The Game of Thrones book series is called A Song of Ice and Fire.
There are five books so far, with more still being written to finish the story.
There are also some side books which describe the history and world of Westeros [and beyond].
And there’s a prequel series called the Tales of Dunk & Egg – three novellas about
a knight and his squire set ninety years before A Game of Thrones.
Compared to the main story, which is huge and complex and intense, the Tales of Dunk
& Egg are [relatively] short simple and sweet, with a lighter tone and smaller scale.
But they do have mysteries and secrets of their own, as well as interesting interconnections
with the main series.
The first story is called The Hedge Knight – it introduces our heroes Dunk and Egg,
as they’re caught up in events that change the course of history in Westeros.
The Hedge Knight was adapted to a graphic novel [comic book] with artwork by Mike S.
Miller and Mike Crowell – which you’ll see throughout this video.
So what happens in The Hedge Knight, and what does it mean?
Our hero is a young man called Dunk.
He wasn’t born into a noble family or magic bloodline like the Starks or Targaryens – he
was an orphan, in the slums of King’s Landing, growing up in the alleyways and pot shops
of Flea Bottom [like Davos!].
Dunk isn’t particularly smart or skilled, but he is extremely tall and strong, and he
has a good heart – a sense of right and wrong.
When Dunk was a kid, a knight called Ser Arlan took Dunk in as his squire.
Arlan wasn’t a fancy noble knight – he was a hedge knight, which is more like a mercenary
wandering from place to place, wherever a lord needs their sword.
Hedge knights have a bad reputation – some of them become bandits or robbers.
But Ser Arlan taught Dunk the values of a true knight – to protect the weak and innocent,
and to fight for what’s right.
At the start of the story, Ser Arlan dies – so Dunk feels lost.
He spent his whole life serving Arlan, so what now?
[Who should Dunk become?]
Dunk takes up Arlan’s sword and decides to be a knight himself.
Thing is, you can’t just decide to be a knight.
You have to be knighted by another knight in a special ceremony.
And it's implied that Dunk was never knighted.
He tells people that Arlan knighted him, but it's hinted that’s a “lie”.
Dunk always gets awkward and evasive when people ask about his knighting, and he thinks
to himself that he’s not a knight.
But maybe being a true knight is about more than a ceremony – the story explores what
it really means to be a hero in a complex unfair world.
Dunk heads for a tournament at Ashford – a chance to prove himself as a knight.
And along the way, Dunk meets a young boy.
He’s completely bald, and he says his name is Egg.
He’s confident and cheeky and asks Dunk to take him to the tourney as his squire.
Dunk refuses at first, so Egg just follows him until Dunk accepts.
They’ve got sort of a Shrek and Donkey odd couple dynamic where they annoy each other
at first, but gradually become unlikely best friends.
The tournament is full of excitement and splendour – colourful tents and banners, merchants
and entertainers, famous lords and knights..
Warriors from all over Westeros come to joust and fight – Lannisters, Baratheons and Tyrells,
Tarlys Freys and Dondarrions – and Targaryens.
The Hedge Knight is set ninety years ago, when the Targaryens ruled Westeros.
So the king is Daeron Targaryen, and his queen is Myriah Martell [Daeron made peace with
Dorne by marrying a Dornish princess].
Daeron's son and heir and Hand of the King is Prince Baelor Targaryen, called Breakspear.
Baelor is a famous knight – he’s chivalrous, wise, widely loved and respected.
Baelor comes to the tournament with his son Valarr.
And Baelor’s brother Prince Maekar comes with his sons – Daeron Aerion and Aegon.
Maekar has another son named Aemon, but he doesn’t come because he’s studying to
be a maester at the Citadel – Aemon grows up to become Maester Aemon, Jon’s mentor
at the Night’s Watch 90 years later.
Dunk meets Aerion, and learns he’s a total asshole [ass sandwich] – he’s rude, cruel,
vain.. think, like, Joffrey with better hair.
And Dunk hears that Daeron and Aegon are missing – apparently they’ve run off somewhere.
Dunk wanders the tournament, and gets a crush on a girl called Tanselle who works a puppet
show.
