A review of the A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season One finale, "The Morrow" — with spoilers — coming up just as soon as I use bee magic...
Alan Sepinwall
The early seasons of Game of Thrones followed a familiar structural pattern: the most exciting and/or dramatic events took place in that year's penultimate episode, and then the finale would largely be devoted to the aftermaths of Ned at the Sept of Baelor, the Battle of the Blackwater, the Red Wedding, etc. It didn't invent this approach — on HBO alone, The Sopranos and, especially, The Wire often put the big stuff in the next-to-last episode — but it was one of GoT's narrative signatures.
So it's not surprising that A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has been laid out in the same fashion. Dunk began the season looking to prove himself in the tournament. He got his opportunity — with far higher stakes than he had ever imagined — in "In the Name of the Mother." He got what he wanted, in a rousing victory over Aerion. But it came at a terrible cost, with Baelor suffering a mortal injury in the process.