A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' Most Tragic Moment HAD To Happen - Here's Why

Sadly, Game of Thrones spinoff A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is already gearing up for its season finale. But don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened. And oh boy, did it ALL happen in Episode 5.

Titled ‘In the Name of the Mother’, the penultimate episode of the first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was pretty perfect. Beginning with a brief but brutal onslaught of attacks on our hero, Dunk, the episode tails off into a flashback detailing his journey to becoming a squire for Ser Arlan of Pennytree.

It felt like an unusual pivot at first, taking us away from the battlefield and the much-anticipated Trial of the Seven. However, it all comes full circle when it throws us back into the blistering conflict just in time for some epic camerawork and a very satisfying victory for Dunk, wrapping up one of the best episodes of television I’ve seen in years.

Unfortunately, though, there’s no such thing as a happy ending in Westeros. No, there was still just enough time in the episode to deliver one final gut-punch. If you don’t want to know what that was, be warned that there are spoilers from this point on!

Baelor Targaryen’s Heartbreaking Fate

Sadly, one of our favourite characters failed to make it out alive. Our beloved Baelor Targaryen – who shouldn’t even have been involved in the fight – suffered a gruesome blow to the back of the head and collapsed dead in Dunk’s arms. After his noble decision to help the hedge knight in his trial, it hardly seems fair that this kind prince should meet such a grizzly and tragic end.

Worse still is the fact that it was Baelor’s brother, Maekar, who delivered the fatal blow. With his son, Aerion, at the mercy of Dunk, Maekar swings wildly at both Baelor and Lyonel Baratheon in an attempt to rescue his monstrous heir. Fuelled by that one desire only, Maekar likely doesn’t even realise what he’s done, but it’s a mistake that will haunt him for years to come.

Baelor’s final words, though, were laced with nothing but pride. Reflecting on his injury, he says, “My brother's mace, most likely… He's strong". A delightful smile plays across his face, largely because he doesn’t realise the severity of his condition, but also because he’s just so happy to tell people how brilliant his brother is.

Clearly, Baelor does not blame his brother for the incident, and neither does actor Bertie Carvel, who played the popular character. Speaking to TV Insider, he said, “I think he understands his brother’s actions. He loves his brother deeply. You see that, right to the end.

“[...] He’s excited by [his power], like when they were boys, and they would revel in their ability to wound one another. There’s a fondness there and no blame. This is what happens when you get into fights. Somebody gets hurt.”

The fact that Baelor (and Carvel) can embrace this death with such grace speaks volumes for the character. It also serves to cement this as one of the most heartbreaking deaths in Game of Thrones history.

Game of Thrones Would Have Been VERY Different if Baelor Were King

For the people of Westeros, the death of Baelor Targaryen must have been a real hammer blow. In a period of peace under King Daeron II – also known as Daeron the Good – Baelor would have continued that trend when he ascended the Iron Throne. He was a man who would have ruled without fear, a Targaryen who didn’t need a dragon to get what he wanted, who earned respect rather than demanding it. 

On the benevolence of Baelor, Carvel added: “Anger doesn’t seem to be his default, which is why they’ll talk about him as a good king, I’m sure, or the king that never was. You’d like to believe… that our leaders don’t default to anger very easily. He’s certainly a good example to leaders who might be out there. He’s cut from the right cloth.”

Indeed, the Seven Kingdoms would have been a very different place had Baelor survived, but that’s exactly why George R. R. Martin had to write him out of the story at this exact juncture. The master author even said as much in 2022, telling fans that Baelor’s death is the single most impactful moment in the history of Westeros. Put simply, Game of Thrones wouldn’t have been very interesting if he hadn’t.

Baelor’s death sends the Targaryen dynasty spiralling in a wildly different direction. Aside from Aegon the Unlikely’s calm tenure as King, the rest of the monarchs taking to the Iron Throne are pretty nasty pieces of work. 

Most notably, King Aerys II, also known as the Mad King, brought chaos and destruction to the realm. He burned his opponents with wildfire at every opportunity, he brutally executed both Rickard and Brandon Stark, and even planned to raze King’s Landing to the ground.

From there, as we know from Game of Thrones, Westeros suffered under the rule of Robert Baratheon, who brought debt and neglect to the kingdom, while Joffrey Baratheon’s short reign was filled with atrocities and cruelty. If that wasn’t bad enough, it all ended with Daenerys Targaryen enacting her father’s malevolent and fiery plan for King’s Landing, killing hundreds of thousands of civilians in the process.

And to think, all of this might well have been avoided had Baelor not been so eager to fight by Dunk’s side!

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Could Continue For Years

It’s a good job both Dunk and Egg are such lovely characters; A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms might be at risk of stuttering in the wake of Baelor’s demise. Thankfully, the show has so much more still to offer far beyond its first season.

A second season has already been given the green light and is expected to be released in 2027. That next instalment will be based on the second story in the original novella, called ‘The Sworn Sword’. While there are only three stories in Martin’s source material, that doesn’t mean we’re limited to just three seasons of this fantastic show.

Showrunner Ira Parker has ambitious plans to stay with these characters for quite literally a lifetime. He said, “I hope George keeps writing these. The truth is – and I’ve pitched this to HBO with a couple of very polite eye rolls – I want to do four or five [seasons] now with Egg as a kid. Then, I want to come back in ten years and do four or five more seasons.

“It would be with Dexter [Sol Ansell] and Peter [Claffey], just the age that they are at that point. Then, we’ll come back ten years after that and do Egg the adult. So, it would be over the course of their lifetime. And mine too.”

If the quality stays this high and those two amazing actors aren’t replaced, I’ll be on board the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms hype train until the end of the line.