Trial Of Seven: A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' Best Action Scene Explained

In the name of the Warrior, I charge you to be brave. In the name of the Father, I charge you to stay away if you don't want spoilers for "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" episode 5.

Battles are a big part of George R. R. Martin's Westeros. Initially, "Game of Thrones" became popular by focusing on political intrigue and mature subjects rather than more traditional fantasy elements. Over time, though, the series began introducing more action and increasingly bigger battles into the mix, pushing the limits of what seemed possible on television. These sequences ranged from one on one duels to sweeping, epic confrontations (although season 2's Battle of the Blackwater still stands out as the show's crown jewel).

The first "Game of Thrones" prequel/spin-off series, "House of the Dragon," continued that trend by starting out as a small-scale, grounded story about a royal succession crisis that quickly imploded into all-out war. Now, we have "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms," a prequel/spin-off that's quite unlike its predecessors. Rather, it's a show that's full of humor and focuses on the smallfolk of Westeros over the conflicts between its rulers. And while the series does connect directly to certain "Game of Thrones" characters, it's otherwise a complete and welcome change of pace.

And yet, because it still takes place in Westeros, "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" season 1 climaxes with a Trial of Seven, an action-packed scene full of misery, violence, and tragedy. A Trial of Seven is itself a trial by combat dating back to the very beginning of the Faith of the Seven (when the Andals arrived in Westeros), but it's also something we haven't seen on screen before. The result? One of the most visceral and gruesome battles in this franchise to date.

Unlike traditional trial by combat, a Trial of Seven involves seven champions fighting on each of the two different sides, with the champions themselves representing the seven gods of the Faith of the Seven Kingdoms. This is why it's so challenging for Dunk (Peter Claffey) to find six other champions in episode 4; he's asking all of them to put their lives on the line for him by fighting a royal family (the Targaryens, to be exact) to the death.

It's also important to note that a Trial of Seven only ends when either the accused is dead (and has thus been found guilty by the gods in the eyes of those who believe in the Faith) or the accuser has been killed or yielded. This is why the Trial of Seven in "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" episode 5 feels both epic yet intimate in scope. It is, after all, a battle between 14 warriors wielding an arsenal of weapons on horseback, yet only two of them really matter and serve as the focus of this episode.

The most brilliant choice director Sarah Adina Smith makes in this episode is to depict most of the battle from Dunk's point of view ... literally. In fact, we spend much of episode 5 surveying the rest of the action from inside of Dunk's helmet, which affords us a subjective perspective on the battle. This, in turn, makes his Trial of Seven a chaotic, blurring, and otherwise confusing affair by design — to the degree that we're never too certain where the other champions are or which ones are still alive at any point in time, yet we're always keenly aware of the incredible and brutal violence being inflicted.

The Trial of Seven on "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" arguably bears a resemblance to the famous Battle of the Bastards on "Game of Thrones," as both of them capture an incredibly brutal and violent conflict through stunning visual storytelling. Likewise, the Trial of Seven utilizes its violence to tell a specific story while still being quite grotesque and horrific. Indeed, over the course of the trial, poor Dunk is beaten, stabbed, bludgeoned, and impaled, all while being left to fight alone and isolated for most of the showdown.

That last part is important since it drives home Dunk's arc so far. He is, after all, an underdog trying to make a name for himself in a world that values bloodlines and status above all else. Moreover, he's a man isolated by his fervent belief in true knighthood, which is why he has such trouble convincing others to join his cause. It's also why it never even occurs to him that a fellow like Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) would team up with him purely for a shot at glory — or that Humfrey Hardyng (Ross Anderson) would come along for the ride just to take revenge on Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett) for deliberately killing his horse in their jousting match.

In the end, all that really matters is that Duncan needs to defeat his accuser, thus proving he can slay the (figurative) dragon with his crappy armor and broken shield. That this episode manages to give us a battle as impressive as any on "Game of Thrones" with only 14 people — 12 of which are mostly kept off-screen — is simply spectacular.

"A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" is streaming on HBO Max.