to hear what Dunk hears inside his head: a muffled ringing as Aerion, who’s in simply as horrible form as his opponent, begins ordering him to yield. Dunk flops to the bottom, his eyes nonetheless open. He positive appears to be like lifeless. However he can’t be lifeless!

Within the stands, Egg lifts his shrill voice in encouragement. “Stand up! GET UP, SER DUNCAN!” We glimpse one other imaginative and prescient of Ser Arlan, telling younger Dunk the identical factor, however a a lot mellower tone: “Stand up.”

Aerion can’t consider it, however Dunk is certainly nonetheless alive. He heaves himself again up as the group gasps and begins to cheer as Aerion turns to face him. The sound is once more muffled as we watch Dunk knock the prince down and straddle him, kicking his ass Flea Backside-style. Aerion’s punchable face turns into a bloody pulp, and it’s pleasant.

It’s wonderful. It’s cathartic. However the most effective second comes when Dunk drags his fallen opponent to the stands and Aerion, who has agreed to yield, says what he should: “I withdraw my accusation.”

Raymun and Steely Pate assist a really mangled Dunk off the sector, the place he will get the information that each Ser Humfreys (Beesbury and Hardyng) have died. His buddies are taking inventory of his accidents (Raymun appears OK, fortunately) when Baelor stumbles in.

A grateful Dunk bends the knee. “Your grace. I’m your man,” he gasps.

“I want good males, Ser Duncan,” Baelor says. “The realm.”

It appears for a second that, although Dunk clearly has an extended restoration forward of him, every part may end up all proper. He received! Prince Baelor thinks he’s a very good man! However, uh… not so quick.

Raymun and Steely Pate assist Baelor take away his helm. It’s bent method off form, smashed by Maekar’s blows, Baelor figures. However it’s not simply the armor that’s damaged. As soon as Baelor’s head is uncovered, we see his mind peeking by way of his caved-in cranium.

There’ll be no bouncing again from that. Nothing the Maesters can do. The inheritor to the throne collapses as Dunk cradles him. “Your Grace! Stand up, ser!”

This time, “stand up” doesn’t have the identical magic impact, and a sobbing Dunk repeats what he mentioned to Rafe when she died all these years earlier than: “I’m sorry.”

It’s completely devastating. man has perished—and the course of Westeros historical past has modified ceaselessly.

What is going to occur subsequent, with only one episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ first season left to go? We’ll discover out Sunday when the finale arrives on HBO and HBO Max.

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