A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms episode two, which saw Ser Duncan ‘Dunk' the Tall (played by Peter Claffey) trying to prove his worth, left viewers wondering about the title card at the end.
Dunk was trying to become a knight but needed to find someone at the Ashford tourney, who remembered his mentor Ser Arlan of Pennytree (Danny Webb) and could essentially vouch for him.
Meanwhile, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) was desperate to become Dunk’s squire and the two seemed to form an odd-couple dynamic as they watched rounds of jousting.
Dunk also seemed to have developed a soft spot for puppeteer and painter Tanselle too Tall (Tanzyn Crawford), but failed to impress her when he became tongue-tied in her presence, leading Egg to tease him in the Game of Thrones spin-off.
The episode titled Hard Salt Beef ended with a title card dedicated to the memory of Aziza Barnes, leading many to question who they were. Here’s the lowdown on Barnes and their connection to the show.
Aziza Danielle Bailey Barnes was an American poet, screenwriter and playwright, who identified as queer and went by they/them pronouns.
Barnes served as a co-executive producer on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and is credited on IMDb to have also written the episode Hard Salt Beef.
Along with the Game of Thrones spin-off, Barnes also served as a writer on Teenager Bounty Hunters, Rap Sh!t and FX’s acclaimed series Snowfall.
Hailing from Los Angeles, the 32-year-old received a BFA from prestigious New York University and an MFA from the University of Mississippi.
They started out memorising poetry for elementary school contests, which would pave the way for them to win a big collegiate slam contest and gain recognition.
As part of their poetry work, Barnes had published two full collections, the bling pig (2019) and i be but i ain’t (2016).
They had also written a play called BLKS, which premiered the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago in 2017.
Barnes performed their work at various venues, including Button Poetry, Da Poetry Lounge, Urban Word NYC, PBS News Hour, Nuyoricans Poets Cafe.
They hosted the podcast The Poetry Gods with Jon Sands and José Olivarez.
Moreover, they were a co-founder of the 2015 multimedia company The Conversation Literary Festival.
Barnes died by suicide in December 2024, as confirmed by their family via a representative to Deadline.
A family statement at the time read: “With heavy hearts, we regret to inform you of the passing of an undeniable and beloved artist, child, sibling, and friend Aziza ‘Z’ Barnes.
“Z has touched and inspired countless individuals both in their community and industry and will be deeply missed and endlessly loved by all who were fortunate to have experienced their presence and work.
“An incomparable talent, we look for understanding in Z’s words, and wish comfort and understanding as we grieve this loss.”
At the time of their death, Barnes was working on HBO adaptations of novels Pride and The Vanishing, according to the NYU Steinhardt Educational Theatre’s site.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms airs on HBO on Sundays in the USA and on Mondays on NOW in the UK
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