'A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms' Episode 5 Recap & Ending Explained: Is Baelor Dead?

In episode 4 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Baelor advised Dunk to demand a trial by combat with Aerion, because if he went for a straightforward trial, he’d be killed off for not only hitting a prince but also for allegedly abducting Egg. Dunk accepted Baelor’s proposal, because he knew that he could take on Aerion in a one-on-one fight, but when he demanded a trial by combat, it kind of backfired, because Aerion demanded the trial of seven. Which meant that Dunk would have to assemble 6 other knights and battle Aerion and his 6 knights. Steffon was the first person who claimed that he’d side with Dunk. Daeron said that he’d go down without much of a fight during the trial to make up for the fact that he had lied about Dunk kidnapping Egg. And on the day of the fight, Egg convinced Lyonel, Robyn, Hardyng, and Beesbury to fight beside Dunk. Now, Dunk was one knight short, and he entered the arena assuming that his 6-man team would take on Aerion’s 7-man team. While that was against the rules anyway, Dunk’s chances of proving his innocence began dwindling when Steffon backstabbed him to join Aerion. Thankfully, Raymun stepped up, and he was knighted by Lyonel, and then Baelor arrived to join hands with Dunk. What happened next? Let’s find out.

Spoiler Alert

Episode 5 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms starts off with Baelor giving a pep talk to his team while Raymun and Dunk puke their guts out because this is their first time partaking in any kind of combat. And once they are done strategizing—with their main aim being to not die—Dunk, Raymun, Baelor, Lyonel, Robyn, Hardyng, and Beesbury take their respective positions on the battlefield to face off against Aerion, Maekar, Steffon, and the Kingsguard. As Egg departs to take his place in the stands, because he can’t actually squire for Dunk in this situation, the hedge knight makes a reference to their interaction from the second episode, and Egg’s reaction to it shows how much he cherishes his relationship with Dunk. With all that out of the way, both teams charge at each other with their lances. Dunk chokes up for a second, and it seems like he hears Egg’s screaming and charges forward. No, Egg was actually signaling Chestnut to take off, because that’s what they had trained for while Dunk was busy sleeping. It’s actually Chestnut’s decision to move that prompts Dunk to focus and enter the battle. 

Sadly though, as soon as he throws himself into the middle of all that chaos, Aerion lodges his lance into Dunk’s stomach. When Dunk tries to respond with his sword, he is knocked out cold by Aerion’s flail. This is when the episode flashes back to Dunk’s childhood in Flea Bottom, King’s Landing, and I think this memory is triggered by Dunk thinking about the moments that led him to the situation he’s currently in. So, when Dunk was a kid, he and his best and only friend, Rafe, used to make ends meet by scavenging stuff from the battlefield that could be sold in the market. While going through the aftermath of what seems to be the first Blackfyre rebellion, which led to the battle on the Redgrass Field and the death of Daemon I Blackfyre, Dunk found a warrior who had been crushed by his own horse, but he was still breathing. Dunk tried to put him out of his misery, but Rafe prevented him from doing so because she thought that if they turned the warrior in to the authorities, they could get some money. However, when Dunk and Rafe tried to pull the warrior out from underneath his horse, he croaked. So, Dunk and Rafe gathered everything they could and began making their way to Flea Bottom.

Dunk was of the opinion that with Daemon dead, they had no reason to leave King’s Landing anymore. Rafe, while referencing the feud between one of their friends, Pudding, and a guy called Cedric, underscored the fact that the world is stuck in a never-ending cycle of battles, and King’s Landing was a hub for such conflicts. Peace isn’t an option for those seeking power; hence, there’s no point in expecting the kings, the queens, and the lords to focus on the betterment of their people just because a long-drawn-out fight had come to an end. Also, looking at the “unfixable” state of Flea Bottom, anyone sitting on the throne could blame their predecessor for all the damage that had been done and ask for more time to do something substantial for the poor and use that “time” to wage more wars to fill the coffers. Or else they’d just blame the poor for not showing the initiative to fix themselves. Going back to Dunk and Rafe, they were stopped in their tracks by Ser Alester, who wanted to loot whatever the kids had scavenged from the battlefield, but due to a commotion in the alleys, the kids gave Alester the slip, and Rafe even stole his wineskin. 

