Review: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, "Hard Salt Beef" | Season 1, Episode 2

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As we went over in the comments last week, by all accounts Ser Duncan the Tall was never made a knight by Ser Arlan Pennytree. This isn’t to say that his former master was cruelly withholding, but he just wasn’t that organized: he drank, he whored, and he died. The idea that he would be focused on his mentorship of Dunk in that moment just doesn’t track with everything we’ve seen of this man in the show’s flashbacks.

But this doesn’t mean that Ser Duncan the Tall is a fraud. Sure, he may have never been formally knighted, but he is acting as though he was. When he goes from house to house trying to convince someone—anyone—to vouch for him, he’s attempting to carry on a legacy that never was. Honestly, they might have remembered Ser Arlan if Dunk had led with his enormous penis, but everything else about him is entirely indistinguishable. There’s no lands, there’s no children, and there’s dozens of hedge knights with exactly the same story. But Dunk is committed to this specific story, and to the specific acts Ser Arlan did on behalf of these houses: they don’t remember him, but he does, and he is dogged in telling that story again and again.

When he eventually finds the right audience, though, he’s forced to confront the truth of it. On the one hand, Baelor Targaryen—the Hand of the King—actually does remember Ser Arlan Pennytree. His brother is incredulous that Baelor has such an encyclopedic knowledge of the tourneys he’s participated in, but he remembers the story Dunk tells him. And while there’s some back-and-forth fact-checking from Baelor to confirm that he’s telling the truth, I think he knows upfront that Dunk isn’t lying. He’s carrying the man’s shield and arms, and his willingness to stand in front of the Hand of the King and speaking this tale says a lot about his investment in carrying on this legacy. He may not be a knight, but he isn't a liar on anything other than that truth, which counts for something.