Not like Egg, who solely pretends to be a no one to study in regards to the smallfolk and do his job as Dunk’s squire, Ser Duncan the Tall is really a no one by the beginning of “The Hedge Knight.” Born and raised as an orphan in Flea Backside, an infamously poverty-stricken space of King’s Touchdown, Dunk manages to turn out to be a squire for the lowly hedge knight Arlan of Pennytree. By the point we meet Dunk, Arlan has died, and Dunk’s now making an attempt to make it as a hedge knight on his personal. He has goals of being a knight for the Kingsguard, however by this level it certain appears unlikely.
However due to Dunk’s unintended assembly with Egg, Dunk will acquire a stunning quantity of standing. Round 236 A.D. (lower than 70 years earlier than the beginning of “Recreation of Thrones”) Dunk achieves his dream of becoming a member of the Kingsguard, rising to the rank of Lord Commander inside twenty years. In 252 A.D. he is defeated in a match by a then-16-year-old Barristan Selmy, who would someday take his place and accrue an identical stage of respect and honor. And though Duncan would not have any children of his personal, Egg names his firstborn son after him.
What makes Dunk so vital, nevertheless, is the mere incontrovertible fact that he retains younger Aegon protected and unwittingly molds him into the form of ruler the Targaryens (and the Seven Kingdoms) desperately want. After the chaotic battle we see happen in “The Home of the Dragon,” the Targaryen household finds themselves in a 150-year interval of decline, ending with Robert’s insurrection fourteen years earlier than the beginning of “A Recreation of Thrones.” If it weren’t for Aegon’s basic decency as a ruler, that insurrection in all probability would’ve occurred at the very least a couple of a long time sooner.