Knight Of the Seven Kingdoms' One Major Change Could Set Up More Targaryens In Season 2
The people crave more Maekar.
Game of Thrones has never been a franchise for last-second reveals. Cliffhangers, sure, but when the credits rolled, that was that. However, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms isn’t your typical Game of Thrones show. It had jokes, raunchy songs, and, surprisingly, a post-credits scene.
While the last time we saw Dunk and Egg aligned with the ending of their first novella, The Hedge Knight (albeit with one nitpick), there was a post-credits scene that paints their new adventure in a completely different light and sets up a perfect subplot for Season 2, which is currently in production.
Warning! Spoilers for A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 Episode 6, “The Morrow,” ahead!
The Hedge Knight ends with Dunk making his case for Egg to be his squire to Maekar. “Maekar Targaryen, Prince of Summerhall, regarded Dunk of Flea Bottom for a long time, his jaw working silently beneath his silvery beard,” the book reads. “Finally he turned and walked away, never speaking a word.” The next morning, Egg says Maekar sent him to be Dunk’s squire, and they set off.
Dunk and Egg set out in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms without the permission of Maekar Targaryen.
That’s more or less how things go in the series, too; however, in a post-credits scene, we see Maekar on his horse, ready to set off for King’s Landing, frantically searching for his son. This makes it clear that Egg snuck off without actually getting his father’s blessing.
But why make this change in a series that has otherwise been an incredibly faithful adaptation? The answer lies in the second Dunk and Egg novella, The Sworn Sword, which will serve as the inspiration for Season 2. That book follows Dunk as a knight sworn to a former lord as he investigates a dispute over a creek. That’s about the whole story.
Now that we can look back on Season 1, one of the best parts of the story was the involvement of the Targaryens, from the gone-but-not-forgotten Baelor to the guy we all love to hate, Aerion. If Season 2 is adapted entirely from the book, then there won’t be any Targaryens except for Egg, who is sworn to secrecy about his identity.
By following the Targaryens in Season 2, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms could cover the demise of Valarr Targaryen due to the Great Spring Sickness.
If Maekar never gave Egg approval to travel with Dunk, then Season 2 can include a subplot about Maekar trying to track him down while dealing with other issues at court. Notably, Season 2 picks up after a plague known as the Great Spring Sickness sweeps Westeros, claiming the lives of four in 10 residents of King’s Landing, including heir to the throne, Valarr Targaryen.
If fellow Game of Thrones spinoff House of the Dragon has proven anything, it’s that audiences can’t get enough of the Targaryens. If A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is going to keep the hype from Season 1, then this is the perfect way to keep those silver-haired titans in the story, even while Dunk investigates a dispute between neighbors.
