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With the conclusion of HBO’s sprawling fantasy-historical epic Game of Thrones, which spans the length of the War of the Five Kings, the Targaryen invasion, and the rise of Bran the Rebuilder, we’re at last able to place it within the context of other historical retellings. I’ve spoken extensively in the past on my thoughts regarding the liberties the show has taken with history (read any of my reviews from seasons 4 and 5), but I’ve been holding off for most of this season to see where we would land.
It was, of course, inevitable; for all the creative license the show and its creators have taken, there were basic historic facts to be accounted for. The Fall of King’s Landing, for example, as well as the Council of the Dragonpit that resulted in Bran Stark being named king of Westeros, would have to be included or else turn the entire show into a piece of alternate history. But for many viewers who spent eight seasons growing attached to the fictional portrayal of these historical and mythical figures, the abrupt ending was unsatisfying and left them searching for the “true” story.
Game of Thrones is far from the first attempt to dramatize of this period of Westerosi history. The show is in large part based on the historical epic A Song of Ice and Fire, a fact cheekily referenced in the series finale, which has been adapted numerous times in the past. It is, however, the first fictional attempt to depict all major players. Previous adaptations have focused on specific families, such as The War of the Roses, the masterful 1952 depiction of the fall of House Tyrell that won accolades, or historical figures, like the many, many (gods, so many) fictional portrayals of Sansa I. It’s been popular fodder for time travel shows—Doctor Who has had no less than six episodes that feature the Doctor traveling back to some part of that era, including the recent series premiere “Mother of Dragons” which portrayed Daenerys’s dragons as aliens with the ability to communicate psychically with their “mother.”
Generally, creators have steered clear of depicting the entirety of the era. Part of that is due to the lack of written information about prominent figures, such as Daenerys Targaryen, and the loss of records during the fall of King’s Landing. The pervasive aura of secrecy around the circumstances of Bran Stark being named king has also contributed, and the large number of myths and legends that have rose up around him has only further muddied the historical record.
It’s only the work of recent historians, most famously George R. R. Martin, that has begun to shine light on the more obscure corners of this time period. In particular Martin’s work on the Targaryen family and its history up through Daenerys and Aegon has been crucial in constructing a more coherent timeline. It was his publication of The Song of Ice and Fire: A Game of Thrones, the first of a promised seven volumes of Westerosi history, that reignited interest in the era, and the showrunners relied heavily upon his research in early seasons. Over time, they branched out, incorporating many Westerosi folk tales, legends, and myths to fill out gaps in the narrative.
Martin’s research is still ongoing; in the coming years we are sure to learn more about the later years depicted in the show, particularly where Daenerys Targaryen is concerned, so in time we may see more nuanced interpretations of the mysterious Dragon Queen. (For an in-depth look at the Targaryen family, his recent publication Fire & Blood is close to a thousand pages worth of his research.) Newly-minted history buffs can also look forward to Behind the Song, a documentary by the Braavosi Broadcasting Company about the oldest known extant copy of A Song of Ice and Fire, and Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken, a history of Dorne written by Alia Martell.
But don’t worry—there’s plenty of material out there to get your Game of Thrones fix in the meantime. Let’s start by breaking down the historical origins of some of the show’s major players.
1. JON SNOW
Most Westerosi are at least passingly familiar with the legend of Jon Snow, which was why people were so surprised when a character with that name showed up in the show’s pilot (here is a list of theories about who he really was from when the episode first aired).
Jon Snow is a mythical figure to whom all manner of tales and adventures are attributed. The oldest known version of the story (the ballad The Bastard of the Wall) describes Snow as a northern bastard raised at Winterfell who rose to become Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, all with his faithful direwolf at his side. Later tellings would include his Stark heritage, his romance with a wildling girl, and his death and resurrection at the hands of a Red Priestess. Historians argue these later additions were attempts at repurposing a popular story for political reasons (or in the case of his resurrection, religious ones—many are quick to point out this aspect of the story only began appearing when worship of R’hollor became more common in Westeros), but they have become an inescapable part of his story.
But how much of it is true? There is certainly historical evidence that a man named Jon Snow lived around the era of the War of the Five Kings. Multiple extant records from the time report that he served time in the Night’s Watch and confirm that he was named Lord Commander during this period. His Winterfell origins, too, are more or less confirmed—he is referenced as “Snow from Winterfell” and “Jon Snow, originally of Winterfell” in at least five documents from the era—while his birth name signals that he was born out of wedlock.
