One of the major events of HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ first season was a dramatic Trial by Combat.
Hold on a moment, I should really have put out some spoiler warnings before I started getting into details.
You should watch this terrific HBO show before reading this blog post. Go watch right now, we’ll all wait. It’s roughly a three-hour time commitment – a very short season of television.
Okay, now that they’re gone, lets talk about the Trial of Seven, and maybe another related (sort of related) melee from George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire.
The penultimate episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms delivered a dramatic episode in classic Game of Thrones penultimate episode flavor. Our plucky hero and his stalwart companions were facing off against implacable foes (with varying levels of implacableness.)
The episode itself was a flashback sandwich, with the beginning and the conclusion of the martial trial acting as bookends to a short view in the past about Dunk’s early life in Flea Bottom immediately after the end of the first Blackfyre Rebellion (although it was just called the Blackfyre Rebellion at that time before folks started numbering them, much like World War One was known as the Great War or the War to End All Wars until World War Two happened.)
Opinions vary about the flashback.
I’ve heard complaints that it took up too much time of the episode, time that could have been better spent on us seeing (for example) Ser Lyonel Baratheon just cavaliering about. I sympathize, but only to a point.
In the novella (get ready to hear that phrase a bunch going forward) the actual Trial of Seven is fairly brief. Both sides clash, Dunk only sees snatches of things happening, then he Goes HAM on Aerion, drags the prince across the field, and compels him to publicly yield. The two Humfreys from his team are dead; Kingsguard Ser Willem Wylde is seriously injured.
Oh, and Prince Baelor Targaryen is a walking dead man.
That all pretty much tracks with what was presented on the show, except the show definitely featured a much longer fight between Dunk and Aerion.
The episode already ends up giving us far more of a spectacle than they really had to if they were going to stick strictly to the text. If the showrunners wanted to spend some languorous time on a flashback, I feel that they’d earned it. But let’s talk more about the fight that we were presented with instead of debating the flashback.
While Dunk and Aerion were smashing on each other – what exactly was everyone else doing during this chaotic time? People seem to want to know.
Much like in the novella, most of the action in the episode’s fight was focused on Dunk vs Aerion but we do see things happening around them – which can let us make some guesses on how the battle progressed for many of the combatants, both on the accusers’ side and the accused’s side.
Quick embarrassing disclaimer: no matter how hard I tried, I could not get screengrabs from HBO Max. In the end, I watched a YouTube edit of the trial (that had omitted the flashback) on my iPad and I did 69 (nice) screengrabs from that. I edited the screen captures on my iPad and emailed them to me via gmail so I could download them to my computer for blog insertion (with some Powerpoint help along the way.) Sadly, things that looked crisp on my iPad look less so when they got sent through the mail. I wish I knew of a better way. End of embarrasing disclaimer.
Time to discuss the Battle of Seven.
Before we begin though, let’s establish some references. In my mind, the reviewing stand is virtual North, being at the top of the map. Dunk and his fellow knights assembled therefore at the West end of the field, Aerion and his supporters at the East end. I have no idea if the actual cardinal references are listed in the Hedge Knight, but I am committing to this framework.
(I should probably re-read The Hedge Knight. There might be some reference to which direction the Sun is at dawn or whatever, but since the battle took place on a misty morning, I don’t remember if there were any considerations about the Sun being in anyone’s eyes.)
Lining up, downfield to upfield (furthest from the reviewing stand to closest, or from left to right in this picture) we have …
- Ser Robyn Rhysling, the one-eyed religiously-oriented knight
- Ser Raymun Fossaway, newly-knighted ex-squire to his cousin Steffon
- Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the Laughing Storm
- Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen, Prince of Dragonstone, Hand of the King, firstborn son of King Daeron the Good
- Dunk the Lunk
- Ser Humfrey Hardyng, one of the initial five tourney champions, grudge-harborer against Aerion
- Ser Humfrey Beesbury, the other Humfrey, also one of starter five tourney champions, here supporting his brother-in-law Humfrey H.
