A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms traded a hedge knight’s foot for a Prince’s life, but its season one finale didn’t sacrifice any references to the Realm. The show’s last episode had plenty of nods to George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. Here are all of the Easter eggs, terms, and lore from Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon, and the history of Westeros in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ sixth episode.
Tarth
Lord Lyonel Baratheon’s failed recruitment to have Ser Duncan enter his service at Storm’s End included a future visit to Tarth together. That’s the beautiful island in the Narrow Sea just off the coast of Lyonel’s castle. It’s known as Sapphire Isle, but, as Game of Thrones fans know, that’s not because it’s full of the gems. The island get its nickname from its crystal blue waters.
Tarth is also home to one of House Baratheon’s most important sworn bannermen, noble House Tarth. It’s also the future home of Brienne, descendent of Ser Duncan the Tall. That’s what made Lyonel’s brief mention of that island—which Jaime Lannister saw from from afar on a passing ship on Game of Thrones—more than just a fun reference.
Others
Rather than the more typical expression, “Seven bloody hells,” an exasperated Lyonel Baratheon said, “Others f***ing geld me.” The Others is the name of the White Walkers in George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire. They’re only called White Walkers on Game of Thrones.
The Grand Conspiracy Against House Targaryen
“There’s a war coming.” That was seemingly a very weird thing for Lyonel Baratheon to say to a lowly hedge knight. What war? With whom? The Realm, despite lingering bad blood, had mostly known peace for 15 years by the time the Tourney at Ashford happened. Sure, some Blackfyre forces escaped across the Narrow Sea after the Battle of the Redgrass, but they didn’t seem to pose a major threat. So what war does Lyonel believe is coming?
A war with the Others, whom he referenced moments before? Unlikely, since at this time, no on in Westeros believed the White Walkers would ever return. Many didn’t believe they had ever existed at all. In one hundred years, people still won’t believe in them despite many credible reports. So, could Lord Baratheon have meant “war is coming” in a general sense? Definitely. He might have been talking about the seeming inevitability he’ll eventually find himself in one because craves action. Or he might just realize there’s always another battle just around the corner in Westeros. In the Realm, peace is always fragile and temporary.
Or he meant the great houses of Westeros are sick of their foreign rulers who keep getting them killed in civil wars. That’s why a “dead dragon” is the only good dragon. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ first season showed just how unpopular House Targaryen has become by this point in history. It was one thing when they were dragonlords. Without those magical creatures, they’re just regular men and women whose own familial squabbling keeps getting their supporters killed.
Raymum Fossoway made it clear to Dunk earlier in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms how he feels about House Targaryen. “They’re incestuous aliens, Duncan. Blood-magickers and tyrants who’ve burned our lands, enslaved our people, dragged us into their wars without a mote of respect for our history or our customs. Every pale-haired brat they saddled on us has been madder than the last, gods know how.” His cousin Steffon also said he’s confident his family will outlast the Targaryens, and he will be proven right just a century later when Robert’s Rebellion claims the Iron Throne and leaves House Targaryen on the brink of annhilation.
His descendent’s war might be the exact war Lyonel believes is coming, even if he doesn’t know when it will happen or how. The lords of Westeros were clearly sick and tired of House Targaryen and its many (though not all) terrible rulers. Even before Rhaegar “kidnaps” Lyanna Stark, there’s evidence the Great Houses were taking action to rid themselves of the dragonlords.
A long, popular, compelling fan theory from A Song of Ice and Fire says that many Great Houses were planning to eventually revolt against the Iron Throne and had already begun to unify against House Targaryen. Usually the major houses married with their sworn bannermen to strengthen bonds and maintain power. The Seven Kingdoms always tended to be very insular. But then, really inexplicably, Rickon Stark betrothed his eldest to a daughter of House Tully. He sent his second son to foster with Lord Jon Arryn in the Vale. There Ned Stark met another unlikely foster, the oldest son of Lord Baratheon. That child, Robert, was then betrothed to Lyanna Stark.
