‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Episode 3 Hides a ‘Game of Thrones’ Easter Egg in Plain Sight

Note: This story contains spoilers from “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1, Episode 3.

There is a very easy to miss “Game of Thrones” Easter egg hidden in the final moments of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Season 1, Episode 3.

Most of what happens in the episode, fittingly titled “The Squire,” is overshadowed by its final reveal that Ser Duncan the Tall’s (Peter Claffey) young, bald squire Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) is not just another orphan boy. He is, in fact, Aegon V Targaryen, one of the sons of Prince Maekar I Targaryen (Sam Spruell). Egg reveals his identity to Dunk when he saves him the from the wrath of his older brother, Aerion (Finn Bennett).

However, before Egg comes running to ask him to save Tanselle Too-Tall (Tanzyn Crawford) and her fellow puppeteers from Aerion, Dunk has a fascinating conversation with Raymun Fossoway (Shaun Thomas). Raymun spends much of the discussion ranting against the Targaryens, their incestuous traditions and the way they have forced the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms to bow to them.

Near the end of their conversation, though, Dunk and Raymun’s conversation turns to Maekar and his sons. When Dunk says the prince’s bad mood is likely just because he is worried about his missing children, Raymun scoffs. “Seven know why,” he says. “Daeron’s a sot. Aerion’s just vain and cruel. The third’s so useless they were gonna ship him off to a citadel to make a maester of him.”

Raymun, notably, does not mention Maekar’s third son by name. But he is a character that “Game of Thrones” fans, even those who have not read author George R.R. Martin‘s original “Song of Ice and Fire” novels will know. That is because the “useless” son in question is none other than Maester Aemon Targaryen, who is still alive and serving as the maester of the Night’s Watch when “Game of Thrones” begins.

Maester Aemon has some of the best scenes in “Game of Thrones,” where he is played by the Peter Vaughan. The character survives the entirety of the show’s first four seasons, throughout which he emerges as a vital advisor and ally to both Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and Samwell Tarly (John Bradley). His old age eventually catches up to him and he dies in the seventh episode of “Game of Thrones” Season 5, after having several delirious, imagined conversations on his death bed with none other than — you guessed it — his younger brother Egg.

His final scene, which has gone viral on social media in the weeks since “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” premiered, sees the blind Aemon remark in his final moments, “Egg … I dreamed … that I was old.” All of which is to say that, while “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” Episode 3 does not directly drop Aemon’s name, its passing mention of him has created a connection between the prequel spin-off and its parent series. That is noteworthy for a show that, across its first three episodes, has kept its “Game of Thrones” references to a respectable minimum.

In one of “Game of Thrones'” greatest and most oft-quoted scenes, Maester Aemon even outlines his family line to Jon Snow, name-dropping both his father Maekar and Egg. If you have not watched the scene in a long while, though, you may want to avoid revisiting it, as it does contain spoilers for certain characters in “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.”

For those who are interested, you can check out the scene below.

New episodes of “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms” premiere Sunday nights on HBO and HBO Max.

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