Dunk warned Rafe that her actions would come back to bite them in the butt, but Rafe knew that since she was leaving King’s Landing, she needn’t worry about people like Alester. On that note, they sold the stuff they had and retired to the basement which served as their shelter. Dunk again began whining about staying in King’s Landing in the hopes that his (probably dead) mother would come searching for him, and Rafe essentially told him that he should stick with someone who was alive and in front of him instead of looking to the horizon for someone who’s most likely dead or had abandoned Dunk to live a better life. The following day, Dunk and Rafe went to the Game of Thrones equivalent of the state transport authority, demanding two fares to the Free Cities, but that request was rejected, because they had jacked up the prices due to high demand. While restrategizing, the kids were cornered by Alester and his friends, and they took all of their belongings as compensation for Rafe stealing his booze. Alester allowed the kids to walk away relatively unscathed, but when he noticed that Rafe had stolen his knife, he got ahold of her and slit her throat, while one of his assistants drove a spear through Dunk’s leg.

Rafe bled to death, and Dunk would have died if Arlan hadn’t appeared out of nowhere and killed Alester and his henchmen. I don’t think Arlan was thinking straight, but his programming to “protect the innocent,” regardless of how sober he was, is what prompted him to save Dunk. Dunk profusely apologized to Rafe for not leaving King’s Landing sooner, buried her, and then began following Arlan wherever he went because, well, he owed his life to the old man. Arlan either pretended to not notice that Dunk was following him to see how dedicated the kid was to becoming his squire, or he was too drunk to even tell that a kid had been following him for days. By the way, a lot of A Knight of the Seven Kingdom fans were confused about what actually killed Arlan. Well, during this flashback, we saw that Arlan had a habit of hurting himself with his own weapons while he was intoxicated, so it’s possible that the wound that killed him was inflicted by Arlan only. 

Anyway, it was only after Dunk had collapsed that Arlan paid attention to him and told him to get up. That’s what brings the flashback to an end, and we are transported back to the trial of seven with Dunk, in the present day, regaining consciousness. Contrary to everyone’s expectations, Aerion gets the better of Dunk, albeit with some help from his allies, who keep knocking him down every time he tries to get up. Well, even without any aid, Aerion one-ups Dunk because, firstly, the hedge knight doesn’t have any proper training; secondly, Aerion is much faster than Dunk; and thirdly, Dunk is more injured than Aerion. When Dunk collapses again, Aerion tells Ashford to declare the winner. And right when Ashford’s assistant is about to blow the horn, signalling the conclusion of the trial, Dunk gets back up again. This time, Aerion is unable to take Dunk down, and the hedge knight proceeds to rain down a million punches on the smug Targaryen’s face. Aerion publicly yields, the trial finally comes to an end, and all the accusations against Dunk are expunged.

In the ending of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5, Steely and Raymun take Dunk to the stables to check out his injuries so that they can chalk out a plan to patch him up properly. This is where we learn that Beesbury and Hardyng have perished. Lyonel is alive, and it seems like Baelor is alright as well. He tells Dunk that he’ll send Maester Yormwell to have a look at him once he’s done treating Maekar. Even though Dunk is severely wounded, he gets down on one knee and expresses his desire to work for Baelor, which is something that the Targaryen prince appreciates. Now, at this point, it seems like the show is deviating from the books, and the showrunners are going to let Baelor live because he’s such a good character. However, when Raymun and Steely help Baelor take off his helmet, it’s revealed that Maekar has crushed the back half of his skull. Maybe the helmet was holding Baelor together somewhat, and without it, he immediately collapses into Dunk’s arm and perishes. Echoing the death of Rafe, Dunk profusely apologizes to Baelor, because he thinks he is the reason why all the good people around him are dying.

It’s a really sad and tragic moment. Dunk is always walking on eggshells because he thinks that if he steps out of line for even a second, something bad is going to happen. And since said line has been drawn by bad people, everything he does is defined as “wrong.” Someone who is not in Dunk’s shoes can assure him that he should keep being righteous without worrying about the collateral damage, but that’s easier said than done. If you’re surrounded by death and abandonment at all times, being optimistic is really tough. Well, hopefully Dunk’s newfound friends, Raymun, Steely, Egg, Lyonel, Robyn, and Red (she was cheering for him from the stands), will fix up Dunk, both physically and psychologically. In addition to that, I have to say that I properly sobbed at the end of this episode even though I knew what was going to happen. The acting, writing, direction, and pacing—it’s all too perfect and is hence so impactful. So, kudos to the showrunners for making me cry again while watching something from the world of Game of Thrones. Did you cry while watching the episode as well? If so, please share your thoughts in the comments below so that we can mourn Baelor’s death together.