After six glorious weeks of Westerosi bliss (and a bit of the ol’ devastation as well), A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms wrapped up with Episode 6, “The Morrow” on HBO. Did Ser Duncan The Tall (Peter Claffey) and his faithful squire Egg, aka Aegon Targaryen (Dexter Sol Ansell) live? Did they die?? Well, probably not, since there’s a second season coming. But plenty went down anyway, so let’s recap the season finale.
First up, though, how did we get here? Spoilers past this point, but the big event in the previous week’s episode was the Trial of Seven, which pit Dunk and his band of allies/weirdos against Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) and six others that ostensibly far outmatched Dunk’s junk. While Dunk prevailed in hand to hand combat with Aerion, it came at a great cost: the death of Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel), who was conked to death by his own brother, Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell).
This, by the way, came after Dunk had pledged his service to Baelor, the one good and true knight in the Seven Kingdoms as well as the heir to the Iron Throne. So in one fell swoop, Dunk went from essentially achieving his life’s dreams, to watching the Prince of the realm die in his arms and probably holding himself responsible – regardless of who hit who with a mace.
There’s a lot more to break down about what went on this season, but the tournament at Ashford is beginning to wrap up. So let’s recap A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, Episode 6 “The Morrow” as we say goodbye to Dunk and Egg. For now, at least.
Begone, Witch
The episode, of all things, opens with a sad saxophone solo (I’m picturing a shirtless Jon Hamm… You?) with Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) and a Maester standing there, with Lyonel handing a near catatonic and severely beaten Dunk his wineskin. Cut to titles, then back to Lyonel telling Dunk “been a wonderful tournament” while the Maester waves smokey herbs around Dunk’s body.
This show, I gotta say, is very funny. And after the non-stop battle last episode – other than when it stopped for a flashback to Young Dunk In Love – it’s nice to be reminded of that right here at the top of the episode. The stakes got very high and now they’re back where we like them: very low, with a chance of high rolling in at any time.
“Shame it’s all over,” continues Lyonel, continuing to monologue while Dunk barely listens. And it really underlines how the two men saw what just happened. For Lyonel, this is all just another day of life, death, having fun, who cares. He’s a lord, and it’s all good, whatever man. For Dunk, he tasted victory in terms of finding someone to believe in, but lost it.
But this also leads to an offer from Lyonel, who invites him to come with him to Tarth. They’ll “hunt, hawk” and make merry. And again this show is very darkly comic as Lyonel continues to talk, only to be interrupted by the Maester saying, “This man is dying, my lord. His wounds, they have mortified. It’s beyond my abilities.”
Look, we don’t want Dunk to die. But I think as viewers we also know he won’t die, so Lyonel being so casual in the face of Dunk’s impending demise, is again, pretty funny. And what follows, Lyonel telling the Maester that an “itchy arsehole” is beyond his abilities” and particularly, “Begone, witch. F**k off with you” seems tailor made for reaction GIFing, which is the highest form of praise I can give. Who cares about the content of a show when you’re getting good memes out of it?
By the way, if this does become a popular meme? Tell Cersei it was me.
Anyway, Lyonel gives him his diagnosis – Dunk will be fine – and then tells him, “Come with me to Storm’s End, and I will love you like a brother.” Lyonel also isn’t doing great either, by the way, as he limps over to take a piss and tells Dunk that if he doesn’t come to Storm’s End – which is, just for clarity, not in Tarth but in fact the home of the Baratheon Family in the Stormlands – he’ll “hate you like a brother.”
Dunk, though thanks Lyonel but adds that he only brings pain and suffering to those around him. Lyonel sighs and tells Dunk “you’ve done the realm a kindness. You’ll see that one day.” Arguably, Dunk has not, as the death of Baelor leads at least semi-directly to the events of Game of Thrones. But Lyonel doesn’t know that. Or does he?? No, he does not. “The only good Dragon is a dead Dragon.”
This leads to a yelling match, with Dunk demanding respect for Baelor, and Lyonel pushing back – rightly – that he fought for Dunk. Not only that, six other men did, and two of them died beyond Baelor. “Your prince fought for you against men sworn to protect him. He risked nothing! And the gods don’t favor a fraud.”
“Then why have they favored me?” Dunk answers, and this gets to the theme of this episode: why is Dunk still alive? What does he have to live for? His life has been saved at the cost of multiple deaths, when all he wanted was to make the memory of his mentor Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) proud. Instead, he’s become the center of a shift in the power structure of Westeros, which is not what Dunk wanted.
“This is not favor. This is mockery,” Lyonel concludes, and to him at least, the deal is done, with Dunk agreeing to come with him “after the roast.”
Interestingly, Lyonel predicts there’s a “war coming.” But this is Westeros. When is there not a war coming?
