Episode 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms starts things off with a funeral where we see a young lad on a hill burying someone who seems to have been a father figure to him. He reminisces about all the times he was physically abused by this dearly departed knight, and he promises to take good care of his horses. But then he proceeds to hang around the burial ground for quite a while, trying to figure out how exactly he’s going to start the next chapter of his life. After a lot of pondering, he decides to attend the tourney at Ashford Meadow and become a proper knight. The Game of Thrones music kicks in as the dude looks towards the horizon, as the optimism in his soul fills his body and then comes out his rear end. Once he’s done emptying his bowels near the tree where his mentor’s body lies, a sight that’s witnessed by the poor horses and lonely robin, he mounts one of the three horses and finally commences his journey. This pretty much sets the tone for the series. While GOT and House of the Dragon might have had comedic scenes in them, this seems like a full-blown, Monty Python and the Holy Grail-esque comedy set in the world born from the mind of George R.R. Martin. So, it’ll be better if you keep that in mind before judging everything that follows.
Spoiler Alert
Dunk Runs Into A Couple Of Targaryens
En route to Ashford Meadow, the hedge knight comes across an inn where he’s welcomed by a bald little kid, and he tells the child to take care of the horses and feed them oats as well, while he goes to the restaurant to have some dinner. The place is pretty empty, but the innkeeper requests that he take a seat because he’ll get some food and drink, which looks to be in a really unhygienic state, in due time. She briefly mentions how inflation is affecting everyone’s lives, and yet everyone is busy seeking entertainment through tourneys despite knowing that that’s something that doesn’t make anyone’s lives easier. Before the hedge knight can give his opinion on that, one of the drunken patrons wakes from his slumber, tells our guy to stay away from him because he has been haunting his dreams, pays up, and then goes off to his room. The coin has the Targaryen sigil on it, which might mean that he is a Targaryen or someone who is associated with them.
As per the credits, that’s Prince Daeron Targaryen. The innkeeper tells the hedge knight to ignore the intoxicated dude, and he does exactly that, eats his meal, and proceeds to hit the road to Ashford Meadow again. When he goes to the stable, he sees the bald kid is pretending to be a knight by wearing his armor and riding his horse. He reprimands the child and tells him to act respectfully, because he’s standing before a knight. The kid critiques his attire and his demeanor, as they are unbecoming of even a wannabe knight. That said, when the kid learns that the hedge knight intends to go to the tourney, he wants to accompany him as his squire. The knight, assuming that the innkeeper is the kid’s mother, wonders how she’d react to her son roaming around with a stranger, but the kid clarifies that she’s not his mother; he’s an orphan. Which means that he doesn’t need anyone’s permission to go about squiring for random knights. Still, the hedge knight rejects the kid’s offer, pays him what he promised, and heads off to Ashford. As per the lore, this kid is Prince Aegon Targaryen, and is supposedly roaming around with Daeron. Given how Daeron spends all his time drinking, it’s pretty obvious why the kid wants to run away with this random hedge knight.
Dunk Searches for Manfred Dondarrion
After reaching his destination, the knight meets the gamemaster to enter his name in the tourney, and this is where we learn that he’s called Dunk. He was the squire of Ser Arlan of Pennytree, and he claims that Arlan knighted him with his sword. But, as pointed out by the gamemaster, with the exception of the horses and that robin, nobody really witnessed that knighting ceremony, and he can’t exactly take Dunk’s word for it. Dunk tries to convince the gamemaster that he’s telling the truth, but once the gamemaster is done pulling his leg, he says that he doesn’t really care if Dunk is a proper knight or not; if it was up to him, he would have allowed Dunk to enter the tourney and make a name for himself or die trying. However, Lord Ashford doesn’t exactly like wannabes, and only allows legitimate warriors and princes to partake in the tourney. Dunk, crestfallen, begins to exit the office, but it seems like the gamemaster has empathized with his plight during this brief interaction. Hence, he asks Dunk if anybody in the tourney will recognize Arlan by name.
Dunk says that he did see the banner of House Dondarrion in one of the pavilions out there. He knows that Arlan had served Ser Manfred’s father in Dorne several years ago, and Manfred will certainly remember Arlan’s contribution. The gamemaster says that if Manfred vouches for Dunk in the next 24 hours, he’ll be allowed to take part in the tourney, or else he’s out. In addition to that, seeing the state Dunk is in, the gamemaster underscores the fact that if he somehow manages to enter the tourney and then loses, he’ll have to forfeit everything. And if he doesn’t have the money to buy his stuff back, well, then it’s gone. Dunk is skeptical of his own abilities, but he assures the gamemaster that it won’t come down to that. After scouring the grounds, Dunk reaches the area where House Dondarrion has set up camp. However, he is unable to get in touch with Manfred because, as per the escorts there, he’s sleeping. Dunk asks them when he’ll be available, and they say he should try again after sunset.
