Egg decided to run away in HBO's A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and, if the show follows George R.R. Martin's source material, it will reveal that he ran away because of a huge secret that he is keeping. A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms introduced fans to Peter Claffey's Ser Duncan the Tall and Dexter Sol Ansell's Egg in the Game of Thrones prequel's premiere episode. After Duncan met Egg at an inn on his way to Ashford Meadows, he found out that Egg had run away from his home and followed Duncan to Ashford Meadows so that he could squire for him in a jousting tournament.
It is clear that there is more to Egg than meets the eye. In Episode 1, he mentioned that, if Duncan were to take him home, he would have to ride all the way to King's Landing. He also revealed that he was not from Flea Bottom (the slums of King's Landing), suggesting he was far from home and could be of noble blood.
In the books, particularly The Hedge Knight, a novella by George R.R. Martin, it is revealed that Egg has a huge secret, and that this secret is directly linked to why he ran away. If the HBO series faithfully adapts the book, Egg is part of a noble and royal family. In fact, he is a member of the most powerful family in the Seven Kingdoms — the Targaryens.
Essentially, as can be seen in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Egg does not want to live a life of royalty. In his first-ever scene in the series, he asked Duncan to let him be his squire, knowing that Duncan is a hedge knight and not someone of nobility. Throughout Episode 2, he takes part in a tug-of-war game, watches a puppet show, and stays with Duncan under a tree on the outskirts of Ashford Meadows.
Egg willingly entered service for someone who had no family name, no money, and no connections to anyone of importance in all of Westeros. All of those attributes are exactly why Egg ran away in the first place, so that he could live a quiet life and experience the real part of the world instead of the luxuries of royalty.
If the show continues to follow the source material, it will also be revealed that Egg doesn't particularly like his family and would rather spend his time not being sheltered. Although he is a member of the royal family in the books, he essentially has little to no chance of ever becoming king because he is so far down the line of succession, which also explains why he ran away. Instead of sitting at King's Landing all day and being restricted and sheltered, he wanted to live a life of freedom, since he would likely never inherit the throne.
Egg would have likely run away with just about anyone. Duncan wasn't particularly special, but he just so happened to be a hedge knight with no ties to any noble family, so Egg essentially forced his way into Duncan's service because he knew that Duncan would have never suspected that he was a member of the Targaryen family.
In the coming episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, fans will likely learn more about Egg's origins, his reason for running away, and what he wants his future to look like.
How Long Will Egg's Secret Be Kept?
Egg's secret and his running away from his family are obviously one of the biggest plotlines of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and many are likely wondering how long everyone (especially Duncan) will be unaware of who is truly in their midst.
If the Game of Thrones prequel follows the books, Duncan will eventually learn about Egg's past and have to decide how to move forward with him. Based on the first two episodes of the series, Duncan is an extremely honorable and honest person (essentially, he is the Jon Snow of this generation), so one would expect him to do what is right, even if it does not directly benefit him.
However, it is always possible that HBO could make changes to the source material, just like it has done with House of the Dragon. Even though Egg's storyline in the books is fairly straightforward, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms may go a different direction with his character if the creative minds behind the show feel as though they could create a more compelling story.
Now that the Targaryens have arrived at Ashford Meadows in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, and Duncan (whose story has already been spoiled by Game of Thrones) has become acquainted with nearly all of them, everything could come to a head sooner rather than later.
