{"id":313416,"date":"2026-02-23T18:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/313416\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T18:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T18:44:10","slug":"a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-ends-with-a-tease-of-adventures-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/313416\/","title":{"rendered":"‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 Ends With a Tease of Adventures to Come"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019re still scarred from everything that happened<\/a> in last week\u2019s \u201cIn the Name of the Mother<\/a>,\u201d but after the horror of battle<\/a> comes \u201cThe Morrow.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Dunk survived against the odds\u2014and while the Targaryens and the realm suffered a huge loss, the Trial of Seven proved what we already knew: the hedge knight was always the most honorable guy on the field.<\/p>\n

But after all that excitement, what\u2019s next? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms wraps up its first season with farewells both affectionate and uneasy; depending on how close showrunner Ira Parker sticks to George R.R. Martin\u2019s novellas, it\u2019s likely most of these characters won\u2019t be seen again. <\/p>\n

Episode six also points us down an intriguing new path for season two, slated to arrive next year.<\/p>\n

\"Io9<\/p>\n

We open with Ser Lyonel Baratheon and a Maester gazing with some concern at a very despondent-looking Dunk, who\u2019s sprawled at the foot of his tree.<\/p>\n

\"Daniel\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

Lyonel flops beside him. \u201cIt\u2019s been a wonderful tournament,\u201d the Laughing Storm muses, clutching his aleskin. \u201cShame it\u2019s all over.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Maester prods at his wounds, Dunk remains expressionless. But we can assume his feelings about the tournament are quite different.<\/p>\n

Lyonel continues. This is a guy who thrives on danger and debauchery and thinks staying home is boring as hell. He has a tipsy brain flash: maybe Dunk, with whom he remains endlessly fascinated, would like to come with him, be his buddy for hunting and hawking and making merry and whatnot?<\/p>\n

The Maester interrupts, just as Lyonel is asking Dunk if he\u2019s ever been to Tarth. (A fun little shout-out to the very tall Game of Thrones character Dunk reminds us of the most!)<\/p>\n

\u201cThis man is dying,\u201d the Maester intones, adding that he\u2019s not sure he can save him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn itchy asshole is beyond your abilities, my friend,\u201d Lyonel replies. \u201cBe gone, witch! Fuck off with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

To Dunk, he says, \u201cYou\u2019re fine. He\u2019s a terrible Maester.\u201d Then he doubles down on his offer. \u201cCome with me to Storm\u2019s End, and I will love you like a brother. If not, fuck you. I\u2019ll hate you like a brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunk, who is feeling great guilt about everything that\u2019s happened, politely declines, then gets salty when Lyonel dares to disparage the recently departed Baelor Targaryen.<\/p>\n

\"Peter\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

\u201cYour prince fought for you against men who were sworn to protect him,\u201d Lyonel snaps back. \u201cHe risked nothing. And the gods don\u2019t favor a fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThen why have they favored me?\u201d Dunk wonders.<\/p>\n

Before he hobbles off, Lyonel\u2014who mentions \u201cthere\u2019s a war coming\u201d\u2014asks Dunk again to consider his offer, telling him, \u201cThe caravan departs after the roast.\u201d<\/p>\n

By \u201cthe roast,\u201d the cheeky lord means Baelor\u2019s funeral pyre, which A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms makes very clear by immediately cutting to the grim inferno. Amid all the blondes in attendance, the camera lingers on a very solemn Maekar, his feelings inscrutable. Is he glad? Is he guilty? Is he regretful?<\/p>\n

When it\u2019s over, Dunk tentatively approaches Baelor\u2019s son, Prince Valarr. We haven\u2019t gotten to see much of Valarr this season, but it\u2019s immediately clear he\u2019s more thoughtful and sensitive than, say, our stabby friend Prince Aerion.<\/p>\n

Still, he\u2019s not giving Dunk a pass. \u201cHe had it in him to be a great king,\u201d the prince says of his father. \u201cWhy would the gods take him and leave you?\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunk knows the feeling. He\u2019s been thinking about that a lot\u00a0and admits to Valarr, \u201cI\u2019ve wondered the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

