A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is reaching its thrilling climax, and it has us on the edge of our seat waiting for the show's upcoming fifth episode. After assaulting the prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett), our noble hedge knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) finds himself locked into a deadly contest known as a trial of seven, where seven warriors fight on each side to determine the guilt or innocence of an alleged criminal. In this case, that criminal is Dunk, and unless he can find six other knights to stand by him, he'll forfeit his life.
Fortunately, Episode 4, "Seven," ended with an absolute banger of a fist pump moment, when none other than Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) took to the field in Dunk's defense. The heir to the Iron Throne himself is about to get his hands dirty, and fighting his own family members who want Dunk's head on a spike, no less!
As Dunk and his allies take to the field, Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) comments on how there hasn't been a trial of seven in over a hundred years, which is reason enough for him to want to take part in it — with the added bonus of having "a chance to bloody up the Kingsguard in their pretty white gowns." If you've just watched the episode, you may be wondering: when was the last trial of seven, that took place over 100 years before A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
Thanks to George R.R. Martin's book Fire & Blood, we have the answer...and it ties back to the most infamous tyrant to ever sit the Iron Throne.
Who fought in the last trial of seven in Game of Thrones?
By the time of A Song of Ice and Fire, only two instances of a trial by seven have been recorded. One is Dunk's, which we're about to witness in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5. The other took place before even House of the Dragon, back in the days preceding the reign of Maegor I Targaryen, a.k.a. Maegor the Cruel.
Following the death of Maegor's father, Aegon the Conqueror, Maegor's half brother Aenys was named King of the Seven Kingdoms. Aenys was a weak ruler, however, and among the many issues plaguing his rule was an uprising within the Faith of the Seven. This is where the original iteration of the Faith Militant came from, which we saw return in Game of Thrones season 5. The Faith staged a rebellion against King Aenys, who died in 42 AC, roughly 167 years before A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season 1.
Following the death of Aenys, Maegor launched his own claim for the Iron Throne, usurping Aenys' son, Aegon. Maegor had more martial prowess than most of the rest of his family, and had claimed Aegon the Conqueror's dragon, Balerion, as his own. Maegor's bloody coup eventually led him to King's Landing, which the Faith Militant had claimed much of as its base of operations. There, he challenged the Grand Captain of the Faith's Warriors Sons, Ser Damon Morrigen, to a duel for the crown. In response, Damon insisted that it had to be a trial of seven.
Maegor's trial of seven isn't nearly the noble affair that Dunk's is, and it has plenty of its own drama. Like Dunk, he needed to stir others to his side. The first to step up from the silent, watching crowd was a man at arms with no noble blood at all named Dick Bean. From there, the floodgates opened, and knights joined Maegor's cause against the Faith Militant.
This trial of seven was absolutely brutal. Maegor himself was the only person to survive the trial, and he spent 30 days in a coma following the battle. But when he woke, the church could no longer deny him his right to the Iron Throne. Which of course, Maegor being Maegor, did not stop him from burning the Sept of Remembrance with the Faith MIlitant's leadership still inside from the back of Balerion in retribution.
Hopefully, Dunk's trial of seven will have less casualties than Maegor's, or we could be in for an absolute bloodbath. We'll find out when A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5 premieres on Sunday, February 15 on HBO and HBO Max.