Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4 BREAKDOWN & Connections to Game of Thrones!

That's right, everyone. A new episode of

A Night of the Seven Kingdoms has come

early, and so have I. I didn't need to

hear that. Two days before the Super

Bowl, and the gods have gifted us with

an episode that sets up one of the most

epic battles in Westeros history, and

it's a battle that only features 14

people. How can something so small feel

so big? At least that's what my ex told

me. In this video, we'll take a deep

dive into all the Game of Thrones

connections, analyze who's fighting on

each side of the trial of seven, a clue

that hints there's more to this fortune

teller we saw, and why Dunk may have

never been kned at all. But before we

begin, I write, edit, and produce these

videos all by myself. So, every like,

subscribe, and comment goes a long way

to help me get into that YouTube

algorithm. Also, I apologize for the

sound in this video. Apparently, my

direwolf thought it would be fun to use

my expensive microphone as a chew toy,

and I didn't have time to get something

new. When we opened the episode, I

thought we were initially looking at the

stars. After all, hedge knights like

Dunk sleep under them. In fact, he told

Tensel to put a shooting star on his

shield. But as the camera pans lower,

we're treated to a far more grim scene.

These aren't stars, but the glimmer of

torch light bouncing off the stone walls

of the Asheford Castle dungeon. Last

episode, Dunc laid hands on Prince Aryan

Targaryen. And when I say laid hands, I

mean beat the out of him. Prince

Aryan, who's the son of Mar and grandson

to the current king, Darren II, was

enraged that a commoner would insult the

Targaryen name by performing the

legendary tale of Serwin of the mirror

shield, a story from the Age of Heroes

that depicts a knight slaying a dragon

by using a special reflective shield.

And since the Targaryenss call

themselves the blood of the dragon,

Aryen thinks this is tantamount to

treason. In the book, Dunc says he

doesn't know what came over him. He saw

a girl in need and without thinking

started doing his best Chris Brown

impression. Now he must pay the

consequences of roughing up a prince

who's ninth in line to the throne. One

of the things I love about this show is

its attention to detail. Last episode,

Plumber mentions that rain might be on

the way. And what do we see as Dunc

looks out his cell window? Rain and a

rat. But unlike rats in King's Landing,

which are treated like pests, Dunk

lightly pets this one. He grew up in

Flea Bottom and knows what it's like to

be the lowest of the low. It's actually

rat catchers that Blood and Cheese posed

as to gain access to the royal quarters.

In the aftermath of the tragedy that was

Blood and Cheese, Sir Otto High Tower

had more cats brought into the Red Keep

after King Aegon II ordered every rat

catcher hung. So, I like to think that

the cat egg tells us Aryan threw in the

well is a distant ancestor of one of

these cats. Both the rain and rat are

examples of pathetic fallacy. The rain

foreshadowing Dunk's descent into the

trial of seven and the rat the betrayal

of Sir Stephan Fosway, but more on that

in a bit. Egg arrives in his princely

Targaryen robes. Last episode, it was

revealed he was Aegon V, 10th in line to

the throne and fourth son of Mar

Targaryen. In fact, Dunk guesss how many

Aegons have been king. There's been

Aegon the Conqueror, Aegon the Usurper,

seen in House of the Dragon, Aegon the

Dragon Bane, and Aegon the Unworthy,

being 10th in line to the throne, Agg's

been given the title Aegon the Unlikely.

However, last episode, we had a fortune

teller claim that Aeen will die as king

in a fire. In my last video, I pointed

out that the actress who plays the

fortune teller is the same woman who

played the inkeeper in episode 1. Now,

there could be any number of reasons for

this. However, there's one wild theory

out there that I think is pretty cool.

Some think that this person is actually

Brendan Blood Raven Rivers, a Targaryen

bastard and sorcerer who would one day

be known as the three-eyed raven. We

also saw his younger self in House of

the Dragon. He possessed the power to

glamour people into thinking they were

someone else, and he would have been

alive during the events of the Asheford

Tourney. Some have even said this

appears to be part of a red Weinstein

birthark which Brendan is known to have.

