In a shocking twist of events, Prince Baelor Targaryen met his tragic death at the end of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Episode 5: In the Name of the Mother.

The Trial of Seven begins, and the ensuing fight between Ser Duncan’s side and Prince Aerion’s was bloody and intense. Dunk ultimately overpowered Aerion, which forced the latter to yield and withdraw his accusation.

As Raymun and Steely Pate brought Dunk to a safe spot, Prince Baelor arrived and asked for his helm to be removed. The scene revealed he suffered a fatal blow to the back of his head courtesy of his brother Maekar’s mace. He fell to the ground, but Dunk was quick to catch him, dying in the hedge knight’s arms.

Prince Baelor’s Shocking Death Reshuffled Targaryen Succession

 

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Baelor’s death in the show was faithful to George R.R. Martin’s The Hedge Knight. In the novella, the heir to the Iron Throne sustained the same injury before succumbing to death. While this may come as a thing of shock value for viewers, Baelor’s death was necessary to put Egg on the throne.

Prince Valarr, son of Baelor, becomes Daeron II’s new heir. Unfortunately, he would die during the Great Spring Sickness only a couple of months after the tourney at Ashford. His brother, Matarys, and the king would also suffer from the plague.

Baelor’s brother, Aerys, would later become king. While he didn’t have any children of his own, he acknowledged four heirs: his brother Rhaegel, Rhaegel’s only son Aelor, Aelora, and his youngest brother Maekar. The first three all died in different circumstances, and that’s how Maekar became king.

But how did Egg manage to claim the Iron Throne? His older brothers, Daeron and Aerion, didn’t have fortunate fates either. Daeron died from a pox, and Aerion drank a cup of wildfire, believing it would turn him into a dragon. Aemon became a Maester, and so the crown went to Egg, despite being the most unlikely to be king.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Plot Twist Led to Daenerys’ Arc

The events in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms directly inform the plot of Game of Thrones. Egg is the great-grandfather of Daenerys through Jaeherys II (son of Aegon V) and Aerys II (son of Jaeherys II and Dany’s father).

Had Baelor survived the Trial of Seven, we wouldn’t have Egg as the king. Because Dany comes from Egg’s line of descent, she believes that it is her birthright to claim the Iron Throne. Dany’s arc in Game of Thrones happened because of the reshuffling of succession.

The spinoff series demonstrated the importance of telling this part of Westeros’ history. It didn’t have dragons and epic sky battles, but it certainly was a pivotal period for House Targaryen.

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