How A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Quietly Reinvents One Of The Book's Key Characters
by Jeremy Mathai · /FilmWinter is coming, and so are spoilers. This article discusses major plot details from episode 2 of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms."
Bet you never expected "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" and "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple" to suddenly enter a competition into which one has more startlingly direct (and, dare I say, impressive) full-frontal nudity, now did you? Of all the ways for episode 2 of the HBO fantasy series to begin, amusingly titled "Hard Salt Beef," not even fans familiar with the source material could've anticipated seeing a flashback to the late Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) in his, ahem, full glory ... or to any extent, for that matter. In author George R.R. Martin's original novellas, the old knight lives on only in the thoughts of Dunk (Peter Claffey) as he recalls serving as his squire throughout their many adventures across Westeros. But, two episodes in, the adaptation is already taking a quiet approach to reinventing the side character who casts the largest shadow over Dunk of all.
It all starts with Arlan's shameless opening moment but, intriguingly, continues throughout the rest of the half hour. In another departure from the novella, Dunk goes above and beyond simply pleading his case to the uncaring Ser Manfred (Daniel Monks) last week. During a wistful montage of Dunk and Ser Arlan traipsing through the countryside, Dunk attempts to remind several great lords present at the Ashford tourney of Ser Arlan's many years in their service — a sequence that gets progressively sadder and sadder as Arlan's health worsens. The final indignity is that, despite dedicating his life to one lord after another, none bother to remember him.
Fortunately, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" turns this tragedy into an unexpected strength.
The great lords of Westeros may have forgotten Ser Arlan, but A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms doesn't
It's easy to understand why Ser Duncan the Tall is so hard-pressed to defend the good name of Ser Arlan of Pennytree. Even Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) realizes this is a lost cause, speculating aloud that Arlan must've been a "s**t knight" after the latest rejection of Dunk's earnest pleas. His squire's calm observation that this is essentially like having to "suffer your master dying over and over again" hits very close to home, and it's hardly a leap to imagine that Dunk fears a similar fate for himself — a lifetime of forgotten servitude that ends up being all for naught. No wonder he insists Arlan was a great knight and that someone must remember him.
"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" uses this as the emotional backbone of episode 2. In a clever bit of restructuring by credited writers Aziza Barnes (the late writer to whom this episode is dedicated in memory to during the ending credits) and showrunner Ira Parker, the show delays Dunk's first face-to-face meeting with the Targaryen ruling class until now, as opposed to the premiere. And, here of all places, our hedge knight finally meets someone who actually knows of Ser Arlan's past accomplishments: the wise and gracious Prince Baelor (Bertie Carvel), next in line to the Iron Throne. Though the narrative reason for this is to grant Dunk access to the tourney itself, the emotional purpose is to provide one small win for Ser Arlan's legacy. If the next king of the Seven Kingdoms can take the time and effort to remember an anonymous hedge knight, then perhaps Dunk's decision to follow in his master's footsteps might lead to greater things to come.
The ending of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 2 is one of the most poignant in the franchise
This all builds to the final moments of the episode, which might be one of the more quietly poignant conclusions of any in the franchise. The time comes for the first round of jousts but, while the action is as thrilling and visceral as we've been expecting, the entertainment factor soon drains away completely. Dunk's mind flashes away from the violent carnage on display and back to the trauma of Ser Arlan's anonymous, anticlimactic death. Later, while gathered around their campfire, Egg notices the knight's brooding silence. Staring off into the nighttime darkness, Dunk reluctantly admits what's bugging him:
"Do great knights live in the hedges and die by the side of a muddy road? I think not. Ser Arlan wasn't gifted with sword or lance, and he drank, and he whored, and he was a hard man to know. He made no friends, either. He lived night on 60 years and never was a champion. What chance do I have, truly?"
The series is unusually frank about the idea of humanizing someone who's taken on such a larger-than-life status in Dunk's mind, but this character-defining moment where Dunk crashes back down to earth is a necessary one. This bold (and possibly controversial) change may muddy the idealized image of Ser Arlan of Pennytree in our heads, but for good reason. "His name was Ser Arlan of Pennytree," he resolutely states. "And I am his legacy. On the morrow, we will show them what his hand has wrought." By reinventing Ser Arlan's complexities, this only makes Dunk more committed than ever.
New episodes of "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" air on HBO and stream on HBO Max every Sunday.