The air crackled with anticipation. A hush fell over the crowd as the knight lowered his visor, the metallic clang echoing the uncertainty in the pit of my stomach. Would honor prevail, or would the lure of easy coin corrupt even the noblest of hearts? A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is only six episodes, so episode three, “The Squire,” arrives at the perfect moment for a turning point. For those who’ve devoured George R.R. Martin’s books, prepare to stop keeping certain spoilers hidden—the audience and Dunk are finally on the same wavelength.
Before that big reveal, though, the episode juggles an unsavory proposition aimed at Dunk, unnerving jousting, and some profound reflections from young Egg about life, honor, hope, and, of course, breakfast.
Egg starts his day early, plotting some last-minute training for Thunder. As he tells the “stubborn as old iron” horse, it’s a necessity, because Dunk is “twice the size of your last rider, and the field could be just like this or worse, so you’d better get your feet under you.”
Dunk, as we’ve seen, constantly talks to his horses. For Egg, it’s relatively new. “My father told me you should never talk to a horse. He says they’re dumber than dogs and only understand the crop,” he tells Thunder. “But I don’t think that’s true. I think a horse doesn’t want to be ordered about any more than a man does.”
Still, he gives a gentle order, telling Thunder that Dunk hasn’t a chance of winning unless he and Egg do their best to help him out. They’re all he’s got, after all.
Thunder seems to listen, but he then relieves himself when Egg tries to encourage him to follow his command. (Maybe feeling some pre-tournament jitters, like Dunk in episode one?)
Eventually, the salty war horse gets going, trotting and galloping around the misty clearing. Egg does his own training, lugging a jousting lance around and practicing handing it to Ser Duncan. It’s a jubilant little sequence, and as Egg praises Thunder’s efforts, a man emerges from the forest.
An odd man, shall we say. He’s barefoot and has an eyepatch, and he has a strange way of speaking, referring to himself as “we.” Their contentious meeting (“What’s wrong with your hair?” the stranger asks the kid, who shoots right back with “What’s wrong with your eye?”) softens when Egg, who knows every famous knight, realizes who this is: Ser Robyn Rhysling, who lost his eye at an earlier tournament.
“You’re the maddest knight in the Seven Kingdoms!” Egg declares.
Ser Robyn takes it in stride; clearly, he’s heard that before. “We are a vessel for the Warrior,” he replies. “When it is madness bid, it is madness delivered.”
After this encounter, Egg returns to camp, where a somber Dunk is tending to chores. He’s short with Egg, but he can’t stay irritated at the kid for long, and starts teaching him how to sew a patch. A little while later, as Egg sings a little ditty about the Blackfyre Rebellion, full of carefully placed almost-swear words, Dunk vomits in the background.
We can soon tell his earlier anger, and his current nervousness, are because he’s psyching himself up to enter the lists. After last night, he’s terrified, but ready to face it. There’s just one problem, Egg tells him. The first challenges are reserved for “knights of high birth and renown,” which means… a hedge knight like Dunk won’t be fighting today.
So, that means, there’s time for breakfast. Trying to buy goose eggs, Dunk must goofily pantomime “no, just the eggs” to a confused vendor who’s about ready to slaughter the whole bird for him.
Amid this undignified moment of squatting and wing-flapping, Tanselle strolls by and takes note. The shield she’s painting for Dunk will be done by evening, she tells him, quietly amused by his display. Dunk nearly dies of embarassment in the market.
The feeling soon passes; Dunk and Egg chow down on a tasty breakfast that is not hard salt beef, and head over to the jousting arena for spectating, poking fun at each other and having a good time.
Later, lounging on a grassy hillside, Egg says dreamily, “I think I could be quite happy in a place like this.” Dunk points out, “You’re in a place like this!” But Egg is thinking long term; after he becomes a war hero and marries his lord’s second-most beautiful daughter, since Dunk has already married the first.
But Egg is also thinking more short-term, and he asks Dunk—who’s just complimented his work ethic—if he can stay on as his squire after the tournament. Dunk is about to agree when the steward of Ashford, our phlegmy friend, summons him over for a chat.
It’s more of a proposal. The steward, on behalf of the financially strapped Lord Ashford, is looking for willing participants in a moneymaking scheme. Ashford’s son, Ser Androw, who has put on a decent display in the ring so far, will deliberately lose his next bouts—guaranteeing that anyone who bets against him will rack up coin.
It’s not as shady as asking Dunk to lose, but it’s not exactly honorable, even though the steward frames it as a “reward.”
Dunk has principles. We know this, even if Ashford and company don’t. “I do not want a victory that I haven’t earned,” he insists. The steward presses. The deal is a win-win: in his pre-guaranteed victory, Dunk would get Ser Androw’s horse, arms, and armor. It’s a generous payout for a hedge knight who has everything to lose.
The steward says he’ll seek a final answer tomorrow, and though Dunk’s instinct is an immediate no, he is turning the idea—as odious as it is—over in his mind.