Opposite them on the East Side of the field, are the seven accusers, from left to right –
- Ser Donnel of Duskendale, crabber’s son and Kingsguard. How do I know it’s Donnel and not Roland Crakehall or Willem Wylde? Beesbury in the novella is reportedly killed on the first charge by Ser Donnel, so I feel that cements that this position is filled by Donnel, opposite Humfrey B. There’s a chance I’m wrong, but I’m rolling with it for now.
- Ser Willem Wylde, Kingsguard. How do I know this is Willem? I have my reasons, which I will eventually get to. (Maybe I’m wrong, don’t trust me uncritically.) He’s facing Ser Humfrey Hardyng.
- Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen, lined up to joust against Ser Duncan the Tall.
- Prince Maekar Targaryen aka “Baelor’s Brother” – he’s lined up against his older, more well-regarded brother.
- Ser Roland Crakehall, Kingsguard. Why do I think this is Roland and not Willem Wylde? Just take my word for this at the moment, but I’ll explain later, I promise.
- Ser Steffon Fossaway, the not-that-true-a-knight who traded his honor to fill the ranks of Aerion’s team for the required number of seven with the offer of receiving a Lordship. As a consequence, he’s lost the service of his squire/cousin. He’s now squared up against that cousin, Ser Raymun.
- Prince Daeron Targaryen, the eldest son of Maekar and technically the second accuser against Dunk. He’s promised Team Dunk that he’ll take a dive in the fight. At this point in the match, he is opposite Ser Robyn.
Look, there’s going to be A LOT of pictures ahead, and you can probably get better info watching any of the many many ASOIAF YouTube channels that have covered the fight. But I don’t have time to watch videos, and if you’re like me on this, I’ve got you covered.
I’m mostly going to be including photos not to highlight the extended fight between Dunk and Aerion, but more of what is happening in the background to track what the other people are doing. (If you have no interest in that, you can skip down to the actual main part of the post, which is a QUESTION OF BURNING IMPORT.)
TRACKING THESE FOURTEEN (more or less)
The trial kicks off into high gear, except for Ser Duncan who stalls at first but does get going.
Aerion nails him with his lance (slowed down by Dunk’s shield and mail.) Thunder the warhorse carries on forward to midfield, and Aerion re-readies to engage Dunk with a flail.
From Dunk’s perspective, we see Ser Humfrey Hardyng taken out by a Kingsguard (who I believe is Ser Willem Wylde.) We also know two other things: Ser Humfrey Beesbury was killed on the initial charge by Ser Donnel Darklyn, and Daeron Targaryen put up no resistance to Ser Robyn Rhysling unhorsing him – Daeron is currently playing opossum in the mud.
CURRENT STATS (to the best of our knowledge):
Team Dunk: 5 mounted
Team Aerion: 6 mounted
Aerion hits Ser Duncan with a flail which knocks Dunk off Thunder, but Aerion is unhorsed as well. Aerion continues to abuse Dunk with hits to the helmet, a situation quickly followed up with Maekar riding by and hitting Dunk in the head with his mace.
Steely Pate’s helmet is a lifesaver.
Maekar, as we remember, had been facing off against Baelor before. Maekar also no longer has his lance. Let’s keep that in mind.
CURRENT STATS (as far as we can tell):
Team Dunk: 4 mounted, 1 afoot
Team Aerion: 5 mounted, 1 afoot
Maekar does not remain mounted for long though. On the ground is Baelor (we don’t see him getting unhorsed, but he’s obviously no longer mounted and that’s not likely voluntary.) The crown prince has a technique to deal with a mounted foe:
We see Kingsguards in the above photos, riding parallel (but in opposite directions) to the battle between the two Targaryen brothers. This brings up one of my assumptions. We’ll never see more than two mounted Kingsguards from now on in the fight (and never one fighting on foot.)
The fight in the novella is not exactly like the fight presented on the show, but I do think it is reasonable to bring in some details.
He saw Prince Baelor gallop past, lance still intact, and drive one of the Kingsguard from his saddle.
— The Hedge Knight
Since Baelor can’t be galloping anymore, my assumption is that he’d previously taken out a Kingsguard unseen (particularly because we never see a 3rd KG in the rest of the fight.) Maybe this was Ser Willem Wylde, who we know from the novella gets dragged off at some point. We just can infer that only two white cloaks are still riding about and I assume Ser Willem is now in the mud, insensate.
