What does it mean to be a “true knight?” That question—explored often throughout George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire—is at the heart of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms story and its main character, Dunk. Knighthood in the Realm sounds simple. It seemingly should be. Brave, just men swear a scared vow to protect the innocent. Yet knighthood is always complicated and usually disappointing. “Love” is often “the death of duty” as Maester Aemon told Jon Snow. And, as Jaime Lannister will learn, competing vows make it all but impossible for a knight not to break some oaths. Not everyone dubbed Ser is worthy of the title, either. For every Ser Barristan Selmy, there’s a Ser Gregor Clegane.
There’s no question, though, the good, honorable, righteous Ser Duncan the Tall lived up to a knight’s vows on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season one. And that’s exactly why no one better exemplifies the question of what makes someone a true knight, because the truth is that Ser Arlan of Pennytree probably never knighted Dunk in Game of Thrones‘ world.
Is Dunk Actually a Knighted Knight on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? The Evidence Says ‘No‘
HBO’s adaptation of the first Dunk and Egg novella, “The Hedge Knight,” leaned into a mystery the short story repeatedly hints at: Did Dunk actually get knighted and become a “true knight” in his Game of Thrones story? It’s a long-standing issue readers have often debated, and George R.R. Martin has never truly answered. But while we can’t “know” Ser Arlan did not actually knight his squire before dying, the circumstantial evidence that Dunk is not a real knight is overwhelming.
Jump To:
- Is Dunk Actually a Knighted Knight on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms ? The Evidence Says ‘No ‘
- Dunk’s Ears Give Him Away
- Dunk’s Thoughts in the Novella Imply He Was Not Knighted
- Dunk’s Hesitation at Knighting Raymun Fossoway Makes More Sense If He Is Not a Knight Himself
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Never Shows Us Dunk’s Knighting
- Dunk Not Being a Real Knight Explains Some of His Odd Comments on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
- Dunk Flat Out Calls Himself a Fraud
- The Words ‘You Are no Knight’ Frame Dunk’s Story
- But Is Dunk a ‘True Knight’ in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms ? Undoubtedly
Dunk’s Ears Give Him Away
The clues begin, both in the novella and in the A Knight of the Kingdoms series, before Dunk decides to go to Ashford. With Ser Arlan dead, he wonders if another hedge knight would take him on as a squire. He also considers joining the City Watch. Knights, a member of the Realm’s nobility, don’t think about squiring for other knights or becoming a cop. In Martin’ story, Dunk’s ears also repeatedly turn red when he’s clearly embarrassed. That’s what happens when he’s asked if he’s a knight when trying to sign up for the tourney, an awkward interaction captured by the show.
Dunk’s internal dialogue in Martin’s story often includes thoughts that sound innocent on the surface but become rich with double meaning when you realize he’s probably lying about getting knighted. “If he is only a squire,” Dunk thinks about Raymun, “What business do I have being a knight?” When he’s nearly dying during the Trial of Seven, he also thinks, “Dunk the lunk, thought he could be a knight.” And as he walks off the field, Dunk asks himself, “I am a knight now in truth?”
Dunk’s Thoughts in the Novella Imply He Was Not Knighted
Dunk/Martin seems to all but confess the truth to readers when Egg tells him why he lied about his own true identity. Here’s the passage with the hedge knight’s thoughts and response to the young Prince after he admits his own deception:
Dunk looked at him thoughtfully. He knew what it was like to want something so badly that you would tell a monstrous lie just to get near it. “I thought you were like me,” he said. “Might be you are. Only not the way I thought.”
Dunk’s Hesitation at Knighting Raymun Fossoway Makes More Sense If He Is Not a Knight Himself
Ser Duncan’s strange hesitation at knighting Raymun Fossoway, which we see so vividly in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season one, despite desperately needing Raymun to join his cause, makes sense when you know he’s lying to everyone. He didn’t delay knighting Raymun because he feared for the squire’s life. (Otherwise, he wouldn’t have let the young Fossoway join the Trial of Seven.) The otherwise honorable Dunk didn’t want to dishonor a friend by making him a false knight.
Any knight can make a knight, yes. Only Dunk isn’t a knight, and, even in his moment of ultimate desperation, he knows he shouldn’t knight another knight if he is a false knight that has never been knighted, and so he doesn’t. (Say that ten times fast.) It’s one thing to lie about himself. It’s another to make a good man trying to help you an unknowing perpetrator and victim of your “monstrous lie.”
