A Dream of Dragons: How the Targaryens’ Greatest Obsessions Inform What Happens to Dunk and Egg

Full publication and amusement spoilers up for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Game of Thrones, and House of the Dragon.

The archetypal play of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms was mostly fantasy-free and unburdened by lore, allowing the amusement to service arsenic an introduction constituent for viewers who mightiness beryllium caller to Westeros. But conscionable due to the fact that the spin-off bid lacks dragons and mostly stands unsocial from the wide saga of A Song of Ice and Fire, that doesn’t mean it’s wholly disconnected from it. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ protagonists Dunk and Egg each play their roles successful making definite 1 of the astir consequential characters successful each of Game of Thrones lore adjacent exists.

Egg is conscionable a kid squire successful A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, but helium yet grows up to beryllium King Aegon V Targaryen, with Dunk serving arsenic his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. (Egg is dubbed Aegon the Unlikely fixed however acold down the enactment of succession helium was.) Dunk and Egg’s fates are intertwined, and the luck teller they encountered successful Episode 3 predicted what’s successful store for them decades aboriginal (in stories arsenic yet to beryllium written by George R.R. Martin).

"You shall beryllium king, and dice successful a blistery fire, and worms shall provender upon your ashes, and each who cognize you shall rejoice successful your passing,” the luck teller told Egg (who was not yet revealed to beryllium a Targaryen astatine that constituent successful the show).

Aegon V’s evident decease astatine Summerhall has ties to 1 of the enduring mysteries of Game of Thrones: the individuality of The Prince That Was Promised who volition prevention the satellite from the acheronian posed by the White Walkers.

So let’s interruption down what happened astatine Summerhall, what it meant for the Targaryens, and however Aegon V’s dragon obsession factors into the flagship Game of Thrones TV series.

Dunk and Egg’s Fiery Future: The Tragedy astatine Summerhall Explained

Summerhall is simply a Targaryen palace located adjacent the borders of The Reach, Stormlands and Dorne. Egg’s clip arsenic Dunk’s squire instills successful him a compassion for the smallfolk and an knowing of their needs. As King Aegon V, helium sought to amended the lives of the lowborn, and his reforms made him plentifulness of enemies among the nobility. During his 26-year reign – which is chronicled by George R.R. Martin successful his publication The World of Ice & Fire: The Untold History of Westeros and the Game of Thrones – Aegon V dealt with respective uprisings and governmental dangers posed by the aristocrats who loathed him for trying to assistance freedoms and protections to the smallfolk.

Aegon realized helium needed an security argumentation against specified threats arsenic good arsenic a mode to unit the lords to abide by his rulings. He became obsessed with restoring the Targaryen enactment of dragons (who dice disconnected by the decision of House of the Dragon). Aegon spent years seeking past texts and mislaid lore astir Valyrian dragon breeding, adjacent commissioning expeditions to the larboard metropolis of Asshai connected the continent of Essos, a distant spot said to beryllium location of arcane secrets and wherever magic users tin signifier openly.

Aegon’s extremity of hatching dragon eggs – a ritual that requires occurrence and a humor sacrifice – results successful the calamity astatine Summerhall. In 259 AC, Aegon V invited his extended household and allies to Summerhall successful what was meant to beryllium a solemnisation of the commencement of his archetypal great-grandchild. But that wasn’t each Aegon had planned portion everyone was visiting his summertime home.

While galore details are mislaid to past – an ink blot connected a maester’s missive chronicling his eyewitness relationship of the calamity has kept the lawsuit shrouded successful enigma – it’s believed that Aegon employed wildfire and sorcery to hatch dragon eggs and that the resulting blaze went horribly awry, sidesplitting astir everyone contiguous and destroying Summerhall.

Among those killed are Egg, Egg’s lad Prince Duncan Targaryen, and galore more. Dunk is believed to person perished but it's uncertain. (While the Targaryens mislaid a slew of would-be successors successful the pb up to Egg becoming Aegon V, the deaths of truthful galore members of the ruling dynasty astatine Summerhall lone added to wherefore determination are truthful fewer Targaryens near by the opening of Game of Thrones.)

While the calamity astatine Summerhall is remembered for truthful overmuch death, it besides marked the commencement of a pivotal fig successful Game of Thrones lore: Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

The Prince That Was Promised

Rhaegar Targaryen, the lad of “The Mad King” Aerys II and his sister-wife Rhaella, was calved astatine Summerhall arsenic it was consumed by flames. It is said that the past heroic deed performed by Dunk – Ser Duncan the Tall, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard – was redeeming the large Rhaella. If Dunk had failed to rescue Rhaella (and Rhaegar) past neither Daenerys Targaryen nor Jon Snow would person been born. By redeeming Rhaella, Dunk ensured that Jon Snow is live to rally humanity against the White Walkers.

The Targaryens person agelong believed successful dreams and prophecies and galore of them, including Egg’s member Daeron the Drunken, person the quality to imagination of the future. Egg’s lad Jaehaerys II was told by a woods witch that The Prince That Was Promised would beryllium calved of Aerys and Rhaella’s line, truthful helium joined his 2 kids to each different to guarantee it would happen.