Anyway, let me know what you think. In

my last video, I discussed how dreams,

visions, and fortunes have a long

history in the Game of Thrones universe,

especially when it comes to the

Targaryenss. There's Denise the Dreamer,

who foresaw the Doom of Valyria 12 years

before it happened. Aegon the Conqueror,

who predicted a Targaryen would unify

Westeros to fight against the White

Walkers. and Helena Targaryen, just to

name a few. A Knight of the Seven

Kingdoms adds Darren Targaryen to this

list. Egg's eldest brother and eighth in

line to the throne. Not to be confused

with the current king, King Darren II.

Darren was the drunk we met back in

episode 1, the one who told Dun to stay

away from him as he saw him in a dream.

Darren was commanded by his father,

Prince Mar, to take Egg from their

summer residence at Summerhal to Ashford

Meadow, where Egg was to squire for

Darren in the turnney. Darren is no

fighter and never had plans to attend

the tournament. Thus, Egg went looking

for a new night to squire. As Dunc says,

Egg was so adamant about squiring that

he'd have squired for a donkey. Darren

tells Dunc that his dreams are unlike

yours and mine. His come true. In his

dream, he saw Dunk, a large fire, and a

dead dragon with wings so large they

could cover the entire Asheford Meadow.

Now, this dream can't be true, at least

not literally. Dragons haven't been seen

in Westeros for 56 years. The last

dragon died in 153 AC and was so small,

stunted, and sickly it never grew to a

large size. In fact, it was never even

given a name. It won't be until 90 years

after the Ashford Tournament that

Daenerys Targaryen's dragons, Drogon,

Viserion, and Rhaegal hatch across the

sea in Essos. So, if it isn't a literal

dragon, maybe this dream is more

metaphorical, meaning this dead dragon

is a member of House Targaryen. If

that's the case, it could mean Dunc is

responsible or somehow involved with

this death. He'll even ask Darren if it

was his fault, which he says he doesn't

know. So, for those of you who haven't

read the book, you're probably thinking,

>> "If it's who I think it is, and I think

it is."

>> OH, GOD.

>> EGG HAS come with food for a famish

dunk. Food and an apology. He lied to

Dunc and Dunc is pretty pissed at him

and rightfully so. If it weren't for

Egg, he'd likely never have been in such

a situation. To make matters worse, poor

Dunk thought this might have all been a

joke to make a fool out of him. In fact,

the show alludes to Dunk as this foolish

knight, especially through the tale of

Florian and Jon. We saw a reenactment of

this story by Tansel's puppeteer troop

in episode 2. In fact, Dunc will visit

the abandoned puppeteer pavilion in

which he'll hold up the decapitated head

of Florian. That's a pretty ominous

message and one that flies in the face

of the story's true message. Florian and

Jean Keiel reinforces the theme that a

true knight often doesn't look like the

knights found in songs. Florian's

decapitated head could also be

interpreted as the death of the ideal

knight. It's something only found in

legend. And this is something Dunc will

struggle with himself. AND AN ALL TRUE

LIGHT AMONG YOU.

>> In the book, Dunc wouldn't have been

able to see this puppet as Aryen had the

entire puppeteer pavilion burned. Egg

tells Dunc the truth, how he and his

brother were supposed to hide at the inn

until the end of the tournament. It was

even Darren who shaved Egg's head to

disguise his silver white hair. Dunc

states that it was bad luck that the two

of them found each other, which

contradicts the shooting star Egg said

was good luck from episode 1. Dunc then

meets with Egg's uncle, Bor Targaryen,

the current hand of the king. We can see

him wearing the pin here and next in

line to the Iron Throne. Essentially, he

is the second most powerful man in all

of Westeros. We met him briefly in

episode 2. He was the man who granted

Dunk the ability to participate in the

tournament. He reminds me a lot of King

Viseris from House the Dragon. Smart,

pragmatic, and well read. Not one to

rush to judgment, unlike some kings.

will kill them all.

