A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Is Now So Close to Telling the Targaryen Story I’ve Been Dreaming Of

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 5, means we’re one step closer to an ideal Targaryen spinoff becoming a reality. The penultimate installment, titled “In the Name of the Mother,” features Ser Duncan the Tall’s trial of seven, in which his team faces off against one led by Prince Aerion Targaryen. But rather than spend too much time on the battle, the episode is more concerned with going back to the past, with flashbacks to a young Dunk on the mean streets of Flea Bottom.

Much of this centers around the death of Dunk’s friend, Rafe, and his rescue by Ser Arlan of Pennytree, but the backdrop to it all is equally important. It begins with Dunk and Rafe stealing from a man on a battlefield: this may well be the Redgrass Field, where the final conflict of the Blackfyre Rebellion took place. Of course, it’s neither particularly red nor grassy, so it could be a different, unknown battle that took place at the same time, but the context around it makes it clear that this was part of the rebellion all the same, and it’s something we might see more of going forward.

A Blackfyre Rebellion Show Would Be Great, But A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Could Do It Differently

For those unfamiliar, the Blackfyre Rebellion was an attempt at usurping the Iron Throne made by Daemon Blackfyre, a legitimized bastard of King Aegon IV Targaryen (he was the father and predecessor of the king in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Daeron II Targaryen). This was a major conflict with battles all across Westeros, and the death of Daemon and his sons at the Redgrass Field was the end of it, hence the shopkeeper saying that “Daemon’s rebellion is over” in Episode 5.

I’ve long thought that it’s a story that would work perfectly on-screen, with the kind of family feuds, political machinations, compelling characters, and epic moments that should make for stellar TV. In total, there are five Blackfyre Rebellions, so there’s even anthology-show type potential to expand this beyond a one-season series if HBO were to make it. However, they might stealthily be telling it already.

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The Blackfyre Rebellion is crucial to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. It’s an era-defining event for House Targaryen, which happened close to when the series takes place, not too dissimilar to how Robert’s Rebellion continues to impact things in Game of Thrones, because so many characters were involved in it. In George R.R. Martin’s Dunk and Egg novellas, the rebellion features even more in the second and third books, so it’s something that could be further woven into the show via flashbacks, perhaps even getting to see some of the now-dead characters. When asked if this would happen in a recent Reddit AMA, showrunner Ira Parker teased, “Stay tuned.”

Now that we have officially, finally seen scenes from the Blackfyre Rebellion in the show, it would make sense for it to continue showing me. Characters like Baelor, Maekar, and Ser Arlan were all involved, so that could also be a means of keeping those characters around as the series progresses as well, when they’re otherwise not in the main story. An actual spinoff would be great, but with how well Parker and his team have adapted things so far, this could be the next best thing as A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms continues.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ Season 1 finale releases Sunday, February 22nd at 10 pm on HBO and HBO Max.

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