A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: S1/EP4 "Seven"

For our 81st episode of the pod, Minwa and Tony break down the ramifications of Egg's real identity. Talk about the Trail of Seven, and a surprising champion who takes Ser Duncan's side. 

Transcript

Cold Open And Identity Reveal

SPEAKER_04 0:02

My uncle says I must beg your forgiveness for deceiving you.

unknown 0:05

Your uncle?

SPEAKER_04 0:07

Prince Baylor.

SPEAKER_03 0:08

The heir to the Iron Throne.

SPEAKER_04 0:13

I never meant to lie.

SPEAKER_03 0:14

Yeah, but you did. About everything, starting with your name. I've not heard of a bringing name.

SPEAKER_04 0:21

What about Agon?

SPEAKER_03 0:23

Cory. After the Conqueror? How many eggons have been king?

SPEAKER_04 0:28

Four. Four Egons.

SPEAKER_01 0:40

Hello everyone, and welcome back to Dancing with Dragons, your podcast dedicated to Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, and everything else from George R. Martin's world of a song of ice and fire. I'm one of your hosts, Mino, and I'm here as always with my co-host Sony. And today we're continuing on with our coverage of the new Game of Thrones spin-off show, Knights of the Seven Kingdoms. If you've been following along, you'll know that we've been diving into the show week to week, recapping episodes as they roll out, sharing our takes and breaking down everything you need to know about the show, and the stories of Dunkin' Egg. It was directed by Sarah Adina Smith, who directed the previous episode and who will also go on to direct the season finale. The episode was written by Aziza Barnes, Annie Julia Wyman, and the showrunner Ira Parker. The official premise goes as such. After landing himself in the Targaryen's crosshairs, Dunk exercises his right to request a trial by combat. But when Arian insists on a trial of the seven instead, Dunk is faced with the daunting task of finding six others to fight alongside him. This episode was undoubtedly huge. It was important, it was amazing, it's incredibly high-rated and praised by fans and critics online. That being said, I can't wait to talk about it and share my thoughts. But before that, I have to ask first, how are you, Tony? And honestly, where do you want to get started with this episode? Because I could just start from the end. It was a huge uh almost cliffhanger to end the episode with. So I have no problem starting off with that if you don't start somewhere else. I'm just ready to talk about that.

Egg ask for forgiveness

SPEAKER_00 2:10

Um, just a spoiler here. You know, we always give our ratings at the end. I I'll just say that once this episode was finished, I found myself clapping. I just can't believe that we are officially past halfway mark of the season. We went from bright colors and sunlight to doom and gloom.

SPEAKER_02 2:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Because we were we're following you know Duncan and we're seeing how he's so upbeat, and now that he's been captured or he's been imprisoned. The feel of the episode is directly his mood. I guess we could just start from the beginning, and there's a lot to talk about, and I want to get straight into that last scene. But let's be patient and this way. I think it was done purposefully to start the first shot. You're looking up and you're like, what is that? Like you don't know what what you're looking at, and then it's just the castle, like the the the wall. And it's because he's always slept outside, he's always looking up to the stars, and I thought that was a kind of a key moment that now he's looking up and he's in the dungeon or you know, under the Ashford Castle. And I'm just happy we got that Dug and scene straight out of the game. That was amazing. Yeah, yeah, we'll just let's just get it done. You know, we got the telenovela style revealing at the end, which I don't know, it seems like a lot of people dug it, um, which I was we were talking about last week, and we were like, oh, it was a little dramatic, but I didn't see too much pushback on it. But I did see a lot of people talk about the novella style, you know, music and all that. Uh for me, seeing Egg in his Targaryen regalia just I don't give me some goosebumps. The the one thing when we started talking about this show and when it was casted, uh learning about Peter Claffy and how he hasn't he wasn't really a seasoned actor, and he was a former rugby player. I'm just gonna tell you the truth that he is getting better with each episode. He's doing a really good job acting.