Dunk Befriends Raymun Fossoway
While loitering around the tourney grounds and talking to his horse about what makes someone a true knight, he comes across Ser Steffon Fossoway and his cousin, Ser Raymun Fossoway, who are engaged in some very aggressive practice fighting. Once Steffon has overpowered Raymun, he invites Dunk to a fight, but he declines the offer and walks away from the Fossoways because there’s no point in winning or losing in a fight that’s not even a part of the tournament. Since Dunk doesn’t have a tent, he goes to the river nearby to clean up and make himself somewhat presentable for Manfred. In the evening, he returns to the House Dondarrion camp to see if Manfred is available, only to learn from the escorts that he is still sleeping. Dunk explains why he’s so desperate to meet Manfred, and the escorts advise him to take care of his body instead of risking it for the sake of someone else’s tournament. That doesn’t exactly dissuade Dunk from exiting the tourney, because the only thing he has known all his life is that men should fight to be considered manly and whatnot. If a man isn’t manly, he’s worthless.
Dunk isn’t going to unlearn that toxic mindset in a day. Maybe he’ll reeducate himself over the course of this tourney? We’ll see. For now, he spends the evening watching a stage show. That’s where he runs into Raymun again, who tells him that it was wise of Dunk to not engage in a fight with Steffon, because he likes to injure people before the tournament begins because that’ll clear his road to the top. Dunk wonders how Raymun manages to walk away unscathed despite being flung around by Steffon, and Raymun says that taking beatings is in his blood. However, that doesn’t mean he’s allowed to partake in the tourney; he’s only a squire. Dunk is of the opinion that he should, though, because he is a warrior. After all that talk about fighting, Raymun asks the most important question: is he hungry? Once Dunk admits that he is famished, Raymun takes him to the Baratheon camp so that they can grab some food. I mean, Manfred’s not available anyway. So, it’s better to wait with food in your belly than to roam around on an empty stomach.
Dunk Meets Lyonel Baratheon
After getting a seat in the Baratheon camp, Dunk and the audience are introduced to Lyonel Baratheon, who is nicknamed the Laughing Storm, because he cracks good jokes or laughs a lot, I guess. But Lyonel’s inexperience when it comes to establishing a setup and landing a punchline becomes pretty apparent as soon as he opens his mouth. When he realizes that he has completely botched his own stand-up (sit-down, to be accurate) comedy routine, he announces that he’ll give a hundred gold coins to anyone who manages to defeat him at the tourney. Thankfully, that motivates everyone to get excited, the music kicks in, and everyone forgets about Lyonel’s awful attempt at delivering a joke. While everyone’s enjoying themselves, Dunk notices Lyonel sitting quietly, and he decides to approach him.
Dunk and Lyonel have the most awkward conversation imaginable about Dunk’s stature and body language, but then Lyonel gets serious when he thinks that Dunk has come to ask him for a favor empty-handed. Once Dunk makes it clear that he isn’t there to get into Lyonel’s good books, and that he’s more interested in the food, Lyonel eases up, because he is glad that at least someone in there is being honest. In fact, Dunk’s honesty impresses Lyonel so much that he invites him to a dance, and although the performance looks quite aggressive, it probably lays down the foundation of a budding friendship between the two. Once the music dies down and almost everyone has been knocked out by the drinks, Lyonel and Dunk sit down for a conversation about the former’s experiences on the battlefield and the latter’s chances of becoming a true knight. Nothing meaningful comes out of it, because Dunk still doesn’t know if he has what it takes to make a name for himself. However, it seems like if things go wrong for him, Lyonel will remember this night and that conversation and come to Dunk’s help.
Egg Becomes Dunk’s Squire
In the ending of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 1, Dunk finally gets to meet Manfred, and, as expected, Manfred doesn’t remember anything about Arlan’s contributions. Hence, he’s unwilling to vouch for Dunk, thereby killing his chances of partaking in the tourney. Defeated and disappointed, Dunk returns to the spot where he has parked his horses and is shocked to find the bald kid there cooking a fish. Dunk says that he should take the kid back home, and the kid says that if he rides all the way to King’s Landing, he’ll miss any chance he has of partaking in the tourney. This is a pretty good hint that the kid is a Targaryen, but Dunk doesn’t catch it because he thinks that the kid is from Flea Bottom, which is where the lower classes reside. Since the kid has cleaned Dunk’s clothes, made the fire, caught a fish, and groomed the horses, though, he seems to be willing to make the kid his squire. When Dunk asks the kid his name, he says it’s Egg, which is obviously the shorter version of his actual name, Aegon.
I don’t think he’s trying to hide his identity or anything like that. Dunk claims that his name is short for Duncan, so Aegon echoes that and says that his name is Egg, simple as that. Either way, Dunk accepts Egg’s candidature as his squire, if he manages to get into the tourney, that is. If not, then there’ll be no point in keeping Egg around, will there? As the duo go to sleep, they spot a falling star, which means that luck will favor them. Whether or not that’s true will be revealed once Dunk and Egg return to the tourney grounds to get a lord or a knight to vouch for the former. If not, they’ll have to hit the road again and search for a tourney that allows hedge knights to participate without anyone needing to sign off on their knighthood. I have a feeling that if things get too desperate, Egg will secretly break out the Targaryen sigil and motivate someone with a noble background to back up Dunk. With all that said, I am totally invested in the journey of Dunk and Egg. I really like the tone of this show. And the performances are awesome as well. What do you think about this episode, though? Let me know in the comments section below.
