Before we begin discussing Episode 2, let’s give a round of applause to everyone who worked on Episode 1, because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms currently holds a 95% score on Rotten Tomatoes, and the few people who expressed disappointment were clearly expecting to watch Game of Thrones, which Knight does not aspire to emulate. The new show is strong enough to stand on its own, and brave enough to divert completely from the mother series. I could praise the premiere forevermore, but the time has come to discuss Episode 2!
Titled “Hard Salt Beef," the second episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a worthy successor of the show’s opener, keeping a good pace, alternating emotional moments to comedic ones, and moving events slightly forward. Somehow, the episode manages to reach empathic tension even in the most absurd situations, as we experience Dunk’s embarrassment second-hand for most of the time that he spends on screen. Now that is able writing.
How does episode 2 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms compare to the books?
The second episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms follows the story told in "The Hedge Knight" closely, with a few additions and a couple of changes, and brings Dunk deeper into the heart of Ashford and closer to finally competing.
Dunk’s quest to find a lord to vouch for him continues, and we see him speak with of Ser Arlan with Lord Leo Tyrell, and later share his frustration with Egg. My favorite new line of dialogue might be the sneaky “Why do you treat these royal lapdogs like they are your betters?” pronounced by Egg to boost Dunk’s self-confidence. The two also share other amusing scenes, and the young squire acting as a wingman for Dunk with Tanselle was pure gold.
Great research clearly went into creating the camp outside of Ashford and making it as accurate to a medieval tourney as possible, and it’s great to see that much more goes on at tourneys besides the jousts, including parties and impromptu games. I’m so glad the show writers had Lyonel Baratheon compete with the Tyrells in a game of pull the rope, because it resulted in such a fun, lighthearted scene — and, for those in the know about the Lyonel/Dunk agenda, we did hear Dunk familiarly calling a great lord by his first name and we did see the latter smack Dunk’s backside. I see you, Lyonel.
Dunk’s sentimentality when reflecting on Ser Arlan’s life and his legacy and where it ties to his own self-confidence and destiny was treated just right, powerful enough to make even the most cynical care, but not too on the nose to border on sappy. Have I mentioned how the writers are masters at striking a perfect balance?
New faces we meet in Episode 2
The royal family arrives and we meet no less than four Targaryen princes. Of course, their introduction may feel anticlimactic and somewhat underwhelming, and it is entirely supposed to. Gone are the days when the Targaryens could command loyalty from fear of their dragons alone, now they have to earn it; and only few of them do, but Prince Baelor Breakspear is certainly among that number. He may not look like a larger-than-life character when compared to House of the Dragon’s Rhaenyra or Daemon, he may lack their otherworldly Valyrian hair coloring (courtesy of his mother, the Dornish Princess Myriah Martell), but he entirely makes up for it by being a kind and wise man. Rather than exuding power, he effortlessly commands the room, and he does so with his courtly ways, with respect and gentleness, rather than swagger. His brother Maekar is a different matter and spends his entire screen time scoffing, and Maekar’s son Aerion is the definition of a spoiled brat.
We met another beloved character: the smith who armors Dunk. The introduction of Steely Pate was quicker than in the book, but not less powerful. I only wish they had kept the bit of Dunk kneeling for Pate to take his measurements, because it was a missed opportunity for a scene that, visually, would have paralleled a knighting. Metaphorically, that did serve as Dunk’s knighting, especially if you subscribe to the theory that Ser Arlan never did knight Dunk before he died, which I personally buy into. It just makes the story much more interesting that pure Dunk did tell one lie, an original sin of sorts, but he is still the truest knight of all, despite not having received the rite.
Dunk the lunk… not thick as a castle wall?
A clever touch was giving Gwin, the daughter of Lord Ashford whose birthday the tourney is celebrating, a line where she calls Dunk stupid. Someone has to, according to the book, and this also brought the number of speaking women in the episode to two.
In the novellas, Dunk is constantly second-guessing his intelligence and repeating words he internalized from Ser Arlan, calling him “thick” and “slow”. Elsewhere in this episode, he even addresses being called stupid often. However, the show is painting a Dunk who does have brilliant ideas at times. His meeting with Prince Baelor Breakspear happens by chance in the book, where Dunk does not even realize who it is that he is speaking to until he’s made a fool of himself, while the show tells a different story.
Here, we have a Dunk who sees the heir to the Iron Throne arrive at Ashford and decides to shoot his shot. He goes to the castle with the exact purpose of asking Prince Baelor if he remembers Ser Arlan. After all, if no other lord will vouch for him, what’s left for Dunk but his empty words? Squiring for someone else, or becoming a mercenary? His honor may be at stake, but it is an honor no one seems to believe exists, at present.
Dunk does retain his naivety and awkwardness, particularly when interacting with women or those he views as his betters, but it’s not intelligence he lacks, and the show is doing a great job with this fine line.
First Blackfyre mention!
Egg’s line “Do you yield, Blackfyre bastard?” yelled as he practiced swordfight served to slowly introduce the audience to the topic of the first Blackfyre rebellion, which will become more and more relevant in future seasons, as the seeds of that bloody civil war still bear fruits in Westeros.
Daemon Blackfyre was a bastard of King Aegon IV, but not a baseborn child, for his mother was also a Targaryen, Princess Daena — who named her son after her own grandfather, the chaotic Prince Daemon Targaryen we know and love from House of the Dragon. Even so, Daemon couldn’t lay claim to the Targaryen name, but his father had given him a gift just as big as a name: Blackfyre, the sword born by all Targaryen kings, which Daemon made his name (and personality, kind of). Unfortunately, when King Aegon IV, henceforth known as “the Unworthy”, lay on his deathbed, he had the brilliant idea to legitimize his bastards — of which there were many.
Now, when Aegon’s trueborn heir was a peaceful, Dorne-loving, kind and scholarly man, and his opponent was the image of a Valyrian warrior god to whom the king passed on his sword, you can see how factions might have had interests in raising Daemon to kinghood, and a rebellion ensued. Westeros bled, and we will see many effects of the Blackfyre rebellion, even later on in this first season.
Episode rating: A
"Hard Salt Beef" set many things in motion. It's an episode just as strong as Episode 1 and as exciting as Episode 3. Just wait and see!