SPEAKER_01 4:08

I definitely agree with you. I have no nothing to say about that or to disagree with that at all. Um Peter Claffey has been amazing uh episode after episode after episode. He brought Dunk to life, I think, in the best way. But for me, if I have to just say something, the one that kind of shined the most in that scene was um Dexter, Dexter Saul Ansell, who plays uh Egg. Uh and the showrunner agrees as well, I think. Uh, or the director of the episode, I'm sorry, who um gave a quote or an interview shortly after the episode aired and saying, I just watched Dexter become a real actor. He does some incredible work in that scene. It's one of my favorite scenes in the show. It's really stuck with me, I think, where I really like enjoyed seeing that confrontation come to life mainly because of Dexter's performance, because he brought such humanity, I guess, to that moment. You see a kid that kind of didn't want to upset his hero and at the same time kind of did what he wanted, and he's happy that he did it, so he doesn't really regret it, but he's just he feels like he got in trouble. So when you see a kid that kind of looks like they got in trouble and is crying and so regretful about it, you can't help but feel like you want to give them a hug, and that's kind of how I felt about uh it got on that scene. So for that reason, um Dexter was the standout actor for me in this episode and in that scene. Um, but I can't deny, I mean, Peter Caffey, this episode just amazing, amazing from beginning to end.

SPEAKER_00 5:29

You can feel the eggs' guilt hanging in the air, right? Yeah, he may have lied, but he generally cares about Dunk. What Dunk thinks of him. Yes, you can see his you can see that his heart is breaking, you can see that he's hurt the man who he's who stood by him, and it's raw, it's raw. And the one there is one change that I just reread like 30 minutes ago or so. Um in the show you have egg just like cut, he just like sits down on like a little ball and he's satier. Uh, in the novel, it says that he, even though he feels all that that we just talked about, he's that he stands tall, manly. I think the effect of him sitting, you could see he's just a little boy, he made a mistake. I think it works better. That's it. And then we got we kind of get clarification of why he was at that inn with his brother Daron. Yeah, but we can talk about Prince Daron. That's the guy who Daron was supposed to be in the the joust the list. Our plan was to just hang out at the inn until the tournament was over. Uh, the one little back and forth that I wish was included in the show is that Dunk says, Well, this is from the book, straight from the book. It says, We're both from King's Landing still, the boy said hopefully.

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 6:48

Dunk had to laugh. Yes, you're from the top of Aegon's Hill and me from the bottom. That's not so far, sir. It says Dunk took a bite from an onion. Do I need to call you my lord or your grace or something? At court, the boy admitted. But other times you can keep calling me Egg if you like, sir. And then we get to hear um Dunk or Egg say that Prince Baylor is waiting for him. So he kind of just says, you know what, let's go. He was eating food. It looked like he was starving. He goes, I'm not, I don't care. I kicked one prince in the face, I'm not gonna leave another prince waiting.

SPEAKER_01 7:21

Can I can I just make a comment about that? I thought it was very interesting. It's something that was in the book and in the show. When Egg says that to Dunk, when he tells him, you know, like my uncle's waiting for you, he says, My uncle wants to see you after you're done eating, sir. So I just that like little moment stood out to me just because it's such a small, almost line that you dismiss, but he waits Dunk to eat first. You know, it's not just I come whenever. Uh when I command you eat just after you're done eating, you can come.

SPEAKER_00 7:49

Yeah, you don't get that from anybody else. They would just like get him. And they wouldn't care about him eating. Yeah, that that's a good point.

Baelor Breakspear

SPEAKER_01 7:56

Yeah, it speaks as to how different Baylor is in comparison to almost every other character we've seen in Game of Thrones.

