How Does ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Tie into ‘Game of Thrones’?

After the success of House of the Dragon, HBO is fully kicking off a second Game of Thrones spinoff, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight. Tales of Dunk and Egg is a series of short novellas by George R. R. Martin that tell a more intimate story on a smaller scale than the main series, following the two titular characters’ travels across Westeros. After crossing paths with the Targaryens at a tourney, Prince Maekar Targaryen tasks Dunk (Peter Claffcy) with looking after his son, Aegon (Dexter Sol Ansell), in the hopes that Egg will learn how to live among the common folk and not turn into an arrogant, out-of-touch prince like many of his siblings. The setup for The Hedge Knight resembles The Mandalorian, where a wandering warrior must take charge of a valuable child while completing various missions, and it could easily translate into a weekly episodic series.

The Hedge Knight begins nearly a century before the main Game of Thrones series, but Martin has confirmed that the story will follow the two heroes across their lifetimes. While Egg is initially far removed from the line of succession, he eventually grows up to become King Aegon V “The Unlikely,” and Dunk becomes the Lord Commander of his Kingsguard, Ser Duncan the Tall. While The Hedge Knight has a lighter tone than Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon, tragedy underlies the story of both characters, and their sacrifice sets up crucial events in Game of Thrones.

A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight (2025)

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on George R. R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas and is set around 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones. It follows Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg, who would later become King Aegon V Targaryen.

Cast

Peter Claffey , Dexter Sol Ansell , Finn Bennett , Bertie Carvel , Tanzyn Crawford , Daniel Ings , Sam Spruell

Main Genre

Fantasy

Seasons

1

Creator(s)

Martin Parker , Ira Parker

Writers

Martin Parker , Ira Parker

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From a Boy and Hedge Knight to a King and Lord Commander

While Martin hasn’t confirmed the official number of short stories, he’s claimed it will take at least 7-12 stories to tell the full tale of The Hedge Knight, likely ending with their involvement with a mysterious historical event known as the Tragedy at Summerhall. While Egg is still a child in the published short stories, he grew into a good king who faced significant resistance during his reign. While adventuring with Dunk, Egg learned what it was like to live as one of the struggling smallfolk, dealing with their day-to-day problems and the threats to their land from Lords and crooks alike. As king, he gave common folk new rights that protected their lands and gave them more independence from their lords, which led to many noble houses rising in rebellion. Aegon V also dealt with several Blackfyre rebellions – a Targaryen cadet branch that plagued Westeros with civil war for years. To make matters worse, Aegon’s children defied his marriage betrothals and caused fractured alliances with many of the great houses. As conflicts accrued during his rule, Aegon became convinced that bringing dragons back into the world was the only way to establish Targaryen dominance over the realm. This is where Summerhall comes in.

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The Targaryen Family Tree From ‘House of the Dragon’ to ‘Game of Thrones’

Fire and blood and a lot of wigs.

Prophecies Will Play a Role in ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’

One of the main themes in Game of Thrones is prophecy. We know from House of the Dragon that Aegon the Conqueror’s motivations for uniting the Seven Kingdoms originated from his prophetic dream of the Long Night. Characters like Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) and Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) witness visions of the past and warnings of the future in Game of Thrones, similar to Daemon (Matt Smith) and Helaena (Phia Saban) in House of the Dragon. While A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms tells a more grounded tale, prophecy lies at the heart of its narrative. In The Hedge Knight, Daeron the Drunken (Henry Ashton) predicts Dunk’s fate in the tourney, and Daemon II Blackfyre sees visions of Dunk as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard in The Mystery Knight. Much like the rest of Game of Thrones, prophecies come true, but in ways we don’t expect. We know that Egg’s obsession with hatching dragons in his later life stemmed from potential visions of the Long Night, similar to Aegon’s dream. Given that Bloodraven and Egg are integral characters in the short stories, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms will likely expand on Aegon’s dream and the fate of Westeros. Even though the short stories don’t place great emphasis on the Others, they will form another piece in the puzzle that ties the overarching narrative of Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon together.

We Could Learn the Mystery of Summerhall

Egg summoned all his family to Summerhall to celebrate the pregnancy of his granddaughter, Rhaella. The castle mysteriously erupted in flames during this gathering, killing The Hedge Knight and wiping out most of the Targaryen line. There is a lot of mystery around what happened at Summerhall, but most sources agree that Egg tried to enact a ritual to hatch several old dragon eggs. Egg had enlisted pyromancers to use wildfire, supposedly hoping to ignite the stone eggs and give birth to a new generation of dragons, similar to how Daenerys Targaryen carried her dragon eggs onto a burning funeral pyre at the end of Game of Thrones Season 1.

