Page 4: The Iron Throne

Except for the Lands Beyond the Wall, all of Westoros is ruled by a political entity knows as the Seven Kingdoms, holding fealty to the King of the Andals and the First Men who sits on the Iron Throne in the Red Keep in the city of King's Landing.

The King appoints a Hand of the King as his most senior advisor who acts as ruler and sits on the Iron Throne when the King is absent. 

When Robert Baratheon becomes King after overturning the Targaryens, he appoints Jon Arryn as his Hand. Jon, however, is killed just after he discovers that King Robert's children were fathered by someone else. Robert then appoints Eddard (Ned) Stark as his Hand. 

King Robert is a womanizer and a drinker. He has a number of bastard children.

Ned Stark was Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North. He is killed by Cersei after King Robert dies because he knows that Cersei's son, Joffrey, is not the true heir to the throne.

Cersei Lannister, King Robert's wife and mother of three children whom the King thinks are his.

When Stark becomes Hand, he investigates Arryn's murder and discovers that Cersei's children are the result of an incestuous relationship she has with her brother Jaime. Cersei, worried about the King's reaction should he find out, has him drugged to appear very drunk and the King dies on a hunt when gored by a large boar.

Page 5: The City Watch

The City Watch or Gold Cloaks are the police force at King's Landing. They report directly to the King. The City Watch promotes by merit and not by birth status. 

The previous commander of the City Watch was Janos Slynt, a butcher's son who rose through the ranks. He is dismissed by Tyrion Lannister who is acting as Hand to the King in Tywin's absence, and exiled to the Night's Watch.

Bronn is a low born sellsword (mercenary) hired by Tyrion as his bodyguard. He is appointed commander of the City Watch by Tyrion, but dismissed by Tywin (Tyrion's father) upon his return. 

Bronn is rewarded with a knighthood for his performance during the Battle of the Blackwater and takes the formal name "Ser Bronn of the Blackwater". Even though he possesses no lands or wealth this drastically elevates his social standing. 

Page 6: The Kingsguard

The Kingsguard is an elite group of the seven most skilled knights in Westeros that serve as the royal bodyguard of the King of the Seven Kingdoms. Their duty is to protect the King and the royal family at all times. They are sworn to serve for life and are forbidden from owning land, taking a wife or bearing children. The Kingsguard is led by the Lord Commander.

Jaime Lannister is the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and in that role sits on the Small Council.


Barristan Selmy is one of the best swordsmen in all the kingdom. After he is dismissed as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard by King Joffrey to be replaced by his uncle Jaime, Barristan makes his way across the Narrow Sea to offer his services to Daenerys Targaryen. 

Meryn Trant is cruel and is well-suited to protecting King Joffrey. He obeys his every order regardless of how ridiculous or cruel they may be. 

Sandor Clegane aka The Hound, deserts his position during the Battle of the Blackwater. He is taciturn and brutal but not without compassion. He is appointed to the brotherhood, but refuses to take vows. He is King Joffrey's personal bodyguard. 

Sandor Clegane leaves King's Landing during the Battle of the Blackwater because is horrified at and terrified by Tyrion Lannister's use of wildfire during that battle. After Sandor leaves King's Landing he is captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners (an outlaw group working against Lannister interests and protecting the common folk of Westeros) who are also holding Arya Stark and Gendry (King Robert's bastard). He manages to flea and capture Arya whom he wishes to deliver to her mother who is attending a wedding.  When they arrive at the Red Wedding, they witness the massacre and leave. 

Page 7: The Small Council

The Small Council is a chamber of Lords who advise the King and the Hand. The positions are:

Master of Laws: Renly Baratheon (younger brother of King Robert Baratheon) abandons this role to fight for the Iron Throne.

Master of Coin: Petyr Baelish aka Little Finger is a skilled manipulator who owns brothels in Kings' Landing. He is later replaced by Tyrion Lannister (the King's uncle).

Master of Ships: Stannis Baratheon (the oldest of King Robert Baratheon's two bothers). When Robert Baratheon dies, the position becomes vacant as Stannis is fighting for the Throne. 

Master of Whisperers: Vary aka the Spider, advises on matters of espionage and state intelligence. He is a eunuch with a large network of informants in Westoros and Essos. 

Lord Commander of the Kingsguard: Jaime Lannister is appointed by King Joffrey to replace Barrister Selmy in this role. 