SPEAKER_00 8:03

I don't know what we're gonna do with these Targaryens. You know, there's some that are evil, some that we love. Of course, we love Danny and Bernara and all that. And but now we have another person that we could put in this list. Prince Baylor is one of those Targaryen that you just wanna and Egg. Oh, yes, egg, of course. But you know what I mean, like uh uh an adult who was in charge of stuff. Him talking with with Dunk. I anytime he's in a scene, it's my favorite scene for now. It's like the highlight. That's that that scene with him, and anything with Bertie Carvell, that's his name, who plays um Baylor. You know, he knows what he's talking about. His he's sharp. We get to see him, the doors open. He has like 10 books open, like he's just reading, so you know he's like an intelligent guy. What I loved about Dunk also on the scene is that he was so angry with Egg, but immediately after he is defending Egg, you know, he's a good boy, he's a good squire, and I know that he didn't mean it or something. I forgot what he said. So much of Baylor's conversation is is straight from the hedge knight, word for word. And but for the show, you got the actor, you got the acting, the camera, the set, the staging. I I thought it was lit beautifully. The fire behind Dunk was was awesome. Um the staging, everything was a whole new level. You feel it in your bones, and then drops a line Don't all knights make the same oath to protect the innocent, right? Like, wouldn't you have done the same? And I love that Prince Baylor said, Yes, I would have, but I'm a prince of the realm, not a hedge knight. Like I can get away with it. If I would have smacked around, like Tyrion smacking around Joffrey, he can get away with it. Yeah, that just shows you the type of person that Prince Baylor is that saying, Yes, I would have done the same. The one thing Prince Baylor said is that he tells Aegon, he points out calmly and firmly that dragging Dunk into Tanzo's rescue wasn't kindness at all, it was reckless. And then he says, and I quote, one need not intend harm to do it. I love those quotes. He says, and then Lance, like like a like a bell toe, right? Because he knows Baylard knows exactly how this family works. He and Egg both know which Sargarians are like are walking problems, but blood for blood, you know, for better or worse, you have to stay family. He's basically saying, You knew what you were doing when you got Duncan to react to Tanzo, because you know they he knew that he had feelings for her, and he knew that he saw Ariane hurting her, he would just maybe kill him.

SPEAKER_01 10:41

The quote that Egg kind of defends himself with almost, even though everybody knows that the truth as to why he went to Dunk instead of anyone else. Um he tells Baylor, I hate Arian, and I had to run for Sir Duncan uncle the castle was too far. That's not the reason, obviously, and everybody knows it. Um and I love how open uh Egg is almost with his distaste for Arian, even though he's his brother. But I kind of uh something that I also appreciated uh that Baylor did in that scene is that he it's again a scene that's present in the book and in the TV show. And I kept going back to the novella when I um was doing my notes and uh when I watched the show just because I want to make sure how book accurate it is, and I can't believe how book accurate the show is. I mean, they're putting most of the lines from the show in uh like straight from the book, so I think that that's amazing. And this is something again that's present in the book as well, and it's that Bader kept dropping hints to Dunk, came to what he needs to do next, which is to request the Terrier by Combat. You know, he doesn't need to do that, and he kind of knows that Dunk knows that this is right.

SPEAKER_00 11:51

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Kev Cauchner, yeah, you know, you know you could do this, right?

SPEAKER_01 11:54

He kept saying, like, I I I keep asking you, he asked Dunk, I think, twice, if not three times, like, how good of a knight are you? Spoon feeding him, like class lifeline. So really appreciate that spirited that. It shows that he always had respect for Dunk and saw how he knows that what Dunk is kind of presenting is actually him rather than some false image of uh honorable knight. I I wish most of our listeners spoke Arabic because there's a very accurate word, but he's just he kind of wears his heart on his sleeve. That's like the closest English description. He's just he's a very honest guy.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Yeah, so we get to the scene where we have uh Baylor Makor. Maker. I keep saying Maker, but it's Maker. And Arian, and then I think is um Lord Ashford, and then there's another person there. I forgot the name of the guy, I wrote it down somewhere, I can't remember.

SPEAKER_01 12:46

Uh Leo Tyrell.

SPEAKER_00 12:47

Tyrell, okay, yeah. So automatically um Ariane shuts down Dunsta Man for a trial by combat because he says I want a trial by combat. And um, classic Arian, I think he can bend the rules. But Prince Baylar steps in saying calmly reminding he's so calm. Even the crown doesn't get to make that call. Instead, Arian pulls out his obscure, rarely used tradition of trial by seven. Um, which is hold on, let me just say this. I thought it was weird that his father and Balar's brother, Makar, had no idea what a trial of seven was.

SPEAKER_01 13:24

I thought that that was weird as well, because um, how how how could you not, you know? Um but then I searched online a bit and I don't know if you came across this, but basically they just didn't know what it was because it was such an ancient um tradition. So it was almost like I think they mentioned the episode as well where it didn't happen for like thousands of years or record hundreds, if not thousands of years. So like we don't know what their customs were in our in our respective geographical regions.

