Trial Of Seven? Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Just Invoked An Ancient Tradition
An ancient justice method is invoked against Ser Duncan the Tall, and its roots go back to the first Targaryens.
In the Game of Thrones universe, law and order is often left to the gods through a trial by combat. The thought is, whoever is in the right will be destined to win by the Seven Gods. That’s the thought process that led to Tyrion’s defense by Bronn at the Vale and Oberyn Martell’s eye-popping loss against The Mountain in Game of Thrones.
But in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4, we learn of a new kind of trial by combat that we’ve never seen before. In fact, it’s only been mentioned one other time in Westerosi history, dating back to the first Targaryen kings — and it sets a bloody precedent for the next episode.
Warning! Spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4 ahead!
In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4, “The Seven,” Ser Duncan the Tall is forced to face a trial for (rightfully) attacking Aerion Targaryen at the end of Episode 4. Knowing he could stand a chance at defending himself against Aerion, Dunk requests a trial by combat, as is his right. Aerion initially refuses, but after his father Maekar tells him he can’t refuse, he responds by requesting a “trial of seven” — something so obscure, even Maekar has no idea what it is.
It’s up to Baelor to explain what it is. “It is another form of trial by combat,” he says. “Ancient. Seldom invoked. It came across the narrow sea with the Andals and their seven gods.” Dunk isn’t exactly educated on the nitty-gritty parts of the Old Gods, so he asks for more information. “The Andals believed that if the seven champions fought, the gods, being thus honored, would be more like to intervene and see the guilty party punished,” Baelor says. So essentially, a trial of seven is a battle of seven-on-seven instead of one-on-one.
Aerion Targaryen invokes an ancient trial by combat method in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 4.
Maekar clearly isn’t happy about this. “Are you cowering behind some 6,000-year-old Andal foolery because you’re afraid to face this hedge knight alone?” he asks. That’s our first clue about how old this tradition is — and a peek into Westerosi history shows just how seldomly invoked it really is.
The only other trial of seven detailed in the A Song of Ice and Fire books happens in Fire & Blood, the Targaryen history books used as the source material for House of the Dragon. But this goes back further than Rhaenyra and Alicent. In fact, this trial took place about 160 years before A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and centered around King Maegor I, Rhaenyra’s great-great-great-granduncle.
Maegor, often called Maegor the Cruel, was the third Targaryen to reign over Westeros after his father, Aegon the Conqueror, and his older half-brother Aenys. He really did live up to his epithet: he had six wives, including his niece Rhaena. Before Maegor even took the throne, the Faith of the Seven already took issue with his multiple marriages, and the marriage of Aenys’ children, Aegon and Rhaena, to each other didn’t make things much better.
The last time a Targaryen entered a trial of seven, he was the only one who survived.
After Aenys passed away and Maegor took the throne, this disagreement reached a boiling point. Ser Damon Morrigen, Grand Captain of the Warrior’s Sons, the Faith’s army, challenged King Maegor to a trial of seven. The battle was between Morrigen and six other members of the Warrior’s Sons, and Maegor and a ragtag bunch of six men, including lords, knights, hedge knights, and one lowly man-at arms.
Unfortunately, the only survivor of the trial was King Maegor himself, but he didn’t get out unscathed either: he collapsed after his last enemy fell and remained unconscious for several weeks.
There have been other trials of seven since Maegor’s — the Tales of Dunk and Egg claim it’s only been 100 years since the last one — but Maegor’s is the only other notable one in history. Hopefully, Dunk’s goes better than the King’s. But if the faith is right and the innocent party will win, then he has nothing to worry about.
