Soon HBO viewers will get to see why Dunk and Egg hold a special place in the hearts of A Song of Ice and Fire fans. George R.R. Martin’s unlikely duo will also let us experience a different side of Westeros with a very different kind of story than they’re used to. They lived during an era of change when the Realm was healing from yet another devastating Targaryen civil war. But even though A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes place almost a century before Game of Thrones, its impact will still be felt when the White Walkers return.
How can all of that be possible from a tale featuring a single knight and his squire? Come with us as we set out to understand HBO’s new spinoff.
What Is A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms?
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is HBO’s next live-action Game of Thrones spinoff. It’s based on George R.R. Martin’s book of the same name, a collection of his three previously published “Dunk and Egg” novellas.
Each of those stories tell one self-contained adventure about a very famous duo. The first half of that pair is a humble, lowborn, naive, noble, very large hedge knight, Ser Duncan the Tall. Dunk thinks he’s stupid, but he’s not. He’s simply too honorable for his own good. Duncan is incapable of not doing the right thing, and his complete lack of self-preservation frequently puts him in dangerous situations. He’s accompanied by his diminutive, fiery, loyal, crafty squire nicknamed Egg. The smart young boy fills in a lot of gaps for Duncan, but he’s also strong-headed and just as capable of causing them problems.
Season one of the show will adapt Martin’s first novella, “The Hedge Knight.” It takes its name from Ser Duncan’s life as a hedge knight. Unlike knights sworn to a single lord or castle, hedge knight wander the Realm taking on temporary work. It’s a lot less glamorous, but you get to pick who you serve and why. You also get to see the world rather than being ordered where to fight and live. Duncan himself served as a squire to an honorable hedge knight named Ser Arlan of Pennytree, whom we will also meet in season one.
The plan is to adapt one story every season. That will get tough after season three unless Martin publishes another one.
Who Is Making A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
Ira Parker, who wrote for House of the Dragon season one, serves as showrunner and executive producer. He co-created the show with Martin, who is also an executive producer on the show. The author, who hasn’t exactly loved HBO’s work in Westeros lately, called the series “as faithful an adaptation as a reasonable man could hope for.” It will also be different from the network’s other adaptations of his work.
How Will A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Feel Different From Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon?
Unlike its two HBO predecessors, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a much smaller, more intimate story. Both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon are sprawling epics with lots of characters across many kingdoms and continents. Dunk and Egg stories focus on the two of them, Westeros’ take on a fun buddy road trip movie. Only if that road trip had a tendency to get interrupted by misbehaving royals, peril, and sword fights.
The tone of the show will also be different because of the people who populate the story. While Dunk and Egg do encounter lords and ladies in significant ways, they also frequently interact with the common folk. Their tales provide readers (and soon viewers) a chance to see the lives of regular people who live in Westeros, the ones forced to live with powerful highborn choices. The duo’s interactions with the smallfolk will inevitably alter the course of Westeros in ways he never could have known or predicted.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will also be very different from the other two HBO shows in another major way: it won’t include any dragons. Those fire-breathing beasts had already gone extinct two decades before Ser Duncan met the little boy that would change his life forever.
When Does A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Take Place?
The Targaryen Dynasty in Westeros lasted nearly 300 years. House of the Dragon‘s civil war takes place roughly 130 years after Aegon conquered Westeros. Dunk meets Egg nealy 80 years after that. That places A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms about 90 years before the start of Game of Thrones.
On HBO’s prequel, the “when” of Dunk and Egg’s story isn’t as important as the state of the world they inhabit. The pair will wander a Realm still recovering from the second Targaryen civil war, the one that split Westeros in half yet again. It was a war that helped put the Targaryen dynasty on a path towards annihilation.
What Happened in Westeros Before A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
House of the Dragon covers the first major Targaryen civil war waged in Westeros. It was fought with dragons. That civil war also helped lead to the extinction of those beasts. The loss of dragons, the greatest power in the world, greatly reduced House Targaryen’s power, authority, and prestige. The family’s second major civil war only made things even worse.
Called the Blackfyre Rebellion, it saw the sitting king’s recently legitimized bastard half-brother challenge him for the throne. (You can read all about the Blackfyre Rebellion, one of our favorites ASOIAF stories, here.) The year-long war rebellion completely split the Seven Kingdoms in half, but there was no obvious “good” or “bad” side. Each faction had a compelling claim to the Iron Throne. They also both had worthy claimants who each seemed like they would make good kings. The closely contested civil war, won by the sitting King Daeron II, also nearly went the other way. Some never stopped fighting it.
Dunk and Egg start their adventures together 13 years after the first Blackfyre Rebellion (yes, first) during the Tourney at Ashford, a notorious Realm-altering event House Targaryen attended even though it took place at a relatively minor castle. (A sign of just how desperate the royal family was to improve its image.)
During their travels, Dunk and Egg will become the very best of friends and meet supporters who fought on both sides of the civil war. Whether their faction won or lost, though, no one is happy with House Targaryen for putting the Realm through yet another brutal conflict.
Trailers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms convey this growing resentment with House Targaryen, which in less than a century will see Robert Baratheron on the Iron Throne. They also capture why this show will be very different from HBO’s previous adaptations in the Seven Kingdoms. But while it will be different, The Tales of Dunk and Egg will still greatly impact the events of Game of Thrones.
How Will A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Connect to Game of Thrones?
If, somehow, you still don’t know why everyone calls him “Egg” and don’t want to find out until you tune into the six-episode first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, we’re about to get into spoiler territory.
Egg is the not-so-subtle nickname for Prince Aegon Targaryen, himself the fourth son of a fourth son, Prince Maekar Targaryen. When Dunk first encounters the young boy, he has no idea who he is dealing with in part because Egg shaved his head to hide his distinct family locks. (Which is harder to do with his dark purple eyes, another distinct Targaryen indicator.) By the time Maekar agrees to let his son—a minor figure in the royal court—travel the countryside with the hedge knight, Ser Duncan definitely knows who Egg really is. He also knows he must keep the Prince’s true identity a secret in a continent full of people who hate that his side of the family won the Blackfyre Rebellion.
Ser Duncan might never have been entirely alone in keeping an “eye” (or, rather, a “thousand eyes”) on Egg. Aegon’s uncle, Lord Brynden Rivers, also known as Bloodraven, is one of the most important figures in the history of A Song of Ice and Fire. And if you watched Game of Thrones you already know why. Bran Stark will know Brynden Rivers as the Three-Eyed Raven.
He also appeared in a vision Daemon Targaryen saw on House of the Dragon season two. But during the time of Dunk and Egg, he was not stuck in a tree. He is a part of the royal court.
That’s far from Dunk and Egg’s only connection to Game of Thrones and the White Walkers, though. On Game of Thrones, when Maestor Aemon is on his deathbed, he will call out to his brother Egg. The wandering duo’s story also ties directly into the lives of the Mad King and Rhaegar Targaryen.
Additional Reading
History of Thrones: Brynden Rivers, The Three-Eyed Raven of King’s Landing
History of Thrones: Rhaegar Targaryen’s Short Life and Lasting Legacy
History of Thrones: Aerys II, The Mad King of Westeros
How and why? That’s far into the future at the end of their tale. For now let’s just enjoy the beginning of a special relationship that changed Westeros forever.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist who adores Dunk and Egg. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.