*Spoilers Ahead- If you’ve not seen the whole of season 6 yet, look away!*
As you know, Game of Thrones is a whirlwind of wars, romances and doomed heroes… but who is allied with who? In this series a lot has changed, so we are going to take a look at how these allegiances have changed throughout the series and where they stand now.
Firstly, the Main Houses of the Seven Kingdoms:
Image Credit: here
(Left to Right from the top)
The North: House Stark (current lady Sansa Stark)
The Iron Islands: House Greyjoy (current lady Yara Greyjoy)
Riverun: House Tully (current lord Edmure Tully)
The Vale: House Arryn (current lord Robin Arryn)
The Westerlands: House Lannister (current Queen Cersei Lannister)
The Reach: House Tyrell (only surviving member: Olenna Tyrell)
Dragonstone: House Targeryan (current Queen Daenarys Targeryan)
The Stormlands: House Baratheon (extinct)
Other Houses
House Martell (extinct, technically)
House Bolton (extinct)
House Frey (males extinct)
Within the six series of the show so far, we have seen the houses change a great deal. House Baratheon is now extinct, as is House Bolton and House Martell. The only exceptions here would be if we argued that the sand snakes are bastards to Oberyn, and Gendry may still be out there rowing his boat as Robert’s bastard.
So, as you can from the above, there is a huge change in alliances from the beginning of the show up to this point. I want to talk you through each series and give my thoughts on what should happen next.
Series 1
As we’ve not been introduced to every house yet, let’s look at the main alliances in this series:
Stark + Tully- This is manifested with Ned and Catelyn Stark (marriage). We know that the Tullys and Starks have been allies for a long time, and the sanctity of marriage strengthens this bond.
Stark + Baratheon- Robert and Ned are best friends, so it’s only natural for Robert to ask Ned to be his hand after the death of Jon Arryn
Stark + Arryn (and Baratheon)- With Jon Arryn being the foster father of both Ned and Robert during their adolescence, he was a dear friend, mentor and ally to them both. Of course, this alliance still holds as Catelyn’s sister Lysa has a child with Jon, little Robin.
Baratheon + Lannister- After the deaths of both Rheagar Targeryan and Lyanna Stark, Robert and Cersei Lannister were married. Although neither of them like each other, they are still allies none the less.
Now we move on to the enemies:
Stark, Tully + Lannister- With Jaime Lannister pushing Bran out of a window to conceal his incestual relationship with Cersei, and then sending someone to finish the job of killing him so he wouldn’t squeal, let’s just say the Starks (and Tullys) and Lannisters aren’t friends. We of course lost our beloved Sean Bean in episode 9, in front of both of his daughters because he had realised that the ‘Baratheon’ children weren’t legitimate.
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Targeryans + EVERYONE- After the mad king Aegon was slayed by Jaime Lannister, his youngest 2 children were sent to Essos. It’s safe to say that no one in the west is a fan of the dragons.
Series 2
Series 2 was an eventful one, and it saw the introduction of several houses we saw very little of in the first one.
Lannister + Frey- The two come together against the rise of Robb Stark from the North
Lannister + Bolton- Two dangerous houses, both working against the Starks
Martell + Lannister- Myrcella gets shipped of to Dorne to be wed to Trystane Martell
Tyrell + Baratheon- The Tyrells back Renly Baratheon’s claim to the Throne and he is married to Mace Tyrells daughter, Margaery.
Enemies:
Targeryans + EVERYONE- With Viserys gone and 3 dragons under her wing, Daenerys is setting up an army to take back her family’s crown.
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Lannister + Baratheon- With Stannis bringing his army to King’s Landing to take the throne and the introduction of Wildfire, the Blackwater was a battle not to forget.
Baratheon + Baratheon- Now that big brother Robert is dead, the siblings squabble for the throne, unfortunately for Renly, he doesn’t have the advantage of a Red Priestess who can make shadow babies. Poor Renly didn’t see it coming.
Image: here
Greyjoy + Bolton- With the Boltons riding into Winterfell and offering free passage to the Greyjoy men for the gift of Theon, and then slaughtering them anyway- it seems that these two are not fast friends.