>> And there are some small details in this

scene that show us the type of man Bor

really is. First, we see that he's

reading and surrounded by books. We

learned in episode 1 that he'd

feverishly study up on his opponents to

gain an advantage. Whether it be in

one-on-one combat or the battlefield,

Bor is also fantastic at keeping his

cool. Several times, Dunc raises his

voice to the prince when I'm sure lesser

kings would not have stood for it. But

the most important thing here is that

Bor is putting justice and truth before

his family. Bor could have easily taken

the testimony of Aryen and Darren who

said that Dunc kidnapped Egg to have him

immediately executed. Additionally, he

didn't have to inform Dunk of his right

to a trial by combat. On the other hand,

Bor can't simply pardon Dunk. An offense

has been committed and the last person

who laid hands on a royal had the

offending hand chopped off. And not only

did Dunc lay a hand, but also a foot. So

that would be lpped off, too. This is

why Bor asked Dunc how good a knight he

truly is. Because the only option to

avoid this fate is a trial by combat.

The ritual of trial by combat originated

with the Andals who sailed to Westeros

from the narrow sea thousands of years

ago. It's based in their religion, the

faith of the seven. They believed that

the gods, specifically the warrior,

would intervene in mortal struggles to

grant strength to the righteous party.

We saw Sir Robin Reesing invoke the

warrior's name last episode.

>> We are a vessel for the warrior.

>> Between all the Game of Thrones shows,

we've seen three trial by combats thus

far. Tyrion Lannister, who chose Braun

as his combatant against House Aaron in

season 1. Sander Clelegane versus

Bareric Dondarrion, who would later be

resurrected by Thoros of Mere. And who

can forget Tyrion once again who chose

Oberin Martell, the Viper himself,

against Sandor's brother, the Mountain.

But as we'll see, there's an offshoot of

the trial by combat, rarely in vote,

called a trial of seven. The last known

trial of seven was 167 years ago when

the legitimacy of King Magor taking the

throne was challenged by a group called

the Faith. The battle was an absolute

bloodbath with only King Magor

surviving. The Andals believe that if

seven champions fought, the gods would

be more likely to intervene and see the

guilty party punished. In fact, later

on, when Raymond Fossaway is kned by

Lionel Baratheon, three of these gods,

the warrior, father, and mother are

invoked. Bor orders Aegon to pour dunk

some wine, making me think of when young

Rei was tasked with such duties during

the reign of her father, King Viseris.

It wasn't just for her to pour wine to

the small council, but a way for her to

hear how the council made decisions. a

subtle way to prepare her to one day be

queen. Dunc immediately kneels and tells

the prince that Aegon was a good boy

that intended no harm. And it's Bor's

response here I want all of us to have

in the back of our minds. As the story

progresses,

>> one need not intend harm to do it.

>> Bor tells Egg he should have come to him

and not Sir Duncan to stop Aryen. But

Egg says there was no time. Egg's act

Baylor says was no kindness to Sir

Duncan as it put him in the situation

he's currently in. And Egg goes one step

further to tell his uncle that he wished

Duncan killed Aryen. This echoes what he

yelled during Aryen's joust just the

other day. Bor, like the other

Targaryenss, are fully aware of what an

evil Aryen is, stating, "The Septum

say we must love our brothers." It's

kind of interesting then that at the end

of the episode, Bor will join the fight

against his own brother, Mar. With Egg

leaving Dunk alone with Bor. Bor

outlines just how dire Dun's situation

is. Makers returned having found his

impedent drunk of a son in that inn a

day's ride to the south. And now Darren

claims Dunc was the one who kidnapped

Egg. When Dunc asks the prince if he

believes it to be true, the prince does

not answer. He absolutely knows that

Bedar and Aryen are liars. But there's

one thing that still remains true. Dunc

laid hands on a prince and for that he

must be punished. Aryen wants his head.

A regular trial would almost certainly

find Dunk guilty. This is why Bor, whose

hands are kind of tied here, does the

only thing he can and tells Dunc to

invoke his right to a trial by combat.

That way, the gods can decide the

outcome. The next scene sees Lords

Ashford, Tyrell, who we saw briefly in

episode 2. Bor, Mar, and Aryen hold

court over Dunk. Aryen, who shows his

disrespect by spending most of the time

smashing walnuts, thinks he can refuse

the trial by combat. That can only

happen if Aryen withdraws his claim.

This is when Aryen invokes the trial of

seven, most likely thinking that there's

no way a lowly knight such as Dunc could

amass six other knights by morning.