Grand Maester: PycellePycelle is the King's personal Maester who advises on history, science and medecine and all other matters. He pretends to be weak and feeble when in fact, he's in pretty good shape and uses the services of prostitutes regularly. He has served under three Kings.

Page 8: The Maesters

Maesters are an order of scholars, healers and learned men in the Seven Kingdoms also known as the Knights of the Mind. It is not a religious order but it is all-male. 

Almost every castle or noble family has its own Maester to give counsel, teach children, attend to medical needs and to send messages via ravens.

Maesters are associated to the place where they are and have no political affiliations. They are loyal to whatever family lives in the castle or house. Maesters give up their right to inherit and must remain celibate. 

The headquarters of the Order of Maesters is the Citadel located in Oldtown in the Reach. New recruits are trained there and when they graduate are assigned to a castle or town. 

The entire order is ruled by the Conclave, the council of Archmaesters who reside in the Citadel. The Grand Maester is the most senior member of the order and he serves the Iron Throne and is a member of the Small Council.

The Conclave predicts the weather and the change of seasons. In season 2, they agree that summer has ended and that fall has started. They send this news across Westeros by white ravens. 

Knowns Maesters are:

Grand Maester Pycelle of the Red Keep at King's Landing.

Maester Aemon of Castle Black (at the Wall). At the end of the third season he sends a message to all the lords of the Seven Kingdoms saying that help is needed to fight off the White Walkers.

Qyburn, an ex-Maester who was expelled for conducting unethical human experiments. He fell into service at Harrenhal and then followed Jaime Lannister to King's Landing tending his wound.

Page 10: Beyond the Wall

Beyond the Wall is the large area of Westeros that lies North of the Wall. It is the only part of the continent that is not part of the realm of the Seven Kingdoms. 

The lands beyond the Wall are mostly uncharted. Immediately North of the Wall on the East, is the Haunted Forest, a vast taiga-forest extending from the Wall to the furthest uncharted North called the Lands of Always Winter. On the West coast is a large mountain chain called the Frostfangs. There are rumours that the Frostfangs contain valleys that are heavily settled because they are heated by volcanic activity.

The People

The lands beyond the Wall are inhabitated by numerous tribes of "Free Folk" known by the people of the Seven Kingdoms as "wildlings". Some are semi-nomadic hunters, some are little more than savages and primitive raiders, but others are settled in small villages. 

The Lands of Always Winter is an area where there is always snow even during the warmest of summers. The wildlings control some areas, but it extends into subarctic wastelands that are not hospitable to human life. It is said that White Walkers originate from this region.

White Walkers differ greatly from humans. They are taller and have long whispy white hair. They have pale white skin that is wrinkly but stretched tautly across their frames, giving them a gaunt and mummified appearance. They have glowing blue eyes.

Mance Rayder is a wildling that is left at Castle Black as an infant. He is raised there and becomes a well-respected member of the Watch. As a young man, he deserts his post to live with the wildlings. He manages to unify a number of tribes and becomes King-Beyond-the-Wall. 

Tormund Giantsbane is a renowned leader and raider among the Free Folk and Mance Rayder's most trusted lieutenant.

Ygritte is a Free Folk spearwife (warrior woman) who is part of the force lead by Mance Rayder. She falls in love with Jon Snow (a Night Watchman).

Mance has unified the Thenn, the Hornfoots, the Ice-River Clans, the Cave People and the Giants even though they don't get along with each other. A long winter is expected and the wildlings want to flee South in terror of the White Walkers. They have a better chance of success if they work together.

The giants are a non-human race considered to be mythical by the people of the Seven Kingdoms, but who do exist in reality.

Craster is a wildling who lives in a fortified homestead called Craster's Keep. He sometimes shelters Night's Watchmen in return for otherwise leaving him alone and occasional bribes.

Craster has a number of wives and daughters. When his daughters get old enough, he marries them and incestuously fathers children with them, getting rid of male offspring by leaving them for the White Walkers.

Gilly is one of Craster's daughters. She gives birth to a son and runs away with Samwell Tarly (a Night's Watchman).

The Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, Jeor Mormont, is killed by his own men who rebel when Mormont does not stand up to Craster.

Page 11: Houses and Wardens

Beneath the King, the King's Hand and the Small Council, but still enjoying a great deal of autonomy, are the rulers of each region, some of which also hold the title of Wardens and/or Lords Paramount.

