A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 6 featured a revelation that recontextualizes everything that came before, while hinting at what’s ahead.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has delivered comedy, drama, action, and tragedy via that unexpected Episode 5 death.
Season 1 united Hedge Knight Ser Duncan the Tall with young Squire Egg, and midway through proceedings, there was a major reveal about the latter.
But in the sixth and final episode, a secret about Dunk was exposed via flashback, that fundamentally changes how we view the character, and could have far-reaching consequences in Season 2. Meaning SPOILERS ahead…
Ser Duncan isn’t really a knight
Duncan’s identity throughout the six episodes is being a knight, with the first half of the season concerned with Dunk convincing people that he and his late mentor Ser Arlan are/were members of the order, and the second half focused on proving that he’s worthy of the title.
He does that by standing up for Tanselle, and going against Aerion, actions that convince Prince Baelor to turn on his family and stand alongside Dunk in the Trial of Seven. As Baelor puts it: “He protected the innocent, as every true knight should.”
But then the revelation comes, midway through Episode 6, when Duncan is conversing with Arlan moments before the latter’s death, and asks why he never knighted him.
Meaning Ser Duncan the Tall isn’t – and never has been – a knight, which is big news about the protagonist of a show called A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
Dunk the hypocrite and worrier
The revelation makes Dunk a massive hypocrite, as he berates and guilt trips Egg for lying to him about his own identity. Though it also perhaps explains why he’s so quick to forgive the young prince.
His constant worrying throughout the six episodes also makes more sense, as we now know that Dunk was living a lie, and concerned his dishonesty would be exposed.
While his self-loathing, self-doubt, and all-round lack of confidence can be put down to the fact that he never got an answer to that question, with Ser Arlan dying before explaining why he held back Duncan’s knighthood.
What revelation means for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 2
Ser Duncan proved his knightly worth both before and during the Trial of Seven, prompting the ghost of Ser Arlan to leave his side at the very end of the final Season 1 episode.
But drama is conflict, so there’s a strong chance that Egg will learn the truth in Season 2, which will doubtless put another rift between the pair.
And even though Dunk isn’t a knight at present, we know that there will one day be pages of history books dedicated to Ser Duncan the Tall’s bravery and derring-do.
So while Arlan might not have knighted his squire in the past, there’s a strong chance he will earn that title in the future. And if not, the name of the show might have to change.
Do Dunk and Egg reunite? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms ending explained