The pros and cons of Knight of the Seven Kingdoms' pre-finale flashback

But while we get a vivid first-person taste of combat, with Dunk and Aerion pairing off in the jousting arena, showrunner Ira Parker leans into a narrative trend that slows the intense action down considerably. As Dunk goes down in combat, we cut from the action and head into a penultimate-episode flashback. We spend the next 25 minutes watching Dunk’s story from his time as an orphan, shortly after Daemon’s Rebellion ended, through a pivotal moment with the knight he later squires for, Ser Arlan Pennytree.

In 2025, Vulture critic Kathryn VanArendonk wrote a compelling piece criticizing television’s trend toward penultimate episode flashbacks. She calls the device a “full-blown scourge” in television: “Before you get to the good part, you have to watch a stupid, homework-like flashback about how everyone got here in the first place.”

That article ran through my mind during episode 5. The penultimate-episode flashback device has its pros and cons. On the one hand, it can add depth to characters whose motivations aren’t clear-cut. On the other hand, some writers use it lazily to make up for poor narrative cohesion and pacing. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms does a bit of both.

The argument for episode 5’s flashback

I’ve never personally hated the penultimate-episode flashback device. The first time I watched “In the Name of the Mother,” I found the focus on young Dunk to be an inspirational move for the TV adaptation. George R.R. Martin’s prequel novellas following Dunk and Egg don’t significantly expand on Dunk’s background, so for me, it was compelling to follow Dunk as a young boy during the tail end of Daemon’s Rebellion, and explore how that event affected the smallfolk of Flea’s Bottom in King’s Landing.

That flashback does address one of the series' most glaring issues: a real lack of female characters. Parker and his team attempted to address this by throwing some sex workers into the mix, but until episode 5, Tanselle is the only female character of any plot significance. So the introduction of Rafe, Dunk’s fellow Flea Bottom orphan, is a welcome surprise.

Unlike Dunk, whose soft heart sees him try to end the suffering of a dying warrior on an abandoned battlefield instead of trying to hold him for ransom, Rafe is cynical and streetwise. While Dunk is far from content with his lot in Flea’s Bottom, he prefers to remain where he is in the world, because it’s all he’s ever known. Rafe, on the other hand, knows that the only way they can better themselves in Westeros is by being ruthless, even if that means trampling on others along the way. She wants something more than Flea Bottom poverty — and not just for herself, but for Dunk too.

Until episode 5, Dunk's life in this show had been defined almost entirely by men: his squireship to Ser Pennytree, his mentorship of Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), his attempts to earn the recognition of other knights, and so forth. Establishing a character like Rafe, who is stuck in the same situation as Dunk, but with a more adventurous spirit and the tenacity to fight for a better life, is fascinating. She’s a mirror to Dunk’s standstill nature, and a catalyst in his story.

Rafe pushing Dunk out of sitting around and waiting for the world to change is a classic call to adventure. Her gentle but firm explanation that if Dunk wants a family, he must go out and get one for himself, helps explain why young Dunk is so adamant about not staying in one place. His love for Rafe makes her a figure of wisdom for him, and so he takes her words to heart. It also clarifies why he chases after Ser Pennytree so doggedly. And while Rafe's inclusion in the show ends in a tired old cliché, it's nice just to have more of a female presence within this very male show.

The argument against episode 5’s flashback

But while I appreciated a lot about A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ penultimate-episode flashback, on later viewings, I realized it doesn’t really add anything that the narrative hadn’t already established. As much as I enjoyed Rafe, as well as Arlan and Dunk’s first meeting, it doesn’t necessarily justify so much time away from the show’s central action, and the very immediate question of whether Aerion will cave in Dunk’s head.

For one thing, Dunk has already been established as a bit slow. He puts his foot in his mouth several times, like telling Tanselle she’s “tall enough” in an awkward attempt to flirt, or bluntly admitting to Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings) that Dunk is only visiting his pavilion for the food. He’s also kind, as we see when he takes Egg on as a squire, and then forgives him once his true identity is revealed. We didn’t need to know that the reason he’s willing to take a chance on Egg is that Arlan did the same for him; we can just accept that Dunk is a kind character.

Which brings me to the ultimate sin of this penultimate-episode flashback: Ser Arlan. We’ve caught glimpses of the old knight before, often through short, snappy flashbacks that help broaden our understanding of him without taking us away from current events. Adding even more exposition to that, with Dunk following Arlan around until Dunk collapses from exhaustion, just for the payoff to be Arlan saying “Get up,” which resonates with Dunk in the present — that feels cheap rather than powerful.

We’ve seen Arlan piss. We’ve seen Arlan drink. We’ve seen Arlan let it all hang loose. Most importantly, we’ve seen how important he is to Dunk through the ideals Dunk values throughout the show. What Dunk learned from Arlan, he passes on to Egg — whether that's being satisfied with hard salt beef, or how to clean a sword. Arlan is a significant character in Dunk’s life. But trotting him out whenever A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms needs to explain why Dunk is the way he is feels less like masterful storytelling and more like Parker grabbing us by the scruff of the neck and yelling, “See?”

I get it, Mr. Parker. Now, can we carry on with the fight?

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A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episodes 1–5 are streaming on HBO Max. The season finale airs on Sunday, Feb. 22.