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HBO recently revealed plans for a new Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, which is set to premiere its debut season later this year. The show chronicles the journeys of Ser Duncan the Tall, commonly called Dunk, and his youthful squire Aegon Targaryen, also known as Egg.
Taking place approximately 70 years after House of the Dragon and about a century before the events of GoT, this prequel series is expected to offer a different tone compared to its predecessors. The novellas in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—initially titled The Tales of Dunk and Egg—place less emphasis on the political machinations of the nobility.
Rather, the narratives delve into the everyday experiences of Westeros’ common folk. As the story progresses, Dunk and Egg emerge as a tightly-knit pair, sharing a genuine bond (even as Dunk frequently threatens to box Egg’s ears). So, what adventures await an ordinary hedge knight while the realm’s lords are engrossed in their power struggles? This is our opportunity to explore.
While we await further updates on the show’s debut season, here are 10 intriguing details about the source material it’s based on. Note: Minor spoilers for the novellas (and the main GoT series) are included below.
The first novella was penned by author George R.R. Martin in the 1990s.
Martin crafted the initial novella following the release of AGoT in 1996. At the time, he was expected to complete A Clash of Kings, the second installment in the A Song of Ice and Fire series. However, he diverted his efforts to write The Hedge Knight for the Legends anthology, curated by renowned sci-fi editor Robert Silverberg. This detour proved fruitful: The Hedge Knight not only secured a spot in the anthology but also drew significant attention to Martin’s work.
Martin credits the robust sales of ACoK in 1998 partly to the acclaim of The Hedge Knight, which had been published just months prior. The second novella, The Sworn Sword, appeared in the Legends II anthology in 2003, sandwiched between the releases of A Storm of Swords in 2000 and A Feast for Crows in 2005. The concluding novella, The Mystery Knight, was featured in the 2010 anthology Warriors, co-edited by Martin and Gardner Dozois. In 2015, the three novellas were compiled into a single volume titled
The upcoming TV series will provide deeper insights into Brynden Rivers, also known as Bloodraven.
The three AKotSK novellas are set during the notable reign of Bloodraven as Hand of the King. Who exactly is Bloodraven? He’s an enigmatic Targaryen bastard who lost an eye in a past conflict and often leaves the empty socket visible to unsettle his foes. Despite his injury, he’s portrayed in the stories as having “a thousand eyes, and one.” His uncanny ability to foresee events, combined with his eerie appearance and illegitimate birth, makes him a figure of dread and intrigue across Westeros.
Much of Rivers’s life remains shrouded in mystery. However, it’s known that he eventually joins the Night’s Watch, vanishes, and reappears a century later in the GoT series to guide Bran Stark in unlocking his third eye. Bloodraven’s presence in the books is limited, as Dunk rarely encounters him. Yet, given the concise source material and the show’s potential to explore perspectives beyond Dunk’s, it’s likely his role will be expanded in the series.
Both Dunk and Egg receive nods in the original series.
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Dunk and Egg are briefly referenced. Dunk rises to become a member of the Kingsguard and is defeated in a tourney by a young Barristan Selmy, who was only 16 at the time.
As for Egg, he ascends to the throne of the Seven Kingdoms unexpectedly after the untimely deaths of his uncles and older brothers. He shares a close fraternal bond with Aemon Targaryen (known to GoT fans as Maester Aemon), who lives long enough at the Wall to interact with Jon Snow and Samwell Tarly. In A Feast for Crows, Aemon, on his deathbed, begins speaking to his brother Aegon in a moment of delirium, uttering the poignant line, “Egg, I dreamed I was old.”
By the time the series begins, dragons have vanished from Westeros.
If you’re anticipating more dragon-centric excitement in the adaptation, you might be let down. Following the Dance of the Dragons (a central event in HotD), every known dragon in this world has perished. When AKotSK starts, only the eldest individuals in Westeros can claim to have seen a dragon in person.
Nevertheless, dragons remain a significant presence in the series. Like many of his Targaryen relatives, Egg received a dragon’s egg at birth, though it never hatched. The hope for the return of dragons persists in Westeros, and this theme is particularly central to the plot of the third novella, The Mystery Knight.
The Targaryen family tree is incredibly intricate.
These two are direct descendants of Egg. | Helen Sloan, HBODeciphering the Targaryen family tree is a daunting task. To simplify: Egg is Rhaenyra’s great-great-great grandson. He’s also the grandfather of the Mad King Aerys, whose oppressive rule led to the Targaryen dynasty’s downfall at the hands of Robert Baratheon. Delving deeper, Egg is Daenerys’ great-grandfather and Jon Snow’s great-great-grandfather.