SPEAKER_00 13:56

They gave Arian a lot of make our quotes from the book, which I thought was kind of an odd choice. Well, let's talk about the trial of seven uh really quick. This is the definition is a form of trial by combat. Uh, an offended party can demand during the trial. It is linked to the faith of the seven and the andod traditions. The andals believe that if seven champions fought on each side, the gods thus honor would be more likely to see justice done. The accused is declared innocent if his accuser or accusers are either defeated or yield, thereby withdrawing their accusations. If the accused is slain, it is believed that the gods have judged them guilty and the trial of seven ends. If the accused cannot find six men to stand with him, he is declared guilty as well, which we hear at the end when Dunk is trying to find the seventh uh knight. What I liked about Prince Makar is that he goes to his son and immediately identifies that Arian is the demands for a trial of seven is his way to avoid a trial by combat 1v1 versus Sir Tunis.

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 15:02

And that's pretty much it. So in I did see one little clip from inside the episode video where director Sarah Adina Smith makes the comparison about Arian invoking the archaic and rarely used trial of seven. Quote, when Ariane pulls out the trial of seven, he's pulling the levers of power that are available to him and can kind of get himself out of the situation. It's almost like a modern-day equivalent of the wealthy kid who's got a bunch of good lawyers.

SPEAKER_01 15:29

That's so true. That's so true.

SPEAKER_00 15:31

And also Ariane knows that Duncan, a hedge knight, well, he's not gonna have any contacts on his phone worthy or skillfully enough to fight in a trial. You know what I mean? Like, so he's like, Well, yeah, good luck. You have to, which is so crazy that they're like, Okay, you have to hold on. Like, really? I have these many hours to find six other men to lay down their life for me, and I don't know them. That's that's insane. The one little part where it's all confusion because some people don't know what's what's going on, and and Dun's like, wait, wait, wait, what's going on? I had to fight seven dudes.

SPEAKER_01 16:08

So before Dunk actually sets out on forming his uh super group of, I don't know, I want to call them the Avengers for some reason, um, of the the seven, he passes by his horses, which is actually like a really sweet moment. Uh just like it felt like a break in this episode because he goes to his horses and apologizes to them, saying that like he's really messed things up now. And I don't know, just it showed that lovable, uh innocent nature that Dunk has and that quick little scene. Amid all of this, he still takes time to do that. Because who would who would do that in George's world? Who who would do that for Dunk?

Ser Steffon steps up for Dunk?

Daeron's Dream and Prophecy

SPEAKER_00 16:44

And the thing to think about, he's probably been with those horses for a long time. Yes, it's probably his family. Well, that's that's interrupted by one of my favorite new characters is Raymond Fossaway. I don't know, I just I just like the actor, I just like the character, and he's all let's go, are you hungry? And let's go he goes to his tent, and then we get uh Stefan Fossaway, who you know gives you that rah-rah speech about you know, we hate the Targaryens. And I say it like this because then we don't we're realizing that his betrayal is around the corner. So that that was just a moot point in the episode. But if you don't know it was coming, you're probably thinking, oh, this this little weasel who his cousin's been you know talking crap about, you know, you know, Raymond's been like, Oh, I wouldn't trust him if you know what I mean. He's always talking bad about him, yeah. And all of a sudden he's like, Oh, I'm gonna fight for you. I I can't let this injustice go by, and you're like, whatever. Uh the ex shows up, um, he shows up with Prince uh Daron. And this, I think one key moment. I I don't think Dunk attacks him with a knife at all in the novella. I think that's just a show thing. I I don't know for some reason, I don't feel outward anger towards Prince Daron. I think he's just lost and he's an alcoholic, and he's also like Kelena, he's a dreamer, he's a dragon dreamer, and he probably has to he has all this stuff in his in his head. So his mental capac, you know, his mental what is it? What's the word we use now? Mental health. Yeah, his mental health is not all there. And realizing that his father is a maniac, and he has to. I I don't know. I I just felt a little bit of I get it, uh, but I at least he he wants a private word with Dunk and it's a really standout moment with him. And I just think he talks about his you know prophetic dream that a mighty dragon's falling right on top of him. The dragon dies, Dunk survives, but he has no clue if Dunk is the one who was who slays it, and that's the uncertainty. The apology is it's it's bitter, it's a it's awkward, and I don't know. I just lands for me for some reason, and I just it sticks. Maybe it's because we've only seen him in a handful of scenes, and he has this, I guess, chaotic energy to him. And it kind of gives me a Game of Thrones kind of character.