Series 3
There’s a clear winner in this series, the Lannisters seem to have wormed their way into friendship with many of the house of Westeros, much to the Stark’s misfortune.
Alliances:
Lannister + Tyrell – Now that Renly is dead, the Tyrells need a new alliance, and what better than having Margeary marry the King, Joffrey.
Lannister + Frey + Bolton – The Red Wedding was arguably the most gruesome scene in the whole series, with the loss of Robb, Catelyn, Talisa, the unborn child and Shaggy dog.
Image: here
Lannister + Stark ( in the form of Tyrion and Sansa)
Enemies:
Starks + Lannisters, Frey and Boltons– Need I say more?
Frey + Tully- Poor Edmuyre saw his family die and has been held hostage at house Frey
Stark + Greyjoy- Now that Robb has left Winterfell, Theon has taken over lordship for himself, turning against little Bran and Rickon. And when Bran and Rickon escaped, he burnt 2 other kids and pretended it was them. Let’s just say he’s not popular.
Series 4
Things are beginning to crack in Westeros, and we begin to see much more enemies than friends.
Allies:
Tyrell + Lannister (apart from Joffreys murder)- there’s not a huge amount to say here, but now that Joffrey is dead: Margaery is to marry his younger brother, Tommen.
Enemies:
Tyrell + Lannister- Unbeknownst to the Lannisters, Tyrion wasn’t the one who killed Joffrey, it was Olenna Tyrell (possibly my favourite character of all) who plotted the attack, and subsequent evacuation of Sansa Stark with none other than Petyr Baelish.
Images: here and here
Martell + Lannister- It’s well known that the Martells hate the Lannisters, after Elia Martell was raped and killed, and her children slaughtered by the mountain, on the order of Tywin Lannister. Of course, being the smug, manipulative man he is- he invites Oberyn Martell to Joffreys wedding, in the hope of winning him over. Little does he know that Oberyn has come for revenge.
After Joffrey’s ultimate demise and Tyrion’s imprisonment, Oberyn volunteers as his champion purely so that he can kill the Mountain. He must have had a pretty bad headache after that fight.
Image: here
Stark + Arryn- After Sansa is evacuated, she is taken in by her aunt Lysa, and promised to be wed to Breastfeeding Robin. However, when Lysa spots Petyr Baelish (her beloved) kissing her niece, she tries to throw Sansa out of the moon door. Luckily Petyr saves the day, pushing Lysa to her death. What will little robin do for food now?
Series 5
After series 4, we see a change in tide within Westeros, the Lannisters aren’t as strong as they used to be and people are beginning to fight back.
Allies:
Lannister + Targeryan- The moment we all waited for, when Tyrion meets Daenerys for the first time, an awesome scene to begin what we hope to be a great alliance.
Greyjoy + Stark- Theon may have been a complete arse in the past, but when it came down to it, he really came through for Sansa, helping her to escape from Ramsay’s sadistic clutches.
Lannister + Tyrell- Margaery and Tommen are a happy couple until she gets put in a cell for knowing about Loras’ sexuality. And Cersei follows behind closely, put behind bars for adultery amongst many other sins. Her walk of atonement was moving and almost made you feel sorry for her… ALMOST
Image: here
Enemies:
Martell + Lannister- After Cersei sends Jaime to retrieve their daughter from Dorne: things don’t end well for the middle child. She dies in Jaime’s arms on the way back to king’s landing after telling him that she always knew he was her father. To be honest I was pretty upset with this death- she was a genuinely good person.
Image: here
Baratheon + Bolton- Stannis and his army fight with Roose’s army in order to claim back Winterfell and begin to gain headway in the journey to King’s Landing. Unfortunately, the Bolton’s army crushed theirs, and Stannis get’s his head chopped of by Brienne of Tarth- loyal protector of Renly. Stannis accepts defeat, he’s already lost his daughter, wife and army- and I think he knows his time is up.