Just then, the horn sounds. Time for some knights of high birth and renown to go at it, and one of them is familiar: Maekar Targaryen’s son Aerion, the prince who was rude to Dunk outside the castle the previous day. We cut to the stands and see that while Prince Baelor is there, there’s an empty chair where Maekar would normally be sitting.
At first, it looks like Prince Aerion will challenge his cousin, Baelor’s son Daeron. But he moves down to the next pavilion. “Come out, come out, little knight,” he sneers. “It’s time to face the dragon.”
His opponent is Ser Humfrey Hardyng, and things get ugly fast. First, we hear Egg yell “Kill him! Kill him!” as the knights charge each other; Dunk takes note of this uncharacterisic display of malice. But it’s not Aerion who falls—it’s Humfrey, when Aerion deliberately angles his lance through the neck of Humfrey’s horse. The steed goes down, crushing its rider’s legs.
The crowd boos. This may be a royal Targaryen, but he’s fighting dirty, and with unbelievable cruelty. The masses begin to strike back, tossing rocks and then starting to riot, to the point that the Kingsguard has to ride out to protect the prince. Meanwhile, a solemn man walks over to Ser Humfrey and puts his horse out of its agony.
It starts to rain as Dunk and Egg get away from the ring. Dunk reminds Egg that as his squire, he’ll need to keep his cool if a similar mishap befalls Dunk in the ring.
“That was no mishap,” Egg replies, with an awful look on his face.
Darkest Before Dawn
Have you ever felt that moment of clarity when a shadow lifts, revealing something you suspected all along? That’s the feeling that washes over you as you watch the next scene. We could all use some cheering up after that, which means it’s perfect timing for the second bawdy song to appear in “The Squire.” This one’s about a woman named Alice with, shall we say, a particular set of skills. The fact that it’s screeched out tunelessly by a shirtless Ser Lyonel (wearing his antler crown) makes it even better.
The whole drunken crowd backs him up as Dunk and Egg sit together at a table listening to the song—Egg more closely than most.
“Do you suppose there was an Alice, ser?” he wonders.
“A crippled girl who shoved her hand up men’s arses?” Dunk replies thoughtfully.
They both agree the song is probably based on a real person, though Alice might not have been her real name.
“Perhaps it is a story of honor,” Egg says. “A misfortuned girl making the best of her natural gifts … is this not the act of a dogged spirit? Giving more than is asked?”
Her name doesn’t matter, they agree. “Her name is Hope, ser,” Egg decrees. “It belongs to all who invoke it.”
The philosophical tone continues as they stroll away from the tent. Dunk asks Egg if he ever knew his father; the boy says “not really.” Dunk, who suspects his father was a Flea Bottom thief, says he never knew his either. As they walk, contentedly chomping on their meaty snacks, we see the steward—he catches Dunk’s eye expectantly, but Dunk’s not ready to engage him with an answer just yet.
Then, another odd encounter. A fortuneteller walks up and offers to read their futures. Of Dunk, she says, “You shall know great success and be richer than a Lannister (€850 million),” which the hedge knight takes as a complete fabrication.
For Egg, it gets dark: “You shall be king, and die in a hot fire, and worms shall feed upon your ashes. And all who know you shall rejoice upon your dying.”
Book readers know where this is leading, but Dunk laughs it off. (Egg is spooked.) The moment passes when a grinning Raymun Fossoway strides up and invites Dunk into his tent for some cider. Egg says he’ll meet him after; the puppet show is beginning, and he can collect Dunk’s shield from Tanselle once it’s over.
Dunk’s torn for a moment; he wouldn’t mind seeing Tanselle onstage again. But he follows Raymun. He could use advice, especially considering the steward’s proposition. On the subject of challenges, Raymun supposes his cousin, the sleazy Ser Steffon, will step to anyone who’s injured; he’s “about as chivalrous as a starved weasel.” Dunk pretends to ponder and says he’s been thinking of challenging… Ser Androw.
Then, the subject changes to Aerion Targaryen’s brutal behavior earlier. “My squire thinks Aerion meant to kill the horse,” Dunk says with a forced laugh, saying it’s hard to imagine any knight would be dishonorable. Especially one that’s also a prince.
“Why is that hard?” asks a stone-cold serious Raymun. “They’re incestuous aliens, Duncan.”
Perfectly stated. And the anti-Targaryen rant continues: “Blood-magickers and tyrants who’ve burned our lands, enslaved out people, dragged us into their wars without a mote of respect for our history or our customs. Every pale-haired brat they saddled on us has been madder than the last, gods know how!”
“The only honorable thing a Targaryen can do for this is finish on his wife’s tits,” Raymun declares. “So aye, I think he meant to kill the horse.”
Dunk, who has likely never heard anyone rail so angrily against Westeros’ ruling family, lets all that sink in. Raymun lets out a long burp to lighten the mood.
But the mood is about to get worse. We cut to the puppet show, where Egg watches in delight as Tanselle, playing a knight, battles the fiery dragon. The pyrotechnics are cool. The crowd is gasping and marveling at the stagecraft. Except one surly audience member, who stands out like a platinum blonde beacon: the dreaded Aerion, taking offense at the sight of a puppet dragon—the Targaryen symbol—being slain onstage.
