In A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ second episode, Dunk finally found someone who remembered Ser Arlan of Pennytree. The Hand of the King himself, Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen, knew the hedge knight. He’d even jousted with him once. With Baelor confirming and blessing Dunk’s claim, Ashford’s Master of Games finally allowed the tall knight to enter the lists for the tourney. But that raised a new problem for Dunk: he needs a new sigil. Why can’t he use Ser Arlan’s? And why did he (with Egg’s help) choose the design he did? That sigil, conceived with little thought out of necessity, perfectly encapsulates its owner and the relationship that will change his life. And it will endure long after its creation.
Westerosi law and tradition says only a trueborn son may inherit a knight’s arms. So while no one begrudges a former squire inheriting the horses, armor, sword, and shield of a childless hedge knight he served, Dunk cannot carry Ser Arlan’s sigil. He certainly can’t fight in the tourney wielding that silver winged chalice on a brown background. Fortunately for the oversized knight, he recently met someone who can help. Tanselle Too-Tall paints the puppets for her troop. She agreed to paint Dunk’s shield, Tanselle just needed to know what he wanted it to look like. In classic Dunk fashion, he hadn’t thought about his sigil at all.
Rather than the drab brown and silver of Arlan’s design, Tanselle suggested something more colorful. For that Dunk wanted to honor the knight who treated him as his own. He said the field should be the colors of a sunset because Ser Arlan, who always wanted to be outside, loved. It was Egg who then suggested a big brown elm tree with green leaves, like the one where Dunk had made camp, as the sigil’s main token. That big, strong tree is a fitting for a big, strong knight. It’s also appropriate for a hedge knight, who owns no land, wanders the Realm, and mostly sleeps outdoors under trees rather than in castles or even tents.
But at the last moment Dunk added a little flair. He asked Tanselle to include a shooting star. Him and Egg saw one looking up at the night sky while every other knight at the tourney was looking up at the silk in their tented pavilions. Egg told Dunk* a shooting star offers good luck to those who see it. That gave the anxious, inexperienced Dunk heart. Enough so he added it to his sigil.
*This is a minor change from George R.R. Martin’s novella where Dunk sees the shooting star after Egg falls asleep. He then thinks to himself what it means and why his choice to sleep outside have given him and him alone the star’s luck.
Dunk didn’t put any forethought into his sigil. That didn’t stop him and Egg from coming up with a design full of meaning. It pays tribute to Ser Arlan, represents the sturdy and steadfast Dunk himself, and even celebrates their first night together under the stars. It’s a symbol worthy of a true knight (and the cover of the book that gives the show its name). The two working together to come up with Dunk’s sigil also encapsulates their relationship, which has only just begun. They don’t know why just yet, though. (Neither do some viewers.) Just as Dunk and Egg don’t yet know why a lucky shooting star perfectly symbolizes the good fortune these two unlikely friends experienced when they crossed paths, as though it was fated.
They also don’t know that this sigil they designed together for the lowliest of hedge knights will outlast both of them. But if you want to know why it will endure long after the Tourney at Ashford, we do have to get into spoiler territory.
Book readers long theorized Brienne of Tarth was a descendent of Ser Duncan the Tall. It wasn’t just because she was also a tall, noble warrior like Dunk. (Though that was definitely a big reason for the connection.) It’s also because a shield with Dunk’s sigil ended up at her family’s home of Evenfall Hall in Tarth. In A Storm of Swords, set decades after Dunk’s death, Brienne has someone paint her shield with his sigil. She knew it from seeing it hanging on her father’s wall at her home, though she didn’t know much about it.
In 2016 George R.R. Martin confirmed the theory. Brienne is a descendent of Duncan, though the exact lineage remains unknown.
When (book) Brienne goes out carrying Dunk’s sigil, she will technically be violating the very laws of Westeros that forced him to create it. But that doesn’t mean she will dishonor Ser Duncan or herself. No one will be worthier of making his iconic symbol—the one that also represented a special partnership—more than Dunk’s noble descendent.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He can’t wait to get into full spoilers around Dunk and Egg. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.