Lord Lyonel Baratheon
Lord Lyonel Baratheon stands firmly at Ser Duncans side in the judgment of the Seven. He meets the hedge knight before the tournament begins in his tent at dinner. After a few cheeky remarks, he invites Dunc to dance and has a damn good time. A few days later, he also recruits him for a tug-of-war.
The lord of Storm’s End and the Stormlands is also known as the Laughing Storm
. He is an excellent fighter, but also an absolute connoisseur of the finer things in life. When he is not jousting in full armor, he enjoys dancing half-naked and with a stag’s crown to loudly shouted drinking songs.
Lyonel Baratheon is probably also very similar to the Robert Baratheon known from Game of Thrones – but rather like Robert must have been in his best years: athletic, charismatic, a good knight, loud, and popular. In our ranking, he didn’t quite make it to first place, but when kings and royal bastards are in the race, one can’t complain about a good third place. Lyonel will always be the best normal
Baratheon.
Why does he fight for Duncan? Very similarly to several other knights on the team, it’s also not entirely clear why he fights for Dunc. He has proven multiple times that he can tolerate the hedge knight, yes. However, it is Egg who recruits Lyonel.
Perhaps it is really exactly the reason the lord jokingly mentions to Dunc: He is very eager to stain the white armors of the kingsguard crimson.
Prince Baelor Targaryen
The ace in Duncan’s sleeve, however, is the seventh and last fighter to join the team: Prince Baelor Targaryen. He is the current crown prince at the time of the tournament in Ashford and, due to the mark on his left breast, also the hand of the king, the reigning Daeron III, who is also his father.
He received his title Spear Breaker
at the age of 17 when he defeated Ser Daemon Blackfyre at a tournament. His other title, the Hammer
, was granted to him years later by the people when he and his brother Maekar crushed the Blackfyre Rebellion.
It is not quite clear, but probably it is he who puts the idea of a judgment by combat in Duncan’s head. Baelor takes time for the hedge knight after Dunc’s capture, and because of him, Aegon Egg
apologizes to Dunc for having deceived him.
In the conversation between the two, it becomes clear that Baelor knows exactly what happened and that Duncan is right. He can only not do anything himself without exposing his nephew.
Why does he fight for Duncan? That Prince Baelor stands for Duncan is a complete surprise and the big twist at the end of episode 4 of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Armed with his son’s plate, he rides to the tournament grounds and proclaims that he stands by Ser Duncan’s side.
With him, we can only speculate about the motives. But probably he knows that Duncan has trouble assembling a full team. Additionally, Baelor seems to be aware that Aerion behaved wrongly towards Tanselle while Dunc has upheld his oath. Furthermore, he knows his drunken nephew Daeron too well to think that the lie about Aegon’s disappearance could be true.
Thus, Prince Baelor does the only right thing with his declaration to Team Duncan: he stands by the hedge knight in the right. Not to mention that three members of the kingsguard also fight for Aerion, who cannot simply attack him as a prince. This will give Duncan a huge advantage.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is not over yet, and at the publication of this article, the judgment of the Seven has not yet taken place. Two episodes remain. However, many viewers are already wondering whether the series might end like the original Game of Thrones.
