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Dunk is huge. Have I mentioned that yet? He’s played by a 6'5" former rugby player (Peter Claffey), but he’s a character who is so soft-hearted that he seemingly forgets how massive he is every episode. It’s easily the funniest part about his anxieties about the upcoming tournament in HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, because if anyone has a leg up on the competition it’s this absolute giant.
I’m certainly not the first to wax about my love for Dunk in the latest Game of Thrones spin-off series—hell, I did it last week, too—but the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ stellar rogues' gallery grows even deeper this week. After adding the drunken Lyonel "the Laughing Storm" Baratheon (Daniel Ings), episode 3 introduces Ser Robyn Rhysling. He’s "the maddest knight in the Seven Kingdoms," according to Egg, and his look justifies his reputation. He enters the series with a metal eye patch and a gnarly walking stick. Here’s one of his first lines: “We are a vessel for the warrior,” he says. “When it is madness bid, it is madness delivered.” Okay, maybe Dunk is in trouble after all.
Luckily, he’s not quite ready to charge into battle against the maddest knight in the Seven Kingdoms yet. Dunk has no armor, no shield, and a horse who doesn’t listen to him. So, episode 3 is mostly a bonding moment for Dunk and his new squire, Egg, as they gallivant around town and sing crude drinking songs. After they watch a jouster get absolutely smashed off his horse, the two joke about eating halt salt beef and drinking ale that takes like piss. It may be a nasty time to live in, but it’s like enjoying hotdogs and beer at the baseball game for the boys this episode. “I think I could be quite happy in a place like this,” says Egg. Dunk reminds him, “You’re in a place like this.”
Steffan Hill//HBODunk and Egg might be the funniest height difference pairing in TV history.
The most exciting match of the day’s jousts is between Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett) and... well, they don't say exactly. Aerion is, like most royal Targaryen brats, a hot-heated killer. He wears a black skull helmet and defeats his opponent by stabbing his horse through the neck. I don’t know much about jousting, but it feels like a very unsportsmanlike move. The crowd throws stones as Aerion and charges the court in rage. Then, the tournament’s executioner puts the defeated man and his horse out of their misery. (Thankfully, off screen.)
"We used the Devil's Horsemen, out of London, which are the biggest, baddest horse-riding team in town," showrunner Ira Parker told me over Zoom when we spoke last week. "They do it for real, man. Sometimes you want to go for another take because you didn't get it exactly right, and then they'll very gently remind you like, ‘This is really dangerous. We can do it again, but are you sure?’ It's not just like having an actor redo a line, which also could be quite dangerous, but they play for keeps and they're the very best at what they do. So, hopefully it looks the very best."
According to Parker, last week's joust was also a first in the history of film and TV. "No one's ever done jousting at night before," Parker said. "I’ve done a lot of research—and so has my producer, Sarah Bradshaw, who watched every single jousting film that's ever come out—and she claims it as well."
Steffan Hill//HBOAccording to showrunner Ira Parker, ’A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" features the first-ever scene of jousting at night.
How about another fun scene this week? Later in the episode, a random fortune teller stops the pair and blurts out some spoiler-worthy details of the duo’s future. She tells Egg that he shall be king one day, though he’ll “die in a hot fire, and worms shall feed upon [his] ashes.” That’s not all. “All who know you shall rejoice in your dying,” she continues, trailing off. That’s a lot to put on a kid!
Dunk is feeling the pressure as well. The tournament organizer asks him to allow his first opponent to throw the fight because his father is looking to rake in some extra cash in the side-bet. Funnily enough, the town’s lord is throwing his own kin under the bus instead of Dunk.
Still, Dunk is too proud to not win by his own merits. He’s somehow maintained all his honor and noble beliefs in this backwards world, even though he doesn’t have a penny to his name outside of the one melted into his sword’s hilt. He’s also too naïve to realize why Egg is so educated for a boy of his age.
If you’ve read George R. R. Martin’s novellas, you know what’s coming this episode. That fortune teller wasn’t wrong when she looked into Egg’s eyes: The kid is a Targaryen on the lam. When his older brother, Aerion (remember him, from earlier?) starts terrorizing the puppeteer that Dunk’s fallen in love with, the young Egg stands up to the prince and orders his guards to unhand his new friend.
As it turns out, Egg’s real name is Aegon—it always is with these Targaryens!—though that’s information we’ll surely learn next week following the shock of this episode’s cliff-hanger. Plus, maybe we’ll finally see Dunk suit up and charge into battle. For now, at least he’s found a good foe.