There’s one thing about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: it is not Game of Thrones. And that is why its latest episode, In the Name of the Mother, works.
It does not begin with dread or promised carnage. It does not circle around shock the way GoT did, from the Red Wedding to the sudden brutality that became its signature style. This show moves differently and builds its conflicts slowly.
Up until episode four, the series felt steady, even restrained. Episode five changes that.
Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) finally finds himself in the middle of a real fight. Not a tournament scuffle or a test of pride, but something that carries consequences. The revelation that his squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is actually a Targaryen prince reframes everything. What looked like a wandering knight-and-boy tale becomes a story about succession, loyalty and how easily power rearranges the room.
The Trial of Seven is where the episode finds its strongest scenes so far. Seven men on each side, the gods deciding the truth. It’s an old Westerosi custom, and the show treats it like one: ritualistic, tense, steeped in tradition. Duncan, a hedge knight with no banners to call upon, must ask others to risk their lives for him. Watching him gather those men is as gripping as the fight itself.
And when the battle begins, it is as raw, simmering almost, as you expect from this universe. It’s not as grand as the war against the Night King, no operatic score swelling to remind you something historic is happening. It’s dirt, armour, breath, panic, hesitation, realisation. There are long pauses, a realisation of the battle being fought inward and the idea of what’s really at risk. The makers draw a parallel of the outside battle with the one that Ser Duncan is fighting on the inside — by recalling his past as a teenager, his late mentor and how he landed her, on this muddy ground, trying to prove to the world that he’s the ultimate legit knight.
That is where this episode separates itself from the later seasons of Game of Thrones. The final stretch of that series often aimed to get bigger — larger armies, larger stakes, larger destruction. Here, the scale is smaller, but the stakes feel closer. It’s not about the end of the world. It’s about reputation, justice and the fragile hierarchy of a kingdom.
Egg, too, shifts in this episode. He is no longer just the quick-witted boy tagging along. His lineage weighs on him. You see the tension between who he is and what he represents. The elder prince challenging Duncan is not drawn as a caricature either; he is pride, expectation and resentment rolled into one. The conflict is layered without being complicated for the sake of it.
What stands out most is the restraint. The show does not rush to underline its moments. It trusts that the audience understands the significance of a hedge knight standing against a Targaryen prince (Finn Bennett as Aerion Targaryen). It trusts that a ritual combat can carry drama without dragons circling overhead.
If you haven’t watched it already, this is your cue. Oh! And before you ask, you can totally watch it, understand it even if you have never watched a single GoT episode.
A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms is currently streaming on JioHotstar.
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