By: Kelly Kearney
After agreeing to take on young Egg as his squire, the newly knighted Dunk and his companion prepare for the jousting tournament by seeking validation for the knight who taught Dunk everything he knew. Surely someone in Westeros has heard of the honorable Ser Arlan of Pennytree — a royal house, an honorable knight, someone? Without that recognition, Ser Duncan the Tall can kiss his tournament dreams goodbye.
In his shabby attire and self-proclaimed title, Dunk begins to question whether the man who taught him everything he knows wasn’t so much a “hedge knight” as a vagabond who slept in the hedges because he lacked the skill to earn a shining coat of armor. What makes a knight? That’s the question Dunk grapples with in “Hard Salt Beef.”
Duncan the Tall Seeks Validation
We open on Dunk (Peter Claffey), still in Ashford and telling the tall tales of his knight, Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) to Leo Longhorn Tyrell (Steve Wall). Dunk is begging anyone to remember the man so he can make the list for the Ashford Meadows tournament. Without that acknowledgement, Dunk won’t be permitted to ride alongside the princes and lords entering the joust. It is for decorated knights, not hedge knights dressed like goat herders.
Through his tales we see the type of knight Arlan was and the sort of relationship–to define it loosely, he had to his squire, Dunk. In a lampoonish flashback we see the elderly Ser Arlan, post-coital exiting their shared bed to relieve himself.
With each story Dunk tells of his Lord, the ins and outs of their time together are front and center. He speaks glowingly of the now dead Knight who helped the downtrodden and the poor, and remained childless his whole existence–a selfless act, Dunk suggests, and not the outcome of a surly and abusive old man who couldn’t find a mate outside of an orphaned kid. We see them laughing by the fire, sword-fight training, and living their lives among the hedges, even when brutal weather would send most knights to a tavern inn for shelter. Dunk wants anyone who will listen, to respect the man he says knighted him before his death and so far, nobody remembers the Appletree name. Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) can’t help but wonder if his new lord’s former lord was “a s**t knight.” Outraged by the suggestion, Dunk defends Ser Arlan, but from the flashbacks it seems not only was he weak, old, and a bit of a blathering lunatic — he was also using Dunk for his own pleasure. It’s as messy as any other relationship in Westeros: power over the powerless, the voiceless serving the needs of those wielding the swords or wearing the crowns. It’s as if Dunk has a case of Stockholm syndrome; he can’t admit the life he spent with Ser Arlan was anything close to the valiant life of a knight.
The ever observant Egg, points out that Ser Arlan couldn’t have been a good knight if nobody remembers him, and that wandering the countryside hoping to find someone who does, feels undignified. Dunk takes offense to that. If Egg is embarrassed, he can go back to the camp — which prompts an apology from his squire. He won’t leave his knight, and sarcastically reasons this by saying he couldn’t, as his depressed lord is forced to relive Pennytree’s death in each story he tells.
With colorful language, Egg also wonders why a Knight of the Realm, such as Duncan the Tall, doesn’t just take his place in the competition instead of waiting around for someone to vouch for him. Dunk laughs at the boy’s suggestion to tear Lord Tyrell a new arsehole and stake his claim. Why does Dunk treat these men like he is beneath them when he wants them to see him as an equal? Dunk feels he is beneath them, and his squire is “too brazen for your own good.”
The Missing Targaryen Princes
Their talk is interrupted by the sound of trumpets alerting the locals to an arrival. A drove of horses flying House Targaryen’s flag gallops into town, prompting Egg to agree with Dunk that maybe he is better suited waiting back at camp. Something about those flags has the mouthy young boy running for the hedges.
As Egg heads back to camp, Dunk follows the horses leading Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) — Prince of Dragonstone, King Daeron’s Hand, and heir to the Iron Throne — into Ashford. Along with the Prince and with far less fanfare, are his brother Maekar (Sam Spruell), and his nephew Prince Aerion (Finn Bennett)–who mistakes Dunk for a stable boy. When Dunk speaks up and says he’s no servant, he’s a knight — Aerion takes one look at his shabby clothes and questions whether knighthood is in decline. Then, Aerion’s armored horse kicks an actual servant, and Dunk steps in to escort the animal to the stalls. It may not be his job, but Dunk is a helper, and he can’t leave a man on the ground without offering a hand. While tending to the horse he is approached by two knights of the Kingsguard– Ser Roland Crakehall (Wade Briggs), and Ser Donnel of Duskendale (Bill Ward), who crack jokes at the expense of the pretty prince and the rude encounter he had with this oafish giant if a knight. Ser Roland can’t help but point out the sheer size of Duncan, and Ser Donnel, who has brushed up on his manners, apologizes for Roland’s rudeness. It isn’t often he has to look up so as to look down in judgement at someone. Dunk brushes off the insult and soon learns these shiny armored knights have more in common with him than the royals they serve. Ser Donnel shows interest in this tall shabbily dressed Knight and points out how Duncan doesn’t “smell House-bred.” He questions where the tall knight is from, and when Dunk admits nowhere, the answer seems to please Ser Donnel. Duskendale isn’t a royal house, he was a crabber before he donned the crest of Targaryen. So, how did the son of a crabber become a knight in Kingsgard? Ser Donnel tells Duncan, “the same way we became crabbers.” The truth that skill can overcome a common bloodline starts to settle in Dunk’s mind, but it doesn’t take hold, as he remains focused on finding someone of worth to authenticate his Pennytree upbringing.