Comedy Central’s Roast Of Baelor Targaryen
In the Targaryen tradition, Baelor is put on a funeral pyre and burned as the assembled Targs and others watch. Meanwhile, the beaten Dunk stumbles over to the one Targaryen we haven’t spent too much time with: Prince Valarr Targaryen (Oscar Morgan). He’s the direct son of Baelor, by the way (you can check out our Targaryen Family Tree for more on that).
“Your father, he was a great man,” Dunk stammers, not the best intro. But Valarr brings the whole thing to an even sadder place, noting that his father died in Valarr’s armor. “Plenty of sons have died in their father’s armor,” Valarr says. “How many fathers have died in their son’s?”
Okay, another theme here, that’s been running through the season and strongly in this episode. While the previous episode was somewhat about mothers (either literal in the case of Yung Dunk or figurative in case of the godlike The Mother), this episode is about fathers and father figures… Laying Baelor to rest, and as we’ll see shortly, Dunk settling the memory of Ser Arlan; not to mention Egg and Dunk’s relationship, which is as much son and father as brothers.
Valarr continues that Baelor had it in him to be a great king, which is probably true. “The greatest since Aegon The Dragon,” says Valarr, which is maybe a little over the top, going all the way back to the original Targaryen king, who first sat the Iron Throne and united the Seven Kingdoms. My take? Baelor was a good guy and a good businessman and would have run Westeros like Bloomberg in his first term as Mayor of New York: efficiently. But frankly, that’s far too specific a reference, so never mind. Nobody cares about Baelor The Efficient.
Valarr wonders why Dunk wasn’t taken, and Dunk wonders the same. So Valarr asks him to leave. Or rather says, “Begone with you, Ser Duncan,” which is essentially Valarr saying, “why don’t you go kill yourself?”
Apples To Apples
After stumbling through the tournament grounds, which are being taken down, and enduring the stares of the populace, Dunk is found by newly minted knight Ser Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas), who is limping and cut after the trial, but certainly doing better than Dunk.
Raymun is shocked Dunk went to Baelor’s funeral, and while Dunk knows everyone blames him for Baelor’s death, Raymun doesn’t, and gives him a sweet hug that goes on a little too long and they both feel a little uncomfortable with. Perhaps “bros” is a concept that hasn’t made its way to the Seven Kingdoms yet?
Meanwhile, Raymun has been left with basically nothing after the pissed off, traitorous Steffon Fossoway (Edward Ashley) took his tent and left. Raymun isn’t hurt though. “First Trial of Seven in 100 years, and Lord Steffon Fossoway got beat by his little cousin,” Raymun says, practically giddy. And Raymun has his own crest now, a ripe green apple.
Oh, and a wife?? Seems like Raymun boned down with Red (Rowan Robinson), aka the prostitute who was working for Ser Manfred Dondarrion (Daniel Monks). Given the events of last episode, when Red got caught cheering for Dunk before it was cool, it’s likely Manfred released her from his service. Also, fun little note: Red’s real name is Rowan, the same name as the actress who plays her. This also shuts down a big theory about her that she will play a major character with red hair who shows up in the second Dunk & Egg novella – though that character is named “Rohanne” so maybe not!
Okay, enough future spoilers. Raymun and Rowan are married, and Dunk kindly does not say anything about Rowan’s past, who is all in on Raymun’s prowess on the battlefield. Raymun explains that he needed help with his armor after the Trial, she helped him, one thing led to another, and now she’s with child.
Look, it’s been like a few days, tops, since the Trial – Targaryens are usually cremated quickly after death – so yeah, Raymun is getting played. “Feels like a boy,” says Rowan.
That’s when the Targ soldiers show up to bring Dunk to meet his Maekar.
Meet Your Maekar
Sorry to say that twice, I thought it was a good joke. After a minute of stony silence, Maekar gives Dunk the DL on the fallout from the Trial. Aerion is going to the East, with Maekar hoping that a few years in the Free Cities may “change him for the better.” Since we don’t get a “where everyone ended up” montage at the end of the episode, and Aerion doesn’t really come back to the narrative about Dunk and Egg, I’ll note that arguably his exile did change him, though for the better is arguable. And later, Aerion dies drinking Wildfire thinking it’ll turn him into a dragon. It does not.
But getting to it, the bereft Maekar lays out that everyone will think he meant to kill Baelor, and will “hear the whispers till the day I die.”
Dunk thinks differently, that it’s his fault, and Maekar agrees. “You will hear the whispers as well,” Maekar continues. And furthermore, he lays out that when the King dies, and each time “a battle is lost or a crop fails the fools will say Baelor would not have let it happen. But the hedge knight killed him.”
