Fans of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are discussing Dunk’s status as a true knight, but many agree: “He embodies knighthood in the ways that count.”
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Is Ser Dunk the Tall truly a knight? Fans seem divided, but many are indifferent to the answer.
Warning: Spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 4 and the books follow.
In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Dunk hesitates when it’s time to knight Raymun. Lyonel Baratheon steps in, and Dunk envisions himself kneeling before Ser Arlan of Pennytree, who simply shrugs. This pivotal moment, along with a specific passage from the Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas, suggests Dunk may not be a knight at all. “Dunk looked at him thoughtfully,” the text states. “He knew what it was like to want something so badly that you tell a monstrous lie just to get close. ‘I thought you were like me,’ he said. ‘Might be you are. Only not the way I thought.'”
There hasn’t been a definitive flashback to Dunk’s knighting; the memories of being Ser Alan’s squire mostly involve a slap on the ear and some discouraging words. Some fans believe it’s quite clear he was never knighted, yet Dunk embodies all the qualities of a true knight, which is what truly counts.
“I haven’t read the books, but from this quote alone, it seems like maybe Arlan didn’t actually knight him but just told him he’d make a good knight or something, so Dunk went to the tourney thinking, ‘Well, I may not be a REAL knight, but I’m going to be a GOOD knight for Ser Arlan,'” one fan speculated.
“The beauty of it lies in the idea that he is not officially one, but he is one in every way that actually matters,” another commented.
“Not in name but in deed the truest one,” said another.
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“The point of the story is that Ser Duncan is a true knight despite never having been knighted, because he actually lives by the vows that knights take, while nearly all ‘real’ knights do not,” another fan noted.
George R. R. Martin weighed in back in 2001, stating to a fan site that he can’t confirm or deny whether Dunk is a true knight… so there’s that.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs weekly on HBO. Stay updated with the release schedule or check out our review for spoiler-free thoughts on the entire series.
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