Whether Jon Snow was a Stark is a different question. George R. R. Martin’s research thus far has unearthed strong support for the theory, which for many years was dismissed as unlikely. There are several accounts of Eddard Stark having a bastard son raised around the time that Jon Snow would have been at Winterfell, and early versions of his story refer to Snow as having a “noble bearing,” which may have been a sly nod to his birthright. The “Jon Snow is a Stark” theory has been popularly depicted throughout history, with him often incorporated into the story of Sansa Stark retaking Winterfell, dramatized in Game of Thrones as “The Battle of the Bastards” (S06 E08).
2. AEGON TARGARYEN
The show went a step further in proposing that Jon Snow was not merely a Stark, but Aegon Targaryen, another mysterious figure who features prominently in tales of the Targaryen invasion. Certainly an Aegon Targaryen existed; numerous sources report that a man by that name joined with Daenerys’s forces upon their arrival in Westeros. Sources agree, too, that Aegon was the son of Rhaegar Targaryen, the former Crown Prince killed during Robert’s Rebellion.
Where things get muddled are when it comes to who Aegon’s mother was and when he was born. Research thus far has been conflicting on this front. Most sources claim that Aegon (son of Rhaegar and his wife Elia Martell) was killed as a child during the sack of King’s Landing during the Rebellion. For many years it was a popular conspiracy theory that the child somehow managed to escape the carnage and was raised elsewhere, but there was little evidence to support this until mitochondrial DNA testing on the bones of what was believed to be Aegon came back inconclusive.
The theory that Aegon Targaryen was actually the secret child of Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark has been around since the late 1400s, when popular romance Le Mort de Rhaegar was published in Dorne. It certainly is possible; all that is known of the Aegon who arrived in Westeros is that he lived in disguise for years before eventually joining his aunt’s invasion force. Martin postulates that Aegon, whoever’s son he was, was raised by Jon Connington, a friend of Rhaegar’s who was noted as traveling with a boy who matched the age and general description of Aegon in the years before the Targaryen invasion. The Game of Thrones showrunners went the opposite direction in proposing that Lyanna entrusted the boy to her brother Eddard, who hid him among his own children.
We will probably never know the truth of Jon Snow’s birth, or indeed if Aegon Targaryen was who he claimed to be—a small minority of historians insist that the Aegon of the Targaryen invasion was an imposter—but it’s certainly an interesting theory, and one we’ll no doubt see explored again in the future now that it’s been postulated.
3. CERSEI LANNISTER
Cersei Lannister has been a popular historical figure to explore throughout fiction and art for centuries. She’s been painted as the greatest villain in Westerosi history; a misunderstood radical feminist born in the wrong time; and a brainless beauty who was manipulated by the men in her life. Most contemporary historians fall somewhere in the middle of these interpretations.
Her early life is comparatively well-documented. The eldest of the three Lannister children, born a few moments before her twin Jaime, Cersei was provided with a world-class education in the hope that she might one day marry a member of the royal family, either Rhaegar or his younger brother Viserys. She lived for some time at court with her father, who was Hand of the King. During this time period her brother Jaime joined them with the intention of joining the Kingsguard.
Despite Tywin Lannister’s objections, Jaime successfully made his pledges to the guard, becoming the youngest-ever member of the Kingsguard. His story is well-documented in any number of films, books, and even plays (Kingslayer remains arguably the most famous play of all time; the West End is doing a revival this fall), not to mention the account of his deeds in the White Book, so I won’t go into his full history.
Cersei and Jaime remained close even after Tywin resigned as Hand and returned with his daughter to Casterly Rock. After Robert’s Rebellion, Cersei was married to Robert Baratheon to formalize the hasty alliance, and Jaime kept his place as a member of the Kingsguard, some say to stay with his sister. Contemporaneous accounts describe them as very close confidantes, “two sides of the same coin.” Surviving portraits from the era show that they looked startlingly alike, with the same blonde hair and green eyes and similar faces. Both were known to be exceptionally attractive, with some even calling Cersei the most beautiful woman in Westeros.
I’m sure you’re wondering: but were they lovers? The short answer is we don’t know. Modern historians haven’t come to a complete consensus, but it’s widely regarded as a strong possibility. The origins of this rumor were shown accurately in the show—Eddard Stark did send out letters declaring Joffrey Baratheon a bastard following the death of Robert, and his documented evidence (a primitive form of Punnett squares) of Baratheon children never being blonde does suggest that he genuinely believed this. It’s been proposed that Eddard Stark was manipulated into throwing Joffrey’s legitimacy into question by anti-Lannister forces (Littlefinger is an amalgamation of several individuals at the time who operated behind the scenes), and that very well may be true. Nevertheless, the rumors have persisted for centuries, growing more and more elaborate with each successive retelling.