Here, Bor's hands are tied as well. It's

within Aryen's right to demand such a

trial. Also, as an aside, I love how

Lord Ashford got down on his knees to

retrieve Aryen's nut. I didn't need to

hear that. There's probably no one else

more displeased at this decision than

Aryen's father, who you can hear in the

background calling Aryan an idiot as

they exit the hall. Not only does this

put Aryen in danger, but other members

of the King's Guard and Mar himself, who

will fight alongside his son in the

trial. Once dismissed, a dejected Dunk

laments his existence, asking his horses

if he's going to die. Last episode, Egg

said that his father would often remark

that talking to horses was useless

because they're stupid creatures. Out

pops Raymond Fossaway, who's got some

sort of bromance with our boy Dunk. No

doubt the entire meadow has heard the

story of Dunk beating up the prince.

Inside, we see Raymond's cousin, Stefan

Fossaway, eating an apple, the iconic

fruit emlazed on the Fossaway sigil and

armor. Last episode, we heard how Stefan

has no ounce of chivalry in his blood.

He'll do anything to get ahead,

including take on challengers he knows

are already injured, so it came as a

surprise to me when he claims to have

seen what Aryen did to Tansel. And it's

a matter of honor that he fights

alongside Dunk to write this wrong. The

Fossaways also hate the Targaryenss,

seeing them as incestuous wararmongers.

However, we'll see just how far Stefan's

honor goes at the end of the episode.

With two currently on Dunk's side,

Stefan says he can get other men to

fight for honor and glory. Men such as

Lionel Baratheon, Tibultt Lannister, and

Ao Bracken. We know from the end of the

episode, Stefan never went to any of

these men. The only reason Lionel is

there is because Egg asked him. In the

book, Dunc himself enlists Lord

Lannister and Bracken, who bluntly tell

him it's not their fight. So, it's kind

of a big FU when Stefan says, "You shall

die under my watch, sir.

>> I promise you that."

>> Technically, Dunc could run. However,

this outcome would almost certainly

result in his death. And even if he did

survive, he'd live the rest of his life

in fear and never get to pursue his

dream of being a knight. Dunc is totally

caught off guard when Ekk arrives. And

not only that, he's brought his brother,

Darren. Dunc doesn't take too kindly to

the man who lied about him kidnapping

Egg, but he's come with a pretty good

offer. Darren, who just had his feet

whipped by his father, is told that he

must join his brother's side in the

battle. But Darren basically intends to

get hit in the head once by Dunk and lay

on the ground for the remainder of the

fight, essentially making it a seven

versus six if Dunc can get his men. Now,

you might be asking yourself, why would

Egg help Dunk in a battle that could see

his father and two brothers killed? The

first thing you need to know about a

trial of seven is that while death is

possible, it's not guaranteed.

Essentially, a side wins by making the

other side yield or making them

incapacitated. So, either Dunk yields

and admits his guilt or Aryan yields and

withdraws his accusation. An individual

combatant can also yield. So, if someone

gets gravely injured, they can remove

themselves, turning the tide of the

trial. However, with 14 people in a

confined space swinging maces and long

swords, deaths are almost guaranteed.

Egg, knowing Darren will play dead and

Mar will be protected by his king's

guard, sees this as a good opportunity

to potentially kill the brother that has

caused him so much harm. In a bit, I'll

talk about who exactly is fighting on

each side. So, stick around for that.

Steely Pate, the armor smmith who

prepared Dunk's armor, has Dun's shield.

It was given to Tansel to paint his new

sigil after he was informed he couldn't

take the penny sigil because he was not

of Sir Arlland's blood. Tansel is long

gone after the events of last night. Off

to her homeland of Dorne to the south.

Will Dunc ever see her again? Well,

we'll just have to stay tuned. What was

once a shield that inspired strength,

Dunc now sees as an omen of death, a

falling star in Sunset symbolized decay.

But it's Steelely who reminds Dunk about

the tree. It's strong, alive, and in its

prime. He's even gone and strengthened

the shield with a new rim and thicker

straps. All for the low price of a

copper. Essentially, he's done it for

free. As a copper is the metal used to

smelt the lowest denomination of

currency in Westeros. As the sun rises,

Dunk watches as the men prepare the

arena. The trials to take place in the

early morning. And it's here we meet six

of the seven defenders. Although, one of

them doesn't know he's going to be

fighting just yet. Obviously, there's

Dunc followed by Lionel Baratheon, who

believed Dunk's cause was just and

joined partly for the love of the game.

