A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms – In the Name of the Mother review S1 E5
In the Name of the Mother achieves a rare feat for a Game of Thrones/GOT-adjacent episode.
It follows a tremendous episode and delivers another incredibly memorable installment. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is putting together an excellent debut season, and it feels like the decision to have a streamlined six-episode kickoff is working.
The 7 v 7 battle is underway, and Dunk is a bit shellshocked. He takes a spear tip in the gut and gets rocked by sword and flail shots.
In the Name of the Mother director Owen Harris does a fantastic job of showing the brutal chaos of this conflict with horses charging, swords swinging and blood spraying. Dunk gets walloped and seemingly is knocked out on the battlefield.
This cues up an extended flashback with young Dunk (Bamber Todd) and his best friend Rafe (Chloe Lea). They’re among the lowest of the low in Flea Bottom trying to earn some coin by scavenging battlefields for any useful silver or metal they can sell to blacksmiths.
In the Name of the Mother shows that Dunk has never been the strategic member of any duo. Rafe’s plan is for them to earn enough coin to go to the Free Cities where two scrappy teens can have a better life. When Dunk rightfully questions if the Free Cities is just as bad as Flea Bottom, Rafe says they’ll keep going until they find a suitable place. Dunk has to go with her, Rafe says since he loves her and she loves him.
Rafe doesn’t like bullies, especially the man who keeps harassing them. He’s slightly above them on the totem pole and takes the usual path of stomping down instead of lifting up. While she’s not an equal to the man’s size, Rafe proves an adept pickpocket stealing various items from him. He’s not amused when she nabs his small knife and uses it to slice her throat.
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This scene from In the Name of the Mother suggests why Dunk goes nearly feral watching Aerion break Tansell’s fingers. He’d already gone through a horrific trauma by watching someone he cared about getting hurt by someone who placed no value on her life. Before the man can finish off Dunk, Ser Arlan — in his drunk default mode — makes the save and kills the man and his companion. With no one else to turn to, it’s understandable that Dunk would quickly take to the one person who looked out for him after Rafe.
Dunk has fallen into a bit of a pattern of having one charismatic friend he will staunchly defend to the death. Initially, Dunk shadows Ser Arlan who manages an impressively long binge drinking stretch of days. How drunk is he? When Arlan finally awakens from his stupor, he notices he’d accidentally slept on his dagger and pierced his skin. Then he spots the now feverish Dunk, who hadn’t treated a wound from the men in the alley, passed out on the trail. Arlan barks at him to “get up!” The memory of that meeting snaps Dunk awake in the present day.
In the Name of the Mother has a brutally breathtaking battle that brings viewers right into the carnage. This is one of the best laid out smaller-scale battles in the GOT franchise. At nearly every turn of the camera it feels like Dunk is getting battered, sliced or stabbed. Steely Pete’s armor is holding up well. Prince Baelor is an impressive presence on the battlefield fighting back Aerion’s forces without looking to land any killing blows. These are his men first and foremost after all. With the exception of Ser Steffon.
Thankfully, In the Name of the Mother doesn’t tease the big conflict. Dunk and Aerion battle it out with the more devious and agile, Aerion slicing Dunk up. Egg tries to motivate his friend to fight back and get up when he falls, echoing Arlan’s command to Dunk several decades previously. When Dunk does get to his feet, he hears a different sound — the roar of the crowd as they’re starting to rally behind the determined young knight.
Finally, he gets the upper hand on Aerion and pummels him until he yields. To ensure everyone heard, Dunk hilariously drags Aerion to the center of the crowd so they can all hear him renounce the allegations against Dunk. Our hero has won!
Just like that, In the Name of the Mother shows it’s not entirely like its long-storied predecessor. The good guys rarely got a win through the first five seasons at least. Raymun survived the battle, but a few of their allies did not. Baelor remarks about his brother striking the back of his helmet with his mace. Brothers will be brothers, right?
Maybe the show did realize its DNA after all for In the Name of the Mother? Baelor mentions his visor is still down and he can’t see. This is a problem as he does not have his visor down. Steely Pete takes Baelor’s helmet off, but a chunk of his head was stuck in it as well. Baelor collapses and dies in Dunk’s arm. Oh, this is not good at all.
This opens up the very likely door for Maeker to become the new heir and for Aerion to become the next heir. Humiliating the future king is not gonna be a good look for Dunk. In the Name of the Mother provided valuable insight on Dunk’s past while seemingly deeply putting his future in serious jeopardy.
Rating: 10 out of 10
Photo Credit: HBO Max
After watching In the Name of the Mother, check out the paperback of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms on Amazon.
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