"There's a scene in Game of Thrones season 4 where Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) reads from a massive history book that details the deeds of every knight who has ever served in the Kingsguard. While flipping through the pages, he stops at a section for Ser Duncan the Tall, a.k.a. Dunk (Peter Claffey), who audiences finally just met in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. "Four pages for Ser Duncan?" Joffrey asks his uncle-father Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau). "He must have been quite a man.""
"Before we meet Dunk in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Westeros is plagued by a civil war known as the Blackfyre Rebellion. It all starts with King Aegon IV Targaryen, who is one of the worst rulers in Westeros' history. (For context, he's Rhaenyra (Emma D'Arcy) and Daemon Targaryen's (Matt Smith) grandson from House of the Dragon.) Like his father, he's most known for siring bastards across the realm. Then, on his deathbed, he controversially decided to legitimize them all."
Joffrey Baratheon finds that Ser Duncan the Tall occupies four pages in the Kingsguard history book, marking exceptional status among knights. Dunk appears in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, where a seemingly minor jousting tournament produces important and lasting consequences for House Targaryen. Dunk's apparent lowly status belies a major role in shaping Westeros's history and in influencing a notable descendant. The broader context includes the Blackfyre Rebellion, which began after King Aegon IV legitimized his bastards; his son Daeron II defeated Daemon Blackfyre and punished rebel supporters, sowing long-term resentment.
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