“And them? The accusers?”
“Ser Willem Wylde of the Kingsguard was carried from the field insensate, and I think I cracked a few of my cousin’s ribs. At least I hope so.”
— The Hedge Knight
My assumption is that after Baelor and Maekar did their initial pass, Prince Baelor opted to ignore his brother and instead charged at the two Kingsguard who were upfield (I say it’s Ser Donnel and Ser Willem.) They’d both eliminated the two Humfreys and so were an unopposed threat. Baelor had already stated that he was going to take the fight to the Kingsguard since they could not strike at him.
Since Baelor is now on the ground, my guess is that after Baelor unhorsed a Kingsguard (in theory) Maekar surprised and unhorsed Baelor. After all, no one else was really in a position to charge Baelor and knock him off his mount.
- Not prone Daeron
- Not Aerion who was tied up with Dunk
- Not Steffon, seen to be actively engaged versus Raymun (evidence upcoming)
- Not any of the Kingsguard.
Maekar could be the only one to unhorse Baelor (and soon find himself unhorsed in return.)
CURRENT STATS (as far as we can tell):
Team Dunk: 3 mounted, 2 afoot
Team Aerion: 3 mounted, 2 afoot
While Baelor fights against Maekar, Dunk and Aerion’s brawl continues.
In the background we see the Fossaway cousins still mounted and still bearing lances – those two cousins are fighting mad. They’ve likely been charging at each other this whole time. (We know that’s Ser Steffon from the red apple shield, we know that’s Ser Raymun because he’s the only member of team Duncan with a pale-colored horse.)
Aerion and Dunk wrestle and scrap; Aerion worries at Dunk with a dagger until Ser Raymun Fossaway rides back and knocks Aerion off of Dunk. Likely Ser Raymun couldn’t resist the opportunity.
We get a good look (more or less, there’s lots of mist) of the remaining combatants who are still mounted as Raymun rides on after hitting Aerion (but looking back to keep an eye on Dunk’s situation.)
There are six mounted combatants remaining, three per team, and it looks like they have fallen back into positions similar to their starting lineup. From left to right in the photos above, it’s Ser Lyonel Baratheon, Ser Raymun Fossaway, and Ser Robyn Rhysling, lined up as they were at the start, with the Fossaways continuing to face each other. The two remaining Kingsguard are riding parallel to Ser Steffon, one on each side. Elsewhere on the battlefield, there is one of the Targaryen princes pretending to be unconscious on the ground, one prince is fighting Ser Duncan, and two princes are fighting each other, without Kingsguard involvement.
My guess is that Ser Roland shifted a few lanes downfield – likely to make sure nothing bad happened to the prone Prince Daeron and ended up engaging with Ser Robyn. Ser Donnel and Ser Lyonel were then closest mounted knights to upfield (either Donnel moved down or Lyonel moved up – this are just my best guess approximation influenced by the photos above…)
Dunk takes a moment to recover, thanks to Ser Raymun Fossaway having knocked Aerion away, but Dunk is then knocked down by Ser Steffon Fossaway riding by! Still, Dunk and Aerion continue the melee, which is turning out pretty much to be just a regular Trial by Combat between two opponents (with both receiving some random ride-by mounted abuse during the conflict.)
The mounted match between Ser Lyonel Baratheon and whichever Kingsguard he was lancing against (my guess is Ser Donnel who was upfield already) has gotten close to where Dunk and Aerion are.
Ser Lyonel must be truly keeping the Kingsguard engaged and away from the two most important people of this fight. (If Dunk gets taken out, the trial is over – if Aerion gets taken out, the trial is over.) Likewise, Ser Robyn must also be keeping the second remaining Kingsguard’s attention (who I assume is Ser Roland who had been downfield and the closest Kingsguard to Ser Robyn at the start.) The Fossaways are primarily focused on each other, and just took one hit of opportunity each against Dunk or Aerion (depending on which Fossaway it was riding by) and are otherwise all-in on Apple vs Apple combat.
Dunk continues to take abuse, first by a thrown sword in his leg (!)