When Donnel leaves, Dunk takes a chance and follows young Gwin Ashford (Cara Harris) into Lord Ashford’s (Paul Hunter) castle, where he manages to find himself outside the chambers of Prince Baelor and his brother. Along with Lord Ashford, they’re discussing the missing princes — Maekar Targaryen’s sons, Aegon and Daeron.
Lady Gwin Ashford sneaks up behind Dunk just as he overhears Baelor say Ser Roland has been tasked with finding them — especially Aegon, who the prince is convinced will turn up after the tournament is over. She whispers her theories that the missing princes might already be dead. Wars have been started over less, she warns Dunk, before flirtatiously flicking him, calling him big and stupid, then running off into the castle.
Dunk barely has time to process that encounter when Maekar finds him eavesdropping. He calls him out and forces the filthy hedge knight to plead his case in front of the Hand of the King. Thrust into his first Westerosi political meeting, Dunk nods and grimaces as he is walked through his story by Plummer (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor) Master of the Games and head steward to the Ashford House who practically holds the Knight’s hand as he retells the story of how he became Knighted. The scene is comical as the naive Dunk gets a front-row seat to how House Targaryen works.
Prince Baelor Remembers
Right away we realize Prince Baelor is a kind and easygoing man. Maekar, on the other hand, inherited his family’s dragon fire and has trouble reining in the flames aimed at Dunk. During the impromptu meeting, we learn that Prince Baelor does remember Ser Arlan and a joust he had with the prince that resulted in four broken lances. After asking multiple people to vouch for him in the tournament, Dunk finally gets his wish: the prince grants him a place on the list — under one condition: he must choose a sigil of his own.Those symbols are passed down from blood relatives and Dunk—the orphan, cannot take Pennytree’s no matter if the man raised him or not.
After that royal encounter Dunk and Egg pop in on a performance from Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford) the actress from the puppet troop he spotted. Both knight and squire are mesmerized by her performance and when the curtains close Dunk finds himself tossing her a few coins. When he learns that she’s also a painter and she’s responsible for the artwork with the puppets he asks her if she’ll paint his shield with his new sigil. She agrees even if a goo goo-eyed Dunk is awkward about asking.
Afterwards he and Egg are mulling over the entire day in the ale tent when his old friend Sir Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) charges over to him demanding the Hedge knight join his team for a game of tug of war between the houses. Of course with the big man on his side Baratheon wins, kicking off the first competition of the tournament. Dunk props Egg up on his shoulders so he can get a taste of the action from above the crowd. Prince Baylor’s son Prince Valarr (Oscar Morgan) is the first rider and the excitement brings out Egg’s personality. The kid has an inner fire, screaming, pumping his fists, and swinging sticks like he is fighting invisible Blackfyre rebels. Where does this fiery attitude come from? It’s not from any of the parts of King’s Landing Dunk has visited.
It’s during the opening match that we see Dunk getting his first look at what it takes to be a competitor at Ashford Meadows. When one rider, Ser Humfrey Hardying (Ross Anderson), nearly falls from his horse at full gallop, only to right himself — shield and all — without ever breaking stride, Dunk realizes size and strength alone won’t help him win. Skill will play a vital role in whether he survives this tournament, and since this is a man taught to fight in fields by an elderly, possibly vagabond knight — a man whose death he can’t forget, Dunk starts to worry. His mind drifts away from the pomp and circumstance of the match to the pauper’s grave he dug for Ser Arlan. An end to a knight that clues suggest should have contained more glittering fanfare.
Could Honor Outrank Skill?
As for Egg, he plants another seed of doubt in Dunk’s mind when he shares his knowledge of the royal houses, including Duskendale. Earlier, when Ser Donnel said he was the son of a crabber, he actually meant he was heir to a maritime empire. The man may have noticed Dunk wasn’t “house-bred,” but not because they shared a similar background. Someone who might share that upbringing is Egg, who seems to have endless royal knowledge that goes far beyond his years — and beyond the education a poor orphan would find in Westeros. Where did this mouthy squire come from, and how can he best support a knight who isn’t sure who he wants to be?
Questions lay heavy on Dunk’s mind that night. Will he be a knight like Ser Arlan, who never won a joust and was buried beside a muddy road? Or will he be like Duskendale, serving in the Kingsguard, rubbing elbows with royals and treating stable boys like jokes? It seems Dunk wants to be the knight he dreams Ser Arlan could have been — not the one he actually was. One pure of heart and mind, worried less about the shine of his armor and more about the moral integrity he equates to Knighthood. It may be why the local blacksmith, Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour), takes pity on him when Dunk struggles to sell his beloved horse, Sweetfoot, to pay for armor he needs for the joust. It may even be why Prince Baelor offered him validation, after his brother turned his nose up at the filthy oaf. His kindness is appealing, rare, and often overshadowed by the brutality of the world. Ser Duncan the Tall, with a heart bigger than his stature, may be exactly what sets his knighthood apart. There is a type of honor shared among royals and debaucherous thieves alike, but is an outlier in that arena. He might not have the training to win, or the powerful name to reign in the boisterous crowds, but he has the heart of a champion and a squier who believes he has what it takes to define Knighthood on his own terms, with honor.