A Game of Thrones discussion

I don't think they ever mention it in the tv show.I know of the North,The South,and Dorne.What are the others?Oh and question,in season 3 they say it never snows in Dorne,not even in winter?So why doesn't the king and everyone go there when winter comes?

The north, Dorne, the vale, iron islands, stormlands,the reach, the westerlands.

It's a bit complicated because there are no longer 7 kingdoms. Today there are actually 9 regions, here's why:

When Aegon the Conquerer came to Westeros, it was ruled by the following seven independent kingdoms before he unified them:

North, Mountain & Vale, Isles & Rivers, Rock, Stormlands, Reach, and lastly Dorne (which Aegon didn't conquer).

Anyways,the kings of House Stark (Kingdom of the North), House Aryn (Kingdom of Mountain & Vale), and House Lannister (Rock) surrendered to Aegon, so he let them keep ruling their regions but as Lords Paramounts subject to him, instead of kings.
The North kept its name, while the Mountain & Vale is now just the Vale, and the Kingdom of the Rock is now called the Westerlands.

They were the wise ones.

The King of the Reach (Mern of House Gardner) decided to fight Aegon and died during the Field of Fire.
Gardner's steward, Harlen Tyrell, surrendered to Aegon and was rewarded with wardship over the Reach.

The King of the Stormlands (Argilac 'the Arrogant' Durrendon) also decided to fight Aegon and was defeated by Aegon's commander and half-brother, Orys Baratheon.
Orys thus became Ward of the Stormlands and the founder of House Baratheon.

Dorne remained unscathed.

That makes 6 new regions, now for the creation of the final 3:

The last Kingdom that did not bend the knee to Aegon was the Kingdom of the Isles and Rivers, ruled by the Ironborn King Harren Hoare, AKA Harren the Black.
If you recall, he is the one who built the monstrosity that is the castle of Harrenhall, the largest building in history.
So, Aegon sent his friendly dragon, the aptly named Balerion the Black Dread, to burn down Harrenhall and its king and the king's sons. That is why the castle towers look like something melted them - because something did.
Also, Edmyn of House Tully, one of King Harren's vassals from the Riverlands, decided to revolt against Harren and join forces with Aegon's cause.

After the conquest, Aegon rewarded Tully with wardship over the Riverlands (thus, region #7).

The Ironmen then chose House Greyjoy to rule the Iron Islands (region #8).

The 9th region, the Crownlands, is the area surrounding the newly founded King's Landing - the location Aegon picked out for the lovely Iron Throne as the seat of the King of the Andals and the First Men. The Iron Throne is forged from the swords of the lords who bent the knee to Aegon. Our friendly dragon Balerion the Black Dread agreed to do the melting.

And there you have it.





PS Regarding Dorne, I'll have to think about it...

They can't just fo to Dorne because House Martell aren't really chums with House Lannister. Their princess, Elia Martell was married to Rhaegar Targaryen during the reign of Aerys the Mad King and she was raped and murdered along with her children during the sack of King's Landing by Tywin Lannister. Tywin's bannerman, Ser Gregor The Mountain Clegane did the deed himself.

Ever since then, Dorne hasn't been on the best of terms with KL.

Even if they go to the Dorne,Who will protect the realm against the white walkers and wildings when winter comes..They have to forget about getting back ever :)

Indeed, if all went to Dorne, than there would be no line of defense left. And nothing states that, when White Walkers come to the bounderies of Dorne, that it wouldn't get really cold.
Remember that no one knows wether the White Walkers only appear when cold, or the cold appears along with them.

From a practical standpoint, I don't think Dorne could sustain a large population migration. Dorne is a dry and arid land, not a great place for agriculture. I don't know for certain but imagine they are the same as the North, sparsely populated due to harsh conditions.

Traditionally it sounds like the 7 kingdoms have used the Fall to harvest and store surplus food to survive the long winters. That opportunity went out the window when war occurred and the green fields of the Riverlands were burned.