As Dunk is crutching away, we can see the mini-village that\u2019s sprung up around Ashford Meadow is being dismantled. Ser Raymun Fossoway limps up behind him. As they talk, Dunk says that everyone blames him for Baelor\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

\"Peter\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t,\u201d Raymun protests, and the friends share a hug. Then, Raymun explains that he and his cousin, the odious Ser Steffon, have parted ways. Dunk apologizes, but Raymun\u2019s not bothered by it. \u201cHe\u2019s just mad that he lost,\u201d Raymun says, which is absolutely true, and proudly shows off his new personal sigil: a ripe apple, green instead of red.<\/p>\n

But not all the red is out of Raymun\u2019s life; we see he\u2019s now together with Rowan\u2014the sassy lady of the night we first met hanging around the unhelpful Ser Manfred Dondarrion. We also see that she\u2019s very pregnant, though whether Raymun is really thick enough to think it could be his kid is anyone\u2019s guess. Dunk is figuring out how to react when two men ride up and inform him that Maekar Targaryen would like a word.<\/p>\n

That sounds ominous, but it really is just a chat he\u2019s looking for. The prince tells Dunk he\u2019s sending the troublesome Aerion to the Free Cities, hoping a change of scenery will change him for the better. (Fat chance.) Then he gets down to it. \u201cSome men will say I meant to kill my brother. The gods know it is a lie, but I will hear the whispers until the day I die.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dunk says that while Maekar did technically land the fatal blow, \u201cit was for me Prince Baelor died.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maekar allows there\u2019s some common ground between them. \u201cYou will hear them whisper as well.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Dunk points out that if he had not chosen a trial by combat, he would absolutely have lost his hand and foot as punishment for fighting Aerion. Maekar clearly doesn\u2019t understand what he\u2019s getting at, but Dunk has an explanation as to why that wasn\u2019t something he could acquiesce to. \u201cEvery day, at evenfall, Ser Arlan would say, \u2018I wonder what the morrow will bring,\u2019\u201d Dunk says. \u201cMightn\u2019t it be that some morrow will come when I\u2019ll have need of that foot, when the realm will need that foot even more than a prince\u2019s life?\u201d<\/p>\n

We can see Egg outside, eavesdropping.<\/p>\n

Maekar is very dismissive of this idea. But he changes the subject to his youngest son. Egg doesn\u2019t want to squire for any knight except Dunk; Maekar\u2019s solution to this is to offer Dunk a place at Summerhall, the summer Targaryen castle. While Westeros history buffs know the place will eventually be significant for Dunk and Egg, right now is not that time.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m done with princes,\u201d Dunk says after barely considering the offer. Egg hears this, and Dunk sees his little disappointed face as he turns to leave. They share a moment sitting side by side.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t, Egg. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe you\u2019re not the knight I thought you were,\u201d the boy says.<\/p>\n

Maybe I\u2019m not, Dunk seems to think, as we flash back to Ser Arlan, this time not long before his death\u2014the event that kicked off A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 first episode. He runs through a story Dunk has clearly heard many times before, explaining \u201cthe Pennytree\u201d of his name: a tree in his hometown with literal coins nailed to it, a ritual done by soldiers heading off to war.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy did you never knight me?\u201d Dunk breaks in. Ser Arlan zones out for so long without answering we (and Dunk) think he has died at that exact moment.<\/p>\n

But no. With a gasp, he revives. \u201cAnd that\u2019s why they call it the Pennytree!\u201d Then he adds, knowingly, \u201cA true knight always finishes a story.\u201d<\/p>\n

Back in the Ashford pub, Raymun, his new wife, and a glum Dunk sit near the bee-swarmed coffin of Ser Humfrey Beesbury. Dunk suddenly hears a familiar voice. It\u2019s Daeron Targaryen, drunk as usual.<\/p>\n

\u201cHave you no shame? Those men are dead because of you,\u201d Dunk admonishes him. But Daeron has another matter on his mind.<\/p>\n

