Mallory Rubin

But it's also a chance for glory.

It's a chance to prove yourself.

And I like what we can learn about a given character by how they feel about that.

So Dunk is like...

There's this kind of beat throughout the first novella of like, the chance might not come again.

Like, I must risk all, right?

He's been with Sir Arlen since he was a boy in Flea Bottom.

That's been his life, squiring for Sir Arlen.

And now he's like, I'm on my own.

I have Sweetfoot, Thunder, and Chestnut, and a lot of things to tell them and not a lot else figured out.

I can make a name for myself.

Yeah.

But think about what Ned said to Jaime, right?

This was on my mind, actually, when Ser Stefan was like, come spar with me.

And then Raymond says later to Dunk, like, he basically likes to spar with people so that he can break them and hurt them before he might have to face them.

But also to study them, to learn about them.

When Jaime's like, you know, we're going to see it, the hands turning, and Ned's like...

I don't fight in tournaments because when I fight a man for real, I don't want him to know what I can do.

And so that is just such a radically different perspective than somebody who is out there just for fun.

But some of them are like, okay, maybe it's experience.