A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms gave us the Realm’s first Trial of Seven in a century. It also keeps giving us a whole lot of references 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‘ fifth episode.
“In The Name of the Mother”
The episode takes its name from the part of a knight’s oath where they swear to protect the innocent. Dunk acted “in the name of the Mother” like a true knight when he saved Tanselle from Aerion Brightflame.
Followers of the Seven also pray to the caring, merciful, life-giving Mother Above to protect them and those they love in times of need. A knight, who is letting six other people risk their lives to save his, would certainly hope for the Mother’s help in his Trial of Seven. Especially when he’s on trial for protecting the innocent.
The Black Dragon Daemon Blackfyre
The Black Dragon was the nickname of Daemon Blackfyre. He was the legitimized Targaryen bastard who rose up against his own family to claim the Iron Throne. Daemon got his moniker because his personal sigil was an inverted version of House Targaryen’s. He sported a black three-headed dragon on a red field. King Daeron II, Egg’s grandfather, was referred to as the Red Dragon during the civil war.
Daemon’s rebellion ended after a year at the Battle of the Redgrass Field—mentioned in episode two—just outside of King’s Landing. Bards commemorate the victory with the song “The Hammer and the Anvil,” which Egg sang in episode three. His uncle Baelor was the hammer, his father Maekar the anvil. (Neither of them were the one who killed Daemon, though.)
We saw young Dunk and Rafe scavenging the Redgrass in a flashback, but leather adorned with the Black Dragon’s sigil was worthless. You can’t sell a dead traitor’s wares.
Allies at the Battle of the Redgrass Field
During the first Targaryen civil war, House of the Dragon‘s Dance of the Dragons, major houses picked sides. However, no major houses joined Daemon Blackfyre’s cause a century later. But the ancient noble House Hightower did have members who fought on behalf of both factions. Young Dunk came across a fallen soldier of House Hightower after the Battle of Redgrass. His chest plate had the Hightower sigil, best known from House of the Dragon where the family help form the “Greens” of Aegon.
It’s unclear which side of the war the dying Hightower soldier fought for at Redgrass. We did see that he fell near a Lannister banner, and we know which side the lions supported. During the Blackfyre Rebellion, Ser Quentyn Ball, sworn to the Black Dragon, killed Lord Lefford at Lannisport. Lefford is one of the principle houses sworn to House Lannister. After killing Lefford, Ser Quentyn then forced Lord Damon Lannister to retreat to Casterly Rock. While no Lannister served as a commander that day, any lion on the Redgrass battlefield fought for King Daeron.
We heard about Lord Damon Lannister on an earlier episode of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Ser Arlan of Pennytree once unhorsed “the Grey Lion” at a tourney. Ser Duncan proved to Baelor Breakspear he truly was Ser Arlan’s squire because he remembered the Grey Lion’s real name is Damon.
Flea Bottom
Episode five brought HBO viewers back to King’s Landing’s poorest neighborhood, Flea Bottom. The infamous locale has appeared frequently on both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. It’s also where important figures like Ser Davos Seaworth and Gendry came from.
We saw young Dunk and Rafe navigating the slum’s narrow, dirty streets full of brothels, taverns, gambling dens, and “bowls of brown” they called home. It’s the kind of place where a violently drunk hedge knight can decapitate a corrupt cop without anyone thinking much of it. It’s also where Margaery Tyrell visited with poor orphans, much to the chagrin of noted elitist snob Cersei Lannister.
This is the third different century where HBO viewers have wandered around Flea Bottom. But no matter what year it is, that lowborn locale never seems to change.
Gold Cloaks
The two armed men who murdered Rafe were “Gold Cloaks,” the name given to members of the City Watch in King’s Landing. The City Watch is the law enforcement agency of the city, paid by the crown and wholly loyal to the King. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms captured a sad truth about the City Watch and many of its Gold Cloaks (named for their identifiable gold cloak attire). Some are dishonorable crooks themselves.
Matt Smith’s Daemon Targaryen was briefly Commander of the City Watch on House of the Dragon. Prince Daemon’s brutal tactics restored order to both King’s Landing and the order of the Gold Cloaks, whose members loved him even if the citizens did not. Ser Harwin Strong, Rhaenyras paramour and actual father to her three oldest boys, was also a member of the Gold Cloaks. But even during more dignified times, Gold Cloak members are often willing to accept bribes.
On Game of Thrones, Ned Stark tried and failed to bribe Commander Janos Slynt and the Gold Cloaks to support him when he planned to remove Joffrey from the Iron Throne following Robert Baratheon’s death. Unfortunately for Lord Stark, House Lannister had already paid off Slynt. The upstart Commander was later sent to the Night’s Watch because new acting Hand of the King, Tyrion Lannister, didn’t trust him. Bronn then took de facto command of the law enforcement group. Jon Snow ultimately got revenge for his father when he beheaded Slynt for refusing a command.