\u201cWill you take Egg to squire?\u201d he asks. Dunk reiterates his refusal, but Daeron makes an intriguing point. Aerion wasn\u2019t always a monster, he says; it was the environment he was raised in that turned him from a \u201cglad child\u201d into the cruel creature he is now. Maybe it\u2019s not too late for Egg?<\/p>\n

We cut back to the castle, where we see for the first time that Egg\u2019s hair is growing in. Holding a knife, he creeps into the room where his most hated brother is sleeping off his injuries.<\/p>\n

\"Dexter\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

Maekar enters behind him before any violence happens. But even Maekar can now see what we\u2019ve long realized: Egg is on the precipice of either becoming a decent human being\u2026 or becoming yet another terrible Targaryen.<\/p>\n

Just then, the duo hear that Dunk has returned to the castle and requests an audience. Maekar tells him to make it quick.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore your brother died, he said the realm needed good men,\u201d Dunk says. \u201cI will take Egg to squire, but not at Summerhall.\u201d Away from castles, servants, and \u201chis family\u201d (as Maekar interjects; yes, m\u2019lord, away from the Targaryens is exactly what Dunk is getting at), Egg might have a chance.<\/p>\n

Maekar doesn\u2019t think much of the idea. Egg hitting the road with a hedge knight? \u201cI forbid him to live as a peasant,\u201d he hisses.<\/p>\n

Dunk has to spell it out: as he sees it, Maekar applied his preferred manner of upbringing to Daeron and Aerion, and look how they turned out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s my last son,\u201d Maekar says woefully. He does maybe care about Egg after all, it seems.<\/p>\n

As Dunk is packing up to leave, Sweetfoot\u2014the white horse Dunk had to sell to pay for his armor\u2014trots up out of nowhere. Turns out Raymun has bought her back, a gift to keep Dunk company. He thinks Dunk is headed to Storm\u2019s End (\u201ca sad place\u201d) with Ser Lyonel and could do with a friendly companion. But Dunk says he\u2019s not going to Storm\u2019s End.<\/p>\n

And though he loves Sweetfoot, he tells Raymun to keep her. She\u2019d enjoy living in his apple orchard, he figures\u2014and we can already see this is going to work out, as the horse happily munches on the apple Raymun offers her.<\/p>\n

\"Peter\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

With no future plans other than to \u201cride hard in the other direction,\u201d Dunk has one last task to attend to: nailing a penny to the tree that\u2019s been his home at Ashford Meadow, in tribute to Ser Arlan. He\u2019s about to mount up when he hears a familiar voice.<\/p>\n

\u201cSer Duncan! My lord father says I am to serve you.\u201d<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a pause. A moment of elation that we know is there, but is kept carefully hidden. Then Dunk gathers himself and corrects his squire: \u201c\u2019Serve you\u2026 ser.’\u201d<\/p>\n

As they ride off, talking about where to go next\u2014did you know there are actually nine kingdoms? Allow Egg to educate you, then the show\u2019s titles to get in on the joke. Amid this lighthearted banter, there\u2019s sudden unexpected poignance. The music swells and an overhead shot shows Egg, Dunk, and Ser Arlan riding together, before Ser Arlan peels off on his own.<\/p>\n

The torch has been passed. There are good puppet shows in Dorne\u2014maybe that\u2019s where Dunk and Egg are headed?<\/p>\n

Back at Ashford Meadow, there\u2019s one last Targaryen fumble. We realize that Maekar seems to be missing something. Someone, actually: Aegon, his last son. \u201cWhere the fuck is he?\u201d he bellows as the season comes to an end.<\/p>\n

The outro music is \u201cSixteen Tons\u201d as performed by Tennessee Ernie Ford\u2014one last offbeat choice for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, a show stuffed full of them, and wonderfully so. We\u2019ll be singing that jaunty anthem until season two arrives.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"We\u2019re still scarred from everything that happened in last week\u2019s \u201cIn the Name of the Mother,\u201d but after…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":313417,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[20785,93,6755,3284,61,60,282,146601],"class_list":["post-313416","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-hbo","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-tv","tag-tv-recap"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313416","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=313416"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/313416\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/313417"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=313416"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=313416"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=313416"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}