A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 4 delivers the show’s most epic moment to date – but it could have been even better. Thus far, the show has thrived on being different from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. It’s been much smaller in scale, lighter in tone, and more focused on its central pair of characters, Dunk and Egg. However, following the reveal of Egg’s Targaryen identity, as well as Dunk’s assault of Aerion Targaryen, things have started to shift. Warning: Spoilers ahead for Episode 4, “Seven.”
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The latest installment proves that it can hang with its two franchise predecessors when it comes to awesome, event TV worthy moments. After it’s decided that Dunk and Aerion will compete in a trial of seven, we get to the harsh reality of the former not having enough knights on his side. He desperately pleads with the nobles who are gathered to watch, giving an impassioned speech where he implores them to find their honor, concluding with him bellowing out, “ARE THERE NO TRUE KNIGHTS AMONG YOU?”
This, combined with what comes next – Baelor Targaryen choosing to fight for Dunk, with the Game of Thrones theme music playing – makes it as fist-pumping, cheer-worthy moment as any we’ve seen from the franchise in years. It’s the kind of stuff that gives you (or at least, me) goosebumps, and in terms of Ser Duncan’s speech specifically, while different in intent, it’s the best of its kind we’ve had since Tyrion Lannister’s trial back in Game of Thrones Season 4. It’s a moment that’ll make you stand-up in your living room late at night, but runs into a familiar problem.
Dunk’s Speech Makes A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms’ Biggest Problem Worse
There’s so much to love about Dunk’s speech, and what happens around it. The dialogue, lifted from George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight, is stirring stuff, and it’s brilliantly delivered by Peter Claffey. The moody backdrop only adds to the atmosphere, the desperate hope for a light in the darkness. And yet A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms just can’t quite help itself: as Dunk pleads with the crowd, the Brute of Bracken stands, giving the hedge knight a glimmer of hope… before letting out a fart as big as he is, causing raucous laughter in the crowd.
The toilet humor in the show has already proved divisive. As I wrote in my A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms review, it was one of the only downsides for me, and this is the exact moment that tipped it over the edge. The poop scene in Episode 1 and Ser Arlan’s comically large penis in Episode 2 were funny enough, and worked within the context of their respective scenes (and as someone who grew up loving blink-182, Jackass, and American Pie, I’m certainly not averse to juvenile humor). But this occasion just undercut the scene far too much, quite literally letting the wind out of it.
It was completely needless, and just felt like a distraction from what was a powerful moment. A similar effect could’ve still been achieved by the crowd muttering among themselves, perhaps some of them chuckling at Dunk, which would show their own disdain and how little honor they possess without undermining the speech. Dunk asks Otho Bracken to fight for him in the book, and this is how it all plays out – a similar meaning, but it works better:
“Dunk rode slowly along the fence. The viewing stand was crowded with knights. ‘M’lords,’ he called to them, ‘do none of you remember Ser Arlan of Pennytree? I was his squire. We served many of you. Ate at your tables and slept in your halls.’ He saw Manfred Dondarrion seated in the highest tier. ‘Ser Arlan took a wound in your lord father’s service.’ The knight said something to the lady beside him, paying no heed. Dunk was forced to move on. ‘Lord Lannister, Ser Arlan unhorsed you once in tourney.’ The Grey Lion examined his gloved hands, studiedly refusing to raise his eyes. ‘He was a good man, and he taught me how to be a knight. Not only sword and lance, but honor. A knight defends the innocent, he said. That’s all I did. I need one more knight to fight beside me. One, that’s all. Lord Caron? Lord Swann?’ Lord Swann laughed softly as Lord Caron whispered in his ear. Dunk reined up before Ser Otho Bracken, lowering his voice. ‘Ser Otho, all know you for a great champion. Join us, I beg you. In the names of the old gods and the new. My cause is just.’ ‘That may be,’ said the Brute of Bracken, who had at least the grace to reply, ‘but it is your cause, not mine. I know you not, boy.’”
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Episode 4 Missed Two Perfect Opportunities
As well as the fart joke, there are a couple of other issues with the scene when compared to the book. The first is pretty minor, but is that the introduction of Dunk’s team is rather rushed. One of the things the show has done really well, for the most part, is expanding characters from the page for the screen, with the likes of Baelor, Lyonel Baratheon, and Raymun Fossoway the biggest beneficiaries.
At the same time, it hasn’t been able to balance this for everyone: Tanselle could’ve been given more dialogue, for instance, and it’d have been nice to get something, anything, from Humfrey Beesbury here. Even just a close-up might have helped, but a scene of Egg rounding up the knights would’ve been ideal
The other issue goes back to the book, and what is one of its most important lines. When Dunk emerges for the trial, before his speech, he notices a crowd of smallfolk have gathered. He thinks they’ve come to watch him die, but soon learns they are there to cheer him on. Men take his hand, a woman kisses his cheek. They wish him good fortune, and hundreds are gathered for him. When Dunk asks the smith, Steely Pate, why they care about him, he responds that it’s because he’s: “A knight who remembered his vows.”
This is the very essence of Dunk as a character, and thematically the heart of the story. It’s what motivates everything Dunk does, and it’s what leads to Baelor fighting by his side. While leaving it out doesn’t affect how the story plays – and, again, it really is a fantastic sequence for the most part – it would’ve added so much more depth to have it included, especially if they’d used that and maybe not, y’know, a fart joke.
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms release Sundays at 10 pm ET on HBO and HBO Max.
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Image courtesy of Tor Books/Macmillan -
Official art by Bastien Lecouffe-Deharme
