All men must die.
“Game of Thrones” spinoff “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” has been lighter in tone than its parent show – until now. The fifth episode ends with a shocking death.
Spoilers below for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
The episode (10 p.m. on HBO) sees Dunk (Peter Claffey) in a brutal trial by combat, aided by several men fighting by his side, including Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) – the heir to the Iron Throne.
It seems like Dunk and his allies emerged battered, but triumphant…until the episode’s final minutes, when Baelor drops dead.
“We were staying pretty close to the source material,” showrunner Ira Parker told The Post.
“There is this certain type of death that always used to shake me when I’d see it on TV or in movies as a kid, which is like, when somebody is held together by two cars that have smashed into them… It’s like ‘you can talk to him for five minutes.’ But you know that as soon as we move these cars, they’re going to die.”
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is set around a hundred years before the events of “Game of Thrones.” It’s the show’s second spinoff, after “House of the Dragon.”
The story follows Dunk, a “hedge knight” with no land or money, and his squire Aegon Targaryen, aka “Egg” (Dexter Sol Ansell). It’s already been renewed for a Season 2, and it’s more bite-sized than its predecessor. Season 1 is just six episodes that are mostly half an hour long.
When Dunk gets in trouble, he ends up in a trial by combat – a popular trope in the “Game of Thrones” world – and several men rush to fight by his side, including Baelor.
By the end of the battle, Dunk and Baelor are chatting. It seems like Baelor is alive and well, until he takes off his helmet, frowns, lifts a hand to the back of his head, and turns around to reveal that the back of his skull was crushed. Moments later, he collapses, dead, as Dunk weeps.
“Basically, the situation that we have with Baelor is that his life is being held together by the fact that he has his helmet on. He’s already a dead man, he just doesn’t realize it yet,” Parker told The Post. “And so, when that helmet comes off and he dies right there, man, it’s the most brutal type of death.”
Since Baelor was going to be King, he was a rare kind leader in Westeros who was going to support Dunk.
The situation is worse for “the fact that Dunk gets so close to everything he wants,” said Parker.
“I think that’s probably a running theme for Dunk in his life, and for a lot of people in their life. Things feel so close, then for some reason fate intervenes and shows us a different way.”
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” airs Sunday nights on HBO at 10 p.m.
