Notice: This story accommodates spoilers from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1, Episode 6.
Did you catch that, “Sport of Thrones” followers?
There are a selection of noteworthy moments within the “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1 finale, titled “The Morrow,” together with Egg’s (Dexter Sol Ansell) resolution to disregard his father Maekar’s (Sam Spruell) needs and start touring throughout Westeros with Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey). However lengthy earlier than that climactic second, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” showrunner Ira Parker, who co-wrote “The Morrow” with Ti Mikkel, packs in a cheeky nod to fan-favorite “Sport of Thrones” hero Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie).
“It’s been an exquisite match. Disgrace it’s throughout. House is, uh, it’s brutally uninteresting,” Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) says in the beginning of “The Morrow,” while mendacity towards a tree with Dunk. Turning towards his new good friend, Lyonel says, “Hey, you would include me! Yeah, we’ll hunt and hawk and sail, make merry. I’ll sharpen that iron of yours so that you don’t make such a grand idiot of your self subsequent time … Have you ever ever been to Tarth?”
Lyonel’s supply falls totally on unhearing ears from Dunk, who is simply too overwhelmed by guilt at that second over his function in Prince Baelor Targaryen’s (Bertie Carvel) dying to assume all that a lot about his future. Nevertheless, Lyonel’s point out of Tarth ought to make “Sport of Thrones” followers’ ears perk up. The island, also known as the Sapphire Isle, will not be solely part of the Stormlands and, subsequently, loyal to Home Baratheon, however it’s also Brienne’s residence.
Dunk’s descendant
The “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” reference goes even deeper than that, although. That’s as a result of “A Music of Ice and Hearth” writer George R.R. Martin confirmed throughout a 2016 look at Balticon, a conference in Baltimore, that Brienne is a descendant of Dunk’s. Lyonel’s Tarth line in “The Morrow” is, consequently, a playful reference to Dunk and Brienne’s connection, in addition to a sly little bit of foreshadowing that helps arrange simply what an enduring legacy Dunk will finally go away in Westeros by the point every part is claimed and achieved.
Previous to his public affirmation of Dunk and Brienne’s familial bond, e-book readers had already turn into suspicious about it. Not solely are each Dunk and Brienne abnormally tall and honorable knights, however Martin additionally describes them each at completely different factors on the web page as being “thick as a citadel wall.”
In “A Feast for Crows,” Martin’s fourth novel in his “Music of Ice and Hearth” e-book sequence, Brienne additionally remembers seeing Dunk’s defend in her father’s armory. Remembering the design, Brienne paints it over her personal defend in order that she will journey throughout Westeros with out being acknowledged.
Lyonel’s blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Tarth reference within the “Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” finale is one other occasion of the HBO sequence discovering a option to subtly join its story and its characters to these in “Sport of Thrones.” From a metatextual perspective, it’s also enjoyable to see the “Thrones” spinoff pay homage to Dunk and Brienne’s connection, on condition that “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is called after the “Sport of Thrones” Season 8 episode during which Brienne is memorably knighted simply earlier than the Battle of Winterfell.
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1 is streaming now on HBO Max.
