'A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms': Why Dunk And Egg's Trip To Dorne Probably Saved Their Lives

By the standards of the Game of Thrones universe, the first season of latest spin-off/prequel A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms gives us a rather happy ending, with Ser Duncan the Tall and his new Squire, Prince Aegon Targaryen, aka Dunk and Egg, riding away together. However, those with a little extra knowledge of Targaryen history know that this is just the calm before yet another storm in Westeros.. and no, it's not because Egg ran off with Dunk without the permission of his Father, Prince Maekar.

Let's look at where Dunk and Egg are headed next, and why that decision may well have saved their lives.

Next stop, Dorne!

As Ser Duncan and Prince Aegon depart Ashford, with poor Dunk unaware of Egg's runaway antics, the duo are initially uncertain of their next destination. Eventually, they settle on Dorne. Neither Dunk nor Egg had ever been, but Egg's late Mother, Lady Dyana Dane, was Dornish, perhaps explaining his interest in visiting. Egg also points out that there are good puppet shows in Dorne, with the implication that Dunk may be able to seek out Tanselle, the puppeteer he befriended and later defended from a cruel attack from Prince Aerion.

Season two of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is expected to adapt George R.R Martin's second Dunk and Egg novella, The Sworn Sword. This story takes place a year and a half after the Tourney at Ashford Meadow, and while Dunk and Egg have already returned from Dorne by that time (meaning, to the disappointment of some fans, their Dornish adventure will take place offscreen), the pair's time there is referenced, as well as an extended tragic event that prompted them to stay in Dorne longer than expected.

The Great Spring Sickness

Sometime after the Tourney at Ashford Meadow, beginning in 209 AC and lasting well into 210 AC, a terrible plague swept through most of Westeros. The plague, known in later years as the Great Spring Sickness due to the majority of victims passing in the Spring, did not discriminate between young and old, peasant and noble, faithful or unfaithful, killing tens of thousands across the land, some in a single day.

The disease hit particularly hard in large cities, including Oldtown, and. Lannisport, taking the life of the Grey Lion, Lord Damon Lannister. However, the worst of all was King's Landing, where four in ten were falling to the Sickness. It killed the High Septon, a third of the Most Devout, and nearly all of the Silent Sisters in King's Landing, widely believed to have been infected while dealing with the corpses of victims.

Unfortunately, it gets worse.

Dragons Down

Following the death of the heir to the Iron Throne, Prince Baelor Targaryen, during the Trial of Seven at the Ashford Tourney, the Royal line of succession was briefly shaken. However, Baelor's Father, King Daeron II Targaryen, soon decided to preserve the succession as it would have been had his son lived, naming Baelor's eldest son, Prince Valarr Targaryen, as his heir, with Valarr's younger brother, Prince Matarys, second in line.

Unfortunately, Prince Baelor's death was not the only tragedy to befall House Targaryen in 209 AC. When the Great Spring Sickness ravaged the Seven Kingdoms, it claimed the lives of King Daeron II, Prince Valarr, and Prince Matarys. This led to Daeron's second son, Aerys, ascending the throne as King Aerys I. Aerys had little interest in ruling, so much of the day-to-day running of the Kingdom during Aerys I's reign was actually done by his Hand of the King, Ser Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven, a Bastard half-brother of Daeron I.

Game of Thrones viewers will know Brynden Rivers as the Three-Eyed Raven, before the mantle passes to Bran Stark.

Safety in Dorne

It's safe to say that the Great Spring Sickness, which continued for a while into the first year of Aerys I's reign, shook the Seven Kingdoms in a big way.. at least, most of them. Thankfully, some areas were safe frome the plague.

Thanks to their remote locations, the Lords of the Vale of Arryn and Dorne learned of the Sickness early enough to close their ports and access roads to outside travellers, thus avoiding having the sickness spread into their lands. Ser Duncan and Prince Aegon have already reached Dorne by the time the sickness strikes the other Kingdoms. Dunk chooses to remain in Dorne, protecting Egg until the Plague dies off.

While the era of the Great Spring Sickness will most likely occur offscreen, we'll probably see at least some of the fallout from it in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms season two.