Despite billing itself as a small stakes story, the climactic trial of seven at the end of the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which pitted Ser Duncan the Tall, a.k.a. Dunk (Peter Claffey) and his team of six other knights against Prince Aerion Targaryen's (Finn Bennett) squad, changed the history of Westeros forever. During the battle, Prince Maekar (Sam Spruell), fighting for Aerion's side, accidentally mortally wounds his brother, Prince Baelor (Bertie Carvel), who fought alongside Dunk. As Baelor was the heir apparent to the Iron Throne, his death altered the order of succession, which would eventually lead to Mad King Aerys taking the throne, kicking off the events of Game of Thrones.
However, Baelor's death isn't the only major change to the Seven Kingdoms that came about from Dunk's historic trial of seven. In addition to the royal Targaryen family, another noble house of Westeros, albeit a much smaller one, was transformed forever thanks to the events of this season.
The dawn of the Green Apple Fossoways
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms introduces two members of House Fossoway, a noble house of Westeros claiming to descend from the legendary hero Foss the Archer, who was known to shoot apples off the heads of maidens, causing his family to adopt the apple as their sigil. In the first episode of the series, "The Hedge Knight," audiences meet Ser Steffon Fossoway (Edward Ashley), a member of the main branch of the family, House Fossoway of Cider Hall, and his cousin Raymun (Shaun Thomas), born to a less important branch, who serves as Steffon's squire.
Steffon tends to push his younger cousin around, often bullying and overpowering him. However, Raymun has no choice but to put up with Steffon's treatment, since they're family. Raymun eventually snaps at Steffon when the older Fossoway, who previously pledged to fight with Dunk in the trial of seven, switches to Aerion's side after being promised a lordship.
Raymun, afraid that Dunk will have to forfeit the fight due to no longer having enough champions, asks to be knighted, and Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) grants his request. In order to differentiate himself from Steffon in the heat of Battle, Raymun repaints his shield, replacing the traditional Fossoway red apple with a green one, in response to Steffon's constant teasing that Raymun was "green." As Raymun says, "It's better to be an unripe green apple than a wormy red one."
After the battle, when Dunk's team emerges victorious (and Raymun gets some good licks in against his cousin), Raymun meets, sleeps with, and quickly marries Rowan (Rowan Robinson), a sex worker who's appeared sporadically throughout the season. The two go on to start a new branch of House Fossoway, House Fossoway of New Barrell, keeping the green apple as their sigil.
The Future of the Green Apple Fossoways
The Fossoway split remains intact in the time following A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. In the years since the formation of House Fossoway of New Barrell, a handful of their members would go on to appear in A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones, albeit mostly in smaller roles.
Given House Fossoway's proximity to the Reach, several Green Apples find themselves interwoven with House Tyrell. Mace Tyrell's (Roger Ashton-Griffiths) sister, Lady Janna, is married to Ser Jon Fossoway. Additionally, Lord Commander Jeor Mormont (James Cosmo) refers to Ser Arnell, a trustworthy man of the Night's Watch, as the son of a Green Apple Fossoway.
The Apple falls far from the tree
The first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms illustrate how small decisions can create ripples that change the course of history. Had Dunk not decided to attend the Tourney at Ashford, he never would have met Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), who is secretly Prince Aegon Targaryen, and the two would never have gone on adventures together, shaping the young boy into the man who would one day rule the Seven Kingdoms. Egg would never even have come close to the Iron Throne had Dunk not stepped up to defend Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), resulting in the trial of seven in which Baelor lost his life. And had Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) not been in the right place at the right time to save a young Dunk from his attackers, the realm would never have known one of its greatest knights.
The same principle applies to Raymun and House Fossoway. Had he never developed the courage to finally stand up to his cousin, the Green Apple Fossoways would never have come to be. Their very existence proves that the smallest choices can have the largest impact.
Make sure to stream the first season of A Knigh tof the Seven Kingdoms, which is now available in its entirety on HBO Max. Season 2 is currently filming, and is slated to arrive sometime in 2027.