Six words, a familiar tune, and a whole lot of charisma in a thirty-second scene catapulted Bertie Carvel’s Baelor Targaryen from a strong side character in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to a fan-favorite one.
If you are not yet caught up with the show, mind the SPOILERS AHEAD.
When Dunk (Peter Claffey) calls out to the crowd of nobles at Ashford, urging the “true knights” of Westeros to stand up and take his side in the trial of the seven, none do. But Baelor rides in, wearing his son Valarr’s armor, and announces that he will take Ser Duncan’s side as the much-anticipated Game of Thrones title theme song plays in the background.
The scene has since gone viral, shared and reposted by the thousands. While the first three episodes were great and built up well to the trial, this is the moment that changed the trajectory of the show, and of the realm within it.
George R. R. Martin said in a Q&A a few years ago that he considered the death of Baelor 'Breakspear' Targaryen as an incident that changed the course of Westeros' history. "He would have been a strong and competent king who dies to defend the honor of an insignificant hedge knight," the author said.
Baelor’s choice is a surprising one, given that it puts him up against his brother and nephew. As the heir to the Iron Throne, he has no business putting himself on the line for a small matter as this. But he makes it nonetheless, and pays a heavy price.
Speaking with TV Insider, Carvel shed light on what may have inspired Baelor to risk his life for a mere hedge knight and what it means for the narrative and the world at large.
“One of the things I like about this story is that it matters what people do from one minute to the next,” Carvel explained. “You don’t come out of the womb predetermined to be good, bad, or ugly. Goodness is as goodness does.”
“[Baelor] can see in the example of his brothers what [Egg] might become, and I think, has hope for that boy and wants to set a good example,” he continued.
Egg, or Prince Aegon Targaryen, squire to Ser Duncan, is Baelor’s nephew. He is one of the sons of Baelor’s brother, Maekar, and he chooses to run away from the Targaryen entourage. He despises his elder brother Aerion, and for good reasons.
Aerion is arrogant, entitled, and outright cruel from the get-go; the complete opposite of his uncle, Baelor, whose kind competence shines through in every scene he is in, right up to his death. He bullies people for fun, including his own siblings.
When he snaps Tanselle’s finger for a supposed veiled attack on House Targaryen in her puppetry performance, Dunk is forced to step in. Unfortunately for everyone involved, landing a blow on a member of the royal family comes with consequences, especially if the prince is someone as petty and brutish as Aerion.
When the time comes to settle the matter, Aerion chooses to include 12 more men in his one-sided feud with Dunk, gets the heir to the realm and other noblemen killed, and yields to Dunk anyway, all over some puppetry.
Baelor's "familial cruelty" makes his fate in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms more thrilling
The very nature and outcome of the entire incident make the tragedy even more heartbreaking, but that is why Baelor’s action is an ideal story to tell, Carvel believes.
“I’ve heard a lot today about Baelor being a good man, and that’s not true until it is… What makes the story moving and heroic is when people choose to do the right thing in spite of what they might choose.”
Carvel pointed out that Baelor is not necessarily a saint. He has killed people—enough people to have earned the nickname ‘Hammer’ along with his brother Maekar, who is the ‘Anvil’.
"You want to believe that Baelor might just as well kill you as protect you, and that is true," he said.
That is why Baelor standing up to do the right thing by taking Dunk’s side when he very well could not have, matters.
“There is a familial cruelty there that’s available to Baelor. That he chooses to do something we regard as heroic is what happens, but it happens in spite of what might happen. And I find that thrilling.”
The decision goes on to claim his life, as Maekar’s desperate mace cracks his skull in half, and Westeros loses what many believe would have been the best King to rule the realm. But even in his dying moments, Baelor chooses kindness over anger. He is almost proud in the manner he praises his brother’s strength with his last words.
“He is cut from the right cloth,” Carvel said to TV Insider about Baelor’s final moments on the show.
The season finale of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres Sunday, February 22 at 10:00 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.