He hires her to paint a sigil on his shield, to represent himself as a knight – he chooses
an elm tree with a shooting star – cause Dunk saw a shooting star at camp the other
night.
And instead of calling himself Ser Dunk, he invents the name “Ser Duncan the Tall”.
So Dunk creates an identity for himself as a knight.
But what kind of knight is he?
Is he cruel and vain like Aerion, or chivalrous like Baelor Breakspear?
What does it really mean to be a hero?
That night, Prince Aerion attacks the puppet girl Tanselle.
Cause Tanselle performed a puppet show about a dragon being slain – and Aerion considers
himself a Targaryen dragon, so he gets offended and starts breaking Tanselle's fingers.
So Dunk instinctively runs in and beats up Aerion, to defend this damsel in distress.
It’s the right thing to do – but it’s also a foolish thing to do.
Westeros is unfair, and hedge knights are not allowed to hit royal princes [even if
that prince is a cunt] – Dunk could be punished with death [and Tanselle still won’t be
spared].
So is this heroism or stupidity?
In Tanselle’s puppet show, she says “All men are fools, and all men are knights”.
It means we all have some desire to be a romantic hero – to save maidens and fight dragons
– and that feeling is ridiculous and foolish but it’s also part of what makes us human.
Aerion almost has Dunk killed on the spot, but he’s saved by Egg.
It turns out that Egg is not some random peasant – he’s actually Prince Aegon Targaryen,
son of Prince Maekar, and grandson of the king.
Egg explains that his father Maekar wanted Daeron to ride in the tournament, with Egg
as his squire.
But Daeron hates riding and fighting, so instead he ran off and got drunk – and he shaved
Egg’s head to hide his silvery-gold blond hair, which is famously a feature of Targaryens.
Egg says Daeron didn’t need to shave, cause he just has brown hair.
He mentions that their uncle Baelor also has dark hair instead of blonde, because of his
Dornish mother.
All this talk about Targaryen hair colour might be a hint supporting the theory that
Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
The story is showing us that not all Targaryens are blonde – so Jon Snow could be Rhaegar
Targaryen’s son, but have the dark hair of his mother Lyanna.
So anyway Daeron went on a bender, but Egg still wanted to be a squire at the tournament,
so that’s why he attached himself to Dunk.
Egg apologises for lying about his identity, but Dunk forgives him, because he also lied
to get what he wanted – implying that Dunk lied to become a knight, just like Egg lied
to become a squire.
Egg points out that he and Dunk are both from King’s Landing – even though Dunk is from
the slums of Flea Bottom, while Prince Aegon is from the palace on the hill.
So the story often explores Dunk and Egg’s different perspectives from their different
social classes.
Aerion demands that Dunk be punished.
So Dunk asks for a trial by combat, and Aerion raises the stakes, demanding a trial of seven.
A trial of seven is fight of seven men against seven.
So Dunk and Aerion each need to find six allies, to fight alongside them.
This is pretty unfair for Dunk, because Prince Aerion can easily get his Kingsguard knights,
and his father and brother to fight with him.
It’s much harder for Dunk to find allies, cause no one knows who he is – and who would
want to risk their life to fight for a hedge knight against Targaryen princes?
But Dunk and Egg find some allies.
Egg knows one guy, and a couple more want revenge on Aerion for being such a prick [in
the jousting].
And this [absolute chad] bloke Lyonel Baratheon signs up purely for the fuggen banter [clout]
– this is the first trial of seven in a hundred years, and Lyonel doesn’t wanna
miss out.
Lyonel is a famous knight – he’s called “The Laughing Storm” for his habit of
laughing at his opponents while he beats them up.
Lyonel is an ancestor of King Bobby B and Gendry and Stannis and Shireen.
And we know from the history book that years later, Lyonel fights against Dunk – but
that’s another story.
Dunk also recruits young Raymun Fossoway.
Raymun has a falling out with his cousin Steffon.
Cause Steffon betrays Dunk by promising to fight for him, then joining Aerion instead
– cause Aerion promises to make him a lord.