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Never Shows Us Dunk’s Knighting
In season one, A Knight on the Seven Kingdoms added even more evidence that Dunk lied about Ser Arlan’s supposéd deathbed knighting. Despite constantly saying Arlan always meant to knight him and did at the last possible second, the series never actually showed it. Instead, it constantly teased it, including with a big fakeout in the finale where, for a brief moment, it seemed like the show would finally settle the matter. But the closest we got to witnessing that sacred moment that Dunk claims really happened was a quick flashback. We saw Ser Arlan shrugging at a kneeling Dunk. The only “witness” Dunk then claimed saw his knighting was a robin in a thorn tree, which just so happened to be the bird he noticed while going to the bathroom after Arlan’s burial.
Dunk Not Being a Real Knight Explains Some of His Odd Comments on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
Dunk lying about being his knighthood explains so many other curious moments from the story, too. Like his “odd” comment to Steffon about Arlan’s sword being his “by right.” Steffon remarked on the strangeness of that reply, but it was even weirder for viewers. We saw Dunk tell the dead Arlan why he wasn’t burying the sword with him. If it was his “by right,” why did he feel the need to justify keeping it to a dead man? His false knighthood also explains his reaction to his pending Trial. He told Raymun, “Maybe the gods figure this is what I deserve.” Deserve for what? Because as Dunk said, he did not know his “place.” His place was not among other knights at the Tourney.
Dunk Flat Out Calls Himself a Fraud
Ser Duncan all but comes out and admits the truth of what he’s done days after his Trial. Lyonel Baratheon said Baelor died because the gods don’t favor a fraud. An incredulous Dunk responded by asking, “Then why have they favored me?” What could possibly make Dunk think he’s a fraud? He knows—he knows—he did the right thing coming to Tanselle’s rescue. Dunk protected the innocent as any knight should have on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Yet Lyonel’s accusation against Baelor makes Dunk question his own survival. Mere doubt he’s worthy of being a knight or even alive isn’t enough to explain Ser Duncan’s reaction, we find the most sense in his response if indeed Dunk is not really a knighted knight.
The Words ‘You Are no Knight’ Frame Dunk’s Story
Once you realize the almost certain truth about Dunk, many other moments from this story take on greater meaning, too, as Martin’s story always does. The hedge knight honors his vow when he saves Tanselle. That brave act sets the rest of his life in motion. And what’s the first thing Dunk ever hears the puppeteer say when she’s performing a play about Florian the Fool, a mythological character who did not know his place in society but went on to become a great hero? Dunk hears Tanselle say, “You are no knight.”
He then hears her words ring in his head the night before his trial. He enters the tent where he saved her, wondering how he’s now facing death. As he walks into that room where he seemed to doom himself, Dunk hears her. “You are no knight.”
But Is Dunk a ‘True Knight’ in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms? Undoubtedly
Egg, without realizing why, had it right in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ season finale when he told Ser Duncan, “Maybe you’re not the knight I thought you were.” He’s not. Ser Duncan the Tall is no Ser at all. He’s Dunk from Flea Bottom, squire to a lowly hedge knight whose desperate lie to make something of himself got the Hand of the King killed.
And if you think that matters, you’re no closer to understanding what this story has to say about the question at its core.
What does it mean to be a “true knight?” Is it the actual act of being knighted? Knighthoods in Westeros are often bought or bartered. Unethical, ignoble men grant it to unworthy men who never care about honoring their sacred vows. They want the prestige, the title, and the respect that comes with being a knight without ever deserving them. Without ever fulfilling their promise to protect others. Vows are words, and words are air. Knighthood only has real meaning through actions and deeds.
Few knights in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, the countless men who had a sword solemnly placed upon their shoulders, would have ever protected Tanselle from a prince of House Targaryen. Does it matter if the only one who did never actually kneeled before a drunk dying hedge knight? Do you think Tanselle cared?
If you watched Game of Thrones, you already know the answer. Did Ser Duncan’s descendant, Brienne of Tarth, only become a knight when Jaime Lannister knighted her? Is that when she became worthy of respect? When she truly began to defend the innocent? Of course not. He merely honored her by acknowledging what was always true. The noble Brienne was always the living embodiment of true knighthood. Even without a formal ceremony and title, she had already been the best knight in Westeros. Just as Aerion Targaryen—who, unlike Dunk, once knelt so a sword could be placed on his shoulders—was no knight.
Ser Arlan of Pennytree never dubbed his squire a knight. If the people of Westeros knew that they would hang Dunk of Flea Bottom. And in doing so, they would kill the only man in the Realm who exemplifies everything they want in the knight. In the best, purest, simplest sense, Ser Duncan the Tall is a true knight. And that’s true even though he lied about being knighted.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He will defend Ser Duncan the Tall. Always and forever. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.
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This articles is written by : Fady Askharoun Samy Askharoun
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