A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' Dunk Finds An Unlikely Ally Ahead Of A Deadly Challenge - Read Recap

Dunk is about to get his time in the spotlight in this week's "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" — just not in the way he'd hoped. 

The hedge knight's involvement in last episode's dustup with Prince Aerion causes a type of trouble Dunk didn't foresee, and poses a problem he's not sure how to solve. That is, until someone completely unexpected rides to his rescue. 

Read on for the highlights of "Seven" (which HBO released early so it wouldn't have to compete with the Super Bowl).

Dunk is awaiting his fate in a damp dungeon cell when Egg enters, dressed in Targaryen finery. The boy instructs some servants bearing a meal to leave the food and go. "I never meant to lie," Egg starts, but Dunk doesn't want to hear it. "Yeah, but you did," he interrupts, "starting with your name." Egg sits down, clearly upset that Dunk is mad at him, but Dunk doesn't care. He wonders if Egg did the whole thing as a lark, "make a fool of the stupid hedge knight?" (Side note: The hurt that Peter Claffey soaks into those few words is SO GOOD and SO PAINFUL.) Egg explains that he was supposed to squire for his brother Daeron, the drunk that Dunk encountered at the inn on his way to the tournament. But Daeron didn't want to enter the lists, so he planned for them to hide out until the contest was over.

The reasoning behind Egg's deception doesn't move Dunk, whose anger makes the boy tearful as he apologizes. "It's just a bit of bad luck we found each other, isn't it?" the knight wonders. And with those uneasy feelings between them, Dunk is brought to appear before Egg's uncle, Prince Baelor. Baelor bids him sit, and Dunk's first sentiments are to protect Egg. "He's a good boy, a good squire, and he meant no harm. I know that now." (Sniff!) Baelor faults Egg with going to Dunk instead of himself when Aerion got violent with the puppeteers. "I wish Ser Duncan had killed him," Egg says; he's dismissed from the room shortly after.

Baelor lets Dunk know that Maekar found Daeron at the inn, and the intoxicated prince told his father that a "robber knight" absconded with Aegon. Among the other lies being propagated by silver-haired weasels, Aerion is saying that Tanselle's show — in which a dragon was slain — was "a veiled attack on House Targaryen and incitement to revolt." Baelor knows the whole thing is rubbish, but everything about his demeanor screams, "Welp, we're here now, eh?" After all, as he points out, "it is never wise to strike a king's grandson."

Dunk argues that all knights are supposed to protect the innocent, but it makes no difference: There's going to be a trial, which Dunk likely will lose, and the punishment probably will be the loss of his hand and foot. But there's a second choice, and it hinges on Baelor's question to Dunk: "How good a knight are you, truly?"

So Dunk challenges Aerion to a trial by combat, which is his right as a knight. Aerion tries to refuse, but he can't, so he invokes his only option (other than withdrawing his claim): the seldom-invoked trial of seven. Baelor and Maekar think the whole thing is nonsense, but because the young prince is within his rights, it's going to go ahead: "You must find six other knights to fight beside you," Baelor informs Dunk, who is well and truly freaking out. Dunk protests that he doesn't have six men to flank him — and of course, Aerion knows this, which is why he picked this rare method of trial — but it doesn't matter: The contest is set for the morning.

Dunk is fairly certain he's going to die, and Raymun doesn't help things when he points out that a trial of seven "means battleaxes and morningstars and lances of war." But Steffon Fossoway is outraged that Aerion preyed on the innocent, and he becomes Dunk's first champion. "You shan't die under my watch, ser," he says, confident they can find five more volunteers, "I promise you that." Egg and Daeron show up soon after; Egg volunteers to squire Dunk, though the news he brings is bleak: A reluctant Daeron and several members of the Kingsguard will fight alongside Aerion. Egg offers to find more knights for Dunk's side, which makes the tall knight wonder why the boy is so actively working against his own brother. Egg talks of Aerion's sadism and his belief that he's a dragon in human form. Then Daeron takes Dunk aside outside.

"I dreamed of you," the Targaryen says, repeating what he said in a stupor at the inn. He explains that he has visions, and one involved Dunk, "a fire, and a dead dragon" which had "fallen on top of you, but you were alive, and the dragon was dead." They then bond about how they'd both rather not die in the next 24 hours, and Dunk sets out in the rain to look for a hope in hell.

What he finds is the shield Tanselle painted for him, which she left with Steely Pate before she and the other puppeteers fled. Dunk is brought to tears by the beauty of his new shield, as well as the fact that the armorer remade it for him out of sturdier materials. Later, Dunk meets with the men whom Steffon has rounded up to ride with him: They include Ser Robyn Rhysling and Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the latter of whom seems to be in it just for the chaos. All told, Dunk has amassed five men to his cause, but he's still one short when he and Aerion meet on the jousting grounds. But the same is true of Aerion... until Steffon announces that he's going to fight with Aerion, instead. "You traded your honor for a lordship," Raymun says with disgust, refusing to squire for his disloyal cousin.

So that leaves Dunk with just five members of his team. "Knight me. I will take my cousin's place," Raymun demands, but Dunk doesn't think it's right. Lyonel encourages him to knight the applehead anyway. "Any knight can make a knight," he reminds Dunk. (Anyone else's brain go directly here when they hear that phrase?) But then the horns sound, signaling that things are about to get underway, so Lyonel knights Fossoway instead as Dunk rides to face his opponent.

First, though, he addresses the crowd. He speaks about how Ser Arlen taught him to be the kind of knight who protects the innocent, and "that's all I did! I was not Ser Arlen's blood, but I have followed his example as your sons will follow yours." He surveys the crowd. "Who will stand and fight with me?" he calls. There's silence, but then one man stands... only to pass wind, loudly. The crowd guffaws. Dunk's heart visibly sinks.

Still, he keeps at it. "Are there no true knights among you?!" he cries. Just then, Ser Baelor rides out onto the field, removes his helmet, and announces, "I will take Ser Duncan's side!" Maekar is ripped, saying that Dunk attacked his son. Baelor counters that Dunk protected the innocent, "as every true knight must. Llet the gods decide if he was right or wrong." And as the "Game of Thrones" theme swells in the background, a newly energized Dunk rides after Baelor to meet up with his men.

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? Sound off in the comments!