Somewhere on the internet right now, someone is squinting at a Targaryen family tree, muttering “who on earth is Egg,” and wondering if they accidentally wandered into an Easter-themed fan fiction. Fair question. Wrong holiday. Let’s fix that.
The Short Answer
“Egg” is Aegon Targaryen — the future King Aegon V, nicknamed “the Unlikely” for reasons that will become extremely clear in about two paragraphs. Long before anyone called him Your Grace, he was just a kid tagging along with a hedge knight, trying very hard not to get recognized.
So Why “Egg”?
Not a secret code. Not a prophecy. Not a dragon-egg metaphor cooked up by a Reddit thread at 2 a.m. It’s simply what happens when a group of unimpressed teenagers shortens “Aegon” for a kid they don’t yet know is a prince. Sometimes the realm-shaking secret really is just a nickname.
Where He Actually Sits on the Family Tree
Here’s the part that trips people up: Egg is nowhere near the throne when we meet him. He’s the youngest son of King Maekar I, with three older brothers standing between him and any real shot at ruling. In dynasty terms, he’s the spare’s spare’s spare — the guy you’d bet against in every betting pool in King’s Landing.
The Unlikely Rise
Then, in the kind of plot twist a screenwriter would get notes for being “too convenient,” Egg’s older brothers die off one by one — plague, tourney accidents, political disasters — until the least likely Targaryen in the room is suddenly the only Targaryen in the room. He’s crowned Aegon V, earns the nickname “the Unlikely” (accurate marketing, 10/10), and becomes — several generations down the line — the great-grandfather of Daenerys Targaryen and, by extension, an ancestor of Jon Snow himself.
Not bad for a kid whose entire personality arc started with “please don’t recognize me, I’m just a squire.”
Quick Reference Table
| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| Real name | Aegon Targaryen |
| Later title | King Aegon V Targaryen, “the Unlikely” |
| Father | King Maekar I Targaryen |
| Starting position in line of succession | Fourth son — nowhere close |
| Traveling companion | Ser Duncan the Tall (“Dunk”), a hedge knight |
| Eventually becomes | King, then great-grandfather of Aerys II (“the Mad King”) |
FAQ
Is Egg a real king or just a book character who never rules?
He genuinely becomes king — Aegon V Targaryen, ruling decades before the events of Game of Thrones.
Why did Egg hide his identity?
Traveling as a disguised squire let him experience the realm — and be judged — without the automatic deference (or danger) that came with being a known prince.
Does Egg ever get a dragon?
Not in the Dunk and Egg stories — by his era, Targaryen dragons had already died out, one of the quieter tragedies running underneath his whole arc.
Is this connected to House of the Dragon or Game of Thrones directly?
Indirectly — it’s a separate, earlier story, but Egg’s descendants are the Targaryens the show is actually about. Start with our Knight of the Seven Kingdoms family tree hub for the full era breakdown.