Egg Revealed: The Hidden Targaryen Prince Behind Dunk's Journey in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms saddles up with Ser Duncan the Tall at the Ashford Meadow tourney — but the real intrigue is his bald squire Egg, a nobody with a secret big enough to shake Westeros.
HBO is finally giving us the Dunk and Egg road story: a towering hedge knight and a bald kid with a suspiciously simple nickname wandering Westeros, getting into trouble, and accidentally shaping history. And yes, the kid is bald on purpose. Here is why that matters.
Who Egg actually is (and why he is bald)
Egg is Aegon Targaryen — the one who will eventually be crowned Aegon V, the fifteenth Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne. Before any of that, he chops off his hair to hide he is a prince and runs around as a squire. Low profile, high stakes.
How Dunk and Egg end up together
Their first story is The Hedge Knight, set around a tourney at Ashford Meadow. Aegon is supposed to squire for his older brother, Prince Daeron. Daeron wants no part of the lists, bolts with the boy, and shaves Aegon’s head so no one recognizes a Targaryen on the lam. That is how the newly bald 'Egg' crosses paths with Ser Duncan the Tall — a brave, unpolished hedge knight aiming to enter the tourney — and winds up as his squire.
Why it had to be Dunk
Egg’s father, Prince Maekar, wants his son trained as a knight. Egg will only sign on if Dunk is the one teaching him. Maekar even tries to recruit Dunk into the Summerhall garrison — a cushy, stable post compared to the open road — but Dunk turns it down. He chooses the hard miles and the hard lessons, with Egg riding at his side.
What the show is really about
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is the bond between a hedge knight and the incognito prince he takes under his wing. It is an origin story: their chance meeting, surviving Ashford, then trekking across Westeros with thin purses, thicker skulls, and a front-row seat to the world’s rough edges. The character work is the point.
Where all this leads
After Egg’s years as a squire, he is crowned Lord of the Seven Kingdoms as Aegon V. Dunk enters his Kingsguard and eventually rises to Lord Commander. The show is playing the long game with these two, and the destination is not exactly a spoiler — it is baked into the lore.
More adventures are already queued up
George R.R. Martin has said the team is gearing up for Season 2 even before Season 1 premieres, which tells you how many Dunk and Egg tales they are planning to mine.
- Title: A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms
- Created by: Ira Parker and George R.R. Martin
- Based on: Tales of Dunk and Egg
- Premiere: January 18, 2026
- Where to watch: HBO
- Notable face in the mix: Dexter Sol Ansell