“There are seven kingdoms of the Realm, boy. Everyone knows that.”
“Then, everyone is wrong.”
“Do you want a clout in the ear?”
“Crownlands, Westerlands, Stormlands, Riverlands, the Iron Islands, the North, the Reach, the Vale of Arryn, and Dorne.”
Was Egg right in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms‘ season one finale? Yes and no. But mostly no, because, as always, Westeros is a weird, complicated place. If it’s not seven or nine, though, how many kingdoms does the Realm have? Grab a flagon of good strong ale, because the “answer” is really just a good old-fashioned tavern argument.
This seemingly simple question gets complicated immediately. The history of royalty in Westeros is long and complex. The First Men arrived in Westeros 12,000 years before House Targaryen. Many minor petty kingdoms then dotted the Realm for a long time. George R.R. Martin has referred to this era as the “Age of the Hundred Kingdoms.” Eventually certain families, like House Stark, bested their rivals and consolidated power. They then ruled over large swaths of land that became the kingdoms of Game of Thrones. The arrival of the Andals only makes the history of monarchs more of a slog. It’s best to focus on the Realm’s more recent history, which is where “the Seven Kingdoms” gets its moniker from anyway.
The “seven” of the Realm refers to the number of kingdoms that existed when Aegon conquered Westeros. Six of those existed in much the same way HBO viewers know them. Those six (and their rulers at the time) are: the North (Stark), Vale of Arryn (Arryn), the Reach (Gardener), Westerlands (Lannister), Stormlands (Durrandon), and Dorne (Martell).
Even that six comes with a pretty huge caveat. No, not that one (we’ll get to it). We mean a different caveat. You can argue Dorne wasn’t a kingdom, but rather a principality because its monarchs in House Martell went by Prince/Princess rather than King/Queen. Semantics? Yes, but Egg is the one playing loose with the word “kingdom,” not us.
Also, there’s that other big caveat: Aegon never freaking conquered Dorne. It didn’t formally (outside of a few brief moments) become part of the Realm under unified Targaryen rule for another 187 years. Egg’s grandfather, King Daeron II, brokered a deal to bring Dorne into his kingdom. That included marrying Myriah Martell, which is why his eldest son, Baelor Breakspear, had black hair. Until House Martell bent the knee, the Seven Kingdoms was really just six strong.
The seventh kingdom at the time of Aegon’s Conquest was the Iron Islands. However, when the Conqueror landed, King Harren the Black of House Hoare, ill-fated builder of Harrenhal, was King of the Isles and the Rivers. His domain included the Riverlands, not just the Iron Islands.
The Riverlands had once had its own river kings long ago, but for four centuries prior to Aegon’s war the region had been fought over and passed back and forth between the Kings of the Iron Islands and the Storm Kings of Storm’s End.
Seven large, identifiable kingdoms did exist in Westeros when Aegon began his conquest. He just only conquered six. By the time he was done, three of those six had new ruling families. He killed ancient House Gardener in the Reach and named its stewards of House Tyrell as the region’s new Lords. House Baratheon replaced House Durrandon (by marrying the dead King’s daughter and taking the Durrandon words and sigil). And after Aegon’s dragons turned House Hoare into ash and memory, the new King named House Tully as Lords of the Riverlands, breaking the former kingdom of Harren in two. Ultimately, Aegon let the Iron Islands choose its new lord. They picked House Greyjoy. [Editor’s note: they should not have done that.]
Aegon turned the Riverlands into a de facto eighth kingdom, but it wasn’t a kingdom when he arrived or when the High Septon crowned him King of Westeros. That’s the first way Egg was right but mostly wrong. If you want to argue a “kingdom” under House Targaryen is just a fancy word for “region” or “realm,” Egg is right. But words have meaning, Prince Aegon. They have meaning. The same is true with his “ninth” kingdom of the Realm, the Crownlands.
The Crownlands, as its name suggests, did not exist before King Aegon Targaryen. No one really cared all that much about the lightly populated region, either. The Kings of the Iron Islands and the Storm Kings often fought over the area, but not like they did with the fertile Riverlands. When Aegon arrived, the two kingdoms each maintained various parts of what became the Crownlands, eventual home to King’s Landing. But while House Targaryen ruled from the Crownlands, it was never a kingdom.
In fact, you could argue after a cask of wine, the family’s home on Dragonstone had a greater claim to being dubbed a kingdom. The island was part of Westeros, but independent of it. It naturally became part of the Crownlands under Targaryen rule, but previously Dragonstone was an outpost of the Valyrian Freehold. House Targaryen ruled there for century before Aegon turned his gaze west.
That still just makes seven kingdoms, but yes, nine regions. Or ten. But also possibly more. Yeah, more. Because there are other parts of Westeros that exist in a nebulous zone of affiliation. That includes Skagos, a large island off the eastern coast of the North. It’s technically part of the North and it technically falls under the domain of House Stark, but it’s also a weird place no one visits. There are rumors it’s home to cannibals. With such a hands-off approach (lest your hand becomes dinner), Skagos is more like an independent outpost with a loose affiliation to the North. It’s not like House Mormont’s Bear Island which is clearly part of the North.
The Three Sisters is also similar to Skagos. Those three islands officially fall under the domain of House Arryn in the Vale, but that fealty exists more in name than practice. The islands, with their own gods and customs, prefer to do their own thing. Aegon had to have House Stark deal with the Three Sisters even after House Arryn had bent the knee. The Three Sisters did not qualify as a kingdom in the way even Egg meant, but its still a region that doesn’t lend itself to an easy classification if you’re being a stickler. Which I clearly am. Blame Egg and his false confidence while talking to this poor sweet lunk.
(Right now there’s a fellow Westerosi dork furious I’d even suggest the Three Sisters is anything but a part of the Vale. To them I say, “Seven bloody hells ask the Sistermen if they consider themselves vassals of House Arryn. Go on, ask them! Oh, you won’t visit the islands because they are “sinks of sin and avarice,” eh? Exactly. Exactly.)
Plus, I haven’t even mentioned The Gift yet. That’s the land south of the Wall legendary House Stark founder Bran the Builder gave to the Night’s Watch many thousands of years ago. It falls under the protection of both the Starks and the Night’s Watch, and it sits in the North, but it doesn’t belong to Winterfell. The Gift and its lands (which King Jaehaerys and Queen Alyssane expanded in 58 AC with the New Gift) exists unto itself. It wasn’t a kingdom when Aegon arrived or after he finished his conquest. But neither were the Riverlands or Crownlands and Egg included them on his list, so…
When Aegon was named the first Lord of the Seven Kingdoms he only ruled six kingdoms. But he did rule eight regions. Eventually House Targaryen ruled nine. It always ruled the Gift….kinda. Aegon definitely ruled Dragonstone, though. Whether it was a kingdom or not is in the dragon eye of the beholder. As for Skagos and the Three Sisters and other regions and and and and and…..there’s no actual answer to this question.
It’s just a really good debate best had over some ale and wine. But one thing we know for sure is Dunk shouldn’t feel so badly about not knowing how many kingdoms Westeros has. His confident squire is just as wrong as everyone else.
Mikey Walsh is a staff writer at Nerdist. He thinks “Seven Kingdoms” is fine. You can follow him on Bluesky at @burgermike. And also anywhere someone is ranking the Targaryen kings.