The published novellas conclude well before Egg’s reign as king. However, he is remembered as a benevolent ruler who cared deeply for the common folk, more so than most. Had his rule extended another decade, the Targaryens might have avoided their eventual decline.
While Dunk is not officially recorded as having children, fans have plenty of theories about his lineage.
Martin has acknowledged this theory, though it remains unofficial in Westeros. | Helen Sloan, HBOSer Duncan eventually joins the Kingsguard and rises to the position of Lord Commander, adhering to a vow of chastity that he (as far as historical records show) never breaks. However, fans speculate that he may have fathered illegitimate children, possibly without his knowledge.
Among the GoT characters often theorized to be related to Dunk is Brienne of Tarth, a fan-favorite known for her unwavering loyalty and honor. She shares Dunk’s towering stature and strength, and in A Feast For Crows, she wields a shield bearing Dunk’s coat of arms. George R.R. Martin confirmed this theory in 2016, though it has yet to be explicitly addressed in his books. (It’s also uncertain if Martin intends to write a Dunk and Egg novella depicting Duncan’s time in the Kingsguard, but readers know from ASoIaF references that he earns the role through his bond with Egg.)
Other possible descendants of Dunk include Sandor Clegane and Hodor. If Sandor is related to Dunk, his infamous brother Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane would likely share the lineage as well. However, fans are less enthusiastic about this aspect of the theory. For many, any tall or honorable minor knight character is a candidate for Dunk’s lineage.
The fates of Dunk and Egg have already been disclosed.
Similar to how fans of the main series already knew the conclusion of HotD, ASoIaF enthusiasts have long been aware of how Dunk and Egg’s story concludes. In his later years, Egg (then King Aegon V) attempts to use sorcery and fire to hatch ancient dragon eggs at Summerhall. The plan fails catastrophically, resulting in the deaths of both Aegon and Dunk in the ensuing blaze.
While this might seem like a spoiler, it’s set so far in the future for these characters that Martin is unlikely to ever address it directly. Given the lack of detailed accounts of the event, the showrunners have room to introduce unexpected twists if they choose to explore it.
George R.R. Martin had grand ambitions for the series.
Most fans would simply be thrilled if he finished "The Winds of Winter." | Kevin Winter/GettyImages“My intention has always been to write a series of novellas about Dunk and Egg, detailing their entire lives,” Martin wrote in a 2014 blog post. “In various interviews, I’ve mentioned numbers like seven, 10, or even 12 novellas, but nothing is fixed. The number will depend on how many it takes to tell their story from beginning to end.”
However, more than a decade has passed since that post, and no new Dunk and Egg stories have been released, as Martin remains focused on The Winds of Winter, the sixth installment in the main series. While reaching 12, 10, or even seven novellas seems unlikely, there’s still hope for one or two more.
About the planned fourth Dunk and Egg novella, Martin explained, “The unfinished story was set in Winterfell and featured a group of powerful Stark women—wives, widows, mothers, and grandmothers—whom I called ‘the She-Wolves.’ However, ‘The She-Wolves of Winterfell’ was only a temporary title.”
The novellas introduce several characters who play significant roles in the main series.
While Bloodraven is the most notable character to survive into the main series, he’s not the only one. Martin also included a young Walder Frey in The Mystery Knight. Though just a child in the story, Martin makes it clear that Walder was already a disagreeable individual even at that age.
The second novella, The Sworn Sword, features Lady Rohanne Webber, a shrewd woman who later becomes Tywin Lannister’s grandmother. With the fourth novella expected to be set in Winterfell, fans are also eager to learn more about Old Nan in the near future.
The novellas leave plenty of room for interpretation.
One reason House of the Dragon has been so enjoyable, even for readers of the books, is the creative freedom the source material provides. Fire & Blood is written as a historical account long after the events it describes, leaving many personal details about the characters unknown to Archmaester Gyladyn, the primary narrator.
While the Dunk and Egg novellas provide more detail, there are still intriguing gaps for the show to explore. For example, a popular fan theory revolves around what truly happened between Dunk and Lady Rohanne in the stable before the narrative jumps ahead. Some believe their encounter went beyond a kiss, while others argue Dunk would never act in such an unknightly manner.
Perhaps the most debated fan theory is that Dunk was never actually knighted and lied about Ser Arlan knighting him to advance in life. Some fans refuse to believe Dunk would deceive anyone about this, while others point to the subtle guilt in Dunk’s thoughts about his knighthood as evidence. The show may finally resolve this long-standing debate.
