{"id":485293,"date":"2026-02-23T07:35:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-23T07:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485293\/"},"modified":"2026-02-23T07:35:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T07:35:09","slug":"knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-finales-opening-scene-sets-up-future-conflict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/485293\/","title":{"rendered":"Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Finale’s Opening Scene Sets Up Future Conflict"},"content":{"rendered":"

Note: This story contains spoilers from \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1, Episode 6.<\/p>\n

Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) is not one of the many mourning the tragic death of Prince Baelor Targaryen<\/a> (Bertie Carvel). The tough Stormlander lets that much be known early in the \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d<\/a> Season 1 finale, titled \u201cThe Morrow.\u201d What begins as an invitation to Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) to ride back with him to his home castle of Storm\u2019s End ends with Lyonel, one of \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1\u2019s biggest scene stealers, laying into Dunk for his guilt over Baelor\u2019s death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

When Dunk laments that all he does is \u201cbring pain and suffering\u201d to those close to him, Lyonel pushes back, telling him, \u201cYou\u2019ve done the realm a kindness. You\u2019ll see that one day. The only good dragon is a dead dragon.\u201d His remark prompts a chiding from Dunk, who says that Baelor gave his life for him and asks Lyonel to \u201cspeak of him with a little respect.\u201d Lyonel, however, only digs his heels in further, scolding Dunk for feeling more guilt over Baelor\u2019s death than the others who died and were injured fighting on his side in the Trial of the Seven<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cF\u2014k that, and f\u2014k you! I fought for you. Hardyng, Beesbury, the f\u2014king apple boy, we fought for you!\u201d Lyonel yells. \u201cYour prince fought for you against men sworn to protect him. He risked nothing! And the gods don\u2019t favor a fraud.\u201d Moments later, Lyonel re-ups his pitch to Dunk, telling him, \u201cThere\u2019s a war coming. We could be a force, you and I.\u201d<\/p>\n

This scene, which has already proven divisive among some book readers and longtime fans of author George R.R. Martin<\/a>\u2018s fictional world, serves an important purpose. Not only does it reveal some of Lyonel\u2019s true allegiances, but it also sets up a major historical moment that, if they are lucky, \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d fans could get to see realized on screen many years from now. Major spoilers ahead.<\/p>\n

\"DanielDaniel Ings as Lyonel Baratheon and Peter Claffey as Duncan the Tall in \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1, Episode 6 (HBO)<\/p>\n

A future uprising<\/p>\n

He might be the one who ultimately topples the Targaryen regime<\/a>, but Robert Baratheon is not the first member of his family to rebel against the royal house. On the contrary, Lyonel Baratheon attempts his own uprising against the Targaryens and, in specific, none other than King Aegon V Targaryen, a.k.a. Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell). The conflict in question begins just six years into Egg\u2019s twenty-six year reign as King of the Seven Kingdoms.<\/p>\n

In the years preceding his rebellion, Lyonel is one of Egg\u2019s most loyal supporters. That is partly why Egg decides, in his campaign to end the Targaryen practice of incestuous marriage altogether, to betroth his eldest son and heir, Duncan Targaryen (yes, Duncan) to Lyonel\u2019s daughter. However, two years after the betrothal, Duncan breaks the agreement when he falls in love with a peasant woman named Jenny of Oldstones (yes, that Jenny of Oldstones<\/a>) and marries her. <\/p>\n

While Egg tries to have their marriage annulled, he is unsuccessful, and Duncan even goes so far as to renounce his right to the Iron Throne altogether in order to stay with Jenny. This Robb Stark-esque betrayal wounds Lyonel\u2019s pride so badly that he swears a bloody oath of vengeance against House Targaryen, renounces his allegiance to Egg and crowns himself the new Storm King. <\/p>\n

A short but bloody rebellion follows, which is ultimately brought to an end when Ser Duncan the Tall, by then a member of Egg\u2019s Kingsguard, defeats Lyonel in a one-on-one duel. Afterward, Egg matches his youngest daughter, Rhaelle, with Lyonel\u2019s heir Ormund in an act of recompense. Years later, Ormund and Rhaelle\u2019s grandson, Robert Baratheon, finishes what his great grandfather started when he rebels against the Mad King and unseats House Targaryen on the Iron Throne.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Bertie\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Lyonel\u2019s rant in the \u201cKnight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1 finale makes it clear that his character may hold some affection for both Dunk and Egg but has little for House Targaryen. Additionally, his offer in the episode to love Dunk \u201clike a brother\u201d if the hedge knight accepts his Storm\u2019s End invite or \u201chate him like a brother\u201d if he doesn\u2019t feels like a sly nod to the two\u2019s historic duel. Of all the events that still lie ahead in Dunk and Egg\u2019s story, that fight understandably ranks high on a lot of readers\u2019 list of most anticipated moments. <\/p>\n

Whether or not \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d will run long enough to reach it remains to be seen, but its first season has already done a lot to set up that pivotal turning point in Westerosi history \u2014 among others.<\/p>\n

\u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1 is streaming now on HBO Max.<\/p>\n

\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u201cA\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Note: This story contains spoilers from \u201cA Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u201d Season 1, Episode 6. Lyonel Baratheon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":485294,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[54],"tags":[120897,88,52585,92,5135],"class_list":{"0":"post-485293","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tv","8":"tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","9":"tag-entertainment","10":"tag-game-of-thrones","11":"tag-tv","12":"tag-what-to-watch"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485293","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=485293"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/485293\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/485294"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=485293"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=485293"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=485293"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}