A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (2026): Hard Salt Beef - Season 1 Episode 2 - RECAP

Source

I can already hear people saying that this series is crap, this for sure comes from viewers who were expecting another action series like HOTD but looking at this episode 2 I cannot feel like the whole thing is stuck in this weird place where it wants to be Game of Thrones so bad but it just cannot get there because the source material is too damn simple, although ITS NOT BAD, it is too small scale for what everyone was expecting from it, a very drastic turn that nobody saw comming. Episode 2 starts with Sir Arland of Penny Tree walking out after having sex with some random woman and you see his dick just hanging there for no reason other than HBO trying to be edgy which was absolutely pointless, I just hate when they do that. I get it they want to show gritty realism or whatever but come on we do not need to see Sir Arland walking out with his junk hanging around when it adds nothing to the story, at least throw in some balance because this is just gross for the sake of being gross, they could have spend that budget on better armor instead of a giant prosthetic dick that nobody asked for. The whole episode then jumps into Dunk trying to get permission from every lord he can find to enter the damn tournament and none of them remember Sir Arland which is kind of sad but also makes sense since he was just a hedge knight who never won anything, Dunk keeps going on about how Sir Arland fought at this battle and broke seven lances against Baelor Targaryen but nobody gives a shit because he was a nobody who died on the side of the road like most hedge knights do. Episode 2 made justice for Dunk towards the end and we finally meet Baelor Targaryen who seems like a decent guy for once instead of the usual insane power hungry Targaryens we are used to seeing from House of the Dragon, Baelor actually remembers Sir Arland and gives Dunk permission to compete which is probably the nicest thing any other lord has done for Dunk in the series so far, his brother Maekar shows up too and he has that younger brother syndrome going on where he is jealous of Baelor and complains about his kids not being as good as Baelors kids which is honestly pretty funny to watch.

• IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt27497448/
• Platform: HBOMAX

[Source](https://play.hbomax.com/show/3507a932-eace-46ea-bfe1-638ae819fa12) The whole plot is basically just Dunk trying to get permission to enter the tournament and Egg being this mysterious kid who keeps dropping hints about his real identity that Dunk is too thick to pick up on, Egg knows way too much about the lords and their familys for someone who is supposed to be just some random orphan kid, he knows that the crabber guys dad owns half the crabbing fleet on the east coast and he knows all these details about House Florent and the Tyrells that no normal kid would know unless he was educated by maesters. The tug of war scene was fun with Lionel Baratheon recruiting Dunk and then just leaving him to do all the work while he goes to get a drink, Lionel is actually a pretty cool character and probably one of the few lords on this show who isnt a complete over their heads, watching Egg lose his shit during the tug war is cute but these are tiny moments in an episode that feels like it is just treading water until something actually happens. Six episodes is not alot of time to tell a story and we are already two episodes in with very little forward movement which makes me worried this whole season is gonna feel like an extended short story almost like a mini series rather than something more interesting that never arrives, the jousting scene at the end was cool visually with all the different house banners and the armor looking pretty good but it still doesnt change the fact that nothing major has happens yet, yeah there is Dunk having some fun and suffering at other times but fells like nothing really important is going on. Dunk also meets Tanselle Too Tall who is this puppet show performer and he asks her to paint his shield with a new sigil; fancy name for logo I guess, since he cant use Sir Arlands, Egg comes up with the idea of an elm tree and Dunk adds a shooting star which actually sounds pretty cool and has some meaning to it even though Dunk doesnt realize it yet, the whole interaction between Dunk and Tanselle is awkward because Dunk has zero rizz game and just stands there like an idiot telling her she is not too tall when her name is literally Too Tall. The scene where Dunk sells Sweetfoot is probably one of the more touching parts of the episode, you can see him getting emotional about it because he really cares about his horses and selling one just to buy armor for a tournament he might lose in his first shot is a huge risk, if he loses that first joust then he loses everything including the armor and his other horse and basically his entire life as a knight is over before it even started.

