A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Recap: Enter The Dragon

The Targaryens — well, some of them — show up in this week's "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms." And their arrival affects Dunk's tournament chances in a way you might not expect.

As Dunk's voiceover waxes heroic about Ser Arlan of Pennytree, we watch a flashback of the drunken old man stumbling, naked, out of a house to pee. The montage that follows depicts the steady decline of a pretty average, aging and not-particularly-well-preserved hedge knight — though as Dunk visits all of the noble houses he can find at the tourney, he makes his mentor seem like Ser Arthur Dayne himself. Dunk spins tales of the old man's valiant service with each of the houses, hoping that one of the nobles will go along with it and vouch for the legitimacy of Dunk's knighthood.

Egg doesn't understand his ser's current quest. "Why do you treat these royal lapdogs like they're your betters?" he wonders. "They are my betters," Dunk answers, growing tired of the boy's willingness to speak his mind. Plus, he remains steadfast in his hope that Arlan's legacy will carry them through: "Ser Arlan was a great knight. Someone will remember him."

Just then, trumpets announce the arrival of the Targaryens, the current rulers of Westeros. Egg blanches at the sight and quickly announces his intention to return to camp and tidy up. Dunk hands off the horse and warns him not to rob him, then they part ways.

The dragons in attendance include Baelor Targaryen, hand of the king and heir to the Iron Throne; his brother, Maekar; and Maekar's little jerk of a son, Aerion. There are two more Targaryen princes that were supposed to be there, as well, but they haven't arrived; Maekar is annoyed that no one knows where his other sons, Daeron and Aegon, are. This is particularly vexing, because Daeron is supposed to compete in the tournament — though none of the Targaryens really want to be there.

Dunk sneaks into where the family is headquartered and overhears all about the missing princes, but he's caught eavesdropping when Maekar notices his hulking form just outside the door. Baelor bids him enter the room, and that's when a nervous Dunk makes his pitch: Might Baelor remember Ser Arlan? As it turns out, he does: They were opponents in a joust years before, and he's willing to vouch for Dunk. On the whole, Baelor seems kinder than the other Targaryens at the festival; as a grateful Dunk exits (in typically bumbling fashion), Baelor reminds him that knights can only pass down their sigil to blood relatives, so Dunk will have to find a sigil of his own.

After, Dunk and Egg take in a performance by the puppet troupe, led by a tall woman named Tanselle. They're both transfixed; when the show is done, Dunk tosses the woman (on whom he's clearly crushing) a few coins. Upon learning that she paints the puppets in her show, he asks if she'll paint his shield with a new design. She agrees, he's incredibly awkward, and afterward he and Egg are post-morteming the interaction in the ale tent when Ser Lyonel marches over and demands that Dunk join his side in the tug o' war that's about to unfold. They win.

The tournament officially gets underway that night. Dunk hauls Egg up on his shoulders to see the action above the crowd. Baelor's son, Prince Valarr, is one of the first riders. Egg is super into it, cheering and pumping his fists overhead. Dunk, though, seems overwhelmed. When the action gets messy and chaotic, he has flashbacks to burying Ser Arlan in the rain.

Back at their camp, Dunk is subdued, and Egg wonders if anything is the matter. "Do great knights live in the hedges and die by the side of a muddy road?" Dunk asks, already knowing the answer. "I think not. Ser Arlan wasn't gifted with sword or lance, and he drank, and he whored, and he was a hard man to know." He also never was a champion, so "What chance do I have," Dunk wonders, "truly?"

That said, Arlan cared for Dunk when no one would, and "he raised me to be an honorable man." The giant knight is angry that none of the lords can remember Arlan's name. "On the morrow," he says, taking a decisive bite of his hard salt beef, "we will show them what his hand has wrought."

What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!