Foreshadowing the end of Dunk & Egg/Summerhall

I posted awhile back on what I thought the final scene for Dunk & Egg could look like. I wanted to combine a few other well known passages from the novellas and expand on it a tiny bit.

Background

The D&E series is one of my favorite parts of the universe. Not only are their adventures great (and somewhat more lighthearted than the main series) they also are littered with amazing bits of foreshadowing/writing as well as heavily involve a favorite part of the series of mine (the Blackfyres).

If interested: What We Know: The She Wolves of Winterfell & Speculating on Dunk & Egg

Dunk's Foot

Dunk (similar to his descendant Brienne of Tarth) behaves as a true knight (even though he likely hasn't been knighted) and protects the innocent from Aerion the Monstrous. Doing so causes Baelor Breakspear's death and Dunk laments:

"Yes," the prince admitted. "You'll hear them whisper as well. The king is old. When he dies, Valarr will climb the Iron Throne in place of his father. Each time a battle is lost or a crop fails, the fools will say, 'Baelor would not have let it happen, but the hedge knight killed him.'"

Dunk could see the truth in that. "If I had not fought, you would have had my hand off. And my foot. Sometimes I sit under that tree there and look at my feet and ask if I couldn't have spared one. How could my foot be worth a prince's life? And the other two as well, the Humfreys, they were good men too." Ser Humfrey Hardyng had succumbed to his wounds only last night.

"And what answer does your tree give you?"

"None that I can hear. But the old man, Ser Arlan, every day at evenfall he'd say, 'I wonder what the morrow will bring.' He never knew, no more than we do. Well, mighten it be that some morrow will come when I'll have need of that foot? When the realm will need that foot, even more than a prince's life?"

Maekar chewed on that a time, mouth clenched beneath the silvery-pale beard that made his face seem so square. "It's not bloody likely," he said harshly. "The realm has as many hedge knights as hedges, and all of them have feet."

he thinks back on it often:

It reminded him of a night at Ashford Meadow, before the tourney started. He had seen a falling star that night. Falling stars were supposed to bring you luck, so he'd told Tanselle to paint it on his shield, but Ashford had been anything but lucky for him. Before the tourney ended, he had almost lost a hand and a foot, and three good men had lost their lives. I gained a squire, though. Egg was with me when I rode away from Ashford. That was the only good thing to come of all that happened.

and:

Three good men dead, to save a hedge knights foot. It made no sense, and never had. Take a lesson from that, lunk. It is not for the likes of you to mess about with dragons or their eggs.

and:

Dunk knew what it was to bear a wound. Whenever someone spoke of Ashford Meadow, he thought of the three good men who'd died to save his foot, and it never failed to hurt. "Tell m'lady that it was not my wish to hurt her. Beg her pardon."

Summerhall

So we've established the whole "realm in need of a hedge knight's foot". We also know that Dunk died at Summerhall in a terrible tragedy.

If interested: The Leadup to the Tragedy of Summerhall

...the blood of the dragon gathered in one... ...seven eggs, to honor the seven gods, though the king's own septon had warned... ...pyromancers... ...wild fire... ...flames grew out of control...towering...burned so hot that... ...died, but for the valor of the Lord Comman... -TWOIAF, The Targaryen Kings: Aegon V

but lets also look at another passage from the novellas during a dream:

The spade slipped from Dunk's hands. "Egg," he cried, "run! We have to run! " But the sands were giving way beneath their feet. When the boy tried to scramble from the hole, its crumbling sides gave way and collapsed. Dunk saw the sands wash over Egg, burying him as he opened his mouth to shout.

He tried to fight his way to him, but the sands were rising all around him, pulling him down into the grave, filling his mouth, his nose, his eyes . . . -The Sworn Sword

and then just change it from sand to fire:

The sword slipped from Dunk's hands. "Egg," he cried, "run! We have to run! " But the floor (due to fire) was giving way beneath their feet. When the king tried to scramble from the hole, its crumbling sides gave way and collapsed. Dunk saw the flames wash over Egg, burying him as he opened his mouth to shout.He tried to fight his way to him, but the flames were rising all around him, pulling him down into the grave, filling his mouth, his nose, his eyes . . . -The Sworn Sword (paralleling what happened at Summerhall)

or not (this is for wildfire, but it could fit here too):

Above each work cell is a room filled entirely with sand. A protective spell has been laid on the floors, hmmm, most powerful. Any fire in the cell below causes the floors to fall away, and the sand smothers the blaze at once."

and while its not confirmed what exactly Dunk did, but he died doing something heroic (ex: saving Rhaegar, etc.) which would in fact bring credence to:

Well, mighten it be that some morrow will come when I'll have need of that foot? When the realm will need that foot, even more than a prince's life?"

but in the end Dunk's thoughts and Ser Uthor's words ring true:

Three good men dead, to save a hedge knights foot. It made no sense, and never had. Take a lesson from that, lunk. It is not for the likes of you to mess about with dragons or their eggs.

and:

The snail may leave a trail of slime behind him, but a little slime will do a man no harm… whilst if you dance with dragons, you must expect to burn." -The Mystery Knight

If interested: My Brothers Dreamed of Dragons too, and the Dreams Killed Them, Every One

TLDR: There is some potential heavy foreshadowing regarding the end of Dunk & Egg/Summerhall littered throughout the novellas. While the novellas are amazing, especially how they are lighthearted in nature (for the most part), the layered tragedy seems like it could be almost just as good.