In last week\u2019s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em>, we saw how Dunk met Egg\u2014and the moment the hedge knight reluctantly agreed to let the peculiar bald kid serve as his squire.<\/p>\n We also followed Dunk\u2019s increasingly desperate quest to find someone, anyone<\/em>, to vouch for him\u2014hoping the legacy of his master, Ser Arlan of Pennytree, would be enough to get him into the tourney at Ashford Meadow.<\/p>\n This week, in an episode entitled \u201cHard Salt Beef,\u201d well\u2026 Dunk has to level up. Big time.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Your eyeballs won\u2019t soon forget the sight of Ser Arlan of Pennytree emerging from a shack (where he\u2019s clearly just had a tryst) and taking a relaxing whizz\u2014stark naked, his dangling manhood on display. Last week\u2019s projectile poop has nothing on this explicit visual. Does anything in Game of Thrones<\/em>-adjacent history? It\u2019s deadpan. In your face. Full of pee.<\/p>\n This memorable moment in the past is underscored by Dunk\u2019s narration in the present. Ser Manfred Dondarrion blew him off last week, but some knight or lord must remember Ser Arlan\u2026 right?<\/p>\n \u201cHe had a peaceful nature. Quiet and humble,\u201d Dunk describes. \u201cA veteran of a hundred wars but an enemy to none. He always knew what was expected of him.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s a glowing reminiscence that isn\u2019t entirely supported by a flashback montage, which shows Ser Arlan was frequently very drunk and fond of singing at the top of his lungs in that state. But Dunk is genuinely earnest, and when we pull away from his memories, we see the young hedge knight is making the rounds\u2026 in vain. None of the men\u2014House Florent, House Hayford, House Tyrell\u2014gathered at Ashford have any recollection of his late master.<\/p>\n We realize that Egg has been taking in the many rejections and feels sorry that Dunk is being humiliated over and over.<\/p>\n He doesn\u2019t understand why Dunk puts up with it. \u201cWhy do you treat these royal lapdogs like they\u2019re your betters?\u201d he asks. Dunk\u2019s answer: \u201cThey are<\/em> my betters.\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s still got hope that someone will remember Ser Arlan. But his quest is interrupted when trumpets sound and a group of riders, dressed in black and holding banners festooned with that familiar three-headed dragon, gallop into Ashford.<\/p>\n We get a close-up of Egg looking concerned. He quickly offers to head back to their camp to keep an eye on things. Distracted, Dunk agrees and sets off after the new arrivals.<\/p>\n They are, of course, the Targaryen contingent, led by Baelor\u2014Hand of the King and heir to the Iron Throne. Also along are his brother, Maekar, and Maekar\u2019s son, Aerion. Only the latter two have the ice-blonde hair the family is known for, as well as that trademark surly, superior attitude.<\/p>\n Aerion immediately mistakes the hovering Dunk for a stable boy. Nice first impression. But that doesn\u2019t deter Dunk from mustering up the gumption to follow the elder Targaryens into the castle.<\/p>\n He\u2019s intending to continue his hunt for a sponsor but overhears Baelor (polite, diplomatic), Maekar (rude and blustery), and Lord Ashford (obsequious) discussing the unpleasant fact that two of Maekar\u2019s sons, Daeron and Aegon, have gone missing while making their way to the tourney.<\/p>\n The even-tempered Baelor is certain they\u2019ll turn up. Maekar, talking about Daeron, who was supposed to enter the lists, mutters, \u201cI do not need to be reminded of my son\u2019s failings. He can change; he will<\/em> change, gods be damned.\u201d<\/p>\n Dunk chooses that moment to make his presence known\u2014interrupting the family tension\u2014and explains his predicament.<\/p>\n Baelor is, again, polite; Maekar is rude as hell. Even Ashford is snooty. But Baelor remembers Ser Arlan<\/em>! In great detail, in fact!<\/p>\n He\u2019s as kind as Dunk is awkward (even as Maekar snorts at the hedge knight\u2019s fumblings) and suggests to the Ashford steward\u2014the phlegmy guy we met last week; he\u2019s in charge of running the tourney\u2014that Dunk should be allowed to enter.