Everyone realizes he’s there and grows silent. Tanselle’s eyes are huge as she realizes she’s made what could be interpreted as a political statement against the family that’s long occupied the Iron Throne. Aerion, it’s clear, took it that way.
We quickly cut back to Raymun and Dunk yukking it up over cider, and Raymun’s just finished explaining that Maekar wasn’t at Aerion’s joust earlier because he’s out searching for his two missing sons. Dunk supposes Maekar is worried, but Raymun can’t figure why. Daeron, the heir, is a “sot.” Aerion, who we’re familiar with, is “vain and cruel.”
“The third’s so useless, they were gonna ship him off to the Citadel to make a Maester of him.” (Game of Thrones fans, you know which Targaryen that is.)
And the youngest? Before Raymun can give his opinion, Egg runs in, screaming for Dunk to come. “Aerion’s hurting her!”
It’s Tanselle in distress, as Aerion is punishing her for the puppet show’s subject matter. It’s chaos, things on fire, people screaming—none louder than Tanselle as Aerion breaks her finger with a terrible crack.
Dunk sees red and charges, and punches and kicks Aerion until Aerion’s bodyguards intervene. Aerion rises and shakes his head in disgust. “Why did you throw your life away for this whore?” he asks Dunk.
“She’s a traitor,” he adds. “The dragon ought never lose.”
Dunk says nothing. Aerion orders his men to break out all of Dunk’s teeth—phase one in whatever other gruesome punishment will follow, presumably, and it’s just about to happen when we hear a familiar shrill voice cutting in.
Dunk, thinking Egg will join him on the pain train if he angers the Targaryens, orders his squire to stop: “Hold your tongue or they’ll hurt you!”
But Egg is more than Egg. Book readers and spoiler-conscious HBO reps can relax, because the secret is officially out.
“You impudent little rat,” Aerion sighs at the boy. “What’s happened to your hair?”
Egg, whose full name is Aegon Targaryen, spits back, “I cut it off, brother. I didn’t want to be like you.”
Here, the editing cuts between all the players (shocked: Tanselle, Raymun; defiant: Egg; annoyed: Aerion), but we end on Dunk, who can’t believe what’s happened. All of it.
The revelation hangs in the air like a battle standard, its colors stark against the gathering storm.
Truth Really Hurts on This Week’s ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’
Sometimes the truth hits you like a lance in the joust—unexpected, painful, and life-altering. “The Squire” delivers that blow with the force of a dragon’s breath.
The episode is an emotional rollercoaster. One moment, you’re chuckling at Dunk’s attempts to buy goose eggs; the next, you’re recoiling at Aerion’s cruelty. You see, *A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms* is all about character development, with the world-building as backdrop, not the other way around. The puppet show serves as a microcosm of the larger political tensions, and Tanselle becomes a pawn in a game far bigger than herself.
Dunk’s dilemma—accept the steward’s offer or maintain his honor—mirrors the challenges many face today. Do you compromise your values for financial security, or do you stand firm, even if it means facing hardship? This decision is the central tension of the episode, amplified by Raymun’s anti-Targaryen sentiment, which provides context. The choice before Dunk is a test of character, a crucible in which his true nature is revealed.
What is a Hedge Knight?
A hedge knight is essentially a knight without a liege lord or a fixed home. They are often landless knights who travel the countryside, offering their services to those in need. Dunk represents the epitome of a hedge knight—honorable, skilled, and fiercely independent. He operates outside the established feudal system and relies on his own abilities and moral code to guide him. *A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms* explores the complexities of being a hedge knight in a society dominated by powerful lords and political intrigue, and examines what happens when a knight does not capitulate to political norms.
What is Aegon Targaryen Known For?
Aegon V Targaryen, also known as Egg, is a figure of reform and tragedy in Westeros’ history. Known for his attempts to improve the lives of the common folk, his reign was marked by resistance from the nobility, who opposed his efforts to curb their privileges. His story serves as a commentary on the challenges of leadership and the difficulties of creating lasting change in a world resistant to progress. As the series progresses, note how the showrunners develop the theme of Aegon being a catalyst for significant events, as well as what happens when a leader is not given the autonomy and respect to execute that change.
How Does Dunk React to Egg’s Revelation?
Dunk’s reaction is the cliffhanger of the episode. He’s a man of simple virtues, suddenly thrust into a situation far beyond his understanding. His world has been turned upside down—his squire is not who he thought he was, and he’s now entangled in the dangerous web of Targaryen politics. Will Dunk forgive Egg for misrepresenting himself? And more importantly, how will he navigate this new reality? His immediate concern is for Egg’s safety, but Dunk must weigh his own survival. It is a matter of time before Dunk is drawn into the politics that Egg can no longer hide from.
What will the Targaryens decide to do with Dunk? Can tiny Egg use his own power to soften the blow—if Dunk will forgive him for misrepresenting himself this entire time, that is?
We’ll have to wait until next week’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms—arriving Sunday on HBO and HBO Max.
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