8 vital bits of Westeros history that Game of Thrones fan need to know 

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Look, we\'ve got pretty much a whole year before the next Game of Thrones episode, so we need to find other ways of getting our Westeros fix.

Whether you\'ve read the books by George RR Martin or not, it\'s very easy to get sucked into the mythology of the Seven Kingdoms and get totally lost in it. There\'s just so much to know about, whether it\'s been mentioned in the show or not.

So, think of this is a beginner\'s guide to all the important moments of Westeros history that took place before the series began. All the moments you need to know about that led to that first scene of White Walkers attacking members of the Night\'s Watch, and before a fat Robert Baratheon made Ned Stark his Hand. And we all know what that eventually kicked off...

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There\'s only one place to start really, the... start. Which ended around 8,000 years before the Westeros we know, and extended back to before the age of mankind itself. For centuries, the continent was only inhabited by the Children of the Forest and Giants.

The Children (those little green people that Bran essentially killed off) were small folk skilled in magic, and later got their name from humans. They worshipped deities known as the Old Gods of the Forest.

12,000 years ago, the First Men arrived at Westeros, crossing over from Essos on a  land bridge known as the Arm of Dorne. They cut down forests and entered into a conflict with the Children, which lasted for centuries. Desperate, the Children were able to flood the land bridge between Westeros and Essos. Eventually, after around 2,000 years of fighting, the leaders of the First Men and the Children agreed a pact, with the former even adopting the religion of the Old Gods.

However, before this pact, some of the Children captured humans and experimented on them, creating the first White Walkers in the hopes that they would protect them from men. Yeah, that kinda backfired.

Around 8,000 years ago, a long winter descended on the world, lasting a whole generation. Thousands of people starved and the White Walkers emerged all over Westeros from the North. The conflict became known as the War for the Dawn as the WW aimed to end all life and create an endless winter.

Eventually, the First Men and the Children of the Forest were able to drive the White Walkers back into the furthest North, then built the Wall to keep them out. Legend states that the Wall is infused with magic from the Children that prevents the WW from crossing. The Night\'s Watch were also founded to defend the Wall should the WW ever return.

"Today" (in Westeros), most people believe that the Long Night is simply folklore, and that the WW don\'t exist. Those who believe they were once real now assume that they are extinct. None have been seen for 8,000 years.

6,000 years before "our" time, the tall, fair-haired race the Andals migrated across the Narrow Sea to Westeros, invading as they went and eventually killing or conquering all of the First Men south of the Neck (ie The First Men survived in the North, where men are men and wolves are dire). It\'s a bit like Romans versus Celts, or maybe Vikings versus Saxons.

By the end of the many invasions, the Andals had displaced the First Men as Westeros\' major ethnic and cultural group. The Children of the Forest were all but wiped out, save for a few who took refuge with the Three Eyed Raven beyond the wall.

The Kings of the North from the line of House Stark were able to resist the Andals\' advances, and the North remained unconquered. However, various dynastic marriages have blurred the lines of Men and Andals over thousands of years. Many of the First Men evolved into free folk (ie Wildlings).

About 400 years ago, from Arya, Littlefinger, Brienne et al\'s point of view, the great civilisation of Valyria – where all the best magic, dragons and mystical skills resided – blew itself up. 14 volcanoes simultaneously erupted, destroying the entire peninsula. The only surviving House of Valyria (with dragons) was the Targaryens, who lived right on the furthest outskirts, and therefore avoided destruction. 

This is where things start looking familiar, sort of. A century after the Doom, Aegon Targaryen and his two sister-wives – *eyeroll* – swept out from their holdfast on three dragons to conquer and unite six of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Aegon Targaryen established a fort that eventually became King\'s Landing, and his forces invaded the lands of House Hoare, rulers of the Iron Islands and Riverlands. Having been helped by House Tully, Aegon made the Tullys the Lords Paramount of the Trident (ie the big three-pronged river that runs through the middle of Westeros), and tasked the ironborn with electing a new ruling house. They chose House Greyjoy.

Meanwhile, Aegon\'s bastard half-brother Orys Baratheon\'s army defeated House Durrandon, and took its castle at Storm\'s End. Aegon allowed him to found House Baratheon.

At The Reach (ie the south), Aegon unleashed his three dragons, destroying House Gardener and causing House Lannister to surrender, along with Gardener\'s stewards the Tyrells. The Lannisters were named Lords Paramount of the Westerlands, while the Tyrells became Lords Paramount of the Reach.

House Stark surrendered peacefully and became the only great house to survive the war without having to engage in combat. The Faith of the Seven also declared their support for Aegon. He was then named King of Westeros.

It\'s worth mentioning that Dorne (the far south-east of Westeros) was never conquered. They joined the Seven Kingdoms later, when their Prince Maron married King Daeron II\'s sister Daenerys. (Not that Daenerys.) 