Their firstborn son, Rhaegar, besides became obsessed with the prophecy of The Prince That Was Promised and lived his beingness arsenic if helium was the chosen one. He met astatine slightest 1 of the prophecy’s criteria, which is that the savior would beryllium calved amidst brackish and smoke. Egg’s member Maester Aemon (the aged antheral astatine the Wall with Jon Snow) thought Rhaegar being calved during the fiery demolition of Summerhall checked those peculiar boxes, but Rhaegar was not, successful fact, the prophesied one. He would dice years earlier the White Walkers showed up, perishing successful conflict during Robert’s Rebellion.

Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark successful Game of Thrones.

So possibly Rhaegar’s lad with Lyanna Stark – calved Aegon Targaryen but raised by Ned Stark arsenic Jon Snow – is the chosen 1 instead. However, the Game of Thrones TV bid ne'er rather settled the full Prince That Was Promised prophecy. No quality met each the criteria, not adjacent Jon. (Arya Stark, you volition remember, is the 1 who yet slew the Night King, not Jon.) Perhaps past the chosen 1 was a antithetic great-grandchild of Egg’s, namely Rhaegar’s sister and Jon Snow’s aunt, Daenerys Targaryen.

The House of the Dragon: Season 2 finale resurrected the specter of The Prince That Was Promised erstwhile Daemon Targaryen (Matt Smith) had a weirwood imaginativeness of the aboriginal that included Daenerys and her 3 freshly hatched dragon children. Showrunner Ryan Condal said astatine the clip that the show’s producers “are not trying to marque immoderate benignant of circumstantial mentation of a prophecy that has yet to beryllium revealed by its author.”

“Remember that Game of Thrones, A Song of Ice and Fire, House of the Dragon successful galore ways, oregon Fire & Blood successful galore ways, are warnings astir the perils of powerfulness and radical successful power, and peculiarly I deliberation successful this world, implicit power,” Condal said. “So I volition say, we're precise funny successful however those things play retired successful this satellite and however erstwhile idiosyncratic is given, arsenic we've seen Rhaenyra [Emma D’Arcy’s queen] beryllium fixed this shot to tally with that – ‘my begetter chose me, I was the Prince Who Was Promised, it indispensable beryllium me, this dragon rider was delivered to me’ – and however that's going to spot itself manifested implicit the people of this war."

Condal aboriginal added, “We cognize Rhaenyra is already moving with this thought of the Prince Who Was Promised; if Daemon besides believes that is Rhaenyra, arsenic we've seen him accidental to her successful High Valyrian successful Episode 8, there's a precise absorbing happening that tin beryllium done with his mentation of that. … We are not trying to marque immoderate benignant of circumstantial mentation of a prophecy that has yet to beryllium revealed by its author. And that is George's satellite and George's abstraction to archer that story. I deliberation we're much funny successful playing with the quality play that lives successful and astir that imagery."

Fans volition person to spot however House of the Dragon contends with the prophecy erstwhile Season 3 premieres this June.

"It would evidently beryllium a immense pisser to spot these 2 beloved characters travel to specified a bitter end, but it would besides beryllium precise connected marque for Game of Thrones.“

Did Egg Try to Sacrifice Rhaegar?

Since hatching dragon eggs requires some occurrence and a humor sacrifice, determination are instrumentality theories – specified arsenic those posted by YouTube channels Joe Magician and Alt Shift X – that the dragon-obsessed Aegon V mightiness person been trying to sacrifice either himself oregon his newborn great-grandson Rhaegar successful the occurrence successful the hopes of hatching the dragon eggs.

That would look particularly cruel fixed the benignant quality of Egg’s character, but the Targaryens person shown that they’ll bash the damndest things wherever prophecies are concerned. As Egg’s member Maester Aemon erstwhile observed, “My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and the dreams killed them, each one.”

For Aegon V, dragons are needed to support the Targaryens’ clasp connected the Iron Throne and to support his household and the smallfolk from his enemies. As Alt Shift X suggested, if Aegon did effort to sacrifice Rhaegar, that would enactment him into nonstop struggle with Dunk, who is duty-bound arsenic a knight to support the innocent.

While Daeron’s imaginativeness of Dunk lasting implicit a dormant dragon seems astir apt to notation to Prince Baelor Targaryen’s decease successful Episode 5, what if it’s really a imaginativeness of Dunk’s last moments with Egg successful the distant future?

It would evidently beryllium a immense pisser to spot these 2 beloved characters travel to specified a bitter end, but it would besides beryllium precise connected marque for Game of Thrones. Of course, it could besides beryllium that things crook retired precise otherwise for Dunk and Egg than the recorded past of Westeros would person fans believe.

Actor Dexter Sol Ansell precocious revealed during a speech amusement quality that George R.R. Martin clued him successful connected the characters’ fates: “We cognize Dunk survives [Summerhall] but we don't cognize if Egg survives yet.” (His co-star Peter Claffey, who plays Dunk, interjected that “we don't cognize if that's precisely what happens.”)

Egg’s adventures with Dunk physique his motivation quality arsenic a aboriginal king, but his existent bequest arsenic Aegon V seems similar a mixed bag. Sure, helium was bully to the smallfolk, but his obsession with restoring dragons proved to not lone beryllium his undoing, but besides caused the decease of galore innocents and near heavy intelligence scars connected his household for generations to come.

For much coverage, work my A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1 finale review, pre-order A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 1 connected 4K, and observe everything we cognize truthful acold astir A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: Season 2.