Crushingly, Dunk agrees. He’s been thinking about how if he lost they would have taken his hand or foot. Could he have spared one? Is his foot worth the life of a prince? As Egg surreptitiously listens, Dunk does an episode name drop, recalling how every night at evenfall, Ser Arlan would say, “I wonder what the morrow will bring.” And in Dunk’s estimation, he wonders if he didn’t survive for a reason. Will there be a time when “the realm will need that foot even more than a prince’s life?”
“Not bloody likely,” says Maekar. But perhaps he’s wrong.
Even though Maekar can barely stand Dunk, he makes Dunk’s second job offer of the episode. Egg is devoted to Dunk, and will only be his squire. While Maekar thinks Egg is an “unruly lad” Dunk instead says he’s a good lad who “needs a stern hand.” Is that Dunk? Who threatens to clout Egg’s ears but never does? One wonders.
Maekar’s offer? Come to Summerhall, swear his sword to Maekar, train Aegon, and Maekar’s master-at-arms will train Dunk, giving him all the skills that Ser Arlan never did. But Dunk refuses. He’s “done with princes.”
Egg is waiting for Dunk at the bottom of the stairs, and starts their convo off with a lie. “Were you spying?” asks Dunk. “No,” lies Egg.
Dunk knows he was listening, though… He can’t take him on, and Egg sadly says something that probably hurts even more than all the injuries combined: “Maybe you’re not the knight I thought you were.”
A Guy Of The Seven Kingdoms
Flashback time, as Dunk talks to Ser Arlan mere moments before he died. It’s clear Dunk wants to ask Ser Arlan about his potentially knighthood. But instead, the dying Ser Arlan lays out the origin of his name. Where Arlan comes from, when one becomes a knight, one nails a penny to the oak in the square. “If we return” they take it down. Sadly, there’s not a lot of room for new pennies on the tree, which, if you can’t figure it out, means not many of them return.
“Why did you never knight me?” Dunk asks Arlan, who seems dead. Was Arlan scared Dunk would leave? Or was it something else?
Arlan is still. Dunk begins to cry, calling “Ser?” over and over.
Hilariously, Arlan is not dead. At least not yet. “And that’s why they call it the Pennytree,” he says, waking up. “A true knight always finishes a story.”
So is Dunk a knight or not? Did Ser Arlan knight him before he passed for real? A true knight always finishes a story (hey, Arlan just said that) so stay tuned.
Too Tents
Over at the Beesbury tent we get yet another Westerosi funeral. Turns out Ser Humfrey Beesbury (Danny Collins) is placed in a coffin covered in bees. Raymun doesn’t know how they do it, wondering if it’s magic. But Rowan knows better: they put the queen in the coffin.
They make out more, while kids happily play and make fun of the Targaryens. Speaking of which, also in the tent? Daeron Targaryen (Henry Ashton), who accuses Dunk of kidnapping Egg (he didn’t) kicking off the Trial.
“Have you no shame coming here?” Dunk says, and if you look close you can see himself pointing at himself in a mirror (not really, but you get the gist). Dunk tells Daeron the men are dead because of him, and Daeron asks if Dunk will take him to squire. Sadly, Daeron explains that Aerion wasn’t always a monster, and of Egg, “No doubt we’ll make a man of him too,” he says ruefully. Daeron ponders about nature versus nurture, and what he’s getting at is that Egg is a good boy, and with the right hand could be a great man. He doesn’t have to subsume to the Targaryen madness.
That Ol’ Targaryen Madness
“He liked fishing,” Daeron says of Aerion, and we cut to Egg with a rotting fish on his plate. Egg looks in the mirror (for real this time), and sees the tufts of his Targaryen hair growing back. Tiptoeing to Aerion’s bedroom with a knife, Egg is only stopped by Maekar, who is sitting there silent in the dark.
To break this down a little bit, yes, we’re very clearly underlining that left to his own devices, Egg could become as bad as Aerion. And the bedroom scene is similar to what Aerion used to do, threatening to geld young Aegon and make him into a sister so he could marry him. I doubt Aegon wants to marry Aerion, but after he didn’t die in the Trial, Aegon means to finish the job.
Maekar calms Egg, who drops the knife. Is Maekar considering killing his son? Something else? We don’t know because Dunk asks Maekar for an audience.
Dunk’s Offer
Hey, remember why we’re here? It’s because it’s Lady Gwin Ashford’s (Cara Harris) name day. As Dunk waits for Maekar, she approaches him, and tells him she doesn’t blame him for ruining it. “It was a rotten thing they’ve done to you, and you were right in your reply,” she says.
Dunk thanks her, and she walks right off. Weird scene, but it serves to remind Dunk that he is on the right path. He’s a hedge knight (well, sort of), not a sworn sword, and his life’s mission is to fight for the people. So perhaps it gives him the ammunition to say what he offers to Maekar.
