George R. R. Martin’s world of Westeros will materialize on screens with a fresh perspective from Dunk and Egg from his novella series, Tales of Dunk and Egg. HBO is working on the Game of Thrones prequel, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms that will be set in a timeline nearly a decade after the Dance of the Dragons.
The new spinoff will be based on the three books, The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword, and The Mystery Knight where Dunk and Egg, the heroes of this era, set about on a journey across Westeros– from Ashford to Dorne and Winterfell.
Who is Dunk?
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will debut with The Hedge Knight storyline starring Peter Claffey as Dunk, a wandering knight not sworn to a particular lord– a hedge knight. Initially, he serves as a squire to the elderly hedge knight Ser Arlan of Pennytree and later adopts the name, Ser Duncan the Tall following Ser Arlan’s death.
Dunk takes ownership of Ser Arlan’s armor, horses, and gold to embark on his individual journey as a hedge knight while taking up a squire along the way.
Ser Duncan is, as his name suggests, very tall with his height described as seven feet in the books. He is also thought to be often foolish and unintelligent by people but is dependably loyal, kind, and brave.
Westeros fans will look forward to seeing Peter Claffey embody the spirit of Dunk, being a former Rugby player. However, it is doubtful whether the actor will be able to match the described height of Ser Duncan.
Later on, Dunk vows to serve Ser Eustace Osgrey of Standfast in Reach and travels to Winterfell to assist Lord Stark in ending the Greyjoy Rebellion.
Who is Egg?
Egg is a young boy Ser Duncan meets while on his newfound journey as a hedge knight. The character will be played by Dexter Sol Ansell, fitting the descriptions as per the books. Eventually, Martin’s The Hedge Knight reveals Egg as a Targaryen prince, specifically, the future King Aegon V.
For a young Targaryen who is in line for the Iron Throne, though quite distant, Egg’s older relatives do not consider him a threat to their reigns. Even he appears to be disinterested in the battle for the crown and shaves his silver-blonde head of hair to conceal his high-born identity.
Dunk and Egg build a working relationship with the bigger in-stature hedge knight becoming the protector and Egg as the plotter. There’s a point when Egg helps Dunk survive a conflict with his brother, Aerion Targaryen. As Dunk is about to travel around the Seven Kingdoms, Egg wishes to join him as his squire by the end of The Hedge Knight.
Deep into the timeline, Egg reigns as King Aegon V Targaryen or Aegon the Unlikely, derived from his distant position in the line of succession to the Iron Throne. His brother, Maester Aemon briefly refers to him in the Game of Thrones, per a report by Winter is Coming.
After Aegon V succeeds to the Iron Throne, he honors his longtime comrade Dunk as the Lord Commander of his Kingsguard, which makes him the titular Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.
