‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Episode 5’s Biggest Twist Is Why ‘Game of Thrones’ Happens

Note: This story contains spoilers from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1, Episode 5.

Tragedy strikes in the final moments of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Episode 5. As Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) recovers from the injuries he sustained fighting Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett), he is interrupted by the arrival of Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel). Dunk immediately kneels in front of Baelor, pledging his fealty to the heir to the Iron Throne. “I need good men, Ser Duncan. The realm…,” Baelor softly responds.

The Targaryen prince asks Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas) if he would help him remove his helm. “Visor’s cracked. My fingers feel … fingers feel like wood,” Baelor murmurs. When Raymun and blacksmith Steely Pate (Youssef Kerkour) inform Baelor that the back of his helm has been crushed, he responds, “My brother’s mace, most like. He’s strong.” The blow turns out to be far worse than Raymun, Pate or Baelor suspected, though. The moment it is removed, Baelor staggers and turns, revealing that his helmet was the only thing holding the back of his skull together after a strike from his brother Maekar’s mace.

The prince falls backwards and lands in Dunk’s arms, who cries and begs for him to move, all while repeating, “I’m sorry.” Baelor never responds. He never blinks or moves again before the credits for “In the Name of the Mother” roll. This moment is not only lifted from author George R.R. Martin‘s original “Hedge Knight” novella, but it also fulfills a prophecy recited earlier in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

Even more importantly, perhaps, it helps paves the way for the events of “Game of Thrones.” Major spoilers ahead.

The future of House Targaryen

Baelor’s death in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Episode 5 is a pivotal moment not just in the show but in the entire larger history of its fictional world. It is the dream Baelor’s nephew Daeron (Henry Ashton) describes to Dunk in the show’s fourth episode, in which he tells Dunk about a vision he had of the hedge knight crushed beneath the weight of a dead dragon with “wings so large they could cover this meadow.” “It had fallen on top of you. But you were alive and the dragon was dead,” Daeron tells Dunk, unknowingly foreshadowing Baelor’s final moments falling into Dunk’s arms after the Trial of the Seven.

Daeron sees Baelor as a “great beast” because that is what the now-perished Targaryen would have become. He is a man, as viewers have come to realize, built of stronger character than most other Targaryens that have come before him and most that will come after him. He is free of the cruelty of characters like Aerion and the vanity of his brother Maekar (Sam Spruell), and he would have likely, by all accounts, done more to better and solidify his house’s place atop Westeros than any other Targaryen ruler since, perhaps, Aegon the Conqueror himself. That itself is noteworthy, given that House Targaryen’s downfall during Robert’s Rebellion comes just three generations after him.

Even more importantly, it is Baelor’s death that — spoilers — leads to his brother Maekar becoming king. This then leads to Maekar’s son Aegon V “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell) becoming king after his father, which leads to the further weakening of House Targaryen’s position, despite Egg’s best intentions. It is Egg’s son Jaehaerys II who then impulsively commands his two children, Rhaella and Aerys II, to marry based upon a prophecy he hears about the Prince Who Was Promised. Aerys II succeeds his father and not only produces Daenerys Targaryen, but also oversees a rule so terrible that he becomes known as “The Mad King.”

Baelor’s death, in other words, not only leads to his brothers Aerys I and Maekar taking the Iron Throne instead of him, but it also allows House Targaryen’s position to be further weakened without their dragons and for the Mad King himself to oversee their family’s destruction in Westeros. Consequently, while Dunk may believe himself insignificant right now, Baelor’s decision to defend him is one of the most significant moments in Westeros’ history.

The Season 1 finale of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is scheduled to premiere Sunday, Feb. 22 on HBO and HBO Max.

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