Warning: This text accommodates main spoilers for the finale of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”
If ever a present proved that nice issues can come from the smallest beginnings, that is finest exemplified by “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” HBO’s “Recreation of Thrones” prequel/spin-off collection begins out as a small-scale journey about Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and younger squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) taking their first actual steps on this franchise. It ends, nevertheless, with each characters using off into the large world of Westeros, primed and prepared for a lot larger occasions to come back. The last word results of their actions all through this primary season will not be made obvious till additional down the road, however readers and followers of each exhibits can already start to attach the dots for themselves.
Take that reveal concerning Egg’s true identification as Prince Aegon Targaryen, for example. It does not merely change the dynamic between our hedge knight and his supposed squire for good, however provides completely new layers to different people we have already seen earlier than — notably Egg’s descendants. One connection specifically now lends contemporary that means to an vital character demise from the unique “Recreation of Thrones.”
Keep in mind when the cider-loving Raymun (Shaun Thomas) spills some gossip to Dunk concerning the Targaryen royal household again in episode 3? He mentions one among Maekar’s (Sam Spruell) sons getting despatched off to the Citadel to turn out to be a maester. Although left unnamed, that son is none aside from Aemon Targaryen, the aged blind maester stationed on the frozen Wall who we meet early in “Recreation of Thrones.” Earlier than he dies in season 5, Aemon mentions a youthful brother named “Egg” who goes on to turn out to be king. Understanding what we all know now, this takes on much more heartbreaking overtones in mild of Aemon’s tragedy-filled life.
Egg changing into a fan-favorite in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms makes Aemon’s demise in Recreation of Thrones hit tougher
Sadly, if you happen to’re a Targaryen dwelling in Westeros, likelihood is your story does not finish properly. Not that the “Recreation of Thrones”-verse has ever been essentially the most peaceable setting in fantasy anyway, however the royal household, largely comprised of incestuous conquerors, appears to have way more drawbacks than most. HBO has launched a minimum of three complete exhibits with this premise in thoughts, and the outcomes definitely bear that out. Whereas many might have hoped that “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” may break this sample with Egg, properly, that probably lore-changing prophecy in episode 3 would counsel in any other case.
The reverberations of Dunk and Egg’s adventures linger on even in “Recreation of Thrones,” for higher and worse. For these not well-versed in George R.R. Martin’s lore, it is established that Aemon Targaryen (performed by the late Peter Vaughan) selected honor and obligation to the Night time’s Watch within the frigid North over love and household again residence. This meant that, whereas serving the brothers in black on the Wall, Aemon sat by helplessly because the Targaryens endured a number of calamities — from the Tragedy at Summerhall to the Sack of King’s Touchdown throughout Robert’s Revolt, the civil conflict instantly previous the occasions of “Recreation of Thrones.”
When previous Maester Aemon lastly reaches the tip of his lengthy and tragic life, his final ideas are together with his beloved youngest brother, Egg. He remembers him as a “jolly fellow” with an harmless giggle, each of which we have now seen for ourselves in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.” However his saddest second is saved for final, when he errors Samwell Tarly (John Bradley) for Egg and states, “Egg, I dreamed that I used to be previous.”
The A Tune of Ice and Fireplace novels dive deeper into the tragedies to come back for Egg and Aemon
For followers taken with rereading the “A Tune of Ice and Fireplace” novels or experiencing them for the primary time, look out for the truth that they point out characters from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” a number of occasions. In “A Feast for Crows,” Aemon dies in even bleaker circumstances, removed from residence on a journey to the Citadel in Oldtown with Samwell. In a collection of heartbreaking monologues, he worries about his impending destiny and wonders whether or not he’ll see his siblings once more within the afterlife. (“Will I discuss with Egg once more, discover Daeron complete and completely happy, hear my sisters singing to their kids?”) Elsewhere, his ideas drift in direction of relations like his prickly, guilt-ridden father, Maekar:
“I shall be with my brothers quickly. Some have been sure to me by vows and a few by blood, however they have been all my brothers. And my father … he by no means thought the throne would go to him, and but it did. He used to say that was his punishment for the blow that slew his brother [Prince Baelor, in the Trial of Seven]. I pray he discovered the peace in demise that he by no means knew in life.”
However the remaining twist of the knife is probably the worst of all of them. Aemon and Sam hear rumors of Daenerys Targaryen and her dragons within the East. This tiny scrap of hope that his household wasn’t extinguished solely provides extra anguish for Aemon, who’s too previous and sickly to lend her his knowledge. Solely George R.R. Martin may add much more heartbreak to a narrative already darkish and stuffed with terrors.
“A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” is now streaming in its entirety on HBO Max.