Why? Why did these major, powerful, influential houses suddenly start acting in such an unusual way? What was reason did they have to intermarry and foster with one another when they almost never did? Some believe it was meant to connect them through blood and bonds (Ned and Robert came to love one another like brothers) so they could rise up against the crown together. That’s exactly what happened, just not when or how they expected.
Silent Sisters
The Silent Sisters, an order of women belonging to the Faith of the Seven, looked after Baelor’s body and then collected his ashes after it was burned. Anytime someone who follows the new gods in Westeros has died, that faithful group of women bound by vows of silence and chastity, has prepared the corpse for its funeral. They first appeared in Game of Thrones’ pilot during Jon Arryn’s funeral.
Unlike septas who look after, teach, and punish the living, Silent Sisters serve the Stranger. Their spartan lifestyle and solemn duties are why some women are sent to the pious order as a punishment. They wear robes on their heads and cover their faces. (It’s bad luck to look death in the face…) In HBO’s Westeros, they also wear a banner of the Seven on their backs that frame their heads. They are the living, quiet embodiment that all men must die.
Green Fossoways
House Fossoway split into two different branches at the Tourney of Ashford. Raymun marked his split with his cousin during the Trial of Seven by adopting his own version of the family sigil. Rather than sport the traditional red apple symbol of House Fossoway, he painted his shield with a green apple. (The show had him do it after the Trial, not right before.)
After Ashford, each branch still swore fealty to House Tyrell in the Reach. But everyone differentiated them by a colorful monikers. The branch at Cider Hall are known as the red-apple Fossoways. The branch at New Barrel are known as the green-apple Fossoways.
Pennytree
The late Ser Arlan—A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ MVP, really—came from Pennytree in the riverlands between two hills called “the Teats.” The large village also sits between lands controlled by Westeros’ answer to the Hatfields and McCoys. Pennytree resides between the long disputed lands of Houses Bracken and Blackwood. The two families’ millennia-old feud has been a constant presence on House of the Dragon. The village’s proximity to those warring factions might explains why Pennytree’s holdfast has strong, thick, 12-foot stone walls. Residents will quickly retreat behind them when they sense any kind of threat. Pennytree is also protected, though not totally immune, by its status as a royal fief.
Ser Arlen told Dunk about his village’s beautiful, sad tradition that gives the land its name. Soldiers hammer a copper penny into a large oak tree before they leave for war. If they do not return, the penny remains forever.
Targaryen Madness
“Half the Targaryens went mad, didn’t they?… What’s the saying? ‘Every time a Targaryen is born the gods flip a coin.‘” —Cersei Lannister
The dragonlords of Westeros developed a reputation for familial madness. That certainly proved true with House Targaryen’s final King, Aerys II. He was a charming young man who showed no signs of mental health issues, just a quick-temper. Later in life, he fully earned the moniker of “the Mad King.” Other notable members of House Targaryen, which frequently married siblings to keep their bloodline pure, also displayed clear signs of mental health issues. But often “madness” was really just “bad behavior” by an insular group of royals luxuriating in their own power. And in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ season one finale, Prince Daeron challenged the reason behind the old adage about his family.
He told Ser Duncan it’s possible the gods do make some members of his family mad, but his vile brother Aerion certainly wasn’t born a monster. As a young boy he liked to fish. It was only after they made “a man out of him” that Aerion became a monster.
Daeron posited that nurture, not nature (a.k.a. the “gods”) is responsible for his family’s misbehavior. It was a compelling argument. It made Ser Duncan the Tall agree to take Egg on as squire so that he wouldn’t lose the “coin flip” all members of House Targaryen inevitably face.
Now, Dunk just has to make sure a young Targaryen with anger issues doesn’t grow up to be like his big brother.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He’s planning a tour of Weteros that includes Tarth and Pennytree. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.