In the newest episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Lyonel Baratheon foreshadows a major upcoming story — but if it happens, it probably won’t be until Season 10. The Song of Ice and Fire franchise is no stranger to foreshadowing. Both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon use subtle instances of it to tease larger events. (In fact, Game of Thrones does so as early as its pilot episode, with its dead stag and direwolf hinting at Robert Baratheon’s and Ned Stark’s fates.)
And judging by A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 4, the spinoff series is following its predecessors’ leads. It’s well ahead of the game, too, alluding to something that won’t happen for many seasons. It’s easy to miss. However, when Lyonel Baratheon shows up to help Ser Duncan the Tall in his trial of seven, he utters a line that sets up a confrontation between the pair many years later. Warning: SPOILERS ahead for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4 and where the series will go, based on George R.R. Martin’s The World of Ice and Fire.
Lyonel Baratheon Just Teased His Upcoming Duel With Dunk
Image via HBO
As Dunk gathers men to fight alongside him in his trial of seven, Lyonel Baratheon shows up with an air of excitement about taking on Prince Aerion’s team. After revealing that Egg is the one who fetched him, he tells Dunk, “I wasn’t about to miss a chance to bloody up the Kingsguard in their pretty white gowns.” Since House Targaryen is currently in power in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — and several princes will be on the opposing side — it’s no surprise that they’ll be facing members of the Kingsguard as well.
And while the Laughing Storm’s sentiment proves he likes a challenge, it serves another purpose: it quietly foreshadows a later duel referenced in George R.R. Martin’s The World of Ice and Fire. Over 30 years after A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, when Egg sits on the Iron Throne, the king arranges to have his heir marry Lyonel’s daughter. Similar to Robb Stark, the prince goes back on this and weds a commoner. And in response, Lyonel launches a rebellion against the throne, which only ends when he faces Ser Dunk in a trial by combat and yields to him.
At this point in time (237 AC), Dunk is the Lord Commander of Egg’s Kingsguard, so Lyonel will get another opportunity to face one if its members — though it won’t go as he hopes. It’ll make for a tense confrontation on-screen, however, even if we’re forced to wait for it.
Lyonel & Dunk Likely Won’t Face Each Other Until A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 10
Image via HBO
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner Ira Parker recently outlined a massive 15-season plan for the Game of Thrones spinoff, which would pick up at different points of Dunk’s and Egg’s lives. The first few seasons would release relatively close to one another, adapting Egg’s time as Dunk’s squire in Martin’s current three novellas. Then, Parker would like to make more seasons years later, as the stars get older. He told Esquire:
“I hope George keeps writing these. The truth is—and I’ve pitched this to HBO with a couple very polite eye rolls—I want to do four or five now with Egg as a kid. Then, I want to come back in ten years and do four or five more seasons… And with real Dexter [Ansell] and real Peter, just the age that they are at that point. Then, we’ll come back ten years after that and do well, Egg the adult. So, it would be over the course of their lifetime. And mine too.”
It’s an ambitious plan, and if it actually happens, it could bring Dunk’s showdown with Lyonel to the screen. Based on this breakdown, however, it wouldn’t happen until somewhere between Seasons 9 and 11. It would be early into Egg’s reign, but it would still need to wait until the outings when he’s an adult and running the Seven Kingdoms. Lyonel’s Episode 4 line is a fun way to reference it, though, even if the spinoff never gets to that. It’s clear the people behind A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms know their lore, and that in itself is promising.
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