Warning: This post contains spoilers for the Season 1 finale of as well as some future events from George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire universe.
“Visor’s cracked. My fingers feel like word.”
The final words of Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen in the last moments of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘s fifth episode serve as another reminder: in George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire world, a character who appears too virtuous to last often doesn’t.
The demise of Hand of the King and Iron Throne heir Baelor (Bertie Carvel), caused by the brutal Trial of Seven involving Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), is a moment that reverberates through the ages in Martin’s epic. The author highlighted its importance when discussing his favorite “seemingly minor moment” that altered Westerosi history, stating, “The death of Baelor Breakspear—who was the heir, next in line to the throne, and I think would’ve been a very strong and competent king—who dies to defend the honor of an insignificant hedge knight. How is Westeros history different if Baelor does not die? That would be very significant.”
As lore enthusiasts know, Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell) eventually becomes king after his older brother Baelor’s death, a succession that leads to Aerys II “The Mad King” Targaryen taking the throne roughly four decades later. This chain of events , sparking Robert’s Rebellion, the exile of the Mad King’s daughter Daenerys Targaryen, and the dragons’ eventual return. Thrones fans are well acquainted with what follows.
But that’s looking too far ahead. First, consider the immediate aftermath of Baelor’s death in the Season 1 finale. While Dunk is acquitted of all charges after defeating Maekar’s son Aerion (Finn Bennett) in the Trial of Seven, he is in poor spirits at the start of the sixth episode. He was nearly killed in the trial and is heartbroken that Baelor died trying to save him from a wrongful punishment. “If I had not fought, you would have had my hand and foot. I sat under the tree this morning and I asked, could I have spared one?” Dunk reflects to Maekar. “I mean, how can a foot be worth a prince’s life?”
With the Ashford Meadow tourney concluded, Dunk must choose his next path. He receives one offer from his new friend Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) to reside at Storm’s End, and another from a sorrowful Maekar to continue training Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) as a squire at Summerhall—a plan Maekar hopes will steer his youngest son away from the flaws of his two older brothers. Feeling he only brings misery to others, a despondent Dunk turns down both. He later rethinks his decision and proposes a counteroffer to Maekar: Egg can remain his squire, but will travel with Dunk as a hedge knight, not as a sheltered prince. Maekar rejects this, prompting a sharp retort from Dunk about how royal privilege made Daeron (Henry Ashton) a drunken coward and Aerion a vicious, arrogant madman.
As Dunk prepares to depart alone, Egg arrives, asserting that his father has agreed to let him go with Dunk. However, in a departure from Martin’s original story, the finale’s final scene shows that Egg left with Dunk without ever obtaining Maekar’s consent. How this change will affect the adaptation of The Sworn Sword, the second novella in Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg series, is a question likely reserved for Season 2.
On a positive note, Parker states his intention is for the series to trace the long journey Martin has charted for Dunk and Egg over their entire lifetimes—covering both the three published novellas and an additional 12 outlines for unwritten stories.
“Even though we don’t have the ins and outs of every story, we know canonically the major beats of Dunk and Egg throughout their lives. So we wouldn’t necessarily run into the same trouble as [Game of Thrones] did,” Parker told the . “These stories take them all the way through their lives. Some of these are just a paragraph, but they give you a sense of where they’re going to go and the people who come back in and out of the story.”
Parker acknowledged that HBO’s current vision is for a three-season show, but he expressed his personal enthusiasm to extend the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms story through—spoiler alert—Egg’s future rise as King Aegon V “The Unlikely” Targaryen, and further. “I would do 12 of these,” he said. “I would do four now, then four more 10 years from now, and then four more 10 years after that—take them all the way through their lives.”
