Ryan Kirksey
The following recap contains spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms S1E3, “The Squire” (written by Hiram Martinez & Annie, Julia Wyman, and Ira Parker and directed by Sarah Adina Smith). Spoilers also include plot points from Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon.
The worst-kept secret in Game of Thrones television history has finally been revealed. Congratulations to those who are not book readers and managed to make it to today without having the huge reveal at the end of Episode 3 spoiled before now.
Egg (Dexter Sol-Anesell), the diminutive and witty squire to Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey), is actually a Targaryen. He is the youngest son of Prince Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell), the curmudgeon we met in Episode 2, who is looking for his two lost sons. One of them, it now seems, has reluctantly been found.
It’s important to clear up the family tree a little bit at this point, as it will be key to what happens in the back half of this first season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Maekar, as noted last week, is the younger brother of Prince Baelor “Breakspear” Targaryen (Bertie Carvel). Baelor is heir to the Iron Throne, Hand to the King, and the uncle of Maekar’s children.
Maekar’s four sons include Prince Aerion “Brightflame” Targaryen (Finn Bennett), who we see clearly positioned in this episode as the villain for this first season, and who is the eldest of the group. Maekar’s other “lost” son is Prince Daeron (Henry Ashton), whom Dunk ran into at the inn in Episode 1. Maekar’s third son is Aemon Targaryen, whom we are unlikely to see this season, but Game of Thrones watchers have seen him plenty before. Aemon famously turned down the Iron Throne to become a Maester, where he became a respected member of the Night’s Watch at The Wall. When Game of Thrones begins, Aemon is elderly and blind, but he becomes a friend to Jon Snow.
Aegon V Targaryen, or Egg, is Maekar’s youngest son, but has clearly deserted the family for reasons unknown at this point. Aegon has a very important role to play in the 90 years between this story and the beginning of the Game of Thrones, but those details are probably best left out for now, as HBO seemingly has plans for this story to stretch over decades of Aegon’s life.
Throughout the first three episodes, the story dropped clues all over the place as to who Egg really was. He is clearly educated and well-read, far beyond what a typical stable boy would be. He is familiar with the important houses and knights of Westeros. When the Targaryens first appear, Egg asks Dunk to take him off his shoulders, hoping not to be spotted.
In hiding, Egg has become quite the useful squire to Dunk. At the beginning of this episode, we see Egg take Dunk’s horse, Thunder, and begin to train him for jousting. Egg noticed at the opening jousts in last week’s episode that these horses need to have a fierceness and ferocity to them, so he spends a long morning training Thunder to sprint on command and heed his rider’s call.
After Dunk makes them some absolutely delightful-looking egg and bacon sandwiches (that I would absolutely eat right now), they take in more of the tourney, and Egg confides in Dunk that he “could be quite happy in a place like this.” It’s a sweet, sentimental moment inside this growing friendship, but considering what we learn at the end of the episode, it takes on whole other layers of meaning.
When he says he could be happy in a place like this, what he really means is “I could be happy apart from the life of a royal Targaryen.” Again, why does he want this? Why shave your head and hide in a lowly stable? That’s a mystery still to be explored in the episodes to come.
Now knowing who he is, Dunk admits he wants to keep Egg on as a squire, but he knows he has to win and show well in the tournament to have that chance. Dunk is given one chance by the Tournament Master (Tom Vaughan-Lawlor). Apparently, Lord Ashford overspent in planning for the tournament and has debts that need to be repaid. The Ashford family offers to cut Dunk in on some profits if he will take a match against Sir Androw, Lord Ashford’s youngest son.
Androw would be a heavy favorite, but Lord Ashford would bet heavily into the long odds for Dunk, and be able to make a handsome sum and pay back his debts, as Androw would lose on purpose. Dunk, understandably, does not want to win in any kind of underhanded way.
As he ponders this decision, Dunk and Egg grab a seat to watch Brightflame—Prince Aerion—joust his first opponent. Living up to his ruthless reputation, Aerion spears his opponent’s horse in the neck on the joust, causing the horse to suffer a fatal injury and fall, crushing his rider’s leg. The crowd quickly turns against Aerion and riots against him, which is an interesting turn of events.
In the days of dragons, no one would have dared cross the Targaryen family. But the Targaryens currently have a very tenuous hold on the reign of Westeros, and common people are less afraid of them than they once were. This, of course, will play a major factor in the reasons why the Game of Thrones even begins.
Whether Dunk had this going through his mind or not when he ran into Aerion again is unclear. At a puppet show that night, the actress who also agreed to paint Dunk’s shield, Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford), plays a knight who slays a dragon. But Aerion sees this and takes great offense, with the events of that afternoon surely fanning the flames of his anger. He attacks Tanselle and breaks her finger, causing Dunk to charge at him and deliver a punch that loosens Aerion’s tooth.
Just as Aerion is about to retaliate by removing all of Dunk’s teeth, Egg intercedes and reveals himself, forcing the guards to acquiesce and release Dunk.
As the episode ends and Prince Aerion asks his younger brother, “What’s happened to your hair?” the simple, truthful answer Egg provides is “I cut it off, brother. I didn’t want to look like you.” But inside that answer lies a whole series of mysteries. Namely, why Egg would desert his family and what he wants to accomplish by hitching his wagon to a poor hedge knight.
So even though the greatest mystery of the season has been revealed, there is still plenty more to uncover in this story. Immediately, the fates of both Dunk and Egg are up in the air, along with what will happen to them next, as their respective actions have impacted the rest of this tournament.