And then Aerion uses the handle of his sword against Dunk’s helmet slit. Dunk’s had enough of this. (Meanwhile, Ser Lyonel is still clobbering a Kingsguard where everyone can see it. Huzzah!)
Dunk removes his helmet (kind of a dangerous move, but okay), attacks Aerion, goes for Aerion’s leg and knocks him down to the mud. This causes Maekar to freak out.
Maekar stuns Baelor and leaves him on the ground, but a mounted Ser Lyonel moves to intercept him. Maekar, like his big brother Baelor, has some moves.
Ser Lyonel has now been dismounted which is going to adjust the stats, but wasn’t he just fighting a Kingsguard a moment ago? Well, we never see two Kingsguard in the fight again, and never one active on the ground, so I am writing this Kingsguard off – likely Ser Donnel who might still be okay. From the novella –
One of the Kingsguard knights was carrying a wounded brother from the field. They both looked alike in their white armor and cloaks.
— The Hedge Knight
Now would be a good time for Ser Donnel to be carrying the injured Ser Willem off the field. Ser Willem was upfield the last time we saw him defeating Ser Humfrey Hardyng. Ser Lyonel and Ser Donnel were upfield the last we saw them. If any Kingsguard could carry the injured Willem off, it would be Donnel.
There are some elements around that novella passage that aren’t exactly matching the show’s fight, but I think it is reasonable to assume that with only one Kingsguard left on the battlefield (that we see from now on) the other two would have exited the field in the manner described in the novella.
CURRENT STATS (as far as we can tell – soon to be updated again):
Team Dunk: 2 mounted (Fossaway and Rhysling), 3 afoot
Team Aerion: 2 mounted (Fossaway and remaining Kingsguard), 2 afoot
Ser Lyonel recovers from his unhorsing, and he and Baelor intercept Maekar before he can make his way to Dunk and Aerion.
Dunk from Flea Bottom goes wild on Prince Aerion, who quietly yields.
Dunk surveys the scene. The now mutually unhorsed Fossaway cousins are fighting nearby (we don’t see it happen, but it probably looked similar to the Dunk/Aerion simultaneous dismounting.) Somehow, Ser Raymun had found the time to get the apple on his shield painted green. I’m as stunned as Dunk is about this.
CURRENT STATS (as far as we can tell):
Team Dunk: 1 mounted (Rhysling), 4 afoot
Team Aerion: 1 mounted (Kingsguard), 3 afoot
The Targaryen brothers continue to fight, with Ser Lyonel also pressuring Maekar.
This is likely when Baelor gets the fatal blow, turning away to the left from a back-hand mace blow coming from his right, a blow which hit his helmet hard in the back. Ouch.
Dunk drags Aerion towards the reviewing stand, which you might recall is North on my mental map. So all of the non-mounted combatants are towards the eastern part of the field. Just where are the two remaining mounted combatants? Ser Robyn and the last Kingsguard?
Dunk, wanting to stop the fighting that’s going on near him as soon as he can, aims Aerion at the stands, hoping to compel him to loudly yield.
We get a view in the other direction, looking towards the endzone where Dunk and his team had first assembled. We don’t see anyone there though. But wait –
– the last two combatants on horseback, Ser Robyn Rhysling and whomever that Kingsguard is (it’s not Ser Willem Wylde, I am confident about that – I’m saying it is Ser Roland) are scrapping in the background. Everyone is now accounted for.
Aerion retracts his accusation and yields. Ser Duncan the Tall is innocent.
The fight is over.
If you read all that and just didn’t skip down here, thank you! But now, as promised, a Question of Burning Import.
A QUESTION OF BURNING IMPORT!
How the hell did Ser Duncan not get brutally murdered in this fight?
Yes, I realize that due to the circumstances of the fight, it was mostly a one-versus-one Trial by Combat between Ser Duncan and Prince Aerion.
Prince Maekar: That’s what it should have been in the first place! *grinds teeth*
They were squared up against each other, and other than Maekar and Ser Steffon taking shots at Dunk (with Ser Raymun striking Aerion that one time) it was otherwise all Dunk vs Aerion.
