Ira Parker, the showrunner of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, recently shared just how the touching final scene with Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) and Dunk (Peter Claffey) came together.
In an interview with Collider, Parker unpacked how important this scene was both for bidding farewell to Arlan and for showing Dunk’s future.
“That was the very last thing that I wrote for this show. It wasn’t actually in the original script, and when we were cutting all the things together, our ending didn’t feel quite right. I forget exactly when or how that came up. We were very lucky when we went back to do some of the re-shoots. We very quickly went and grabbed that, and I’m really glad that we did.”
Throughout A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, flashbacks had shown how Dunk interacted with his late master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree. That includes how Arlan found a homeless Dunk about to be killed by thieves and saved him in episode 5, "In the Name of the Mother."
In the season 1 finale, as he recovers from the brutal trial of seven, Dunk remembers his last interactions with Ser Arlan before his death. Tellingly, his words indicated that the fan theory is correct in that Ser Arlan never truly knighted Dunk.
The final scene had Dunk and Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) hitting the road again. As they do, the audience sees the spirit of Ser Arlan on the horse Sweetfoot riding with him before veering into a field. Dunk even seems to briefly recognize his old mentor’s ghost.
Parker added how it is intended to be Dunk seeing Arlan’s spirit, although it is ambiguous if it’s truly the man’s ghost or just Dunk’s imagination. What’s more important is what this means to Dunk, as Arlan's leaving him signifies that Dunk is truly a knight at last.
“First of all, Dunk is looking. There is just a little bit of something there. It’s perfect because your response is exactly what I wanted. Is he looking? Is he not? Was that on purpose? Was it not? We’re sending Ser Arlan off on his way. Ser Arlan has done his job and remained present with Dunk even after he died, but now Dunk is setting off to become his own mentor.”
The significance of the moment is huge. This is clearly meant to be Arlan telling his former squire that he’s no longer a knight in training but now a knight himself. Even without being formally knighted, Dunk clearly shows all the qualities for that position in his honor, his courage, and desire to see justice done. Anyone who can survive the trial of seven has proven himself worthy of knighthood.
That’s been a key aspect of the series, what makes a knight. We’ve seen plenty of “Sers” in Westeros who don’t come close to being noble men or just people. Dunk proves one doesn’t have to be born into a great house or brought up in higher education to call themselves a champion. Arlan’s spirit can now be at rest, seeing his protegee come full circle into a knight with his own squire ready to follow him.
It was a wonderful touch that added pathos to the show and the core message of judging by deeds, not by name. It’s yet another reason why A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has become such a fine series.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms streaming on HBO Max.