A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5’s book change highlights the show’s biggest problem

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**Warning: Spoilers ahead for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5.**

The story follows Dunk, a wandering knight, and Egg, a young boy. However, this is a very male-focused story. More than any other show set in the world of Game of Thrones, HBO’s new prequel is dominated by male characters and themes right from the beginning.

It’s worth noting that the original story by George RR Martin has the same issue. The series hasn’t done much to add significant female characters beyond a few minor roles, like those of sex workers meant to briefly engage with Dunk. So far, Tanselle, a painter and puppeteer who designs Dunk’s shield, is the only female character who’s played a meaningful part in the show.

You know, when I heard the source material for this project only had like, two or three lines describing what the character, Tanselle, even looked like, and just one about her personality, I was surprised! Sure, they fleshed her out a bit for the final version, but honestly, she still doesn’t have a huge role in the overall story, even after all that work.

The show’s limited character development gets a little better towards the end of the first season when a new character’s backstory is revealed through flashbacks.

I was really surprised by this flashback halfway through the story! It takes us back to when Dunk was living in Flea Bottom, before Ser Arlan found him. We meet this girl, Rafe – Chloe Lea, who I recognize from Dune: Prophecy, plays her – and she’s just hanging out with Dunk in what honestly sounds like a terrible place. It’s cool to see a bit of his life before everything changed, and Rafe seems like she’ll be important.

The book portrays them as both desperate people – beggars and thieves, even calling them troubled kids – but their relationship is surprisingly loving. They’re clearly very close, dreaming of running away together and starting over in a new city. While they argue sometimes, their deep affection for each other is obvious, whether it’s a romantic connection or a strong friendship.

As you’d expect from a show set in Westeros, their hopes for a peaceful future are quickly dashed. The people they meet prove to be far more dangerous and cruel than even the terrifying enemies George R.R. Martin originally described.

The children finally gather enough money to hopefully escape their situation, but they are robbed of everything they’ve earned. Things get even worse when one of the attackers fatally stabs Rafe while Dunk watches in horror.

The show’s only significant female character was killed off very early in her first appearance. What makes it particularly frustrating is that this didn’t happen in the original book. The writers specifically created a female character to accompany Dunk, and then killed her off almost right away.

Let’s be real, death is always happening in Westeros. People die constantly, and usually in really awful ways – it’s just what you expect from this story. And honestly, I always figured it would be especially tough for the women. The men in Game of Thrones are… troubled, to say the least, and that often comes out as violence towards women. It’s a harsh reality of that world.

The problem with ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ is its strong male bias. Without strong female characters like Daenerys or Rhaenyra to offer a counterpoint, the story feels unbalanced and portrays women as one-dimensional figures with little control over their own destinies. When women do appear, they often feel like afterthoughts, included only to support the male characters’ stories.

This pattern wasn’t limited to the portrayal of sex workers or the character of Tanselle; it was most damaging in the case of Rafe. While Dunk treated her as an equal, the show’s writers didn’t, and ultimately killed her off simply to advance his storyline. Given the show’s flexibility, Rafe’s arc could have taken many interesting paths, but instead, the writers chose the most predictable, uninspired, and frankly, hurtful option.

I’m really hoping Season 2 improves on its female representation. The second book in the series features the Red Widow as a major character, so there’s a great opportunity to tell a more balanced story, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed they take it!

But when you look at the first season, it’s clear the writers’ room had some surprisingly outdated ideas about gender roles – almost as outdated as the historical period the show depicts.

I think it’s a misconception that because ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ is a story focused on men, it can’t also have strong female characters. That just doesn’t feel right to me – it doesn’t reflect the real world, and honestly, it doesn’t fit with what we’ve seen of Westeros in the other shows either. The world isn’t just about the men, and neither is this one, hopefully!

You can watch ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ every week on Sky and NOW. Learn how to subscribe to Sky TV to start watching.

Authors

David OpieFreelance Writer

David Opie is a freelance writer covering TV and film for publications like TopMob, Indiewire, and Empire. He’s a strong advocate for LGBTQ+ representation, often speaking on panels about queer stories in media and actively promoting LGBTQ+ storytelling. Beyond TV and film, he loves comics, animation, and horror – and he’s hoping to see a ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’-themed challenge on RuPaul’s Drag Race! Before becoming a freelancer, David worked as a Deputy TV Editor at Digital Spy and holds a degree in Psychology.

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2026-02-16 19:40