This creates a split in House Fossoway that still remains to this day – Steffon’s
line are the red-apple Fossoways, while Raymun’s are the green-apple Fossoways – cause Raymun
would rather be an unripe green apple than a rotten wormy red one like Steffon.
So on the morning of the trial, Aerion has seven knights, but Dunk desperately needs
one more.
He begs the crowd for a volunteer, asks “ARE THERE NO TRUE KNIGHTS AMONG YOU?”.
Cause every knight swears an oath to defend the innocent.
But all these knights and high lords refuse him.
Cause the nobility like Steffon Fossoway have selfish political reasons to side with their
prince even when their prince is wrong.
It’s only a poor lowborn man like Dunk, who has no political prospects, and nothing
to lose, who’s willing to fight for what’s right – which shows the corruption and injustice
of this feudal class system.
But just when all hope seems lost, Prince Baelor Breakspear joins Dunk [to fight against
his brother Maekar and his nephews], and says Dunk was a “true knight” to fight against
Aerion.
So maybe there is hope for justice.
The combat begins, and fourteen armoured knights crash together.
Dunk gets knocked off his horse, and Aerion gets the upper hand.
Dunk is not as skilled or trained as Prince Aerion.
But once they’re down in the mud, Dunk has the advantage.
Cause Dunk has experience fighting dirty on the rough streets of Flea Bottom, so he’s
able to defeat Aerion and end the trial.
So for a moment it seems that this Game of Thrones story has a happy ending – Dunk
the heroic underdog gets justice over the prince.
But-- Prince Baelor is acting weird, all confused and slurry.
When they pull off his helmet, some of his brain falls out – his head got smashed in
in the fight.
So Prince Baelor Breakspear falls to the ground and dies.
Everyone is horrified by Baelor’s death.
He was heir to the throne, loved by all, everyone thought he would be a great king.
So at the funeral, Baelor’s son Valarr asks why the gods would take Prince Baelor for
the sake of Dunk the hedge knight?
What kind of justice is this?
Dunk speaks with Baelor’s brother Maekar.
Maekar was always resentful living in the shadow of his more popular brother – kind
of like how Stannis is resentful of Robert.
But Maekar reveals that that it was his mace that killed Baelor – it was an accident,
but now he has to live with the knowledge that he killed his big brother.
[like how Stannis feels guilt that he killed his brother Renly].
So like Valarr, Maekar asks ‘what’s the meaning of this tragedy?’
Dunk says that maybe Baelor dying to save Dunk will have meaning if, one day, the realm
needs Dunk.
Maybe Dunk has a special destiny.
Baelor’s death is actually the fulfilment of a prophecy.
Cause before the trial, Daeron comes to Dunk and apologises for siding with Aerion.
Daeron feels like he’s a failure and a disappointment to his [hardarse] [demanding] father Maekar,
and uses drinking and sex to cope – similar to Tyrion’s relationship with his father.
But Daeron also says that he had a dream about Dunk.
In the dream, there was a dragon, and the dragon dies, but Dunk survives.
Daeron hopes that the dead dragon means that that Aerion will die – but as it turns out,
the dragon who dies is Baelor.
This fits the pattern of many prophecies and dreams in the series – they come true, but
in an unexpected way.
Many Targaryens have prophetic dreams that lead to destruction.
We know from the history book that after The Hedge Knight, King Daeron and Prince Valarr
die in a plague.
When King Daeron’s other sons die, Maekar becomes king.
But then Maekar dies in battle, Daeron the Drunken dies of the clap, and Aerion drinks
wildfire cause he thinks it’ll transform him into a dragon, which leaves the realm
in a big ol succession pickle.
Who should be the next king?
Daeron and Aerion both had kids, but no one wants them on the Throne.
So they offer Maester Aemon the throne, but he refuses.
So the next King of Westeros is Egg – he becomes King Aegon Targaryen the Fifth.
And King Egg chooses Dunk to lead his Kingsguard – so Dunk from Flea Bottom rises to the
highest position for a knight in Westeros.
King Egg’s rule was difficult, with rebellious lords and rebellious children.