Seriously, this guy just loves to battle

and sings about three fingers at his

bone. Then there's Humphrey Harding, the

man whose leg was crushed when Aryen

pierced his stallion. Even though he's

wounded, he wants to fight. Now, you

might be wondering who this guy is. Last

episode, we watched a joust between

Humphrey Harding and Humphrey Beesbury,

which would become known as the Battle

of the Humphre. These two are actually

brothersin-law, and he's joined to

support his bro. Then there's Sir Robin,

a man who thinks Dunk's cause is just

and is probably half insane. We'll get

to the other two members in just a

second. There's something ironic about a

house which uses the sun as its sigil,

hosting a tournament on one of the most

dreary battlefields I've ever seen.

Everyone in town and beyond has come to

watch one of the biggest spectacles

Westeros has experienced in decades. By

now, rumors will have spread about the

man who defended the fair maiden from

the tyrant prince. And this crowd just

the other day literally rushed the field

after the unsportsmanlike conduct Aryan

had in his joust against Sir Humphrey.

Dunc is shocked to see that there are

only six on Aryen's side. These six

include Aryan himself, Darren, and three

members of the King's Guard. Two of

which we met briefly in episode 2, Sir

Roland Krakall, and Sir Donald of

Duskondale. The reason there are only

six is that Stefan has betrayed Dunc and

swapped sides after Aryen promised him a

lordship. This betrayal along with what

I'm assuming is years of taking

from his older cousin compels Raymond to

join Dunc in hisstead. At first, he

asked Dunc to knight him since only a

knight can make a knight. But notice

Dunc hesitates. That's because one of

the big things in the book is the

ambiguity whether or not Dunc was

actually ever kned by Sir Arland. The

show implies he never was. In episode

one, when Plumber asks if there were any

witnesses to his nighting, Dunc states,

>> "Only a robin in the thorn tree."

>> The robin in the thorn tree he sees

after Sir Arlland is dead. Then there's

this weird shot of Dunk knelt down

almost in the same position as Raymond

when he's eventually kned by Lionel. The

camera cuts to Aron who's like, "What

are you looking at me for, kid? I never

kned you." If Dunk had kned Raymond, it

would be a false knighthood, but luckily

Lionel fills in. The teams are now six

versus seven in favor of Aryen and Dunc

and the rest are willing to fight even

though they are outnumbered. Aryen,

however, states this is not how things

work. They need exactly seven or Dunk

will be deemed guilty. So like Aragorn

in front of the gates of Mordor or

William Wallace in front of his army,

Dunc gives an impassion speech about

honor and what it takes to be a true

knight. Surely there's someone among

them that will fight with them. This is

how you really know we're dealing with a

different kind of Game of Thrones show

as this guy gets up and just as you

think he's going to join them, lets out

the biggest fart ever. And so far, I

think A Night of the Seven Kingdoms has

done a pretty good job at balancing the

tone of the show. Also, this fart part

is not in the book. When all looks lost

for Dunk, something truly astonishing

happens. Prince Bor arrives to take

Duncan's side. Along with him, you can

hear for the first time in its

completion, the Game of Thrones theme

song. The crowd goes absolutely wild as

he takes the field and Maker wonders if

his brother's gone mad. Bor believes

Duck is merely doing what any true

knight must do, protect the innocent.

Thus, it's now up to the gods to decide

who is just. Bor's arrival also offers a

complete change in the dynamic of the

fight. What do the three kings guard on

Aryan's side do? They're sworn to

protect Bor. He's the next in line, so

they may have to focus their attention

on others or be forced to yield. Darren

won't harm his uncle. And it'll be

interesting whether Mar and Aryen take a

shot at him. So, the end of episode 4 is

really the beginning of episode 5, the

epic battle known as the trial of seven.

It's time to place your bets. Who will

live? Who will die? And will Dunk prove

his innocence with a decisive win? We'll

just have to wait until next week to

find out. Thanks for watching. Be sure

to like and subscribe. And for more bad

takes, you can follow me on Twitter and

Instagram at ThinkStoryYT. Until next

time, remember, daddy loves you very

much.