Honor takes a beating in a bruising A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms

And so, with a swing of Aerion’s morningstar, Dunk is sent into a brief, muddy sleep, remembering his last days as a thief in King’s Landing. We see him, roughly thirteen years ago, scavenging steel and leather from the fallen knights and renegades upon the Redgrass Field, where the last battle of the first Blackfyre Rebellion was decided. (You’ll recall some of its finer details were discussed in song by Egg during “The Squire.”) It was there that Princes Baelor and Maekar formed the hammer and anvil that smashed Daemon I Blackfyre’s forces and secured King Daeron’s rule for a while longer—now a graveyard and primary source of income for Dunk (Bamber Todd) and Rafe (Chloe Lea). “We’ll all be plundering that tomb for a dragon’s age,” a fence grumbles to the kids when they bring him their findings. 

They’re not just scraping for food; Rafe wants to ferry Dunk across the Narrow Sea for a fresh start in the Free Cities. Their chances of making this lateral move dim in the narrow causeways of Flea Bottom, where drunks and thieves like City Watchman Alester (Edward Davis) bully lowborn like Dunk and Rafe for sport. It’s impressive how foul and claustrophobic this part of Flea Bottom looks: Men scream as surgery is done on them in the open; women weep in corners; people stagger into each other, leaving themselves vulnerable to pickpocketing or, as Rafe later learns to Dunk’s woe, a strategically thrust dagger. Even the one place Dunk and Rafe find relative peace is below the streets, lower in the world still. 

“What if this is the best there is?” wee Dunk asks his companion, who responds: “That would be quite sad.” Even at this late hour, it’s a neat bit of groundwork for Dunk’s world philosophy, why protecting people with his size and strength matters to him, and why Ser Arlan (Danny Webb), for all his failings, appealed to him so. “You want a family?” Rafe says. “Go out there and get a family.” We know he does, and now we have the additional knowledge that his found families—made with Ser Arlan and, one day, with Egg—are built on her memory.

Was this time out worthwhile? It depends on your point of view. For those who want literal world-building where this series otherwise takes a subtler approach, “In The Name Of The Mother” provides us the first glimpse at the Blackfyre Rebellion—or at least its aftermath. Considering how little of this Westerosi history was mapped out when Martin wrote The Hedge Knight, filling these gaps brings welcome heft and history. This episode should serve future seasons exploring the many complex Targaryen rifts and the lingering revolts spawned from them. It also reiterates a pervasive theme in this franchise, courtesy of Rafe’s quick tale of fellow roughs Pudding and Cedric: Payment for past wrongs always comes with compound interest—if not now, then when one least expects it. “No one forgets shit,” she says. “You hurt someone, they hurt you back.” 

For folks here to see some rock-’em-sock-’em knighttime action, still amped up from Prince Baelor’s declaration for all that is just and good last week, this pause will chafe. Everything we learn from this flashback is already present in the series: Dunk seeks family where he can; he was taught to soften his edges for those he cares about; he can be provoked to violence by unchecked cruelty. We’ve seen all this, know all this. This late into the series, it feels like padding. Still, it’s well-directed, well-written padding, rife with narrative echoing: Ser Alran blorfs before protecting Dunk, just as Dunk blorfs before standing up to Prince Aerion; and wee Dunk hoists Ser Arlan’s penny-hilted sword just as Egg takes it for practice years later. These added textures of Dunk’s origin are appreciated, but at this defining moment? They scrape the nerves of folks spoiling to see the outcome of Dunks’ Trial Of Seven. 

Which brings us back to the present, where Dunk rallies with the few commanding words from Ser Arlan we’ve yet to hear: “Get up.” Up is where Dunk goes, though not without effort (that lance through his side meekened him even before he was unhorsed). The scope of this fight, fittingly, leans on subjectivity instead of choreography. Here, Dunk’s point of view is severely diminished by that narrow slit in his helm, and later, one of his eyes is closed shut, so we miss the peripheral thrills one might expect from this fracas (such as Ser Lyonel laughing his way through Maekar’s defenses, the Fossoway cousins letting off long-fermenting steam between them, etc). We do see the only moment that counts: Prince Aerion dropping his dragon’s facade under Dunk’s relentless pummelling, yielding his accusations before all in Ashford Meadow. (Had he not thrown in the towel, would Dunk have risked killing a prince?) 

What we don’t see is Maekar’s blow to his older brother’s head, which crushes Baelor’s helm and removes another good man from the realm—one whose life might have changed much for Westeros had it not ended here. The man called “Breakspear” for trouncing the traitor Daemon Blackfyre’s armies on the Redgrass Field, who ruled in the name of Daeron “The Good” and would have made a fair and just king himself, dies in service to a hedge knight who reminded him what justice looks like when those who swore to uphold it remember their vows. What might the realm have looked like under the rule of Baelor, second in line to the Iron Throne? We’ll never know. In Westeros, much as it is in life, few good deeds go unpunished.

Stray observations

• • I suppose it’s no longer a spoiler to say that Rafe doesn’t get a mention until The Mystery Knight; perhaps she’ll get another extended flashback in season three. 
• • This week’s gross-out: twin barfs from Sers Raymun and Dunk, to the guffaws of Ser Hardyng. “Green fucking boys!” Indeed! 
• • I hope the flamboyant armor we see in this series does the opposite of what Game Of Thrones did for live-action fantasy over the years: add color, pomp, and audacity to the many worlds of fantasy and knighthood. Look at Ser Lyonel’s antlered helm! Glorious. 
• • Was that fallen knight on the Redgrass an animatronic dummy? I thought his head was meant to explode or something. (Also, was he a Hightower? I couldn’t totally make out his sigil. If so, what’s he doing there? I thought House Hightower was more or less neutral during the rebellion.)
• • I love Arlan’s gibberish song and lack of dialogue during his bawdy exploits. It shows us that the man may have been unknowable, but, at his core, he was a decent man. 
• • Another nice touch: Arlan sleeping on his dagger, which suggests that his fatal wound, incurred years later, may have been from mishap rather than adventure. 
• • I sure hope Red (Rowan Robinson) doesn’t catch too much hell for cheering on Dunk. 
• • Dunk took way more lumps in his fight with Aerion than he did in the book. It’s a wonder he can stand, let alone kneel before Baelor, as he eventually does in gratitude and fealty. 

Jarrod Jones is a contributor to The A.V. Club.