A Knight Of The Seven Kingdoms Reveals [Spoiler]'s True Identity — Read Recap

If you haven't read George R.R. Martin's Dunk and Egg novellas, this week's "A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms" likely came as a big surprise in a bald little package.

Episode 3, "The Squire," reveals that Egg actually is a Targaryen prince (!), and he unveils his true lineage only when it looks like Dunk might be on the verge of losing his teeth and his life, in that order.

Read on for the hour's highlights.

Egg is alone, tending to the horses, when a one-eyed man approaches. After a brief conversation, Egg recognizes the man. "You're Ser Robyn Rhysling," the boy says in awe, "the maddest knight in the seven kingdoms." Ser Robyn observes that Egg is a bit teeny to be a squire. "I serve Ser Duncan the Tall," Egg responds proudly. "He's large enough for the both of us." (Gah, I love how much he loves Dunk from the start.)

Egg doesn't say anything about meeting Ser Robyn when he returns to camp, and Dunk is grumpy toward his squire until he sees how much his gruffness is affecting the kid. So he has a change of heart and decides to teach Egg how to sew properly, in order to better patch things. When Egg masters the stitch at hand, Dunk cheers.

Later, after a pre-suiting up nervous puke, Dunk announces to his squire that he's ready to enter the lists... only for Egg to inform him that only knights of high birth and renown have the right of first challenge, so he's not going to joust that day. "Then why have I been vomiting all morning?" Dunk says, exasperated. "It's a mystery," Egg replies.

So the pair attend the day's events as spectators, and it becomes clear how close they've already grown. They mock each other. They share in the excitement of the jousts. And during a moment of relaxation on the edge of the tourney camp, Dunk looks legitimately fond of his squire as Egg lays out his dream of their parallel futures full of success, glory and beautiful daughters of highborn families.

"I'll say this for you," Dunk says, "You're a good worker, when you put your mind to it." Egg is pleased, and you can see him muster up the courage to faux-casually ask Dunk if he can stay on as his squire when the tournament is done. Dunk clearly doesn't think that he'll still be in need of a squire afterward — if he loses his first contest, he points out, he'll "scarcely be a knight" — but he's on the verge of saying that Egg can indeed stay with him if he wins when they're interrupted by Master of Games Plummer (he of the phlegm) calling for Dunk.

They take a walk in a secluded area, and that's when Plummer comes clean about what he wants: Dunk to get involved in a fixed joust that would greatly benefit those who bet on him, the underdog. The hulking knight is affronted. "I do not want a victory that I have not earned," he insists. If Dunk does allow his opponent to take the fall, the master of games points out, he'll receive the man's horse, arms, and armor — all things he could use. Plummer says he'll come back for Dunk's final answer the next day, and warns him not to let his pride get in the way.

Then it's time for more riding and poking and dying, so Egg and Dunk return to watch Prince Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen challenge Ser Humfrey Hardyng. By the second pass, we see that Aerion plays dirty: He aims for Ser Humfrey's horse's neck, and the stricken creature falls atop his rider. There's blood everywhere. The crowd goes nuts and flows over the barrier and into the arena. Egg looks paler than normal as he asks to leave. And though Dunk calls the situation a "mishap," the boy disagrees: Aerion did it all on purpose.

They stop by Ser Lyonel's tent, where the Baratheon lord is shirtless, antlered and singing a bawdy song at the top of his lungs. In other words, it's a day ending in "y." Then they walk through the camp, and Dunk asks Egg if he ever knew his father. "No, not really," the boy says. "Most like I saw mine hanged," Dunk replies offhandedly, adding that a cook in Flea Bottom always said his father was a thief.

They come across a woman telling fortunes, and she gives Dunk a generic one about how he'll be successful and "richer than a Lannister." She then gets very grave — and specific —when she gazes upon Egg's little bald head. "You shall be king and die in hot fire, and worms shall feed on your ashes and all who know you shall rejoice in your dying." The boy is shaken, but Dunk laughs. (We'll revisit this interlude at a related point in the future.)

The duo then runs into Raymun Fossoway, who invites them to his tent for a cup of the family cider. Egg begs off, saying he'll go to Tanzelle's puppet show and bring Dunk's painted shield afterward. Dunk takes a longing look at his puppet-lady crush, then reluctantly goes with Raymun.

Today's puppet show is about the slaying of a dragon, and it's only after Tanselle — who's playing the warrior who slays the Targaryen-associated animal — kills the puppet that she notices that Aerion has entered the tent and is watching the whole spectacle with interest. In the crowd, Egg has noticed, too, and he looks very afraid.

Raymun and Dunk are discussing how Prince Maekar Targaryen has gone looking for his two missing sons, Daeron and Aegon, who still haven't turned up at the tourney, when Egg comes running for his master. Dunk goes immediately to the puppet-show tent, where Aerion is in the process of breaking Tanselle's finger. The big knight sees red and attacks the prince, whose guards eventually get the better of Dunk. Aerion calls Tanselle a traitor — "The dragon will never lose. Nothing more to say." — then he announces that Dunk loosened one of his teeth, so they're going to start by breaking all of his.

"Don't touch him!" Egg cries from behind them, and Dunk screams for his squire to shut up or else they'll hurt him, too. "No they won't," Egg assures him, calling off the guards by name. "You impudent little wretch," Aerion says, "what's happened to your hair?" Egg refers to Aerion as "brother" as he says he cut off his locks, because "I didn't want to look like you." And Dunk may be as thick as everyone's always told him, but even he's got it sorted by the time the episode goes to black a moment later: Egg is Prince Aegon Targaryen, one of Maekar's missing sons. (Remember that fortune? Doesn't seem so wild now, eh?)

Now it's your turn. What did you think of the episode? If you hadn't read the book, did you suspect who Egg really was? Hit the comments, and let us know!