A flashback scene in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode 5, In the Name of the Mother, gave a glimpse of Dunk’s childhood in Flea Bottom. His mother had already passed, and the only person he had in the name of family was his friend, Rafe. However, in George R.R. Martin’s novella, The Hedge Knight, which inspired this season, Dunk had more friends. In an interview, showrunner Ira Parker revealed that they had to stick to Rafe due to budgetary reasons.
Quick read:
- Dunk might have had more friends in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
- Ira Parker revealed budget issues resulted in Rafe being young Dunk’s only friend.
- Rafe meant a lot to Dunk even if she might have used him a little.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner revealed why Dunk did not have more friends in Flea Bottom
Dunk and Rafe in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms (Image: HBO)
Despite being an HBO production, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms did not have a big budget like the other shows in the Game of Thrones franchise. This resulted in the creators veering off a little from the source material without being too drastic. One such change is Rafe being Dunk’s only friend in the flashback scene.
Explaining this change to Collider, Ira Parker said, “Rafe is a very interesting relationship in Dunk’s life. At one point, we were going to have all of his little friends. We were going to have Rafe and Ferret and Pudding all in the mix. Of course, our budget necessities brought that all down to what we could accomplish. It originally started off as City of God in Westeros, and then it got paired down a little bit.”
Even with the budgetary constraints, the creators did a great job at showing how Dunk’s time in Flea Bottom shaped him. In fact, this budget problem forced the team to be more creative and strategic in how they shot certain scenes, including the Trial of Seven.
Why Rafe and Dunk’s friendship was the most important one
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a well-paced series and despite all the complaints about the run time, it accomplishes exactly what it needs to. As such, cutting down some of the source material to tighten the storyline makes perfect sense. To that end, Rafe’s friendship with Dunk was one of the most important relationships in his early life.
Reflecting on this, Parker told Collider, “Rafe, ultimately, was the most important of all those friendships. When a kid that age says, “I love you,” what does it really mean? What is he really saying? I’m not sure it’s romantic love, even though maybe it feels that way because they’re close in age and they only have each other. What is love? Feeling safe and protected and reassured, and somebody you can trust and rely on.”
The Four in the Morning writer insisted that Dunk thought of Rafe as “mother, sister, best friend and wife” all wrapped in one. Elsewhere, he also mentioned that Rafe’s intentions were not all innocent since he believed that she was using Dunk at least a little bit because of how tall and strong he was. However, that also did not mean that Rafe was a villain. She was only doing what she had to to survive the brutal world they were growing up in.
Read more: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms showrunner defends episode 5’s biggest risk