Source

Source
The whole episode also has Dunk realizing that Sir Arland wasnt actually this great knight he thought he was, nobody remembers him and he never won a tournament and he died on the side of a muddy road with an infected cut on his wrist, Dunk has been telling everyone how great Sir Arland was and how he fought at Redgrass Field and served all these great houses but the reality is that he was just another hedge knight who got by doing small jobs here and there and drinking too much. At the end of the episode Dunk is sitting by the campfire eating hard salt beef which is the title of the episode and he is reflecting on whether the life of a hedge knight is even worth it, sleeping beside roads and eating shitty food and having nobody remember your name when you die, but then he also remembers that Sir Arland raised him and taught him how to be honorable even if he wasnt perfect himself so Dunk decides he is going to be a champion and make Sir Arlands legacy mean something, turns out Dunk is Sir Arland legacy. Egg is there too playing soldier and pretending to fight in battles while Dunk is having this existential crisis about his life choices, the relationship between these two characters is really well done with Egg being smart and perceptive while Dunk is kind of naive and doesnt understand how the world works and starting to realize how evil and mean it is, its the case on episode 1 when those two woman were making fun of him and he directly ask what benefit they get out of it, very naive if you ask.

Source

Source
The Targaryens showing up at Ashford is a big deal because normally they wouldnt bother with some backwater tournament but since they dont have dragons anymore they have to do alot more PR work to keep the lords happy and remind everyone they are still in power, you see Baelor and Maekar arrive with their kids and a bunch of Kingsguard in white armor which finally looks like it should instead of the weird gold stuff they had in Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon. Maekars son Aerion Brightflame shows up too and he is basically Draco Malfoy mixed with Joffrey, he assumes Dunk is a stable boy and then a serving man and when Dunk tells him he is a knight Aerion just laughs at him and says knights have fallen on hard times, you can tell right away this guy is going to be a problem later on and I bet he does something stupid that causes the big conflict and puts Dunk in hot water with every other lord probably. The jousting scene has some realy nice visuals with all the different houses represented like the Brackens and Blackwoods and the Tullys making a long trip from the Riverlands and of course the Targaryens with their dragon armor, the whole sequence look pretty good to me although it still doesnt have the same impact as in House of The Dragon when Daemon fought during the first episodes, over all there was more suspense and tension, in contrary this series is more about fun and drama and less killing and conspiracy, so thats where it falls short for whe everyone is expecting although if you take it for what it is then you are going to enjoy it.

Overall I give this episode like a 7/10 because it has some good character moments and the production values are solid but it still feels like we are waiting for something big to happen, the pacing is slow and there is not enough action or drama to keep things exciting for people who are not super invested in the lore or as I mention take it for what is is. I understand they are building up to the trial of seven or whatever big event is coming but two episodes of Dunk just walking around begging people to let him compete in the tournament is not the most thrilling story coming from the Game of Thrones Universe, the show looks great and the acting is good especially from the guy playing Dunk and the kid playing Egg but viewers need more to happen soon or I think many are going to lose interest. The fact that this is only six episodes means they need to pick up the pace and get to the good stuff instead of spending half the season on setup, I hope episode three actually delivers some action and conflict because right now it feels like a very expensive tournament from the time with some nice costumes and not much else going on, honestly this is still feels better than how HOTD Season 2 started but it could be so much better if they just moved things along faster, I always open for change and I like the comedy aspect and story telling of this spin off, its something different and if they spice up some action into it can work very well just need to move your feet faster.

#skiptvads, #inleo, #hive, #dunk, #egg, #targaryen, #baelor, #maekar, #aerion, #ashford, #tournament, #jousting, #hedgeknight, #arland, #tanselle, #lionel, #baratheon, #kingsguard, #westeros, #armor, #sigil, #sweetfoot, #horses, #lords, #houses, #dragon, #blackfire, #medieval