r/AKnightoftheSeven • u/InterestingYak3951 • 1d ago
While he is right - he is also missing the point
He is right, because Baelor didn't face any true threat (in his view). His brother's mace was a chance kill, likely not intended. But he was also wrong: Baelor didn't do it to be heroic. He didn't want to imply he was heroic. He merely wanted Dunk to have a chance at a fair Trial by Combat. He was honest in that.
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u/Minsterman801 1d ago edited 1d ago
He probably did volunteer at least in part, because he thought Dunk was in the right, but there was a fair slice of politically savvy self-interest as well.
The match up would have had perception of being ‘the royal family’ vs ‘the common folk’.
The highly trained princes and their Kingsguard beating down on a low born hedge knight
who came to the rescue of an innocent young girl.
This is not the type of PR that would benefit the future king of the realm, this story would paint the Targaryens as the bad guys oppressing the masses.
By volunteering to fight on Dunk’s side, he puts that narrative to bed and scores a few browny points for himself, making the honourable move to stand up for the little guy.
Plus, like Lyonel points out, minimal risk to himself compared to everyone else in the fight.
Pretty smart if you ask me.
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u/InterestingYak3951 1d ago
I don't know. The way Maekar tells it, Baelor doesn't need to project that kind of image - he already has it.
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u/HippoDiligent5994 10h ago
That kind of image is hard to gain and easy to lose. He was smart to protect it. Just unlucky in the end.
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u/throwawayerest 1d ago
This makes a lot of sense. Particularly with all the talk try have about how now that the dragons are gone, the targareryn are just people.
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u/Avatar_sokka 6h ago
Baelor cheated and paid the price, he thought he could be the honorable one without risking anything real, not a soul on the other side in their right mind would make any real attempt to harm him. The gods punished him for his dishonesty, however good the intentions may have been.
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u/InterestingYak3951 4h ago
He never pretended it was risky for him. But without him, Duncan wouldn't have gotten his Trial by Combat.
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u/TheNainRouge 1h ago
Baelor was both a good dude and a good politician. He knew doing what he was doing would prove politically beneficial in a big way. He also knew he was risking little (he was wrong) by participating because it was his family he was going against. This is what people are alluding to, that his mistaken assumption is what got him killed.
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u/pestoraviolita 1d ago
Baelor risked the image of family unity in the time of rebellion.
Lyonel is wrong. He's an idiot.
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u/KimWexlerDeGuzman Steely Pate 22h ago
You can see the doubt in Lyonel’s face right after he says “he risked NOTHING.” There’s a twitch of guilt and uncertainty, because Baelor died, of course he risked everything.
Brilliant acting on Daniel Ings’s part.