All Game of Thrones questions answered
Also, all you need to know ahead of the final season premiere
The most recent episode of Game of Thrones aired nearly two years ago, so it’s likely you have a lot of burning questions before the final season begins tomorrow in the UAE. We certainly did, so we compiled them all here. In the HBO drama’s final six episodes, the army of the undead will likely clash with the citizens of Westeros, as a separate battle for power unfolds for the Iron Throne.
What’s the Iron Throne, and why does everyone want it?
Game of Thrones is set on a map not vastly unlike our own. Most of the action takes place on the main continent of Westeros. The unified realm consisting of most of the continent and its small islands is called the Seven Kingdoms, which were established by Aegon the Conqueror,
the first king of the Targaryen dynasty, some 300 years ago.
The whole shebang is ruled over by the king or queen of the Andals and the First Men, which is the fancy title for whoever sits on the Iron Throne. So, much like the field of potential Democratic nominees for the 2020 election, everyone wants power — and the Iron Throne is the epitome of that.
What is R+L=J?
Anyone born with murky parentage in this world is giving a last name based on the region of their birth. One born in the icy North would receive the last name “Snow.” Jon Snow, one of the show’s main characters, is presented as just that: the illegitimate child of Ned Stark.
Not everyone was fooled, however, and the theory known simply as “R+L=J” began circulating. In the season seven finale, it was proved to be true. Jon Snow is actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen (son of the Mad King and brother to Daenerys) and Lyanna Stark (Ned’s sister). Part of the reason for Robert’s Rebellion was Rhaegar
kidnapping Lyanna when she was engaged to Robert Baratheon. But, as we discovered in last season’s finale, Lyanna and Rhaegar were actually in love, and they secretly married before Lyanna became pregnant with Rhaegar’s child and died giving birth to the baby.
In the show, Bran Stark has a vision of Lyanna covered in blood, telling her brother, “Promise me, Ned.” That promise was to raise Jon Snow as his own and to keep his identity a secret to save the child from then-King Robert, who would have executed any Targaryen heir.
What do I need to know about Bran?
In season two, Bran embarked on a long journey, during which he learnt he might be a Warg, someone who can control the minds of animals and see through their eyes. He also began dreaming about and seeing a ThreeEyed Raven, which he sought beyond the Wall, who turned out to be an old man in a cave. The Three-Eyed Raven has many abilities, including seeing things that have happened back in time, and he trained Bran how to use these powers for himself. Eventually, the Night King killed the Three-Eyed Raven. Bran escaped and, in doing so, became the Three-Eyed Raven.
How are Jon Snow and Daenerys Targaryen related?
Daenerys is the daughter of the Mad King and brother to Viserys and Rhaegar. Given “R+L=J,” that makes Daenerys the aunt of Jon Snow. The only characters who know this are Bran and Samwell Tarly — and news didn’t reach Jon and Daenerys before they got together in season seven.
What’s that green fire, and where does it come from?
It’s called Wildfire and it’s an extremely powerful substance that, once lit on fire, can burn until it’s all but disappeared or smothered with sand. Tyrion used it to destroy Stannis Baratheon’s fleet during the Battle of Blackwater. Also, Cersei used it to blow up the Sept of Baelor with most of the Sparrows and Tyrells inside.
What about the dragons?
Remember Aegon the Conqueror, who conquered most of Westeros and set up the Iron Throne some 300 years before the current story? He was able to do all that because he was riding with three basically indestructible dragons. These were the final three in existence, however; most of the others died in a giant volcanic eruption.
Fast-forward a century and a half to season one, when Daenerys was given three petrified dragon eggs as a gift to celebrate her betrothal to Khal Drogo.
She began to believe they could be hatched. But then a witch betrayed her, destroyed the baby in her womb and turned Khal Drogo into a vegetable.
When Daenerys built a funeral pyre for Drogo, she tossed the eggs on top for good measure. After lighting it, she walked into the flames and the next morning she awoke to three dragon pups hanging onto her. She named them Drogon, Rhaegal and Viserion.
In season seven, though, the Night King threw an ice spear at Viserion, killing him. The Night King then reanimated the fallen dragon’s corpse, which was pretty bad news for everyone, particularly since the dragons can break through the Wall.
Who is the Night King?
That icy, blue-eyed fellow was the first White Walker, who was created when the Children of the Forest, a non-human race who originally inhabited Westeros, stabbed one of the First Men with dragonglass thousands of years ago. He now serves as the leader of the White Walkers and their wights.
What’s the difference between wights and White Walkers?
Not all icy creatures are created equal. White Walkers have the important superpower of reanimating human and animal corpses by turning them into wights. While we know the Children of the
Forest turned some First
Men into White Walkers, we don’t know if all of the White Walkers can make more of their own kind. We do know that the Night King can change human babies into White Walkers with merely a touch.
Wights have no such power to turn corpses and living people into other things, and they make up most of the “army of the dead.”
It appears that the White Walkers simply want to conquer the world, and that makes sense given their origins as basically being the weapons of the Children of the Forest. They’ve attacked before, thousands of years ago, and despite that “long winter,” they were eventually defeated and driven north. But we haven’t gotten their side of the story yet, so who knows? Maybe they actually have some kind of just cause aside from total domination.