SPEAKER_01 19:15

Yeah, I I see that. Um, I see that because I think that he comes across as a bit unstable. So that's how we could describe most of the Game of Thrones characters, honestly. But um, what I actually didn't know um until I did my research for this episode was that um okay, I knew that Darren was a dreamer, he's the Targaryen type of dreamer, as we mentioned, but I didn't know that canonically it ties into his drinking. So there's a secret reason for why he's heavily drinking, and that's because um it allows him to not have uh uh vivid dreams. So he's kind of a person that always has vivid dreams and and visions, and when he's um uh under the influence, he uh like he's removed from that, and he's either unconscious or just you know he doesn't get them. So that was kind of just like an interesting character detail that I came across for for Daron.

SPEAKER_00 20:07

Okay, so we get to um Dunk leaves that tent, he's kind of walking in the rain, and then we get to him going to Tansell's or the puppeteer tent.

The Shield, Tansell, And Small Mercies

SPEAKER_01 20:18

Yeah, so Dunk passes by the puppeteer tent. He sees that it's been abandoned, the broken puppets are left um where they were after um Eren's men uh destroyed them. He meets um at the tent, the blacksmith, Seely Pate, Sealy Pat. Uh sorry, I don't know which one it is. Uh and there Dunk is pretty you know upset about Tanzil's sudden disappearance. He asks where she is, and we find out that uh they've made for Dorne, they escaped and ran away in the middle of the night. And uh Dunk's pretty upset about that, but he and we all know that that's probably the safest option for Tanzil and the rest of the uh crew, the puppeteering crew. But she left behind Dunk's shield that he asked her to paint for him. And I have to say uh something that I said last week, I have to touch on it. Last week I said, Oh, but there is this image of the shield that's been going around and looks too detailed. I'll just say it looks fine. I was a bit too harsh last week. I don't know what I saw, but just seemed it's it just seemed fine in this episode. Um, but we get the shield that she painted for Dunk, and it's as he requested, as he commissioned from her. And what I thought was interesting was how um he sees the painting now, and you just kind of see where he pulled that shooting star imagery from, which is when he was with Dunk, and he said, Oh, the luck is R as a don't. Whereas now when he saw the shooting star and he saw the sunset, he just he's reminded of death. He doesn't see it as a new button.

SPEAKER_00 21:41

His brain goes to the worst possible place.

SPEAKER_01 21:44

Yeah. It's like it's a complete 180 because he was a bit um, you know, he went from being hopeful to now everything just reminds him of death.

unknown 21:52

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:53

This image that he created. He sees himself as naive as well. Like, how could I have been stupid enough to think that this represents Hope in me when it just represents death now. That's how he sees it. But luckily, silly pits there, silly paths there to kind of remind him of how he used to be, just like a couple of days ago. And so it's like, don't worry, the elms alive. This is a quote from the book. See how green the leaves are, summer leaves for certain. And I've seen shields blazoned with skulls and wolves and ravens, even hanged men and bloody heads. They served well enough, and so will this. You know the old shield rhyme, uh oak and iron, guard me well, or else and then uh sorry, Duncan, or else I'm dead and doomed to hell. It's a sweet moment, I guess. And especially when you know he doesn't really charge.

Final scene

SPEAKER_00 22:35

Yeah, he only takes one single copper for all the work he did, even to reinforce the shield, and he says, I just I redid it, it's stronger, it's much heavier now. Uh, not because it's worth that little, but because Dunk needs the reminder. Basically saying you're not alone, you're not forgotten, you've got the people in your corner, whether you see them or not. Dunk walks around thinking he's just a hedge knight, scraping by, but moments like this tell like a different story. He's got more friends than he realizes, and that might matter more than any omen, I guess, that's on the shield. Um, and what I admire about this scene so much is that Steely Pat never calls out the tears. He doesn't tease him, he doesn't flinch, he lets he lets just the moment be. And that's a great choice, and that's that's the version of um Machismo that says strength isn't pretending you don't feel it's standing there anyway. I can't remember now. All right, let's go to the scene which everyone is talking about. Um uh we talked about Stefan Um Fossaway, Raymond Foss away says, Oh, Prince Arian only has six. Here comes Stefan. Oh, we only need one. He goes, Ashley, you need two, because I'm leaving because I'm a weasel, I'm a weasel, and I could be bought. And I just love the way Raymond looks at him in disgust. Like he he has no hesitation to turn around and say, night me, and I'll take his place. He doesn't have to do that.