Recalling that Baelor said the realm needed good men, he tells Maekar that he will squire Egg, but not at Summerhall. “Egg is no prince,” Dunk says. Dunk thinks being away from the trappings of his life as a Targaryen would be good for him, but Maekar seems unmoved. Dunk will squire Egg the way he was squired: on the road. Now Maekar is pissed, but Dunk explains that Daeron “never slept in a ditch” and “All the beef Aerion ate was taken rare and bloody.”
“He’s my last son,” Maekar says, perhaps his first honest, human moment in the series. That, in essence, is the real reason he won’t let Egg go.
Sweetfoot Returns
While Dunk goes to pack, shocker of shockers, Sweetfoot – the horse he sold for armor – returns. How did Sweetfoot return? Raymun bought him back, so that he’d have something majestic to ride with Lyonel. But Dunk isn’t going with Lyonel, he’s doing what he should have done all along: “Ride her in the other direction.”
As for Raymun, he’s going to build up the cider business… And Dunk gives Sweetfoot to Raymun. The latter is shocked, but after a quick sharing of an apple, they bond. After all, every knight needs a hose.
Later, Dunk takes a penny and nails it to a tree by the stream. Is it to say that he’ll be back some day? Or perhaps just commemorate that he was commemorating the memory of Ser Arlan at the tournament? Regardless, he takes his two remaining horses and gets ready to leave. “Where would the old man go?” Dunk asks Chestnut, though shockingly the horse doesn’t answer.
That’s when Egg arrives, and great news: “My lord father says I am to serve you.” Dunk stands up with pride. “Serve you… Ser.”
As the music swells and there’s not a dry eye in the house, Dunk gives Chestnut to Egg, tells him to stay off Thunder.
Into The Great Beyond
So where are Dunk and Egg headed next? Dunk doesn’t know. They could go anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms–
“Nine,” interrupts Egg.
He explains that there are actually Nine Kingdoms, and they argue with Dunk saying, “Do you want a clout in the ear?” to the cheers of anyone who read George R.R. Martin’s novellas (Dunk says that a lot in the books). And so Egg counts them off: Crownlands, Westerlands, Stormlands, Riverlands, The Iron Islands, The North, The Reach, The Vale of Arryn, and Dorne.
“No, but–” says Dunk, realization hitting him harder than Aerion’s flail.
Egg is unphased, explaining he’s never been over the Red Mountains before, “and I hear they have good puppet shows in Dorne.” His not so subtle hint that perhaps Dunk could go after his crush, Tanselle Too-Tall (Tansyn Crawford), who fled after Aerion’s attack a few episodes back.
And then we get one of the most beautiful shots in the history of this franchise, as the music swells, and Dunk, Egg, and Ser Arlan of Pennytree ride off into the distance. (To be clear, this is not the real Ser Arlan; it’s a memory ghost, or metaphor if you prefer).
On the left? An oak tree, just like the one seen on Dunk’s shield. On the right? A sunset, or perhaps sunrise, also like on Dunk’s shield. Ser Arlan rides his horse off into the field on the left, as Dunk and Egg ride on… After all this time, Dunk no longer needs Ser Arlan, he’s forging a story of his own.
And then the kicker, the title comes up: “A Knight of the Nine Kingdoms.” Never change, TV show. Never change.
Hard-Boiled Eggs
But wait, there’s more! We cut back to Ashford as a beaten Aerion is taken away. Valarr riding after him. As for Maekar, he’s searching the camp, looking for someone. You know where this is going. “Where’s Aegon?” Maekar asks, with a guard saying he hasn’t seen the prince.
“Where the f**k is he??” yells Maekar, and then we cut to credits for real as “Sixteen Tons” by Tennessee Ernie Ford plays.
So yeah, in case it isn’t clear, Maekar did not give Egg his permission to leave with Dunk, Egg once again lied and ran off. While the novellas don’t incorporate this plotline at all, in Season 2, yeah, Maekar’s gonna be hot on the trail of Ser Dunk and his lyin’ squire Egg. See you in 2027!
A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Premiere Dates And Episode Guide:
New episodes of A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms premiere Sundays on HBO and HBO Max, at 10pm ET. The season will premiere with one episodes on January 18, followed by one new episode weekly until the season finale.
Here’s what we expect from the full list of episodes in A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms with premiere dates.
- Sunday, January 18, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 1
- Sunday, January 25, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 2
- Sunday, February 1, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 3
- Sunday, February 8, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 4
- Sunday, February 15, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 5
- Sunday, February 22, 2026: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Season 1, Episode 6 *Season Finale*
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