In less than a week, we'll be watching the fifth episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and believe me when I say it's going to be one for the books. Game of Thrones was a show known for its barnburner penultimate episodes, like "Baelor" and "Battle of the Bastards" and "The Rains of Castamere," and now the latest spinoff is poised to continue that time-honored tradition. Episode 4, "Seven," left off with Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and a group of six other knights preparing to battle Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) and his own team of warriors, all to determine whether Dunk's life would be forfeit for the crime of striking the Targaryen prince.
Complicating matters further, none other than Aerion's uncle and the heir to the Iron Throne himself, Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), joined Dunk's team at the eleventh hour. We've seen glimpses of the coming clash since the very first trailer for the series, and now at last, we'll see how it all plays out.
But thanks to some new images from HBO, we know that the joust isn't all we'll see in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5. In fact, we're going to get to know Dunk better than ever, as these images confirm something we got a glimpse of in the preview for the episode: we'll be learning more about Dunk's backstory. Though how the show will balance that with the breakneck action of the trial of seven remains to be seen.
Let's run through all the new images from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5, starting with the surprise flashback material.
We'll be seeing plenty of Young Dunk in AKOTSK Episode 5
The shot above is of Young Dunk, played by Bamber Todd, who we saw in a few brief flashbacks during the season premiere. The big question is: what is the context of this scene? From the teaser, it looks an awful lot like we're going to be seeing some of Dunk's backstory from before he met Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb). The teaser opens with a new character, Rafe (played by Dune: Prophecy's Chloe Lea) telling Dunk "This city is too small for us, Dunk. Let's go someplace else."
Here's Rafe and Dunk:
Dunk has mentioned before that he's from Flea Bottom in King's Landing. Presumably, that's the city Rafe is referencing.
That we're going to see Dunk's backstory at all is a notable change from the source material, which has not yet shown us any scenes from Dunk's youth. Before now, the show only gave us brief bits in flashbacks, but judging by the longer shots in the teaser and the sheer amount of images of Young Dunk and Rafe, it seems all but certain that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is going to break somewhat with the source material and give Young Dunk's story some attention. Just check out the variety of locales in these shots:
As you can see, each one of those scenes is in a different location; some have Rafe, one has two unknown roughs that seem to have a bone to pick with Dunk, and one even has Dunk hefting a longsword in a forest while someone (I'm assuming Arlan of Pennytree) is sleeping nearby. The very last image looks like it even brings back a famous Game of Thrones filming location; if that's not The Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland, where Game of Thrones filmed some of its scenes for the outskirts of King's Landing, then it's close enough visually that it still evokes the same fictional setting.
Going into Episode 5, the way the show is going to handle the flashbacks is probably my single biggest question. We know the trial of seven is going to take place. How can A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms possibly also fit in what seems to be multiple scenes of Young Dunk? Heck, we even got a new image of Arlan of Pennytree, and judging by his slightly longer hair and shaggier beard, this is Ser Arlan as Dunk knew him in his youth:
Color me very intrigued. Could we even see how Dunk and Ser Arlan met for the first time? That would be uncharted territory for the show, but based on how seamlessly it's incorporated new material so far, I'm very willing to go along for the ride.
But of course, there's no denying what the main event of the episode will be. It's the first trial of seven in more than 100 years, and all signs point to it being a banger! HBO also kindly released a bunch of images of our cast of knights who will take place in it, all decked out in their fancy armor. Starting with Ser Duncan the Tall himself:
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has gorgeous armor design
I can't stop staring at this picture of Dunk. The costuming really does make the hedge knight look like he stepped right out of George R.R. Martin's novellas, it's incredible. And his is the plainest of the lot, as it should be. Check out the duplicitous Steffon Fossoway (Edward Ashley):
Yes, Steffon Fossoway may be stabbing Dunk in the back, but at least he's looking amazing while he's doing it. Check out the apples and vines on that armor! A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is utterly nailing the sorts of flourishes George R.R. Martin loves to put on his knights in the books. And it's not doing it once, but over and over again. Here's Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings), sporting his shining gold plate:
Next we have Baelor Targaryen, decked out in Targaryen black:
In the book, Baelor borrows his son Valarr Targaryen's armor for the trial of seven. I'd have to squint at a side-by-side to be certain, but it looks a lot like the show is keeping that element of the story to me.
The armor Baelor wears is very different from his brother Maekar (Sam Spruell), whose own set of plate is more severe and ornamental:
Beautiful as Baelor and Maekar's armors are, they have nothing on the flashiness of Aerion Targaryen's ostentatious suit of black and fire-red plate:
Just look at the chanfron covering the horse's head! It's got spikes that make it look like a dragon!
So far HBO has only released images from thsi episode that look like they're from the trial of seven, or Dunk's flashbacks. I'd expect this to be a pretty focused affair; the trial is the culmination of all the drama that's built up over the season. It's going to be essential for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms to make it as spectacular as possible.
Episode 5 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres February 15 at 10:00 p.m. EST on HBO and HBO Max. As always, we'll be covering it extensively here at the site, including with a new episode of our Take the Black podcast breaking down its biggest twists and turns. See you on the tourney ground!