Cersei served as Queen Regent for both of her sons until their deaths; during this time, she is credited with influencing their decisions, and she is sometimes referred to as the true power behind the throne. It wasn’t until the destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor that she was named queen in her own right. Side note: she was suspected of causing the explosion even at the time due to her long-running feud with the High Septon (see our post after that episode), though no evidence was ever brought against her and none has ever been found to definitively link her to the event. Most believe it was pure accident.
The significance of her rule is unquestionable. Not only did she claim the throne outside the traditional rules of succession, she ruled alone, never marrying, and never faced rival claims from within her own court. Though never beloved, there was a degree of respect shown toward her, and correspondence from the time indicates that she was not a woman to be crossed.
However, historians agree that she was not a particularly good queen. During her brief reign she taxed her people into poverty and spent that money, in addition to funds borrowed from the Iron Bank, to enrich the Lannister army. Reports from her rule mention widespread famine and increased prices for trade goods, with little to no help from the crown. Some argue that as the first queen of Westeros, who ascended during a period of turmoil and rebellion, maintaining her position and building an army was necessary for long-term stability. Detractors point out that even once Highgarden was under her control, she did not utilize their wealth of resources to aid her people, keeping it instead for her own use.
Perhaps if her rule had not been cut short by the Targaryen invasion she might have reversed much of the policy that was aimed at keeping the Westerosi forces well-supplied. The Game of Thrones showrunners suggest that Cersei’s interests were less aligned to the good of the kingdom than to her own power, largely painting her as a villain with only Lena Headey’s nuanced performance to lend depth and humanity to the character.
As for her death, she did indeed die during the fall of King’s Landing—an anti-climatic ending for such a woman—and was buried alongside her twin at Casterly Rock at the insistence of their brother Tyrion. You can visit if you like; the castle is open for tours in the spring and summer months, and for special events during the fall and winter.
4. BRAN STARK
One of the primary complaints about the show’s finale was the suddenness with which Bran Stark was named king. Up until that point many viewers had been convinced that Jon Snow would be revealed as the king we know as Brandon the Rebuilder, or that his ascendance would directly involve Daenerys or even his sister. (Season 7’s finale in the Dragonpit led many to believe that had somehow been the fabled meeting of Westerosi rulers, with many theories as to how it would eventually lead to Bran’s crowning.)
The Council of the Dragonpit is a hasty scene given the laborious pace of the show to that point. Given that this was perhaps one of the most important meetings in Westerosi history, comparatively little screen time is devoted to the debate over rulership that culminated in the crowning of Bran Stark. The historical reason for this is that there is little to no documentation about what happened at the Council, and while the writers took some liberties with what we do know (neither Tarth nor Tarly were represented at the meeting), it seems they had little interest in further dramatizing it, resulting in a lackluster monologue from Tyrion about why he ought to rule (something something the power of storytelling).
As it happens, Bran Stark was a progressive, active ruler. Though his detractors did originally call him Bran the Broken, as referenced in the show, in time he came to be called Bran the Rebuilder like his ancestor who helped build the Wall. Under his guidance, King’s Landing was rebuilt as a modern city with advances made in aqueducts, sewage management, and accessible street planning. The University of Westeros and Crownsland Hospital were also established during his rule and helped the Six Kingdoms recover from generations of war.
His success was due in large part to his education and willingness to make difficult decisions. Bran Stark was, by all accounts, a highly intelligent man and a dedicated scholar of history. Contemporaries describe him as often deep in thought, with a piercing gaze and a slow, deliberate way of speaking. He rarely made hasty decisions and was not close with many people; he never married, instead selecting his heir from the university he had built. His nickname of “The Three-Eyed Raven” was given to him in reference to the title of community elders in the north, and in time this became linked to the fairytale of the Raven Boy, who traveled to memories to find out what happened to his parents.
Part of the mythologizing of Bran is due to the missing years of his history. The last major, confirmed event in his life before the conquest of Winterfell is the fall that resulted in him losing the use of his legs. The show imagines this as an attempted murder, and correspondance from Catelyn Stark indicates that she believed this was the case. Bran himself never spoke of it. From there, the show diverges mostly into speculation and fantasticism.
Bran Stark did spend several years beyond the Wall, and he recorded some of what happened there in his personal journals. He speaks of an old sage they met in a weirwood grove who gave them shelter, which is where the showrunners got the inspiration for the original Three-Eyed Raven, and some of the education he received while he was there. But aside from that we know very little of what happened between his supposed death at the hands of Theon Greyjoy and his return to Winterfell after Sansa Stark reclaimed it (and indeed, some claim that the boy who came back was not really Bran Stark but an imposter, even though Sansa herself vouched for his identity).
