In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we meet Dunk, an aspiring knight. After burying his mentor, Arlan, and relieving himself near his grave, Dunk sets off on a journey to Ashford Meadow—with his three horses, Sweetfoot, Chestnut, and Thunder—to participate in the tournament being held there. He stops at an inn where he encounters Daeron and Egg. While Daeron gets drunk, Egg follows Dunk to Ashford Meadow to become his squire.
Once Dunk arrives at his destination, the master of ceremonies informs him that he needs the endorsement of another knight to participate in the tournament. Since Arlan had fought for Manfred Dondarrion, Dunk spends the entire day searching for him. When he finally finds him, he is disappointed to learn that the knight had never even heard of Arlan. His spirits lift somewhat when he befriends Raymun Fossoway and Lyonel Baratheon, and when he sees that Egg decides to stay with him despite knowing that Dunk is just a hedge knight.
Creators: George R.R. Martin, Ira Parker
Stars: Peter Claffey, Dexter Sol Ansell, Daniel Ings
Episode 2 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms begins with a flashback to the days leading up to Arlan's death, caused by an untreated wound on his forearm, narrated, of course, by Dunk. And with this, HBO has completed its hat-trick of full frontal nudity moments. I don't know if there have been similar instances in other HBO series. But I've watched The Chair Company, The Pitt, and this Game of Thrones spin-off back-to-back, and for me, yes, the hat-trick is complete. I'll say the same thing I say whenever a penis appears on screen: it's not real; it's a prosthetic.
Anyway, it becomes clear that this flashback is triggered when Dunk reminds the Florent, Hayford, and Tyrell Houses of Arlan's contributions during all the wars fought in the past to convince one of them to endorse him, thus allowing him to participate in the tournament. Unfortunately, it doesn't work, because no one remembers Arlan. As they returned to their camp, Egg theorizes that perhaps Arlan wasn't such a great knight after all, which is why no one remembers him, and Dunk only admires him so much because he was his mentor. Dunk doesn't have a convincing answer, but the fact that Arlan isn't a popular figure doesn't diminish the respect he feels for him.
The conversation between Egg and Dunk about how the latter should forget the tournament rules, force his way in, and teach everyone a lesson, is interrupted by the arrival of the Targaryens. This makes Egg nervous, as he is also a Targaryen, and he makes up an excuse to take Chestnut back to the camp while Dunk tries to ingratiate himself with the Targaryens. The Targaryen entourage includes Baelor Targaryen, his brother Maekar, and Maekar's son, Aerion.
While Ashford introduces Baelor and Maekar to his daughter, Gwin, and then escorts them to his castle, Aerion briefly converses with Dunk, as the prince assumes the hedge knight is a stable boy. Dunk tries to clarify that he is a knight, but when Aerion's horse becomes restless, he takes the reins and leads it to the stable, demonstrating his good will. While doing this, Ser Roland and Donnel Crakehall of Duskendale, knights of the Kingsguard, approach Dunk, and it seems they want to know why such a tall man is tending the stables instead of being in the army. It turns out that Roland only wants to know if there's a decent privy on the tournament grounds. Dunk tells him there isn't, and once Roland leaves, Donnel comments that Roland is too refined to relieve himself behind a hedge. Dunk assures him that a few days in the fields of Ashford will bring him down to earth.
Donnel admires Dunk's simplicity and his ambition to become a knight despite coming from nothing. He tries to appear relatable, implying that he and his brother had started their path to knighthood as humble crab fishermen in Duskendale, which certainly encourages Dunk, but later, Egg bursts his bubble by informing him that the Crakehalls are the most prominent family in the crab fishing business in Duskendale, meaning that Roland and Donnel come from a privileged family, not from nothing.
After Donnel leaves, Dunk sneaks into Ashford Castle and overhears a conversation between Ashford, Baelor, Maekar, and the master of ceremonies, and hears them discussing the absence of Maekar's other sons—Daeron, Aemon, and Aegon (i.e., Egg)—from the tournament. We know that Daeron is at the inn getting drunk, Egg is at Dunk's camp, and as for Aemon, well, we have no idea where he is.
Gwin sees Dunk spying, but only says that perhaps Maekar's sons are all dead, then makes a cruel comment about Dunk's physical appearance and runs off. Returning to the conversation between the Targaryens, Aerys and Rhaegel, brothers of Baelor and Maekar, are mentioned. A casual comment by Baelor about Aerion slightly offends Maekar, but he knows his son has a lot of improving to do to be considered a true member of the royal family.
The discussion between Baelor and Maekar abruptly stops when the latter notices Dunk spying on them and tells him to come into the room instead of listening from afar. Dunk gets straight to the point and asks Baelor if he remembers Arlan, because if he does, that would mean he could vouch for him and he could participate in the tournament. For once, Baelor does remember his encounters with Arlan, which finally gives Dunk a glimmer of hope.
Maekar is particularly surprised that Baelor knows "a hedge knight" he crossed paths with more than a decade ago, and Baelor basically says he makes a habit of remembering his most formidable enemies because it keeps him sharp and humble. Anyway, once Dunk and Baelor finish talking about Arlan, the latter asks the master of ceremonies if Dunk can participate in the tournament, and the master of ceremonies approves because he meets the criteria. That said, Baelor points out that since Dunk isn't Arlan's son, he can't use his coat of arms; he needs his own. Dunk promises to take care of it right away and then takes his leave of everyone.
Dunk and Egg attend one of Tanselle's performances, not only because they enjoy her work and that of her company, but also because they want her help painting a new coat of arms on Dunk's shield, since she has painted all the puppets her uncle has built for the show. After much deliberation, Dunk and Egg conclude that Dunk's coat of arms should be an elm tree against a sunset with a shooting star above it. Arlan loved sunsets, so it will be a tribute to the late knight; the elm tree is a reference to where Dunk and Egg are camping; and the shooting star is something Dunk and Egg saw the night they formally became friends.
Incidentally, many have pointed out that the shooting star could have been something similar to the red comet we saw in both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones; it might mean nothing, or it might mean something related to the Targaryens. Anyway, Dunk gives his shield to Tanselle and then goes to the makeshift tavern with Egg to talk about how well he handled his conversation with Tanselle. Considering Dunk almost said something sexist while trying to compliment Tanselle's height, I think he did quite well.
Dunk asks Egg if anything romantic could ever develop between him and Tanselle, and although Egg clearly wants to say that they are completely incompatible because she is very intelligent and talented while Dunk is an idiot, he simply points out the only "similarity" they share: their height. Egg wonders if he will ever be able to become a knight, and Dunk tries to tell him that if he has come this far despite many people considering him foolish, Egg can also become a knight, but his words don't come out as smoothly as he probably intended.
The pair's conversation is interrupted by Lyonel, who convinces them to participate in a tug-of-war against the Tyrells. How do they fare? Of course, Dunk's team wins. Later, Dunk meets with the local armorer, Steely Pate, because he needs proper armor now that he's going to participate in the tournament. Unfortunately, Dunk doesn't have the money to pay for the armor Pate makes. Pate realizes that Dunk is a good fellow, so he gives him a discount.
Comments
Post a Comment