You know that old Westerosi saying: "Every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land." The madness of House Targaryen's many scions is well documented in George R.R. Martin's fantasy series, as are the heroic Targaryens who shaped the history of Westeros with honor and guile. We've seen both sides of the Targaryen lineage manifest in shows like Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, and that trend will continue when the new spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres in January.
Based on Martin's novella "The Hedge Knight," the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms sees our fledgeling knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his mouthy squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) head to a tourney at Ashford Meadow, where Dunk hopes to win renown and possible employment from one of the many lords present. This quest will put them squarely in the path of House Targaryen, since several important members of the royal family will be present at Ashford Meadow.
The previous trailer gave us a good look at Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen, played by Finn Bennett. He's the terrible sort of Targaryen, right in the vein of Daenerys' cruel brother Viserys from Game of Thrones. But there will be more valiant Targaryens at Ashford as well, including one particular Targaryen prince who is among the most heroic Martin has written: Baelor Breakspear, Aerion's older cousin and the current heir to the Iron Throne.
With the freshly released final trailer for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we finally get to see Baelor and some of his other relatives in the show. And it's got me hyped for what's in store.
"And so, I ask you again...how good a knight are you?"
During his time at Ashford Meadow, Dunk finds himself in a bind after getting on the bad side of Aerion Targaryen. Aerion isn't the type to let slights slide, and is keen to have Dunk beheaded. But since Aerion isn't the senior-most Targaryen present, the question of Dunk's fate becomes much more complicated when the elder members of the royal family weigh in.
There are two who feature prominently in "The Hedge Knight": Aerion's father, Maekar Targaryen (played by Sam Spruell), and Baelor "Breakspear" Targaryen, played by Bertie Carvel. Maekar tends to side with his son because he's prickly and also doesn't like the idea of someone slighting the royal house, although he is still an honorable man in his own way. Baelor, however, is a level-headed and fair noble who sees the situation clearly, and is firmly in Dunk's camp — even as he is forced to admit that won't be enough to fully spare our venerable hedge knight from danger.
The latest trailer not only shows us Carvel as Baelor, but gives us a glimpse at one of his most iconic scenes from "The Hedge Knight," where he meets with Dunk and asks him, repeatedly, "how good a knight are you?" Because ultimately, Dunk's skill at his knightly craft is what will decide his fate in this story.
Baelor Breakspear is a just man who support Dunk at a crucial point in "The Hedge Knight," which we won't delve into the details of because it would spoil the whole story. But suffice to say, the coin the gods flipped on Baelor's birth landed firmly on the sane side. He is a well-liked paragon of his house and an ideal heir for the Iron Throne, much to the pleasure of his and Maekar's father, Daeron II. (And no, this is not Baelor the Blessed, though Baelor Breakspear is named after that more pious ancestor.)
Often, Martin infuses even his best Targaryen characters with some flaws; after all, a fallible character is a human character. But since "The Hedge Knight" is a novella with less room to flesh out the characters, we mostly see Baelor as a figure for good. He's the rare example of a Targaryen who has no darkness whatsoever staining his name, and he leaves a lasting impression.
I'm really excited to see what Bertie Carvel does with this character in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. From the glimpses in this trailer, I think there's good reason to be confident. He nails the quiet intensity of Baelor, exuding confidence as well as a slight sense of weariness. I also love that the show kept his hair dark — this is a detail from the book, where Baelor inherited darker hair from his Dornish mother, which he typically keeps close-cut. The trailers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms definitely give the impression that the show is sticking as close to the source material as possible.
We'll see plenty more of Baelor Targaryen when A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres on January 18. In the meantime, you can always check out Martin's book of the same name, which includes all three of the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas he's written to date.