Bran Stark lived to the age of seventy-six, though he stepped down as king after his sixtieth birthday in favor of his successor, Queen Alys I. For centuries after, sovereigns of Westeros were selected by the sitting king or queen and approved by a council of lords, as Bran had been, until the dissolution of the monarchy in 1832. To this day, a statue of Bran Stark, carved sometime around his fortieth birthday, sits in the library at the University of Westeros.
5. ARYA STARK
Arya Stark became a fan-favorite early on in season 1 (see Why Everyone Loves Arya) and only became more beloved as the show went on. Like many characters, her story is half fact, half folktale, combining the historical accounts of the real woman with legends about the Faceless Men.
In real life, Arya disappears from the historical record around the same time her father was executed. A girl claiming her identity resurfaced several years later in the company of the Brotherhood Without Banners; later, a woman called Arya Stark was married to Ramsay Bolton. Whether either of these women were really Arya has been hotly debated for centuries, especially since there is no record of Arya Stark being present when her sister reclaimed Winterfell. Some theorize that the woman reported as Arya was in fact Sansa, and that there was a misprint or misunderstanding in records of the time.
The next firm record of her is her return to Winterfell just before the Targaryen invasion. She was positively identified by several people, including her sister, and stayed in Westeros for some time after. Around this time, a number of Stark enemies were killed, some in mysterious circumstances (the Massacre at the Twins remains a top historical unsolved mysteries), and many credited the Stark family as being behind the deaths. Arya being the assassin responsible is a unique twist on the many theories that have been shared throughout history.
The image of her as an assassin is inspired by the very real House of Black and White, which was a famed source of hired killers during the time period, and the boogeyman figure called the Faceless Man, who can take on the appearance of anyone he meets in order to punish the wicked, always in creative and gruesome ways. There is no evidence that the real Arya Stark had anything to do with either of them.
That isn’t to say that Arya Stark wasn’t a woman ahead of her time. By all accounts, she was a headstrong and opinionated woman who bucked many of the social trends of her time period. She never married and spent much of her life traveling, usually on behalf of her brother. She is reported to have been proficient with a blade and most contemporaneous depictions show her wearing masculine clothes. Unfortunately, as few of her letters have survived and she does not appear to have kept a diary, we have little insight into her personality or mindset. Other writers have taken stabs at exploring her in fiction, but Game of Thrones is the first to truly invigorate interest in her story. Fans can look forward to the upcoming YA novel The She-Wolf by Myranda Reed and the planned Netflix animated show for their Arya fix.
6. DAENERYS TARGARYEN
At last, we come to the most mysterious—and controversial—character in the show. Daenerys was a fan favorite since the first season, where we saw her grow from a timid girl into a confident and fearless leader. Many rooted for her to take the Iron Throne, either as the predecessor to Bran the Builder or in her own right, disregarding history entirely. Her sudden descent into madness in “The Bells” (S08 E05) infuriated nearly all viewers. Even those who thought it had been foreshadowed adequately criticized the pivot as being abrupt and illogical. Her ultimate fate at the end of Jon Snow’s dagger was even more reviled, with actress Emilia Clarke saying outright that she hated her character’s ending.
In the wake of the criticism have come attempts at defending the writers’ choices, largely centering around the dearth of information on Daenerys. Much of her character arc, particularly in the last few seasons, are mere extrapolation. Daenerys fans (“Khaleesians” as some have taken to calling them) argue that the obscurity of her life gave the writers plenty of creative space to imagine her story more fully, much as with Arya Stark, and indeed as they did in the show’s early seasons.
Unlike Jon Snow, Daenerys is a firmly established existing historical figure. Her birth is documented by numerous sources, partially for its political significance and partially for its near mythical circumstances. Born in the last days of Robert’s Rebellion, after the Baratheon forces had taken King’s Landing, Daenerys was born at her ancestral home of Dragonstone while a storm destroyed what remained of the Targaryen fleet. She, along with her older brother Viserys, were offered up by the remaining Targaryen forces in exchange for pardons from Robert Baratheon. Fortunately for both of them, they managed to escape with the assistance of a few still-loyal knights, infuriating the new king, who wanted all traces of the Targaryen dynasty destroyed.
From there, records of her life grow much sketchier. Surviving documents from Robert’s time as king indicate that he had spies watching the Targaryen children, who were both alive at least up until Robert’s death. Around that time, a woman called Daenerys married Khal Drogo of the Dothraki, a highly noted event as she was not Dothraki and had “white hair like an old woman” (see the Dothraki Art in the Age of the Khals exhibit for more examples).