SPEAKER_01 24:05

You know, it must have come as a shock, the the betrayal to um non-book readers. But when I saw this scene and I was curious about how if if anyone must have picked up on it or not, I realized that I I don't I don't know which way I was watching it, but I went back to a couple of scenes and you can kind of see uh the uh I guess the groundwork for for the betrayal happening because I think his cousin says something along the lines of um oh my brother will or sorry, my cousin just seeks glory. Obviously, and I think it can be more glorious than a lordship for someone like him. So there were some maybe hints here or there, you know, but uh it of course it is a surprise. Um but actually there was another moment in uh this episode that I think stood out to both of us based on our like brief discussion um about the episode before we started recording. Um it was a change from the books, and we were both kind of confused by it. And when I went online as well, and so uh uh like this the book readers discussing it as well, they were a bit confused as to why this was changed. So basically in the book, uh I can read the passage out for you, but the small folk among them I say small folk, but you know what I mean, like the crowds. Um, a lot of them were rooting for Dunk. We don't really see that at all in the show. We just see them uh kind of cheer for his embarrassment when he eventually gets kind of like embarrassed by uh Lord Bracken. But we actually really like that uh moment in the book, and we were both kind of upset that they uh I'm a citizen, I'm just gonna read the passage out for you now. The viewing sand had already begun to fill. The lords and ladies clutching their cloaks tight about them against the morning chill. Small folk were drifting toward the field uh the field as well, and hundreds of them already stood along the fence. So many come to see me die, thought Dunk bitterly. But he wronged them. A few steps further on, a woman called out, Good fortune to you. An old man stepped up to take his hand and said, May the gods give you strength, sir. Then a begging brother in a tattered brown robe set a blessing on his sword, and a maid kissed his cheek. They are for me. Why? he asked Pate. What am I to them? A knight who remembered his vows, the smith said. That's such a powerful line, it was such a powerful moment. I think you said something like it would have taken them just like two minutes of screen time that would have been perfect. Out of everything we've seen so far, the one I guess uh small detail that I really wish they left in, and I I kind of don't like that they omitted it, just because and I guess the equivalent would be that when uh spoiler errors, like I'm not spoiler, but you know what? I mean, when when Baylor eventually enters, I don't want to jump to it. You see uh people happy for Dunk. You see um there was a the woman that we meet very briefly. Dunk talks to her in episode one, she makes an appearance, there was someone else in the stand sitting as well. You see them kind of worry for Dunk Um and then feel reassured when um when Baylor comes in. So I think that this that was the only equivalent that we got. I just wish that we got this two minutes of screen time, screen time more.

SPEAKER_00 27:09

But yeah, but I I'm gonna mention another little thing that, and it's the my only dislike is when he is appealing to the crowd, which in the novella he goes to like five or six um knights or lords, like basically pleading to them individually. He goes to uh Monfred Darien, he goes to the Lannister, the Grey Lion, uh, which they talked about in episode two, or so I forgot which one. He goes to Lord Karen, Lord Swan, and then he goes to Lord Bracken and talks to him. But in the show, we have this moment of seriousness, and it's dramatic, and he's appealing to the crowd, and then you see Bracken rise for a flatulence or for whatever. And I don't know that that stunk for me, no pun intended. You know, it's the one change I I have an issue with, and in the you know, the that's a bigger thing that I have an issue with, is because we didn't need a cheap laughter.

SPEAKER_02 28:10

Yes, yes, that's true.

SPEAKER_00 28:11

In the book, this is how the exchange with Bracken and Dunk goes. Dunk reigned up before Sir Bracken, lowering his voice. Sir, I'll know you for a great champion. Join us, I beg you. In the name of the old gods and the new, my cause is just. That may be, said the brute of Bracken, who had at least the grace to reply, but it is your cause, not mine. I not know you, boy. That's what that was a little exchange they had, which again, that I think that would have worked better on the show.

SPEAKER_01 28:41

Yeah, I think so too. I I I you're a loyal listener of the podcast, you know that I don't like anything like vulgar. I I try to forget that moment as as fast as possible, just because I want my brain automatically like filters out anything I don't like and I select the stuff I want to talk about. So if there's one criticism I have of the Night Seven Kingdoms that I get that's a funny show, but I don't like that the this is the type of humor that it's dealing with sometimes.

