By: Kelly Kearney
In the fifth episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we find Dunk’s knighthood tested in a brutal trial of seven that also triggers a flashback to his younger years and his quest to find a better future than the one an orphan from Flea Bottom would offer. In this battle heavy half hour, we get a peek into how Dunk the Squire grew into an honorable man worthy of the armor of a knight.
“Green F***ing Boys!”
Humphrey Hardyng (Ross Anderson) yells “Green Fucking Boys” as Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas) and Dunk (Peter Claffey) empty their stomachs while Prince Baelor (Bertie Carvel) delivers a pep talk to the hedge knight’s seven champions. The gist of his speech? Stay vigilant—and try not to die. Baelor urges them to hold their lances as long as they can as his nephews and brother want Duncan and his five knights dead. This isn’t sport; it’s a trial by death, and whoever remains standing will have the Andals’ gods and the judgement of innocence on their side.
The pressure is clearly getting to Dunk, who looks terrified—though not nearly as terrified as Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), standing firmly beside his knight, ready to be of service in what he might be thinking is a losing battle. Princes Aerion (Finn Bennett) and Daeron (Henry Ashton) may not be much with a sword, and their father Maekar (Sam Spruell) may be past his prime, but that doesn’t make the odds comforting. Beesbury (Danny Collins) raises the question of the Kingsguard and what to expect from them in the fight, but Baelor insists he has a plan. The Prince will handle them himself, since the Kingsguard swore an oath never to harm royal blood. This leaves Duncan and the others to face the remaining royals. Ser Robin Rhysling (William Houston) questions whether using their oath against them is honorable, and Baelor responds with, “The gods will let us know.” That’s when the often chatty and loudly sarcastic Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) lobs a pointed remark about Baelor’s mother loving him best—adding that it’s a shame, because orphans rejected by their mothers seem to fight the hardest. The barb doesn’t go unnoticed, and Baelor shoots Lyonel a look that suggests he’s struck a nerve.
As the horses and riders start to gather for the trial, Egg hands Dunk his lance and sword, and the big knight repeats the words he offered when they first met: wait for me…and don’t steal from me, or I’ll hunt you down with dogs. The threat makes the nervous boy bark out a smile. It’s a connection stronger than any bond Dunk shares with the knights fighting at his side. Each of them has his own reason for taking on the Targaryen royals, but Egg has only one: Dunk—and the oath of an honorable squire.
How it All Began
The moment the battle begins, Duncan sees his enemy charging straight at him—and panic sets in. From inside his armored helmet, he watches horses thunder forward, steel glinting in the sun. One of the Targaryen knights drives a blade into his side before a prince barrels into him, knocking him clean off his horse.
In a daze, we flash back to a younger Dunk (Bamber Todd), picking through a battlefield of corpses and fallen horses, searching for anything he can salvage. It’s the aftermath of the latest Targaryen war, and the beach is littered with armor and things of value. One of the “dead” riders (Ríain Ó Conchóbaór) suddenly coughs up blood, gasping for air, and Duncan freezes. He’d been trying to pry the shoes from the man’s fallen horse—the animal still pinning the soldier beneath it. As the knight croaks out a desperate cry for his mother, Duncan can’t bear to watch him suffer. The boy covers the man’s mouth, trying to make the end quicker, easier and that’s when Rafe (Chloe Lea), his partner in crime, shoves him aside. If they free him, the soldier could be worth something. The knight wears a familiar sigil—he must matter to someone. The two children strain to move the dead horse, but by the time they manage it, the man is gone. Just because the war is over and the Black Dragon is dead doesn’t mean free bread is suddenly raining down on the poor of King’s Landing. These kids are orphans– hungry, and seeking a better life beyond the streets and sewers they call home. This is not a world built for dreams beyond your birthright—and they have none. Their only ambition is survival and maybe that would be easier outside of the city.
On their walk back to King’s Landing, Rafe notices how shaken Duncan is, and asks if he’s ever seen a dead body before. He admits he’s never seen one like that—lying there, crying for his mother. With the war over, Dunk wonders if life will improve but Rafe reminds him of how it all started. Hurt people hurt back, and the destruction of King’s Landing proved that. Revenge may cool, but it still burns cities to the ground. She points out how “Flea Bottom is full of hurt people. It’s tinder waiting to catch.”
