A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Season 1 Finale: Are Dunk And Egg Done For Good? Plus, Grade It!

Forget all the talk of dragons: Wanna know how to tell "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is a fantasy series? Dunk is still standing in the season finale despite the many awful hits he incurred during the bloodbath of last week's episode.

So how does our mangled hedge knight move on after his pyrrhic win in the trial by combat? And what about his pint-sized, cueball-headed, wannabe squire? Read on for the highlights of Episode 6, "The Morrow."

"Alone Together" by Kenny Dorham playing on the soundtrack as Lyonel and his maester observe a near-insensate Dunk. Lyonel pulls out a flask of spirits and asks Dunk if he wants to join him on his travels, but the healer has news that curtails those plans: Dunk is dying.

"His wounds, they have mortified. It's beyond my abilities," the maester says. Baratheon shoos him away and offers his sage medical advice, instead: "It's fine. You're fine." He then invites the hedge knight to come with him to Storm's End, but Dunk turns it down. "All I do is bring pain and suffering to those around me," he reasons. When Lyonel casually notes that Baelor's death is no great loss, Dunk takes umbrage, saying Baelor fought and died for him — and that makes Lyonel mad. Though he and the others put their lives on the line, he reasons, the prince "fought for you against men sworn to protect him. He risked nothing! And the gods don't favor a fraud." Then Baratheon once more invites him to consider leave with him: "The caravan departs after the roast."

The "roast" in question is the funeral pyre for Baelor, which is attended by a whole bunch of Targaryens. Dunk comes by afterward, when Baelor's grieving son, Valarr, is the only silver-hair around. "Why would the gods take him and leave you?" he asks Dunk, who admits he has wondered the same.

Dunk's mood is only slightly brightened when he runs into Raymun in the camp, though he's perplexed as to how Raymun met — and apparently, married?! — the red-headed sex worker Rowan, given that it's only been 12 or so hours since the trial. "Anyway, she said I've got her with child now, so I figured we ought to get married," Raymun says happily, proving he's a very green apple in more ways than one. Dunk has literally no idea how to respond to this, much less what to do with his face at this moment in time. Luckily, he's rescued by the approach of Prince Maekar's men, demanding an audience.

The prince is in a bad way when Dunk limps into his chambers. Maekar announces that he's sent Aerion to the Free Cities for a few years to straighten him out (um, OK?. He also laments that he'll never be able to escape the rumors that he orchestrated Baelor's death in order to get the Iron Throne for himself.

As their contentious discussion continues, neither man knows that Egg is hidden and eavesdropping. So the boy hears when Maekar tells Dunk that Egg is refusing to squire for anyone but him, and when Dunk vouches for Egg as a good kid who just needs a strong, guiding hand. "Will you have him?" Maekar asks, offering a place for Dunk at Summerhall in exchange for Dunk training Egg as his squire. In turn, Maekar's master-at-arms will shore up the inadequacies in Dunk's own training.

Dunk thanks him, but says "I think I'm done with princes," and leaves. On the way out, he sees Egg in the hall but can't bring himself to say much to the boy. "Maybe you're not the knight I thought you were," Egg says sadly.

Daeron finds Dunk later and exhorts him to change his mind about Egg, reasoning that life in House Targaryen will turn the sweet kid into a monster like Aerion sooner or later. And that chilling notion seems to sway him: Dunk returns to Maekar and says he'll take Egg to squire, but as a hedge knight, not at Summerhall. "I forbid him to live as a peasant," Maekar says, and won't hear another word: "He's my last son."

Welp! With nothing left to do, Dunk breaks camp and prepares to leave. He's surprised when Sweetfoot, the horse he had to sell earlier in the season, trots up to him: Turns out, Raymun bought back the steed for his friend. But Dunk says Fossoway should take the horse to the orchard with him, instead, and Raymun reluctantly agrees. Then Dunk nails a penny to a tree — like Ser Arlen told him the young men of his village used to do when they were called to action by their lord — and leaves.

Just then, though, Dunk runs up, wearing his squire clothes. "My lord father says I am to serve you," he announces. "Serve you, ser," Dunk says pointedly, and just like that, the boys are back! They mount their horses and talk about where they'll head, which leads to a conversation of how there are actually nine kingdoms in the realm. "Crownlands, Westerlands, Stormlands, Riverlands, the Iron Islands, the North, the Reach, the Vale of Arryn, and Dorne," Egg ticks off on his fingers as Dunk listens, dumbfounded. "I've never been over the Red Mountains before," the boy adds, "and I hear they have good puppet shows in Dorne." Tanselle, they're coming!

As the pair ride away slowly, we see Ser Arlen on Sweetfoot, riding alongside them. But at a certain point, he turns and leaves Dunk and Egg to travel their own path alone. A title card announces that we've just watched "A Knight of the Nine Kingdoms." And that's all folks... until we see Maekar realizing that Egg is MIA as the Targaryens leave the tournament. "Where the f–k is he?!" the prince yells. That sneaky little cueball!

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the season finale? Grade it — and the season as a whole — via the polls below, then hit the comments with your thoughts!