SPEAKER_00 29:04

So yeah, this is the moment where I mean this is Peter Claffey's best moment of the series, is him. He does he does not gonna roll over and say, Okay, I accept my faith, just kill me or whatever. I only have six. He does, he he appeals to the better angels of everyone. Watch, he's delivers the speech and it hits hard, and he's asking everyone to join him. And it's just I felt iconic. If you don't get chills when he shouts, are there no true knights among you? Well, then check your pulse, I guess. Um, and I think there's a little nice touch that the camera lingers on Makar and Egg as Dunk talks about how the sons of men will follow examples set for them that day. The show is saying what Dunk does here isn't just about this trial, it's about setting a standard, a story that echoes, you know, beyond the list. I mean, it's it's just storytelling as his best, and and I think the whole scene works well. And you know, you have Lionel. Actually, let me read the champions for Dunk before we get the reveal. This moment, uh, Arian has his father, Makar, Prince Darion, his uh older brother, Stefan the Weasel, and then three Kings guards: Sir Willem Wilde, Sir Donald of Duskendale, and Sir Roland Crackhill, Crackhall. And Dunk at the moment has uh Raymond Fosoway, uh Lionel Barathian, Robin Risling, the guy who we met in episode three with the one-eye, the patch, uh Sir Humphrey Bisberry, and Sir Humphrey Harding. Sir Humphrey Harding is the guy I talked about in episode two when he smashed his leg, and I go, wait a minute, does he fight at the end with the smash leg? And he does. He goes, Yeah, my leg is broken, but I'm gonna fight anyway for you. So those are the the six that he the five that he has, and he needs a one. Let me just play the moment where we get the great reveal.

SPEAKER_04 30:54

Has current deserted the normal houses of Westeros? I will not believe in this soul. And then you all true knight, and like you're gonna get a little bit of a money to take a little bit. This man protected the innocent true knight must be Let the gods decide if he was right or wrong.

SPEAKER_00 31:57

You sir are true night. I know this sounds weird because or hyperbolic, but it that already is one of my favorite moments of all of uh a song of ice and fire on screen.

SPEAKER_01 32:10

Wow, wow.

SPEAKER_00 32:11

Not gonna say it's top ten, but maybe in the you know, somewhere there is my one of my favorite moments. You know, we talk about the music and we hear the theme in the first episode uh for a brief moment and is interrupted by Dunk's bare bottom. Uh I just say that. And before you sent me the quote of Ira Parker, I wrote in my little notes, I figured the show runners wanted to find the perfect moment to use this iconic and now nostalgic theme for Prince Baylor's dramatic entrance and declaration for Sir Duncan. And I like I mentioned in the beginning, I was literally clapping at the end. I kid you not. And yeah, and you sent me the quote from Ira Parker talking about using the music. Uh I quote, the reason the song is revisited in the episode four is because the call is there. This is fucking go time and it hits obviously. Very different at this moment. We feel like, yeah, okay, we're getting to Game of Thrones. We remember. Hopefully, everybody like I am, even though I've seen this a million times, is getting a little bit of goosebumps, feeling that something nice is coming or something bad is coming, depending on if you like all this shit or not. Baylards are gearing and arriving through those gates and hearing the music and that jog up and starting early. And I will take Sir Dunk inside. Fuck man, if you're not jumping out of your seat, then you're not a fan of Game of Thrones, unquote. That's exactly what I felt. Like, let's go. And I'm like, oh my gosh, please. And watching this episode, I get okay. In my head, I knew that this moment was going to be the cliffhanger. But I I thought I still thought it was great because now obviously when we get to the next episode, we'll get to see the battle or the the yeah, the battle.

SPEAKER_01 33:56

I knew it was happening and I did feel excited when I just I I just I keep saying for some reason because I feel like it's so fresh in my mind, I I revisit the see the epic the novella often. It just feels like I really know just know what's gonna happen. So I felt excited. I just keep wondering how it comes across to non-book readers, just because I feel like I constantly go back to this novella, you know, it's not something that's oh, I kind of read a couple of months ago and I don't really remember. I have the book almost with me at all times when I win like right before we start recording and I make my notes. So I I felt so excited and I hope that they felt the same way. I mean, they have to. It's an epic moment. Um for me, I know this is going to sound maybe a bit contradictory to something I've said last week, but I'm uh first of all, I'm excited to see Bader in action. But what I have kind of it's always been lingering in the back of my mind was seeing uh Sir Dionel Baratheon in action, just because I think I mentioned this earlier on um I I hinted at it rather. This show really like increased the role of Lionel Baratheon. Uh they kind of made him more present, they gave him uh more of a character, see him as like this party guy, and there's a tag of four scene. There's lots of show additions when it comes to Lionel, and I though I never thought that those were particularly maybe my favorites. I for me, you know, I mentioned it earlier on in this recording that uh egg has been the standout for me, and I've enjoyed his scenes the most. For Lionel, I was always saying that I know that they're adding it for a reason, and the reason was that uh it kind of had to make more sense for him to join uh Dunk's team. The others are kind of just forced and they're not really, you know, like there's some others there that aren't really big characters, you know, Lionel and you know Baylor, and you know and the Fossaway, and those are the ones you care about the most. Those are the ones that you kind of really want to see. So they kind of needed to make him someone that you care about.