Series 6
A lot happens in this series, we see a complete swap around of alliances, and there is a completely different feel to Westeros as this series comes to an end. It’s very much out with the old, in with the new.
Alliances:
Hooray, I can finally add Targeryans to this section!
Targeryan + Greyjoy- The arrival of Yara and Theon in Mereen was satisfying to say the least, and to watch the flirting between the 2 women was a light relief from all the seriousness that comes from the rest of Westeros at the moment. An alliance between 2 strong women, to overthrow the men and change the Seven Kingdoms for the better? Yes please. Poor Theon did seem very much the third wheel.
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Targeryan + A HUGE ARMY– After burning a few Dothraki men alive and walking threw the flames like a mad woman, Daenerys has gained a second lot of Dothraki followers. So adding that to her existing lot, and the Unsullied- she’s got a decent amount of man power behind her now. Plus Dragons.
Targeryan + Lannister- I for one love this new alliance between the 2 youngest siblings, and the way that Daenerys takes lead from Tyrion’s advice is amazing. The look on his face when she names him hand of the Queen put a little tear in my eye. I’m team Deanerion (that’s a really bad team name) all the way!
Image: here
Targeryan + Sand ( in Martell’s name) + Tyrell- As soon as Varys popped up in Dorne and said those words ‘Fire and Blood’, I had a huge pit of anticipation for next series, I cannot wait! (Although I’m still disappointed I haven’t got Aegon yet).
Stark + THE NORTH- God, the moment the Starks banners came back to Winterfell’s wall, I got shivers. The wolves are finally home, and with the north right behind them, as they should be. Also, seeing Sansa and Jon reunited was just bliss, I can’t wait for Jon and Arya to see each other again.
Image: here
Arryn + Stark- The Battle of the Bastards nearly saw us lose Jon for the second time in 2 seasons, but the knights of the vale saved the day- and although I don’t trust Petyr in the slightest- this was a very satisfying sight.
Enemies:
Martell + Lannister- This won’t change, and although it wasn’t a Martell who killed Myrcella- the two houses are still against each other very much.
Martell + Sand- The sand snakes brutally murdered Tystane Martell, and Ellaria stabbed King Doran in the chest. Bye Bye Martells.
Stark + Frey- Arya finally came back to her senses this series and away from the many faced god, and in turn made a dramatic entry back to Westeros, by feeding Walder Frey his sons in a pie, the slitting his throat.
Stark + Bolton- The Battle of the Bastards was the most epic piece of TV battle choreography I have ever seen, and it captured your attention from start to finish. The Bolton’s battle technique was clever and brutal, just like their namesake. But in the end, Ramsay died at the hands of his own hounds, watched on by Sansa Stark. I loved this moment, because it shows how strong she has become after being thrown from family to family throughout the series. She’s finally taken her life back, and she deserves it.
Bolton + Bolton- After the threat of a legitimate brother and his claim to the Bolton name in jeopardy, Ramsay kills his father, stepmother and the newborn child. Lovely.
Greyjoy + Greyjoy- The crazy little brother of Balon Greyjoy returns to Westeros, kills Balon and becomes the King of the Iron Islands, forcing Yara and Theon to flee to Meereen to seek help from the Dragon Queen. Families, eh?
Lannister + EVERYONE- The tables have turned in Westeros, and a power mad Cersei decides to blow up the sept in King’s Landing- containing Mace, Loras and Margeary Tyrell, The Sparrows, and many other innocents. She has transitioned over the series into the Mad Queen, and after Tommen sadly commits suicide, she takes the throne for herself. Even Jaime doesn’t seem pleased.
Image: here
Overall
The biggest change I have noticed throughout the series so far, is that it began with men fighting over power and land, and men dying over their power and land. And it has shown women being punished, and ridiculed, and pushed over the edge until they rose up and now make up some of the most powerful people in the whole series.
It has been a dramatic series so far, and we have seen shifts of power in all directions- all we can do now is look towards the final 2 series, and hopefully we will finally see Ice and Fire collide. The big war is on now, and the citizens of Westeros will soon have a battle much larger than themselves to compete with.
Winter is here.