This article contains SPOILERS for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5, "In the Name of the Mother."
The showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is speaking up about how a shocking death mirrors a key character’s fate on Game of Thrones
Since A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms began, fans have drawn parallels between Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) and Ned Stark (Sean Bean) from Game of Thrones. Amid these dark worlds of politics, greed and pure evil, each man believed in honor and justice.
That’s why Baelor decided to go against his own family to aid Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Caffley) in a Trial of Seven to defend his honor. Baelor helped his side achieve victory, but suffered a blow to the head from his brother Maeker (Sam Spruell). In a horrific scene at the end of the episode, we find out that the wound caved in half of Baelor’s skull, and he dies, throwing the realm into chaos.
It’s not unlike how in Game of Thrones’ first season, Ned is beheaded after a failed attempt to see the rightful heir take the Iron Throne. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, showrunner Ira Parker was asked about those comparisons but downplayed them as being too exact.
“I would say Ned Stark was a little bit more naive than somebody like Baelor Targaryen was," Parker said. "It’s not that Baelor doesn’t understand what could happen to him. In my mind, he’s doing this because it’s always been said about him that he is this person, from the time that he was the hammer and the anvil."
That last line refers to the strategy Baelor and Maeker used to win a key battle of the First Blackfyre Rebellion. As Parker points out, Ned’s key problem was how he assumed the people of King’s Landing held to the same standards of honor as he did, only to be proven very wrong. Baelor wasn’t that naive, as he knew how dirty the world was. So why did he face his fate as he did?
What does Baelor's sacrifice mean?
Even Dunk was thrown when Baelor stood by his side against his own family in what turned out to be his final battle. Parker explains that it comes from Baelor wanting to live up to everyone’s expectations and truly prove himself worthy of his legend.
"At so young in his life, he became this war hero, this savior of the kingdom and the realm," Parker said. "Because of his nature, everybody’s telling him how honorable he is and how he’s gonna make the greatest king that Westeros has ever had since the Conqueror. And then finally a moment comes for him to actually put up when his honor is tested in truth. Virtue untested is no virtue at all.”
Parker was coy on whether Maeker meant to kill his brother or if it was just the heat of battle, but the fact that he’s now closer in line for the Iron Throne is a major twist. It is a sad end, yet in a way, it’s likely just how Baelor would have wanted to go out: Fighting to defend a man he respected, save someone’s honor and fall in battle rather than die in bed. That adds to a legend that will only grow in future generations.
It was a brutal death, but that’s typical for Westeros, and just one more example of why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is captivating fans.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1 finale airs Sunday February 22nd on HBO Max.