The families of these rulers are called Great Houses. Each Great House has a sigil (symbol) and a motto. Minor Lords and their Houses pledge allegiance to these families and are their vassals and may be called upon to defend them when needed.

The King bestows the title of Warden to certain Heads of Great Houses. The Wardens command the armies of one of the regions of the Seven Kingdoms in the name of the Iron Throne for the defense of the entire realm. 

The Traditional Great Houses 

The ancestral stronghold of the Baratheons is Storm's End. When Robert Baratheon becomes king, Renly Baratheon becomes the Head of House Baratheon and Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, including the Island of Tarth. The House motto is: "Ours is the fury".

House Baratheon's sigil is a stag on a gold background. When Robert ascended to the Throne a crown was added around the neck of the stag.

House Targaryen is a former Great House of the Seven Kingdoms and the previous royal family. Before taking the Iron Throne, they lived in Dragonstone. The House motto is "Fire and Blood".

House Targaryen's sigil is a red three-headed dragon.

The Head of House Stark is Lord of Winterfell, Lord Paramount of the North and Warden of the North. The House motto is "Winter is coming".

House Stark's sigil is a grey direwolf on a white background. 

The Head of House Arryn is Lord of the Eyrie, Lord Paramount of the Vale and Warden of the East. The Lord of the Eyrie rules over the Vale of Arryn and the Three Sisters (islands). The House motto is "As high as honour".

House Arryn's sigil is a white falcon and crescent moon.

The Head of House Lannister is Lord of Casterly Rock, Lord Paramount of the Westerlands and Warden of the West. The House motto is "Hear me Roar", but the unofficial motto is "A Lannister always pays his debts" - which is used in a negative context.

The sigil of House Lannister is a golden lion rampant on a crimson field.

The Head of House Tully is Lord Paramount of the Riverlands or Trident and rules from Riverrun. The House motto is "Family, duty, honour". 

The sigil for the House of Tully is a silver trout on a red and blue background.

The Head of House Tyrell is Lord Paramount of the Reach and Warden of the South. He rules over the Reach, the Shield Islands and the Arbor from Highgarden. The House motto is "Growing strong".

The House Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a green field.

The Head of House Greyjoy is Lord of the Iron Islands, a title traditionally held by the Lord Reaper of Pyke. The House motto is: "We do not sow".

The House Greyjoy sigil is a gold kraken (a mythical giant octopus) on a black background. 

The Head of House Martell is the Lord of Sunspear who also holds the title of Prince of Dorne. Dorne retained its independence until it joined the Seven Kingdoms through a peaceful marital arrangement. The House motto is: "Unbowed, unbent, unbroken".

The House Martell sigil is a red sun pierced by a golden spear on an orange background.

Changes Made Since the War Started

House Tully has been stripped of lands and titles because it supported House Stark in the rebellion against the Iron Throne. Petyr Baelish is now ruler of Riverlands from Harrenhal a huge castle in disrepair. Baelish's appointment is a snub to Lord Frey (a vassal of House Tully)who had expected to be rewarded after the Red Wedding when he arranged the murder of Robb Stark, his wife, his mother and most of his bannermen. 

Harrenhal

Petyr Baelish, also known as Littlefingers.

With the death of Renly Baratheon the titles of Lord of Storm's End and ruler of the Stormlands have theoretically reverted to Stannis Baratheon. However after the Battle of Blackwater, a number of supporters of House Baratheon bend the knee to King Joffrey who also holds a claim to Storm's End as Robert's heir. Joffrey now rules most of the Stormlands directly.

Roose Bolton, Head of the House of Bolton (a vassal House of the Stark House) and Lord of Dreadfort is rewarded for betraying Robb Stark at the Red Wedding by an appointment as temporary Lord of Winterfell and Lord Paramount of the North until they are eventually ruled by the children of Tyrion Lannister and Sansa Stark if and when they have any. 

Roose Bolton

Page 12: The War of the Five Kings

The War of the Five Kings is a major military conflict that erupts in the wake of the death of King Robert. In essence, the war is a three-way battle for the Iron Throne along with two independence movements. The five kings in question are:

Joffrey Baratheon who thinks he's the King's rightful heir.

Stannis Baratheon, Lord of Dragonstone, is the older of King Robert’s two brothers. He knows that Joffrey is not Robert’s son so he claims the Iron Throne.

