The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is only one episode in, but there have already been some nods to the wider Game of Thrones universe.
Aside from the many moments of comedy, though, there was also a scene early on in the episode that may have contained an intriguing clue — even if we’re not quite sure why it’s significant yet.
So what happened, and why might it be relevant? Let’s unpack.
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What happens in the inn with the drunk man and the coin?
Early on in the episode, Dunc (Peter Claffey) stops at an inn for dinner while en route to the Ashford tourney. The only other guest is a long-haired man (Henry Ashton) who appears to be passed out at a nearby table.
Dunc gets on with ordering his food, but partway through his conversation with the innkeeper, the man interrupts.
“I dreamed of you,” he says, pulling out a knife. “Stay the f*** away from me. You hear?”
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He puts a single coin on the table, staggers to his feet, then stumbles up the stairs.
“Never you mind that one, ser,” says the innkeeper, pocketing the coin. “I’ll see about your food.”
But we can tell from the way both she and Dunc stare at the coin that it must be significant.
What’s the significance of the coin?
The coin the man drops on the table contains a sigil that will be familiar to anyone who’s seen Game of Thrones or House of the Dragon: a three-headed dragon.
This is the sigil of House Targaryen, meant to represent the three dragons ridden by Aegon the Conqueror, Rhaenys, and Visenya when they took control of Westeros. We don’t yet know the identity of the man in the inn, but the fact he has this coin suggests he’s either a) a Targaryen himself, or b) he’s recently been in close contact with a Targaryen.
The Targaryens are, of course, still the ruling family in Westeros at the time of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Perhaps this won’t be the last we see of the man in the inn.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms premieres Jan. 18 at 10 p.m. ET on HBO and HBO Max.