A few years later, a woman calling herself Daenerys Targaryen arrived in the city of Meereen with a company of mounted soldiers and “great flying beasts” (historians and paleontologists alike argue fiercely about whether these are dragons or mere fantasy). Some sources say that upon her arrival the slaves turned on their masters and freed themselves, while others describe her forces swarming the streets and slaughtering indiscriminately. She became de facto Queen of Meereen, though she was never formally addressed as such, for somewhere between two and three years, before another rebellion that ended with her handing rulership to a local Meereenese man. Meereenese depictions of this woman strongly resemble others of Daenerys Targaryen, to the point that it is widely accepted that she was who she claimed to be.
After Meereen came the Targaryen Invasion in which Daenerys Targaryen returned to her homeland. It’s unclear today which houses took up Daenerys’s cause, as few are willing to claim support for her and little documentation remains. Historians agree the most likely allies are Dorne, the Iron Islands, and Highgarden, all of which had many reasons to dislike Lannister rule. Other proposals include House Arryn and the Isle of Tarth, with others suggesting that the North’s bid for independence started with a Targaryen alliance. Regardless of who joined her, she quickly reclaimed Dragonstone and made it her home base.
The television show compresses the entirety of the war into two seasons, but Daenerys’s campaign lasted for closer to three years, culminating in a year-long siege of King’s Landing. The capital was destroyed during this time, with the Red Keep falling almost entirely to ruin. Most contemporary sources claim the devastation was the result of siege catapults and Daenerys’s army; but others have pointed to the destruction of the Sept of Baelor, nearly five years prior, as evidence that there may have been another cause.
And then Daenerys Targaryen disappears entirely from the historical record. It is not known how or when she died, or what attempts she made at claiming her birthright. There were rumors for many years that she hadn’t truly wanted to rule but to avenge the deaths of her family. It’s been largely assumed that she died sometime during King’s Landing’s fall, but without modern descendants to compare to, it’s impossible to discover if she is among the thousands lost.
Apart from the mystery of her ultimate fate, we know very little of Daenerys’s thoughts or motives. None of her surviving companions or followers left behind written documents, and anything she may have written is lost to this day. Everything we know about her comes from stories told and retold among the people she encountered, like a historical game of telephone. George R. R. Martin himself has found it very difficult to trace her journey, as so much of her is inseparable from legend. Her personality is a blank canvas, repainted over and over throughout time.
In the past, she has been portrayed as an accessory to the invasion, spearheaded by either Aegon or one of the prominent families, or a figurehead for enemies of the Lannisters. Others depict the woman at the head of the invasion as a pretender, a false Daenerys. In many ways, Game of Thrones breathed new life into her story, giving her agency and strength. For this she was beloved by viewers and seen as the true hero of the story even knowing that she would never be queen. The decision to fall back on the popular trope of Targaryen madness was, in my mind, lazy at best and vindictive at worst, refusing her a true conclusion in favor of telling us how great Bran the Rebuilder was. The thing is, we know Bran the Rebuilder went on to be a great ruler; give us something new.
The evening after the finale aired, feminist author Moriah Santagar took to Twitter to express her frustration with ending of Daenerys’s arc. “Here we are, with the chance to fully realize a woman lost from the historical record, and they make her death the climax of the male hero’s story,” she said, referencing how Jon’s killing of her is framed as the ultimate choice of duty above all else. “We know about as much about the historical Daenerys Targaryen as we do of Jon Snow, yet in the end Jon Snow is the one given the room to grow, change, and—perhaps—find a happy ending.”
I’m hardly the biggest fan of Daenerys (see my extremely controversial post on why Daenerys would be a bad queen), but even I was frustrated by the hasty and cruel ending to her story. What struck me most was how quickly Daenerys had disappeared from the story. She received no funeral, had no mourners save her army, only one of whom was seen onscreen after her death. In the end, what was an opportunity to explore the legacy of the Dragon Queen was tossed aside, leaving her once again a silenced voice in history. Though the Westeros we know today would not exist without her and without the Targaryen invasion, she feels almost inconsequential by the time we reach the final scenes of the Stark children setting out on their new lives.
I suppose the good news is that the show has revived historical and creative interest in Daenerys Targaryen’s life, and there is certainly more information to be learned from the stories told of her in Meereen or among the Dothraki. There have already been several books announced, including Dance of Dragons (Jan L. Mormont), a “historical fiction epic exploring the lives of Rhaenyra and Daenerys Targaryen, two controversial queens of brief, yet monumental, rule,” and an as yet untitled three-part documentary on Hulu. Daenerys Targaryen may be dead on Game of Thrones, but she will fly again, hopefully to clearer—and better written—skies.