Aerion might have been the more skilled fighter on paper, but Dunk is huge and can channel some crazy Flea Bottom rage that the pampered princeling was not prepared for. So I understand why Dunk won the match between him and Aerion.
It just seems a reasonable thing to follow up with the question of why Dunk was allowed to just engage with Aerion without much external complications. This is a Trial of Seven, but the fight doesn’t require the winner be the Last Man Standing. It can end if just the accuser or the accused yields or dies. Ser Duncan should have been clobbered. Well, more clobbered than he had been in the course of the fight.
Particularly when there were three Kingsguard as part of this.
Quick aside: although this Trial of Seven took place decades before the skirmish at the Tower of Joy, readers of A Game of Thrones (or watchers of the sixth season of Game of Thrones) are aware that even when being outnumbered by odds more than two-to-one, a Kingsguard will pull more than their weight in combat.
He dreamt an old dream, of three knights in white cloaks, and a tower long fallen, and Lyanna in her bed of blood.
In the dream his friends rode with him, as they had in life. […]
In the dream they were only shadows, grey wraiths on horses made of mist.They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now.
— A Game of Thrones, Eddard X
In the novel, Ned Stark and six Northmen fight three Kingsguard at Rhaegar’s Tower of Joy, taking substantial losses. At the end, only Ned Stark and the little crannogman Howland Reed survived.
(On the show – possibly for budgetary reasons – there were only six Northmen (including a young Ned) versus two Kingsguard (Ser Arthur Dayne and the Oswell Whent-coded/Gerold Hightower-credited other Kingsguard) – those two white cloaks killed four Northmen, a slightly higher ratio than their book analogues.)
If Ser Arthur Dayne, Lord Commander Gerold Hightower, and the bat-themed Ser Oswell Whent had had four other companions with them (even if one had passed out at the start of the fight like Daeron did) – it is hard to imagine that Ned Stark and Howland Reed would have survived.
So why did Team Aerion’s three Kingsguard underperform in this combat? Was Daeron the Good’s Kingsguard just not as skilled as Aerys II’s?
There are some factors to acknowledge: the Kingsguard did attain First Blood by eliminating the Humfreys from the battlefield so I don’t want to make it seem like they were incompetent. And let’s recognize that no matter how well or poorly they might have done – they did have the complication of having four princes on the field of battle. All four of the princes were due Kingsguard protection, and there were only three Kingsguard to shield them.
They were hamstrung as well that one of the charges they were sworn to protect was attacking them.
BUT, although Baelor might have unhorsed one of the Kingsguard early on (someone must have, and Baelor’s the best candidate) the prince was nearly immediately on foot and tied up fighting Maekar. He was no longer a threat to the Kingsguard.
Ser Donnel: I’m not even going to get in-between those two princes, that’s above my paygrade.
But the question now would be, why didn’t these two mounted and mobile knights, still having lances to give themselves deadly range and impact effect, not ride down Ser Duncan and skewer him?
After all, killing Duncan would end the fight and therefore would be in line with protecting all of the princes on the field. The fighting would cease and the princes would no longer be at risk.
I acknowledge that there were still mounted foes on the field so the Kingsguard mobility wasn’t perfect – but the Fossaways were spending nearly all of their time going after each other – they weren’t really a help or a hindrance. There’s no reason for the Kingsguard to choose to get bogged down fighting Ser Robyn and Ser Lyonel when Dunk is right there on the field, spending most of his time crouched in the mud.
Dunk is huge. One is not likely to miss him.
But, the two Kingsguard continue to engage with Ser Robyn and Ser Lyonel, ignoring the brutal fight between Dunk and Aerion.
The answer that seems most reasonable is this: the Kingsguard were likely not that interested in helping Prince Aerion to win the day.
The Kingsguard who were guarding Rhaegar Targaryen’s love shack in the Dornish mountains were committed to Rhaegar, deeply loyal. They were willing to give their lives in service to protecting Rhaegar’s son (we all agree Jon Snow is actually Rhaegar’s blah blah blah blah yes yes …)
The Kingsguard at Ashford seemed more willing to coast through this one.
Humfrey Beesbury: Wow. Imagine how much deader I would be if they’d been trying.