And later in life, he became convinced that the solution to all his problems was dragons
– he was obsessed with tryina hatch some dragon eggs – experimenting with sorcery,
wildfire, and ancient lore.
And this dream of dragons ended in tragedy – a mysterious fire at Summerhall killed
King Egg and most of his family and Dunk.
One of the only survivors was Egg’s granddaughter Rhaella – and it’s hinted that she was
saved from the fire by Dunk before he died.
Then while Summerhall burned behind her, Rhaella gave birth to Rhaegar Targaryen – the brother
of Viserys and Daenerys, and the father of Jon Snow.
So maybe Dunk was right – there was a day when the realm needed him.
If it wasn’t for Dunk saving Rhaella, Rhaegar and Daenerys and Jon Snow would never have
been born, the whole series wouldn’t have happened.
And all of this began with Dunk seeing the comet that inspired his heraldry.
A comet, or bleeding star, is part of the prophecy of Azor Ahai, the hero that’ll
save the world – Rhaegar believed that his son would be this hero, when he saw a falling
star.
So Dunk is deeply connected to the prophetic destiny of Westeros.
But will this destiny save Westeros, or lead to more fire and tragedy?
Dunk says we never know what the morrow will bring.
All he can do is try his best to be a true knight.
The Hedge Knight asks ‘what does it mean to be true knight?’
It’s clearly not about being a highborn noble warrior with sword and armour – cause
Aerion’s a low quality individual.
And it’s not about being skilled or smart, cause Dunk isn’t – it was Dunk’s foolish
romantic impulse that led him to be a hero in the first place.
It’s not about a special ceremony, and it’s not about telling the truth – Dunk and Egg
both lie to get to the tourney.
A big part of what makes Dunk a hero is his humility.
Noble lords and knights have too much to lose to wanna fight for justice.
But Dunk has nothing to lose but his honour, and that’s why he risks everything to protect
others.
As a lowborn commoner, he’s more sympathetic to other common people.
And Dunk’s humble origins allow him to beat Aerion – using dirty Flea Bottom fighting
tricks to beat the fancy prince.
Humility helps make Dunk a true knight.
So at the end of story, Maekar offers for Dunk and Egg to join his knights at his castle.
But instead, Dunk takes Egg on the road, to live as a hedge knight – cause that humility
will help Egg grow into a better man, and a better king.
The story criticises a corrupt system of nobility, and celebrates a more humble ideal of heroism,
where anyone with courage and strength and compassion can be a true knight [being a seven
foot tall bloke helps too].
90 years later, Brienne’s story explores the same themes.
Like Dunk, she’s technically not a knight, she’s not particularly smart or special.
But she’s strong and brave and selfless and determined to what’s right, which makes
her more of a true knight than almost any actual knight.
In Book 4, Brienne describes an old shield from her father’s armoury which looks exactly
like Dunk’s shield with the tree and star.
So for years, fans have speculated that Brienne and Dunk are related, and at a convention,
author George Martin confirmed that Dunk is Brienne’s ancestor – possibly her great-grandpa.
So Dunk’s legacy as a humble true knight continues in Brienne.
At the end of The Hedge Knight, Dunk & Egg head off for more adventures – there are
two more Dunk & Egg stories after The Hedge Knight.
And you can get all of them on audiobook for free right now, by signing up for a trial
with Audible.
A Knight of The Seven Kingdoms collects all three Dunk & Egg stories, read on audiobook
by Harry Lloyd, the actor who played Viserys on Game of Thrones.
Or, you could get Dune or His Dark Materials.
Audible members get an audiobook each month, plus Audible Originals, and if you cancel,
you keep the audiobooks.
You can listen while you ride with your squire, or while you sleep beneath the stars.
Sign up at audible.com/asx.
Comment below if you want more videos about the next two Dunk & Egg stories.
Thanks to the artists, and check out the articles linked below for more on The Hedge Knight.
Thanks for watching, and thanks to the Patrons, including Amanda Lim, Jack Staszko, JorgenC137,
Prince Jaehaerys, Flinted Steel, Marianne Fletcher, Jeanine Clark, and Sneaky Penguin.
Cheers.