House Stokeworth
Young Dunk and Rafe hid along the side of the road from a man on horseback, transporting a dead soldier. The man was carrying a shield with a modified version of House Stokeworth’s sigil. It featured a lamb inside a golden goblet on a green shield. Ser Andrew Ashford also jousted with a knight of House Stokeworth earlier in the season, and that combatant carried the same version of the sigil 15 years after Redgrass. A lamb inside a goblet is a change from the traditional depiction of the Stokeworth sigil from both House of the Dragon and as described in the works George R.R. Martin. The normal version is a lamb holding a golden goblet on a green shield.
This does not mean A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms broke canon. Individual members of households sometimes create their own unique versions of their family’s sigil. Houses might also decide to slightly change theirs or revert back to a previous iteration.
House Stokeworth of the crownlands is a noble house sworn to King’s Landing and the crown. Stokeworth Castle sits close to the capital city in the North. On House of the Dragon, House Stokeworth originally declared for Rhaenyra, but switched to Aegon’s “without siege.” They then joined Criston Cole’s army as it marched on Duskendale and then Rook’s Rest. Lord Stokeworth’s shifting allegiances during the Dance of the Dragons was a betrayal of his own family’s words, “Proud to be Faithful.”
On Game of Thrones, where we got to see Stokeworth Castle, Bronn was briefly engaged to Lollys Stokeworth. Ser Bronn of the Blackwater had plans to ensure sweet, simple Lollys’ mean older sister suffered a fatal “accident” so he and Lollys could inherit the castle. They never got married. Jaime Lannister recruited/forced Bronn to join him on his ill-considered mission to Dorne. (All major changes from the novels, where Bronn marries Lollys, a much more tragic figure than depicted on Game of Thrones.)
Woods Witches
Rafe told Dunk she knew a witch who gives copper for teeth. While there are certainly characters in this world of magic who qualify as a witch in a traditional sense, someone who wields magic like Melisandre, that’s not the type of witch Rafe meant. She was talking about a woods-witch, the name given to Westeros’ wandering medicine women. Rather than magic, they use herbs (and maybe sometimes teeth it turns out) to make medicine. Some also employ simple charms, brew moon tea, and work as midwives. A few even have prophetic dreams.
Alys Rivers from House of the Dragon came to be thought of as a woods-witch. Some also think Maggy the Frog, who gave young Cersei Lannister her terrible fortune, was a woods witch. (Debatable since she might have been more of an actual witch like her book counterpart.) And Egg’s life, along with House Targaryen and mankind itself, will forever be changed by a woods witch who will come to the royal court one day along with her friends, Jenny of Oldstones. (You can read about the Ghost of High Heart in our spoiler-filled piece here.)
Free Cities
Rafe and (a less enthusiastic) Dunk planned to sail across the Narrow Sea to live in the Free Cities. The Free Cities are nine, influential, free city-states in the western half of Essos. They are: Braavos, Lorath, Lys, Myr, Norvos, Pentos, Qohor, Tyrosh, and Volantis. All of them are important trading partners with Westeros. Armies in Westeros have also turned to sellswords who mostly live and fight in and for the Free Cities.
Eight of the Nine Cities (some of which were Valyrian Freehold colonies) gained total independence after the Doom of Valyria. Braavos, the youngest and richest of the nine, was founded by escaped slaves of Valyria. (Braavos remained hidden for a century, which is why it’s also called the Secret City.) Arya Stark briefly lived there while training with the Faceless Men in the House of Black and White. Many Westerosi lords on Game of Thrones either visited the Iron Bank of Braavos or worked with representatives from the powerful institution.
Based on how little money they had to sail, Rafe and Dunk were likely headed to either Tyrosh or Pentos. They are the two closest of the Nine Cities to King’s Landing. Pentos is where we first met Daenerys. It’s also where Varys sent Tyrion after he escaped King’s Landing.
Daario Naharis (of the Free Cities sellsword company the Second Sons) hails from Tyrosh. It was also one of the three Free Cities (along with Lys and Myr) who formed the Triarchy on House of the Dragon. The Triarchy claimed the Stepstones for itself, leading to years of war with the crown. During the Dance of the Dragons, Tyland Lannister went to Tyrosh to find support for the Greens by forming an alliance with Admiral Sharako Lohar.
On the whole, the Free Cities have much to offer. But while they tend to look down on the denizens of Westeros, they’re not necessarily better than the Seven Kingdoms. A lowborn orphan of Flea Bottom has just as much of a chance to rise in Westeros as he does across the Narrow Sea. So long as he or she can survive growing up in Flea Bottom.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He wants to talk to you more about true knights but he has to wait. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermikeOpens in a new tab. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.