Humfrey Hardyng: Sons of bitches!
The white cloaks were probably expecting a week of light entertainment, and instead were forced into being part of a Trial of Seven for no good reason, forced to go up against the most important prince there – first in line for the throne and the Hand of the King.
Once Dunk and Aerion were on the ground and essentially locked in a more traditional Trial by Combat, it seems like both remaining Kingsguards (Ser Donnel and Ser Roland) mutually decided to just put on a good front and let the clock run out while fighting against Ser Lyonel and Ser Robyn respectively.
Once Ser Lyonel knocked Ser Donnel off of his horse – Ser Donnel likely took the opportunity to drag the badly-injured Ser Willem away and not have to fight for a bit (conveniently, the trial was soon over after that.)
Ser Donnel: I was dragging as fast as I could! I would have rushed right back in and defeated Ser Duncan, if only Aerion hadn’t yielded. It’s just that Ser Willem weighs a literal tonne and you know, I pulled a hamstring while getting him through the mud. I feel really bad about that.
Prince Baelor: Not as bad as I feel, I wager.
Anyway, it’s probably best for the Kingsguard that Prince Maekar was pretty much focused on blaming himself and indirectly blaming Ser Duncan for what happened to Prince Baelor, and wasn’t trying to spread the blame around to the team of guys who were supposed to be preventing such things.
Ser Willem: Honestly, if Prince Maekar hadn’t ordered us to be part of the seven, it’s likely that Prince Aerion wouldn’t have been able to get his full complement and would have defaulted.
Ser Donnel: Will, keep your voice down! I’ve already pulled you out of the mud once, I don’t want to have to do it again.
So, in a way, Prince Aerion lost two judgments from the Trial by Seven:
- he lost the trial, so his accusations against Ser Duncan were unfounded and he’d deserved the beating Dunk gave him at the puppeteers
- the Kingsguard sworn to protect the royal family will likely only do the bare minimum when he’s involved, because he sucks so bad.
Time to Back Up some Claims! Here’s the Thing! Or rather – Hairs the Thing
I really should back up my claims where I confidently identify the white-helmeted, otherwise indistinguishable Kingsguard members on the battlefield.
I previously stated that it is Ser Donnel of Duskendale nearest the reviewing stand, Ser Willem Wylde next to him, and 5th down the line would be the last Kingsguard, Ser Roland Crakehall. But how can I be so sure?
This blog post is already way too long, so you have my promise that the next Westeros Wednesday Blog Post I publish will lay out my argument that I know which Kingsguard is which.
As a sneak preview, I owe a lot to excellent podcaster Virginie from the Ragman’s Harbour podcast, who asserted during their coverage of the show that in the background of the second episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we see a Kingsguard who is not Ser Roland Crakehall and who is not Ser Donnel of Duskendale, but who has really good young Ser Criston Cole hair.
Virginie: ❤ ❤ ❤ Ser Criston Cole!
Anyway, in my next blog post, I will indicate why this particular Kingsguard’s hairstyle helped me positively identify the starting positions of the Kingsguard knights. Once those starter positions were identified, I didn’t have any barbershop hints to help me identify which royal bodyguard was which after that, but I’ll make my best case and put myself out for judgment.
Hopefully, a judgment that won’t require me getting hit in the head as a martial appeal to The Seven Gods.
(Comments are always welcome. Super welcome! But if you want to engage in spoilery Game of Thrones talk with me (also welcome) I’d invite you to visit my Safe Spoilers page on my backup blog. That way my non-book-reading friends won’t be shocked with foreknowledge.)
Images are from HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and HBO’s Game of Thrones. I make no claims to the images (other than the masterpieces I created using Powerpoint), but I make some claims to the text here – at least the text that isn’t my transcription of show dialogue or text from The Hedge Knight novella or A Game of Thrones. Pretty much everything else is mine. So there.
If you liked this article, thank you! I have all of my Game of Thrones related articles on my handy-dandy Game of Thrones page should you want to read more but don’t want to navigate around my site.
© Patrick Sponaugle 2026 Some Rights Reserved
I Can't Possibly Be Wrong All the Time 