HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms occupies a fascinating middle chapter in the sprawling timeline of Westeros. Set roughly 70 to 80 years after the civil war depicted in House of the Dragon and about a century before Game of Thrones, the series draws from George R.R. Martin’s Tales of Dunk and Egg novellas. While dragons and royal intrigue still loom in the background, this story deliberately shifts focus away from palaces and prophecy toward the dusty roads and forgotten corners of the realm.
At the heart of the narrative is Ser Duncan the Tall, a towering hedge knight whose fame comes not from noble birth but from decency, loyalty, and stubborn moral clarity. Played by Peter Claffey, Duncan begins as a nobody, yet readers of Martin’s lore know his importance grows quietly but significantly. According to Fire and Blood, he will eventually join the Kingsguard and rise to become Lord Commander—cementing his name in the very history books glimpsed in Game of Thrones. In season four, King Joffrey flips through the Book of Brothers and briefly mocks Duncan’s legacy, while the series finale shows Brienne of Tarth updating the same record. That moment carries extra weight: Martin confirmed that Ser Duncan is an ancestor of Brienne, linking the humble hedge knight directly to one of the saga’s most honorable warriors.
Duncan’s young squire, Egg, is where the story’s deepest dynastic connections lie. Introduced as a shaved-headed orphan traveling incognito, Egg is in truth Prince Aegon Targaryen, the youngest son of Prince Maekar. At this point in history, he is so far down the line of succession that kingship seems impossible. Yet fate intervenes. A series of deaths and political crises eventually place Egg on the Iron Throne as King Aegon V. His reign, remembered fondly by the smallfolk he once lived among, is far less beloved by the great houses he repeatedly challenged.
Aegon V’s family tree threads directly into the endgame of Game of Thrones. His son Prince Jaehaerys fathers Aerys II, the Mad King, who in turn becomes the father of Daenerys Targaryen. In other words, the barefoot boy trailing after Ser Duncan is Daenerys’s great-great-grandfather—an astonishing reminder of how unassuming beginnings shape the fate of the world.
The series also introduces figures like Ser Lyonel Baratheon, the “Laughing Storm,” whose bloodline leads straight to Robert, Stannis, and Renly Baratheon. Together, these connections reinforce a core truth of Westeros: no matter how small the story begins, history is always watching—and everyone leaves a mark.