<\/p>\n Dunk puts his foot in his mouth a few times during this chat, but Baelor lets it slide. He gently reminds Dunk he can\u2019t use the Pennytree sigil since he wasn\u2019t the old man\u2019s son. He\u2019ll need to change up Ser Arlan\u2019s shield and make it his own.<\/p>\n We\u2019re back at the puppet show. The pretty narrator from last week, now even taller on stilts, performs as Dunk looks at her through goo-goo eyes. After the show, Dunk and Egg (Egg is also delighted by the puppet show, for more childlike reasons) approach. After she mentions she helps create the puppets, Dunk asks her if he can hire her to paint a new design on his shield.<\/p>\n His shaky confidence runs out when he realizes he hasn\u2019t actually thought about the design, but Egg steps in to help shape the idea: an elm tree with a shooting star above. Dunk introduces himself as \u201cSer Duncan the Tall,\u201d and she reveals her name is Tanselle, adding, \u201cThe boys used to call me Tanselle Too-Tall.\u201d<\/p>\n Dunk, of course, turns this into a clumsy compliment. Moments later, he asks his tiny wingman, \u201cWas that ill-handled?\u201d<\/p>\n His mortification is eased when Ser Lyonel\u2014the good-time guy we met last week, who took quite<\/em> the shine to Dunk\u2014appears and drafts the pair into a rowdy, spontaneous game of tug-of-war. Dunk, who is as enormous as Egg is small, helps lead their side to victory.<\/p>\n After, Dunk wanders the makeshift village until he finds an armorer, who says he can outfit him for 800 stags. It\u2019s steep. Too steep. But he can\u2019t fight without armor. The man\u2014Steely Pate is his name\u2014gives off very gruff vibes, but he\u2019s not without reason. He agrees to let Dunk trade in some old armor (Ser Arlan\u2019s, no doubt) and to lower the price a little.<\/p>\n He also accepts Dunk\u2019s two stags (that\u2019s all he has) as a deposit, but the generosity ends there. We see Dunk reluctantly selling one of his beloved horses to make up the rest.<\/p>\n \u201cIs there any measure of a fool I fail to meet?\u201d he murmurs sadly. He promises the pony he\u2019ll buy her back if he wins.<\/p>\n In a somber mood, he tells Egg that maybe if he becomes a champion at Ashford, some great house will want to take him into its service. Maybe even House Targaryen. Egg doesn\u2019t think much of that plan, but the moment is interrupted when the horn blows: time to watch some opening-night jousting!<\/p>\n What looks to be a Tully of Riverrun sets the tone by biting the head off a fish and yelling \u201cFor the new gods\u2026 and old!\u201d to thunderous approval; his opponent is \u201cPrince Valaar, Baelor\u2019s son. Second in line to the throne,\u201d Egg explains.<\/p>\n Then, as the crowd hushes to await the start of the joust, some jokester in the crowd screams out, \u201cLORD ASHFORD FUCKS HIS SHEEP,\u201d which goes over even better than the fish stunt.<\/p>\n Dunk hoists Egg onto his shoulders so he can see above the masses. The action is boisterous, electric, and\u2026 terrifying, at least to Dunk. Egg is hooting like he\u2019s at a pro wrestling match. But Dunk\u2019s face as he watches riders get struck down and horses collapse betrays his realization that this is what he himself will be doing once he\u2019s called into the ring. He flashes back to burying Ser Arlan, and it\u2019s a sobering moment.<\/p>\n By the campfire after, Egg is still amped, but Dunk is reflective. We get a lovely, thoughtful monologue as he ponders what\u2019s happened so far\u2014and what lies ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cDo great knights live in the hedges and die by the side of a muddy road? I think not.\u201d<\/p>\n Ser Arlan \u201cwas a hard man to know,\u201d Dunk admits. \u201cHe had no friends either. He lived nigh on 60 years and never was a champion. What chance do I have, truly?\u201d<\/p>\n But all is not lost. There\u2019s still hope for this young hedge knight. \u201cBut he was good to me. I wasn\u2019t his family. But he kept me like we were. He raised me to be an honorable man, and all these noble lords can\u2019t even remember his name. His name was Ser Arlan of Pennytree, and I am his legacy.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOn the morrow, we will show them what his hand has wrought.\u201d<\/p>\n A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/em> premieres new episodes Sundays on HBO and HBO Max.<\/p>\n Want more io9 news? 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