Kudos to A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms for not holding onto Egg’s true identity for as long as humanly possible. I know that there are folks out there who managed to stay spoiler-free as to just who this tiny squire might turn out to be (even though the series was pretty heavy-handed, especially in this episode, in terms of laying out hints), so I really hope this revelation was a fun one for them. And for the rest of us who knew that Egg is actually a Targaryen prince, well, the reveal was still pretty impressive.
But what the episode did even better was showing us all the reasons why little Egg would run away from his family and disguise himself as an orphan and glom onto a hedge knight as his squire. We’ve seen the older generation of Targaryen princes – that would be Baelor, the Hand of the King and Egg’s uncle, and Maekar, Egg’s asshole of a father – and can see that while one brother appears to be relatively fair, the younger is an absolute jerk. And then there’s Egg’s brothers – we know that the eldest, Daeron, is a drunk who is missing (remember that drunk man Dunk encountered at the Inn?) and we learn this week that the third brother is “useless” and going to be sent to the Citadel (Game of Thrones fans can piece together just who this is). As for the second brother? Well, he’s one of the absolute worst folks we’ve met in Westeros – in this series and perhaps the others. We see Aerion (Finn Bennett) intentionally kill a horse in the joust, seriously injuring the knight riding it. And then we see him breaking Tanselle’s fingers for the “blasphemous” story she told wherein the dragons lost. With family like this, who needs enemies?
Can you blame Egg for dreaming of a future where he’s a minor noble with a basic plot of land and a wife? Where he graduates from being Dunk’s squire to a knight himself, leading troops into battle and serving a lord other than those in his family? That’s why the fortune teller’s prediction – that he will be king and then die in a fire, causing all around him to rejoice – is so terrifying to him. He doesn’t want that life, that world. He’s seen what it’s done to his family – a drunk and a sadist for his two eldest brothers and a third who wants nothing more than to read and write in the Citadel – and wants nothing to do with any of it.
So, when he’s forced to drop the charade and reveal himself to save Dunk, a truly good man who has treated him better than his own family, well, it’s hard but the right thing to do. For someone who comes from the Targaryen line, where personal gain is so often the most important element of everything, it’s refreshing to see someone who clearly has a moral compass. Who knows right from wrong and who is willing to use his clout to protect those who deserve protection. Westeros wouldn’t be too poorly served with someone like Egg on the Iron Throne. Especially if he has Dunk in his corner.
As for the episode itself, my god, how great was Dexter Sol Ansell this episode? For such a young kid to have that kind of command of this character, to be able to carry scenes on his own, to be able to step into scenes with much older and more accomplished actors and stand out. Just a wonder. I would gladly watch the continued adventures of Dunk and Egg for several seasons (which we will hopefully get to do) largely because this central duo has been so well cast. And Ansell is just a revelation in the role.
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