SPEAKER_00 35:52

And I'm not saying that I care about uh uh Lionel so much now, more than Dunk or or um Baylor, but I'm just curious as to how uh we'll see him in action given how they adapted him as like this crazy uh party guy kind of forgot to mention the he knights Foss away, Raymond Foss away.

SPEAKER_01 36:14

Oh right, all right. That scene was was wonderfully shot, it was so so well done. Something I wanted to mention is something that I said, oh I'll get to it. I said it just earlier in this in this episode. There's this one thing, and that one thing is that though uh those straits are very present in Dunk, I think the knighting scene kind of uh almost confirms something that's a bit up in the air when it comes to uh to Dunk, even in the books, which is that we don't really know if he actually was knighted by Sir Arlen. Yeah, and it's up for debate. You know, I've seen people uh uh talk about it, like it's widely agreed upon that he was never actually knighted by Sir Arlen, and he uh but he was told by Sir Arlen that uh Arlen always intended to knight him. So um it's interesting because if it's true, then he's just been uh kind of lying a little bit, or like not like admitting the truth a little bit to get where he uh ended up.

SPEAKER_00 37:10

Well, we'll give him a pass.

SPEAKER_01 37:12

We'll give him a pass, obviously we'll give him a pass. I mean, uh they all gave him a pass, and we didn't see that we'll give him a pass. Come on, no, I'm not I'm just saying it's interesting, it adds to his character, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_00 37:24

Yeah, because also that's brought up by Plummer and I guess did anybody see this? Or just the Robin and the tree saw you get ignored, yeah, exactly. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 37:34

And um, you see that's kind of uh Lionel clock says as well because and it's in the it's in the book as well, he doesn't like force dunk into knighting the Fossaway. He says, I'll do it, you go.

Rating

SPEAKER_00 37:49

I can hear Jamie Lannister saying to Brienne, any knight can make a knight. Okay, let's get to our rating. Uh IMDB right now it's at 9.7 out of 10.

SPEAKER_01 37:59

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 38:00

And I remember last week I said and I'm gonna save my high ratings because I I have a feeling that four, five, and six is gonna merit a nine point whatever. So this is the one. I'll I'll hear your uh rating first.

SPEAKER_01 38:13

I I'll give it to nine for now.

Outro/look ahead

SPEAKER_00 38:16

I don't want to do nine point five, so I'm gonna give it a nine point three out of ten. I think it's near perfect in terms of being faithful to the book, the set design, the look, the feel. It it comes out of the pages of the book and it's brought to life and it's it's amazing. And that last scene with the music and Prince Baylor, and you know what I mean? Everything is just perfect. One last thing, uh, before I go into my little outro, is I put a little uh not a poll, but like one of those little bars for people to rate rate the episode. And right now, out of 40 people voted, right now it's a nine out of ten from everybody uh voting our IG story. Thank you all for listening for our coverage of a Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode four, title seven. Uh, we only have two episodes left. Yay, or I know.

SPEAKER_01 39:06

Can you imagine? No, I'm just surprised because we when you said it earlier in this recording, you're like, oh, we're we're past the halfway point. I was like, what?

SPEAKER_00 39:15

Next week's episode is titled in the name of the mother. We'll be back with that recap, of course. So follow our podcast, go to Instagram at dancing with underscore dragons. There you can keep up with all our information, all the updates we have on the podcast. When our recordings are, where the links are. You can tap the link on our stories or on our bio. There or you can follow us on your favorite podcast platform. Thank you again to listening to Dancing with Dragons. We'll see you next time. Peace out.