Sir Duncan ("Dunk")

• General Notes
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    Dunk is a large man who grew up as the squire of a hedge knight, became the companion of Aegon V ("Egg"), and later served as his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard under the name Ser Duncan the Tall. Nearly seven feet tall, Dunk has a humble personality and thinks of himself as thick-headed.
    
    When Dunk was around the age of 16, he decided to compete in the Ashford Tourney.  On the way, he met a bald-headed boy named "Egg", who begged to become his squire. Dunk eventually agreed. They camped just outside of Ashford under an elm tree and watched a shooting star fall from the evening sky.
    
    To Dunk, this moment symbolized the humble pleasures of the hedge knight lifestyle. In the morning, he purchased armor to his size. Needing a coat of arms, Dunk commissioned an attractive Dornish puppeteer to paint a shooting star above an elm tree over a sunset field on his shield.
    
    Dunk claimed to the Ashford tourney organizers that he had been knighted.  The truth of this claim has not been revealed, though Dunk sometimes feels guilt for an unexplained reason.  Dunk eventually sought out Baelor Breakspear, who allowed Dunk to enter the Tourney. That evening, Aerion Targaryen attacked the puppeteer and Dunk rushed to her aide. After breaking several of Aerion's teeth, Dunk was subdued by Aerion's guards, but Egg, revealing his identity as Aegon Targaryen, protected him from further harm.
    
    Vengeful, yet wary of Dunk's size and strength, Aerion demanded a Trial of Seven, a trial by combat involving seven combatants on each side.  Egg helped Dunk find allies, which ultimately included Baelor Breakspear himself.  Dunk learned that the people were with him for being a knight who remembered his vows to protect the helpless. During the combat, Dunk faced off against Aerion, and his inexperience with lance and sword nearly got him killed.
    
    Using his superior strength and brawling skills, however, Dunk bested Aerion and forced him to yield. The victory rang hollow, however, as two of the men who had taken Dunk's side had been killed, and shortly after the trial, Baelor died of a head wound taken from his own brother, Maekar.
    
    Dunk was beset by guilt for his part in the deaths of such good men, especially the Crown Prince.  Maekar asked Dunk to take Egg as his squire officially, to serve as a positive influence on him.  Dunk agreed, but he refused to serve House Targaryen, preferring to remain a Hedge Knight and teach Egg the humility that his elder brother Aerion had never learned.
    
    After Egg took the Iron Throne as King Aegon V, he made Dunk his Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.  Aegon also named his first son and heir Duncan; he was called Duncan the Small in contrast to his namesake. Dunk eventually perished along with Aegon and Duncan in the Tragedy of Summerhall.
    
    For unknown reasons, a shield with Dunk's original arms came to reside in the armory of Lord Selwyn of Tarth. Selwyn's daughter Brienne wore a copied version of the arms while traveling the Riverlands incognito.