We're deep into the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but the best is yet to come. This Sunday, Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) will take part in an archaic form of trial by combat known as a trial of seven, where he and six companions must battle against a team of seven other knights, all so the gods can decide Dunk's guilt or innocence. It's going to be a thrilling affair!
With Episode 5 set to be such a showstopper, it didn't come as much of a surprise that Episode 4, "Seven," was largely devoted to setting all the pieces in motion for the trial. A crucial part of that set up came when Dunk sat down with the blacksmith Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour), who improved Dunk's shield after the painter Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford) left it in his care after Dunk saved her from Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett). So far, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been incredibly faithful to George R.R. Martin's novella, "The Hedge Knight," and the scene between Pate and Dunk is a perfect example; it's practically word-for-word from the book. But there is one key line that was cut from Dunk and Pate's interactions — and now we know why.
In the book, there's a brief moment after Pate gives Dunk his shield where they walk onto the field together, and Dunk is surprised to find that the smallfolk there have come to cheer him on, rather than revel in his death. "Why? What am I to them?" Dunk asks Pate, to which the blacksmith responds: "A knight who remembered his vows."
As one fan pointed out this week during a Reddit AMA with showrunner Ira Parker, this line is in many ways the "soul" of the novella's story. Given how hard the show has worked to include everything it possibly can from the book, it's strange that this line was cut. So what happened? Parker's answer is as refreshingly earnest as you might expect from the guy running the Dunk and Egg series.
"Honestly it was a mistake on my part. Not my first not my last on this show," he replied. "That scene was in the script at one point, then fell out. I agree that 'a knight who remembers his vows' is the soul of this story, but I think that is still very much at the core of the show, even if I stupidly left out this scene... it may not be said explicitly, but Dunk's actions remain the same."
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms captures the spirit of the novella
While I'm sad we won't get that moment where Dunk realizes how the smallfolk have come out for him, I do think Parker's right that the overall idea still comes across in the show. In Episode 4, the camp follower Red (Rowan Robinson) is in the stands watching as Dunk makes his plea to the assembled knights to aid his cause. While the nobles ultimately laugh at him, we can see that he's moved Red — and that only grows when Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) takes to the field in Dunk's defense. Personally, when I watched the first time I still felt like those reaction shots very much got the spirit of the whole "knight who remembered his vows" idea through, even if it's not quite as pleasant for the hedge knight as the adoration of the crowds was in the book.
Regardless of all that, can I just point out how bold it is of Parker to just go onto Reddit, engage with a bunch of anonymous (and very passionate) fans, and when one makes a good point just say, "Yeah, I messed that up?" That sort of candor feels exceedingly rare. So I'm not surprised that the general reaction to Parker's answer on Reddit as well as in other corners of the internet fandom has been overwhelmingly positive. After the toxic blowout of House of the Dragon, people are all here for an honest, forthcoming showrunner who seems like he's really trying hard to do right by the source material and just be straight with people about it. Might he be...a showrunner who remembered his vows? We'll leave that for you to decide!
Why Maekar and Aerion's personal sigils aren't in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
There was one other mistake Parker owned up to in the chat, and that's that the show didn't include Maekar Targaryen's (Sam Spruell) personal coat of arms from the book. In "The Hedge Knight," Maekar has his own distinct sigil: the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen, quartered. Maekar's son, Aerion, also has his own personal sigil: the three-headed dragon, but with each head painted a different color (red, orange, and gold).
The show didn't include either of these personal sigils, instead giving Maekar and Aerion the usual Targaryen motif. Parker rues the missed opportunity. "So far I've seen fans point our 2 mistakes in this show that I was unaware of. This is one of them," he wrote when someone mentioned Aerion and Maekar's sigils. "Definitely should have had maekars...that would have made it soooo easy to distinguish him in the fog. Whoops."
Without those sigils, we'll just have to keep our eyes peeled to tell our Maekar from our Baelor from our Aerion and Daeron as the four members of House Targaryen duke it out in the trial of seven. I have a feeling we'll be just fine, anyway!
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres its penultimate episode February 15 at 10:00 p.m. EST on HBO and HBO Max. Don't miss it!