Despite being part of Egg’s Kingsguard, Dunk defied his duty to protect the king and helped evacuate people from the castle before it burnt down. Princess Rhaella was one of the few Targaryens to escape the fire, likely rescued by Dunk. Rhaella went into labor immediately after her escape and gave birth to Rhaegar Targaryen (Wilf Scolding), Jon Snow’s (Kit Harington) father, as Summerhall burned beside her. Rhaella survived the tragedy at Summerhall along with Aerys, who would later become the Mad King, and they eventually gave birth to two more children, including Daenerys.

Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen Owe Their Lives to Dunk

In Game of Thrones Season 8 Episode 3, Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) killed the Night King in one of the most controversial moments in the series. However, the books suggest that either Jon or Daenerys will eventually become “Azor Ahai,” the prophesied savior in the Game of Thrones universe who will defeat the White Walkers. Azor Ahai will lead the war against the Others, and between Jon’s heritage and Daenerys’ dragons, both characters are essential to the War for the Dawn. But without Dunk’s heroic sacrifice at Summerhall, neither Jon nor Daenerys would have been born. Dunk’s search for purpose is a recurring theme in the short stories. When the beloved Targaryen heir, Baelor “Breakspear,” died protecting Dunk in battle, it forced Dunk to question his role in the world and why, “a great Prince died so a Hedge Knight could live.” In the third short story, The Mystery Knight, Daemon Blackfyre sees visions of Dunk in his prophetic dreams, but isn’t sure how he fits into the future of Westeros. The birth of Jon and Daenerys gives the reader an answer to Dunk’s question, as his actions are integral to the overarching story of Westeros and the War for the Dawn.

‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Features Important ‘Game of Thrones’ Characters

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms also features several older characters from Game of Thrones that tie into the main story. The third installment in the series, The Mystery Knight, features another Targaryen crucial to the overarching narrative of Game of Thrones. Brynden Rivers, also known as Bloodraven, plays a pivotal role in Martin’s third short story. This story follows Dunk & Egg as they uncover a Blackfyre conspiracy during a tourney at Whitewalls. Several lords use the tourney as an excuse to organize a plan to install Daemon II Blackfyre on the Iron Throne. Bloodraven joins the festivities disguised as Lord Maynard Plumm using a glimmer, a magical artifact used to change his appearance, similar to the ruby Melisandre wears around her neck in Game of Thrones to hide her old age.

With Dunk’s help, Bloodraven exposes the rebellion and arrests the conspirators. Fans of the Game of Thrones series will know Bloodraven by another name, the Three-Eyed Raven (or Three-Eyed Crow in the books). The Three-Eyed Raven resides underneath a Weirwood tree north of the Wall and helps Bran unlock his Greenseer abilities. House of the Dragon Season 2 Episode 8 featured a younger Bloodraven during Daemon’s vision. It will be interesting to see whether HBO uses the same actor in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms when it eventually adapts The Mystery Knight. Brynden Rivers is the only character who will appear in all three Game of Thrones series, and his time-traveling abilities make him an influential player in the wider story of Westeros.

Aside from Bloodraven, we can expect some other notable Game of Thrones characters to appear. The reviled Lord Walder Frey makes a fun appearance in The Mystery Knight. Dunk notes the young Walder having a particularly annoying laugh and fights the urge to throw him down a well, even calling him a “chinless urchin,” at one point. More interestingly, Maester Aemon will likely appear in the show at some point in the future. Aemon is Egg’s older brother but has already begun his maester training at Oldtown. While Aemon is yet to appear in the short stories, we know he will become more important later on when Egg ascends he throne. Before Egg was selected to become the next King, Aemon was offered the crown but turned it down, preferring not to break his maester oaths. Aemon eventually joined the Night’s Watch to protect Egg. Aemon would have represented a threat to Egg’s rule and a contender for the throne, but by giving up all his titles and inheritance, he no longer represented a threat. Egg eventually banishes Brynden Rivers to the Night’s Watch when he ascends the throne. Egg’s decision directly led to Bloodraven becoming Lord Commander, and venturing beyond the wall to fulfill his destiny as the Three-Eyed Raven. So by the end of the story, A Knight of the SevenKingdoms will have set up integral characters who carry over into Game of Thrones.

There are a lot of stories to tell between the first Season of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and the tragedy at Summerhall. Nevertheless, by examining the fate of Ser Duncan the Tall and King Aegon V, it becomes clear that the narrative will smoothly tie into Game of Thrones. If the series is faithful to the books, The Hedge Knight will no doubt feature small cameos from the likes of a young Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) and the reviled Walder Frey (David Bradley) to further tie the show into the Game of Thrones canon. The Hedge Knight has no official release date, but the series has already cast its leads, with many fans looking forward to the live-action interpretation of these characters.

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