Diksha Sundriyal
HBO’s ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ presents a fresh story set in the world of Westeros. Taking place between the events of ‘House of the Dragon‘ and ‘Game of Thrones,’ it presents a different kind of story, focusing on the adventures of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire, Egg, who is revealed to be Prince Aegon Targaryen at the end of the third episode. With more Targaryens coming into the mix, we meet Egg’s eldest brother, Daeron. He was previously seen in the first episode as a drunk man at the inn who tells Dunk that he had dreamt of the hedge knight. At the time, Dunk dismisses it as a rambling of a drunkard, but in the fourth episode, Daeron reveals that there is more to his dream. MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD.
Daeron Joins the Long Line of Dragon Dreamers
The world of Westeros is full of magic, and one of the most magical houses is House Targaryen. With a deep lore behind them, including how they tamed dragons, there is a lot about them that still remains a mystery. One of those mysteries is the existence of Dreamers. While there are all sorts of people who have had prophetic visions about the future, the Dreamers are different in the regard that they are restricted to House Targaryen, and their dreams are often about their own house or dragons. Some of the notable Targaryens have been Dreamers, which includes Daenys “the Dreamer” Targaryen, who prophecised the Doom of Valyria, which is what led her family to pack up and leave the Freehold, ensuring their survival when the rest of Valyria fell.
Later, Aegon the Conqueror dreamed about the Long Night and the importance of having a Targaryen as the ruler of the Seven Kingdoms, which led to his conquest that united Westeros and marked the beginning of the Targaryen reign. We meet another Dreamer in ‘House of the Dragon,’ in the form of Helaena Targaryen, who regularly dreams about dragons and her family, having predicted the deaths of several of her family members, including her own son. Now, Daeron is revealed to be a Dreamer, which also explains why he is often found at the bottom of a bottle. Clearly, he is haunted by his dreams, which he most likely cannot make heads or tails of. Moreover, he is not able to share it with anyone, which makes him feel worse.
So, drinking is Daeron’s way of disconnecting from his own mind so he doesn’t have to think about his prophetic dreams so much. Interestingly, he is not the only Dreamer that Ser Duncan the Tall meets in his lifetime. Later in the Dunk and Egg novellas, he crosses paths with Daemon II Blackfyre, who goes by the name of John the Fiddler. He tells Dunk of his future as a knight of the Kingsguard, and he also had dreams about a dragon egg hatching. For now, however, Dunk has one Targaryen Dreamer in front of him, and a rather cryptic prophecy that doesn’t bode well for the day ahead of him.
Daeron’s Dream Sets the Stage for a Major Death
Daeron tells Dunk that he dreamt of him. He saw a fire and a dead dragon that had fallen on top of Dunk, but Dunk was alive, and the dragon was dead. He also describes the dragon as a “great beast with wings so large they could cover” Ashford Meadow. When Dunk asks if he killed the dragon, Daeron confesses that he couldn’t say if that was so. As we set out to decipher what it means, it must be considered that dragon dreams and prophecies cannot be taken at face value. They are so layered that they often turn out to be something entirely different than what they seem at first. They are also not always literal, and there are a lot of metaphors buried in the words, which makes it difficult to understand what the prophecy meant until the events related to it actually transpire.
The same holds true for Daeron’s prophecy as well, but in this case, we have George R.R. Martin’s books to give us possibilities of what he may have been talking about. Chronologically, the nearest event that could mirror his prophecy is the trial by seven. It is set to happen at the crack of dawn, and several Targaryens, including Maekar, Aerion, and Daeron, are to participate in it. Considering that the Targaryens are often referred to as dragons, it can be assumed that Daeron’s prophecy is actually about his own family rather than their dragons, which don’t exist anymore. At the end of the fifth episode, Baelor joins the trial by Dunk’s side, and this is where the meaning of Daeron’s dream comes into play.
Considering that Baelor is the Crown Prince, the Hand of the King, and the most honorable Targaryen at the time, one can see him as someone who is “great” like a dragon and whose influence stretches far and beyond in the Continent. He is also a well-loved person, despite the rising dissent against his family, which makes him a crucial figure in House Targaryen in their future. The fans of the novellas know that in ‘The Hedge Knight,’ Prince Baelor does not survive the events of the trial. He falls over Dunk and dies in his arms, which somewhat mirrors a great dragon falling on the hedge knight and dying.
Daeron’s Dream Could be Understood in the Reference of a Bigger Picture
In a greater sense of the terms, the dragon could refer to House Targaryen, and its death could mark the fall of the great house. Interestingly, it is Baelor’s death that kickstarts a series of events that eventually lead to Robert’s Rebellion, removing the Targaryens from the Iron Thrones after centuries of rule. Thus, while Dunk doesn’t kill a Targaryen, his trial does lead to Baelor’s death, which rewrites the fate of the House of the Dragon. The dream could be a reference to that. But the mention of fire makes one pause and think about another possibility. Those well-versed in Westerosi history know of the tragic events of the fire at Summerhall.
This event is already a part of another prophecy made in the third episode of the show, where a random oracle reads Egg’s future. This is also a major event where Dunk plays a role that remains conflicted in the history books of Westeros. Thought this too involved fire and the death of a dragon. Interestingly, there is a lack of clarity over whether it actually features Dunk’s survival. Still, one can’t help but think that there are a lot of things open to interpretation, which means that only time will tell what his words actually mean and, more importantly, what they mean for Dunk.
Read More: What does the Prophecy About Egg Mean in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms?
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