A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Confirms In style Sport of Thrones Idea

28 years in the past in 1998, George R.R. Martin launched the primary novella in The Tales of Dunk and Egg sequence, The Hedge Knight. The Hedge Knight follows Ser Duncan the Tall as he meets his squire Egg and takes half within the Tourney at Ashford Meadow following the demise of the knight he was squired to, Ser Arlan of Pennyworth. A serious idea with A Music of Ice and Hearth followers since The Hedge Knight got here out was the concept that Ser Arlan by no means truly knighted Dunk, and that Dunk is mendacity about his knighthood all through the sequence.

Duncan the Tall vs Lyonel, and Lyonel Baratheon in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms

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The second Game of Thrones prequel following House of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ sequence premiere quietly confirms what ASOIAF diehards have been theorizing for years: Dunk will not be a knight. Within the Dunk and Egg books, Dunk seems to be to the bottom anytime he mentions that Ser Arlan knighted him, implying he is mendacity. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has not tailored this element to this point, however stylistic decisions in AKOTSK episode 1 strongly suggest Arlan by no means obtained an opportunity to knight Dunk.

Was Ser Duncan the Tall Knighted?

All proof in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 1 means that Dunk was not knighted by Ser Arlan. Not like Game of Thrones and Home of the Dragon, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is making use of flashbacks to fill in Dunk’s backstory. Ser Arlan seems a number of instances in AKOTSK Episode 1, every time Dunk displays on him. Audiences see Arlan giving Dunk a number of clouts on the ear, in addition to a scene the place Dunk asks Arlan if he intends to knight him sometime, just for Arlan to stay silent and spit out an orange he is consuming.

Notably, a flashback does not happen when Plummer asks Dunk if he was ever knighted, and Dunk explains that Arlan knighted him earlier than dying the evening prior. That is the one occasion within the episode of Dunk mentioning Ser Arlan and the present not reducing to a flashback to again up his reminiscence. Notably, Dunk claims that the one witness to his knighting was “a robin in a thorn tree,” however as seen earlier within the episode, the robin was not a witness to Dunk being knighted, however as an alternative to Dunk pooping – suggesting that Dunk is figuratively speaking about his a**.

In The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Thriller Knight, Dunk seems to be down at his ft anytime he references Ser Arlan knighting him. In Sport of Thrones, wanting down at his ft is Bran’s tick for mendacity. It is potential A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is deliberately omitting this element to maintain Dunk’s knighting extra ambiguous, however the use (and absense) of flashbacks kind of confirms what A Music of Ice and Hearth theorists have identified for years: Ser Duncan the Tall was by no means knighted.

Simply As a result of Dunk Wasn’t Knighted Does not Imply He is Not a True Knight

When it comes right down to it, it does not matter that Dunk was by no means knighted and his lack of a proper knighting reads as intentional commentary from George R.R. Martin: you do not have to be a knight to be knightly. By the point of Game of Thrones, Ser Duncan the Tall had gone down in historical past as one of many biggest knights in Westerosi historical past. Each Bran Stark and Jaime Lannister revere Dunk. Jaime sees Dunk as a real knight, and Joffrey stating what number of pages Dunk has within the White Ebook in comparison with Jaime is a part of what conjures up him to be a extra honorable individual.

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As audiences will see all through A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Ser Duncan the Tall will embody a degree of chivalry few Sport of Thrones characters have been in a position to, whereas nonetheless being profoundly human. Season 1 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will present Dunk performing like a more true knight than the precise knighted characters, remembering his vows and preventing for the smallfolk with pleasure & honor. Solely time will inform if A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms or The Tales of Dunk and Egg will definitively verify whether or not Dunk was knighted or not, however hopefully neither sequence will. In any case, it does not matter.