Spoilers ahead for “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” season one, episode five, “In the Name of the Mother,” and the book “The World of Ice & Fire.”
HBO’s newest “Game of Thrones” prequel, “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” centers on Dunk, a lovable hero distinguished by his tall frame, raw strength, and unshakeable moral code.
For fans of the original series, that description may sound awfully familiar — and that’s no accident.
A blink-and-you-miss-it detail from episode five, “In the Name of the Mother,” draws a subtle throughline between Dunk and another prominent knight from Westerosi history: Brienne of Tarth, who appears a century later in the “Game of Thrones” timeline.
In a flashback scene, a young Dunk is shown walking down the kingsroad with his childhood friend, Rafe, returning to their home in King’s Landing. This route runs for thousands of miles across Westeros, easing travel to and from the capital.
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In “Game of Thrones,” Jaime Lannister sends Brienne in the opposite direction, away from King’s Landing, on a quest to find and protect Sansa Stark. He also assigns Podrick Payne to serve as her squire. In season five, episode five, “First of His Name,” the duo travels down the same wooded path that Dunk and Rafe had trodden before.
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” showrunner Ira Parker confirmed to Business Insider that he intentionally included this parallel. Both scenes were filmed in the same location in Ireland.
“It’s the exact same road in Belfast, same trees and everything,” Parker said. “There’s no attention drawn to it, but anyone who’s a deep, deep fan of the show, hopefully, will pick up on that.”
Parker said he liked the idea of distant relatives crossing paths generations apart.
Author George R. R. Martin, who’s also credited as an executive producer on “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” confirmed in 2016 at a sci-fi and fantasy convention that Brienne is Dunk’s descendant.
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Martin’s “Tales of Dunk and Egg” trilogy doesn’t cover this chapter in Dunk’s life; in the last installment that was published, “The Mystery Knight,” he’s only about 19 or 20 years old. But it sounds like, at some point during his travels, Dunk coupled up with a lady of House Tarth in the stormlands — and left a souvenir or two in his wake. In “A Feast for Crows,” the fourth book in Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series, Brienne recalls seeing a shield with Dunk’s personal sigil in her father’s armory.
Dunk and Brienne follow similar character arcs
In season one of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms,” as in the novella it’s based on, “The Hedge Knight,” the running joke is that no one knows who Dunk is.
He grew up as an orphan in Flea Bottom, the poorest area of King’s Landing, before he became a squire for Ser Arlan of Pennytree, a sloppy hedge knight. The two would roam Westeros, taking work where they could find it and offering help when it was needed, but they rarely left an impression on the lords and ladies of the realm.
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As a result, Dunk struggles to be taken seriously after Arlan’s death. He has no status, no money, and no one to vouch for him. Hardly anyone even believes he’s a real knight. He begins introducing himself with a slightly more impressive name: Ser Duncan the Tall.
However, fans of Martin’s source material know that Dunk’s anonymity doesn’t last for very long. Thanks to the fictional history book, “The World of Ice & Fire,” we know that his young squire, Egg, grows up to become King Aegon V Targaryen.
After their many adventures together, King Aegon recruits Dunk to be Lord Commander of the Kingsguard — the highest honor for a knight in Westeros. (This also means Dunk swore an oath not to marry or father children, which makes Brienne’s lineage even more of a mystery.)
Dunk was so good at his job that he’s still famous a century later. In season four of “Game of Thrones,” Dunk’s name appears in the Book of Brothers, a written history of the Kingsguard.
“Ser Duncan the Tall. Four pages for Ser Duncan,” Joffrey Baratheon notes while flipping through the pages. “He must have been quite a man.”
“So they say,” Jaime replies.
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Indeed, Dunk’s rise through the ranks closely resembles Brienne’s.
Like Dunk, Brienne is motivated by honor and loyalty, and she’s known for her tremendous height and strength. Although she’s not low-born, Brienne still struggles to earn respect as a warrior. Fighting is considered unnatural for a lady, and technically, women aren’t allowed to be knighted in Westeros, so Brienne is often met with ridicule and violence.
Still, she manages to overcome this unjust class system by making friends with the right people. Defying convention, Brienne is knighted by Jaime in season eight of “Game of Thrones,” in an episode titled “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” She finishes the series as the very first Lady Commander of the Kingsguard.
In her final scene, Brienne writes in the very same book that features four pages about her ancestor. Odds are, by the end of her service to King Bran, she’ll end up with just as many or more.