When they do return home, swinging a sack full of salvaged and sellable goods, it’s worse than she described. Bodies litter the streets, the injured wail in the shadows, and rats feast on rotting flesh. There is no hope in Flea Bottom—and Rafe is ready to leave it like a memory.
Their troubles deepen when they cross paths with Alester (Edward Davis), a corrupt Gold Cloak from the CIty Watch. He spots the bag Dunk is carrying and demands to know what they’ve found. The cornered boy lies, claiming it’s just rats, but when Alester calls his bluff, the moment grows tense. Thankfully, a distraction in the crowd allows Rafe to swipe Alester’s wineskin, as the two slip away into the crowded streets unseen.
Next, they head to the merchant (Patrick McBrearty) where they try to sell their trinkets, earning two coins for the horseshoes and shackles, but nothing for the Blackfyre leather. The merchant tells Dunk to take it elsewhere—Daemon’s loss doesn’t fetch much coin anymore.
Thankfully, those two coins are all they need for safe passage to the Free Cities. Only now Duncan is hesitant, unsure if the world beyond Flea Bottom is any better. He asks Rafe what happens if every place looks exactly the same? What if this is as good as it gets? Rafe refuses to believe that. Again, she is determined to find something better—with or without him. But Duncan still clings to the faint hope that his mother might return—that she fled the war rather than perished in it. It’s a fragile dream, but it keeps him rooted in King’s Landing and at odds with his best friend, Rafe. She reminds him of how he doesn’t need to wait for family—he can find his own. “This city’s too small for us, Dunk. Let’s show her our arse” she jokes, and he agrees.
A Second Chance For a Better Life
The next morning, they head for the docks to pay for passage, just as Alester spots them weaving their way through the streets. When they hand over their two coins, they learn the price of post-war travels has doubled. Everyone wants out of Flea Bottom, the man says, they’re nothing special. An angry Rafe lashes out, accusing Dunk of secretly wanting this outcome so he can keep waiting for his mother. The words sting, and she immediately apologizes for hurting her friend. Before they can plan their next move, Alester finds them plotting in a barn. He corners them, dagger in hand, and a cruel smile on his face. Slamming young Rafe against the wall, he tears at her clothes looking for his wineskin but instead finds a jingling pouch. Two silver coins spill into his palm. Where did fleas from Flea Bottom get silver? Now other gold cloaks gather around the frightened teens, determined to rob them and probably worse. Duncan insists they earned that money but Alester sneers—and questions their definition of earned, They stripped it from corpses–not exactly honorable work. Duncan fires back an accusation, pointing out that is what Alester is doing now. His answer comes swiftly, explaining that when the poor steal from the dead, it’s a crime, but, when the powerful steal from the poor, it’s simply life.
Rafe manages to snatch his dagger as she shoves him away, but it’s not enough. Alester realizes she stole from him again and lunges from behind and slits her throat. Duncan screams, clutching her as blood pours through his fingers. He tries to stop it, but it’s already too late. He watches the light leave her eyes, as Alester orders another Gold Cloak to finish the boy, Duncan is stabbed in the leg just as his salvation staggers violently onto the scene. Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb), drunk and vomiting, roars for them to leave the boy alone. Like a fury unleashed, he cuts through the soldiers, even severing one man’s head and tossing it to the pigs hungry in their pen. In moments, the barn is silent save for Duncan’s sobs and the knight’s ragged breathing. Then Arlan staggers off, sword dripping, nonsensical curses flying out of his mouth.