I'd imagine the Vale will probably be the best place to survive the winter. Untouched by war, plenty of time to prepare, and natural barriers to keep others out!

Jon wrote: "It's a bit complicated because there are no longer 7 kingdoms. Today there are actually 9 regions, here's why:

When Aegon the Conquerer came to Westeros, it was ruled by the following seven indepe..."

Then why do they advertise that there is one king and 7 kingdoms? And if you look at the appendix it says that dorne was the last kingdom to kneel to the targaryans

Just a side note, Martin's world was inspired from English history. His story takes place in a fictional 7 kingdoms that look much like post-Roman Britannia after the Imperial Romans left in the 5th century.

Real life England had the Heptarchy: East Anglia, Mercia, Northumbria, Kent, Essex, Sussex and Wessex were the feudal medieval kingdoms that would become England.

Michael wrote: "Jon wrote: "It's a bit complicated because there are no longer 7 kingdoms. Today there are actually 9 regions, here's why:

When Aegon the Conquerer came to Westeros, it was ruled by the following ..."

They still call it the Seven Kingdoms but there are no longer seven kingdoms, it's just a name that stuck around from before Aegon's Conquest - when there were seven kingdoms.

Re Dorne, they never knelt to the Targaryens. Do you have the quote from the appendix?

they married into the targaryen dynasty around 200AL. before that a dornish conquest was attempted a few times but each was unsuccessful.

their words: unbowed, unbent, unbroken seems to summarize the whole never kneeling to the king of the andals and the first men.

I see Dorne's relationship with Westeros as pretty similar to the US and Mexico. Dorne has a large desert, so I tend to compare with the Middle East.

I think of Dorne as a Middle East Nation.

i always thought of qarth, meereen, astapor, yunkai and ghis as the middle east and dorne more like gibraltar or northern africa.

Damn,Northern Africa that's a good call.

Michael wrote: "Oh and question,in season 3 they say it never snows in Dorne,not even in winter?So why doesn't the king and everyone go there when winter comes?"

For the same reasons that people from cold regions don't go to warmer regions during winter in real life. One, it's not practical - the warm regions probably already have as many people as they can support. Dorne is mostly desert and mountains - not the most hospitable or fertile terrain. It probably can't support a large population.

Second, people have an emotional attachment to their own homes and lands, and would not want to uproot themselves every winter.

And third, it's very poor defence strategy to leave large sections of your country unpopulated or undefended - as the Northerners learnt to their dismay, when the Iron Islanders captured key parts of the North during the War of the Five Kings.

The best reason I can think of for why they don't just winter in Dorne is... well, would you suggest all Americans all move to Florida for winter? Of course not, it's impractical.

Josh wrote: "i always thought of qarth, meereen, astapor, yunkai and ghis as the middle east and dorne more like gibraltar or northern africa."

North Africa is definitely an apt comparison, and so is Spain. They are like a transitional land that retains elements of the East as well as Westerosi culture. The red wine alone is reminiscent of Mediterranean culture, and the lemons and peppers do conjure up a similar image.

Then there's their proximity to the Summer Isles, where the people are described as very dark-looking (echoes of West and Sub-Saharan Africa).And the way the Martells intermarried with a Rhoynish queen is similar to Queen Dido of Carthage, who came from the East and established a Punic dynasty in North Africa.

The allegories are thick in this series. THICK!

the North, the Vale, the Stormlands, the Reach, the Westerlands, the Iron Islands, and Dorne

Kerry wrote: "Just a side note, Martin's world was inspired from English history. His story takes place in a fictional 7 kingdoms that look much like post-Roman Britannia after the Imperial Romans left in the 5..."

For those wanting to read novels set in those times, Bernard Cornwell's Saxon Tales is a good series in my opinion. Unlike A Song of Ice and Fire, it follows one character's (Uhtred's) storyline.