When Ser Duncan the Tall kneels in disbelief after surviving the trial by seven in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’, his confusion feels painfully human. A kingdom mourns. And somehow the gods spared a hedge knight instead. Dunk can’t make sense of it.
Why should God save his hand and foot and not the life of Prince Baelor Targaryen? His modest ending, that he might be needed in the world some day, feels almost childish. However, in the broader history of ‘Game of Thrones’, it is not naive at all. It’s prophetic.
The Trial of Seven Changed Westeros Forever
Years after the Ashford trial, Dunk rises to become Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under Aegon V Targaryen, the former “Egg.” Their friendship, which is built on mud and struggle, develops into a partnership that molds the world. Then comes Summerhall. Aegon experiments with wildfire in a desperate bid to hatch dragons, but the experiment goes wrong. Flames consume the castle. Chaos reigns.
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And in the midst of it all, Dunk does what he has always done: he protects. He rescues the baby Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and goes back to the inferno, where he perishes with his king. The one act of courage reverberates through time. Rhaegar is raised to be the man whose decisions sparked the Rebellion of Robert.
Jon Snow is born as a result of his love for Lyanna Stark. Without the power and faithfulness of Dunk at Summerhall, that child, and all the series of events which follow, may never have come into being. The trial wasn’t about justice in the present. It was about survival for the future.
Ashford’s Trial Didn’t Just Save Dunk, It Saved The Realm
George R. R. Martin’s world is consequence-driven. Each sword stroke, each murmur, reverberates through the ages. The saga is shadowed by the prophecy of the Prince That Was Promised, which hints that even history is inclined towards the triumph of the darkness.
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Had Dunk lost the trial, he would have been maimed, unable to serve in the Kingsguard, absent at Summerhall, removed from the path that preserved Rhaegar’s life. Jon Snow does not exist without Rhaegar. The battle against the Night King would have a different look without Jon or Daenerys Targaryen, maybe even impossible.
It’s astonishing to think that Westeros’ survival may hinge on a single mace blow at Ashford and the mercy shown to a humble knight. Dunk thought that the gods must have a purpose for him. In the grand tapestry of ice and fire, he was absolutely right.
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