6. Dance of the Dragons: The Targaryens fight each other

170 years before the events of the TV show, a massive civil war occurred between rival branches of House Targaryen. It was essentially the Westeros equivalent of the Labour Party. But with dragons.

After King Viserys I died, there was a dispute regarding his heir. For many years it had been his only surviving child from his first wife, daughter Rhaenyra. However, he later remarried and had several younger children with his second wife, the eldest of which was Aegon II.

Many didn\'t feel comfortable with having a ruling queen for the first time, and the Andals\' inheritance laws stated that a younger brother should succeed ahead of an elder daughter. However, the Targaryens had never formalized these laws after their conquest 130 years before. 

Aegon II\'s followers staged a coup, and he was quickly crowned. Rhaenyra responded by being crowned queen and declaring her half-brother a traitor. However, she was eventually captured and Aegon II fed her to his dragon, forcing her son to watch. Yeesh.

Aegon II was badly injured in the war and died a few months later, causing a stalemate. As there was no other male heir, Rhaenyra\'s son succeeded the Throne as King Aegon III. Most of the Targaryen dragons were killed during the war, and became extinct in Aegon III\'s reign.

When Cersei and Jaime were young children, House Reyne of Castamere rose up against House Lannister of Casterly Rock, due to the incompetent leadership of its leader, Tytos Lannister (Charles Dance\'s father).

Tytos\'s son Tywin led his House\'s armies to end the revolt. He defeated the Reynes and burned down Castamere, and ordered the deaths of all surviving Reynes – man, woman and child. He then had the corpses of all the Reynes hung from the gates of Casterly Rock as an example of Lannister\'s dominance. If you ever come across the song \'The Rains Of Castamere\' during the show – the minstrels play it occasionally – now you know what it\'s about.

This was the first big step towards House Lannister\'s return to power, as Tywin pretty much rebuilt its strength on his own. And to think he died on the loo.

And this is where we bring you up to speed to just 17 years before the beginning of the series. Also known as the War of the Usurper, it was one of the last big civil wars amongst the Great Houses of Westeros, and lasted for a couple of years.

Aerys II was nicknamed the Mad King due to his increasingly erratic and bloodthirsty behaviour. This caused tensions to rise between other great houses. 

Meanwhile, Warden of the North Rickard Stark\'s daughter Lyanna was betrothed to Robert Baratheon, who served Aerys as Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. However, Prince Rhaegar (the King\'s eldest son – effectively the Prince of Wales) abducted Lyanna, leading to House Stark and House Baratheon protesting his actions. Brandon Stark demanded justice from Aerys, but he was arrested for treason and offered to ransom to his father Rickard. 

After Rickard arrived at court, Aerys publicly and brutally executed both father and son. This created sympathy for the rebels, and many houses joined forces in retaliation. Rhaegar was later killed by Robert during the Battle of the Trident.

Defender of the Vale, Jon Arryn, had fostered Rickard\'s second son Eddard (Ned!) and Robert Baratheon as children. When Aerys ordered Jon to turn over Eddard, he refused and raised his banners. The rebels then teamed up with House Tully through marriage, as Eddard married Catelyn Tully (formerly betrothed to his late elder brother), and middle-aged Jon married Lysa Tully. (Who went on to give birth to that little weirdo Robyn.)

Stannis Baratheon battled for his elder brother Robert, but his forces were besieged for much of the war at Storm\'s End. He was rescued from starvation by smuggler Davos Seaworth, who arrived with a ship containing onions and fish. Stannis raised him to knighthood for his bravery, and cut off his fingers for being a smuggler. What a dick.

Rhaegar\'s wife Elia of House Martell had been kept in King\'s Landing by Aerys to secure the Martell\'s loyalty. However, he was betrayed by his allies in House Lannister. A young Jaime Lannister assassinated him, soon after hearing him shout "Burn them all!". Lannister armies then sacked the city. Elia was raped and murdered by Ser Gregor Clegane (The Mountain) during the sack, and he also killed her two children (hence her brother Prince Oberyn\'s anger. Not that it did him any good, because Clegane squished him).

Robert claimed the Iron Throne as the only leader to have a blood link to the Targaryens, via his mother. Devastated by Lyanna\'s death at the Tower of Joy, Robert married Cersei Lannister as a gesture of good faith for her father having handed him King\'s Landing.

Robert kept Tywin as Lord Paramount of the Westerlands, and named Jon Arryn as his Hand. Eddard took on his father\'s role as Warden of the North, and Houses Tyrell, Martell and Greyjoy swore fealty to Robert.

Queen Rhaella, meanwhile – the Mad King\'s wife – had fled to the Targaryens\' ancestral seat on the island of Dragonstone. She was joined there by her surviving son Viserys, and died while giving birth to Daenerys. Yes, that Daenerys.

Eddard later discovered that Rhaegar had another son by his sister Lyanna. Or at least that\'s what we all assume. Eddard decided to raise the child as his bastard son to protect him from Robert, who wanted rid of all Targaryens.

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