That night, Duncan lost the only family he’s ever known—and unknowingly gained the father he never expected. Covered in his best friend’s blood, he lies awake beside Rafe’s body, terrified of the world he now has to face alone. By morning, he’s woken by drunken shouting outside. Through the haze of pain, he spots the man who saved him. Wounded and limping, Dunk drags himself after Ser Arlan into the woods, trailing him to his camp. The knight never notices the boy lingering at the edge of his firelight, and poking around his sword and horses. The next day, he hears Arlan shouting in Dothraki, drunk and unhinged, and still, he follows—keeping his distance, climbing hills, hiding at every stop, sleeping huddled up alone and trying to drown out the rantings of a delusional man. For an orphan who’s just lost everything, sleeping beneath the same stars as the man who saved his life feels like a gift. It isn’t the future Rafe imagined, but it is, perhaps, the first step towards building a better life. When Pennytree finally regains his sobriety and notices Dunk is passed out with fever in the fields beyond his camp, the knight orders him to get up, and that voice rings clearly in the mind of the dazed Duncan struggling to survive the trial of seven.
A Prince Falls
When we return to the present, the memory of Pennytree’s orders revives Duncan to not give up. He’s locked in the mud with the stab-happy Prince Aerion, who repeatedly drives his dagger toward Duncan’s wound, the blade slipping through gaps in his chain mail. They grapple in the muck, rolling and straining, each gaining the upper hand for a fleeting second before losing it again. Aerion finally slams the dagger straight through Duncan’s hand and it looks like victory—until Baelor charges past on horseback and knocks his brother off with a crushing blow.
They are in a kill or be killed moment leaving Duncan no other choice but to wrench the dagger free and stagger to his feet, but the assault doesn’t stop. Other riders, still championing the prince, descend on him, until Duncan’s rage takes over. He draws his sword and meets Aerion head-on with brute force. He isn’t a polished fighter—hardly a swordsman at all, as his style is closer to a pin cushion, absorbing blow after blow from Aerion’s blade. There isn’t a part of him that doesn’t feel it—even his eye catches steel.
With blood clouding his vision and his helmet limiting what little sight he has left, Duncan tears the metal from his head and casts it aside and charges at the Prince one last time. He overwhelms Aerion with sheer strength, towering over the prince who demanded this fight. With one perfectly timed strike, Duncan slices through Aerion’s groin, and even a noblewoman (Rowan Robinson) seated with the royals can’t help but cheer.
But when the moment comes for the final, fatal blow, Dunk falters. Dizzy and disoriented, he collapses to his knees, seemingly finished. From the stands the desperate sound of Egg’s voice pierces through the chaos, screaming for him to rise. It blends with the echo of Ser Arlan’s old command and seems to breathe life into the hedge knight. With what is arguably his final breath, Duncan drags himself upright, seizes the prince, and batters him with his shield again and again until Aerion gasps that he yields. The whisper is not enough to put an end to this bloody battle; Duncan sees his men falling to the Kingsguard all around him. Killing Aerion would end it—but instead, he honors the prince’s surrender and hauls his broken body before the royal court, ordering him to announce it.
As his family looks on in shame, Prince Aerion rescinds his accusation against Ser Duncan—the battered, bloodied, barely breathing victor. HouseTargaryen accepts the defeat and the horn of justice sounds across Ashford to mark the end of the trial by seven and declare where the gods’ favor lies.
Raymun and Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour) pull Duncan from the field to gauge his injuries which are extensive. The Blacksmith thinks pouring oil in his wounds is the knight’s best chance for survival but all Dunk can focus on is the others. He learns Beesbury and Hardyng fell in the first charge and before Pate can oil the knight up, Prince Baelor approaches to congratulate him and offer his royal maester insead of that deadly oil. Duncan immediately drops to his knees, pledging himself in service and Baelor accepts—but the fight has taken its toll. His brother, Maekar, struck him from behind with a mace, and as Fossoway and Pate struggle to remove the prince’s dented helmet, Baelor mutters that he can’t feel his hands.
When the helmet finally comes free, Raymun and Egg—who has rushed to his knight’s side—go pale. There is a gaping hole where the skull and brain should be. Baelor collapses at Duncan’s feet as the hedge knight begs him to rise, panic breaking through the exhaustion. Then realization sets in; the Prince died to protect him. Duncan cries out, apologizing over and over—for winning, for fighting, for surviving—convinced he is the cause of the royal’s death.If the Andel God’s were on his side, they showed no mercy for the man who was next in line to the Iron Throne.