Renly Baratheon, Lord of Storm's End, and Master of Laws is the younger of King Robert's two brothers and lover of Loras Tyrell (homosexuality is a sin in the Faith of the Seven). He is killed by his brother's advisor, Melissandre, and his widow is promised to Joffrey Baratheon.

Robb Stark is declared King of the North by his allies after his father, Ned, dies. He wants to separate from the Seven Kingdoms. Although he promises to wed Walder Frey's daughter in exchange for the support of his armies, he marries another noblewoman in secret and is killed by Frey at the Red Wedding.

Balon Greyjoy, Lord Reaper of Pyke, Head of the House of Greyjoy and Lord of the Iron Islands wants to restore the old order and become King of the Iron Islands once again. In a rebellion eight years before, his son Theon was taken by Lord Stark as a hostage for Balon's good behaviour.

Page 13: House Baratheon

The Baratheons rule over Stormlands and their ancestral home is Storm's End. As the series begins, the Targaryens have been removed from the Throne and House Baratheon is now the Royal House. Accordingly, they have also taken over the Targaryens' island fortress of Dragonstone. 

Robert Baratheon is the King and rules over the Seven Kingdoms with his wife Ceresei Lannister.

Cersei has given birth to three children during her marriage to Robert: Joffrey, whom she installs as King after Robert's death, Myrcella and Tommen. Robert does not know, but these children are the result of an incestuous relationship between Cersei and her brother Jaime.

Cersei and Jaime are twins. Cersei installs herself as Queen Regent after Robert's death.

Joffrey wears the name of Baratheon and does not know that Jaime is actually his father.

Renly Baratheon is Robert's youngest and favourite brother. He is Lord of Storn's End and serves on the Small Council as Master of Laws. Rently claims the Iron Throne after Robert's death and engages in the War of the Five Kings. He is killed by his older brother's (Stannis) advisor, Melissandre during the War.

 Although the Faith of the Seven strictly prohibits homosexuality, Renly has had a long term relationship with Ser Loras Tyrell. 

Renly weds Margaery Tyrell to solidify his bond with his lover's family. Her father, Mace Tyrell is ruler of the Reach.

After Renly's death, Margaery is betrothed to Joffrey Baratheon.

After Renly's death, his interests revert to his older brother Stannis. Stannis is Lord of Dragonstone (the old Targaryen fortress) and serves on the Small Council as Master of Ships.

When Robert dies and Stannis finds out that Joffrey is not Robert's true heir, he proclaims himself the true King and engages in the War of the Five Kings.

Stannis is in a loveless marriage with Selyse Florent whom he regards as sickly and whom he resents because of her failure to bear him a son. 

Selyse Baratheon nee Florent is from a Noble House of the Reach that is associated with House Tyrell.

Shireen Baratheon is Stannis and Selyse's only child. When she was an infant, she suffered from an infection called greyscale. The disease, which almost killed her, left the left side of her cheek and neck stiff, dead and flaky, mottled black and grey and hard to the touch.

Under the influence of a priestess named Melissandre, Stannis has converted to the Lord of Light, R'hllor also known as Red God. This is a religion prevalent in Essos, but hardly heard of in Westeros. Melissandre claims to have powerful magical abilities in particular the power of prophecy.

Melissandre of Asshai, Essos, Red Priestess and close adviser to Stannis and his wife Selyse. She sacrifices human lives in honour of R'hllor. She also gives birth to a "shadow son" who murders Renly, Stannis' younger brother, who also claims the throne.

Stannis fought for his brother Robert in the rebellion against the Targaryens. At one point he, his family and army were besieged at Storm's End without food. He was rescued by a smuggler named Davos. Stannis knighted Davos as a reward, but also cut off four of his fingers as punishment for smuggling.

Lord Davos Seaworth originates from the poorest slums in King's Landing. He is fiercely loyal to Stannis.

Robert Baratheon is known to have fathered a number of bastards. Given that Cersei's children are not Roberts, Melissandre fears that perhaps a bastard son would have a claim to the throne. Gendry is found to be one of Robert's bastard sons. She therefore seduces him and brings him to Dragonstone, where she conducts a blood leeching ritual on him and then locks him up in the dungeon. He is rescued by Davos who sends him away in a row boat.

Gendry is an unacknowledged bastard of King Robert who worked in King's Landing as an apprentice blacksmith until Robert dies and the funds for his keep stop coming. He then signs on as a recruit for the Night Watch.