A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms might have been serving up Hallmark wholesomeness in its first several episodes, but episode 5 went full Game of Thrones on fans. Warning, there are spoilers ahead from the fifth episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Going into episode 5, we knew that we were likely in for what would be the most intense episode of the season. What we did not prepare ourselves for was that the episode would be the most gruesome episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and dare we say the entire Game of Thrones franchise. Yes, I do dare make this bold statement and I stand by it as the episode was one of the most brutal episodes the franchise has served up with two chilling deaths, both of which took viewers by surprise.Â
Let’s start with the death that many are overlooking: Rafe.Â
During a flashback in the episode after Dunk blacks out, we get a glimpse into Dunk’s early years watching as he an his friend Rafe search through a battlefield looking for trinkets on the corpses of the fallen men. They then sell the items they stole with the hope of buying their way onto a ship out of King’s Landing. Unfortunately, things don’t quite go as planned and another thief ends up slitting Rafe’s throat, killing her right in front of Dunk.Â
While we had only just met Rafe, that in no way lessens the gruesome nature of her death. Seeing this young girl who had to have been no older than 13 or 14 years old have her throat slit was shocking and devastating to watch. There was no cutaway scene or panning away when the moment happened, we literally watched this poor girl’s throat be slit and watched as the life drained from her eyes in a gut-wrenching moment.Â
Somehow, that wasn’t even the most gruesome moment in the episode.Â
As expected from a Game of Thrones franchise battle, the trial of seven was full of gory moments and poor Dunk took quite a beating. In fact, the beating was so brutal I honestly don’t know how he made it out alive. By the time the trial of seven was finished, Dunk might have been breathing, but man he was not in good shape and looked absolutely awful. It was hard to even look at him after he was ushered off the field.
We were so taken aback by Dunk’s battle scars and how mangled his face looked after the battle, that we didn’t even think to give a second thought about the other men who joined Dunk on the battlefield. And that was where we made our biggest mistake.Â
After checking in on Dunk, Baelor asked for assistance in taking off his helmet and all seemed fine… that was until the helmet came off. Once removed, it was revealed that the blow to the head he took in battle from his brother Maekar’s mace was far worse than assumed. It literally smashed open his skull with the back of Baelor’s head coming off along with his helmet. As he turned around, we saw Baelor’s exposed brain as he collapsed into Dunk’s arms and died.Â
The moment left us absolutely gutted and took the wind out of our sails, with Baelor’s death sure to go down as one of the most heartbreaking and shocking deaths in the franchise. It was horrifying to see Baelor’s exposed brain moments before he collapsed and died.Â
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5 most certainly proved that, while this show might be more wholesome than the other shows in the franchise, this is still a Game of Thrones show and it’s just as capable of delivering gruesome and shocking deaths.
New episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premiere every Sunday night on HBO and HBO Max. Keep reading Winter is Coming and tune in for our weekly podcast, Take the Black, to follow along with our coverage all season long.