Long before the events of Game of Thrones and George R. R. Martin ’s phantasy books , Westeros was home to conjuring trick and foreign , sinister puppet . We ’ve only just started to glimpse this backstory on the show , but the books contain lots of hints . Here ’s our complete templet to the fantastic past of this grim world .
A mess of the event discussed in here take station M of eld before the events of Game of Thrones . Westeros ’ history is divided into Ages , from the Dawn Age and the arrival of humans on the continent , all the way up to the earned run average of Targaryen principle and finally Robert ’s rebellion .
When you hear character reference sing about creatures like Giants , the Children of the Forest and the Others ( or White Walkers in the TV show ) , they ’re let the cat out of the bag about events that occurred over 8,000 years in their past . Westeros ’ more grotesque story was slowly worn down as man entered the picture , leading up to the comparative normalcy of the Westeros we see in the books and TV series , with thing like conjuring trick , wights and dragon only just re - emerging after many , many years of non - existence .
The period of metre Game of Thrones is set in is tumultuous , not just because of the myriad political intrigues that playact out across the Seven Kingdoms , but because this “ normal ” globe of a sudden begins to find its fantastical past times catching up to it for the first time in millennia .
Before Men, There Were Children…
The human race who live Westeros in Game of Thrones are n’t descendants of an original aboriginal species , but of immigrants that came to the continent 12,000 years prior in what is now known as the Dawn Age . Before humans came along , Westeros was sparsely populated – but one of the few races that did call it home was the diminutive specie dubbed “ Children of the Forest ” .
belittled , humanoid creatures with dark pelt and oversized eyes , the Children formed their disparate bon ton across the timber of Westeros ( hence their name ) . Devout followers of what would come to be have a go at it as the Old Gods , the Children were creditworthy for the first Weirwoods , carve faces into the trees of their homes in the belief that the Gods could determine over them through the sculptures . Some Children also had latent magical ability . child were commonly hold with dark eye , but any born with Green eyes originate a sort of foreknowledge — prophetical visions and dreams . fry with this talent became leading figures in the Children ’s bon ton .
It was n’t to last though . When humanity journey to Westeros for the first fourth dimension , from across the Narrow Sea and Essos , they began settling and clearing area for settlement by incinerate the Weirwoods created by the Children , stir up a war between the two species .
The Children were technologically outmatched by the First Men ( who had access to Bronze weaponry and armour , and could fetch reenforcement by ocean ) and were almost pass over out in the fighting — before they negotiated an agreement to apportion Westeros with the First Men , called the Pact . The Pact bought about a time of pacification and understanding between the two races , ( and even inducted many humans into the Old Gods ’ trust ) . And this usher in the end of the Dawn Age and a young era dub the Age of Heroes .
It would n’t last forever , however . When the Andals invaded Westeros , 4,000 long time after the signing of the Pact , they swarmed the First Men and the Children ’s combined forces , cauterise the weirwood forests as they swept across the Seven Kingdoms . Only the North resist , which led to the remaining Children , already course few in number and vastly abbreviate by the Andals , to retreat into the North and beyond the Wall ( more on that afterward ) , to the glacial upper regions of the continent .
Most of Westeros believes the Children have died off entirely , but as Bran Stark find out during his pilgrim’s journey beyond the Wall , that ’s not the case .
… And Giants
But the Children were n’t the solitary occupants of Westeros during the Dawn Age . kin group of massive Giants , bulky humanoids that grow to 12 feet tall also lived there . And like the Children , they were distribute out in groups across all of Westeros . The Children and the Giants occasionally fight down each other over district , but for the most part preserve a heartsease that live on even after the comer of the First Men .
man were less capable to get along with Giants , however , and between both the Andals and the First Men , the Giants were slowly wiped out over the course of grand of twelvemonth . Technologically stagnant — even more than the Children — Giants were force out of their settlements all over Westeros by humans ( the descendent of what would become House Baratheon begin the push from the Stormlands in the south ) , moving further and further N , until they resettled beyond the Wall , distant and untrustworthy of Humankind .
By the time of Mance Rayder ’s rule over the Wildlings as King Beyond the Wall , the remaining Giants — trust to only be around a few hundred in number — had allied with the Wildlings and integrated themselves as part of their society , fighting alongside them against both the Night ’s Watch and the Others .
The Others And The Long Night
The Children and the Giants typify a more peaceful side of Westeros ’ fantastical yesteryear .
But M of class after the First Men and the Children of the Forest sign the Pact , a long , harsh winter bring about an effect that would be called The Long Night , a Winter season that live on for an total coevals , and bring with it an intrusion of the undead from the far northern reaches of Westeros . They descended upon the North , and even further south into Westeros .
No one knows how the Others came about — whether they were native to Westeros , or a grouping of man that settled in the North that became corrupted by brawny magic . With wan blasphemous skin impervious to fervidness and most materials , the Others could raise slain foes as new wight to link their armies . The Others also make for bizarre animate being not seen in any other part of Westeros with them , from decaying mammoths to appall jumbo ice spiders that they used as mounts and as struggle animals .
The creatures swept across Westeros during the Long Night , killing untold numbers of Children and First Men , and nearly driving both species to extermination . However , the Children discovered that the Others could be defeated by their obsidian weaponry , known as “ dragonglass , ” and began to oppose back , finally tug the Others back to the far North and defeating them at the Battle for the Dawn .
What few Others remained were then pin down in the North by the torpedo Brandon the Builder ( who go on to found House Stark ) , who contribute the efforts of the First Men , Children and Giants to progress the magically - enhanced Wall , trap the Others in the upper reaches of the continent . Once the wall was built , the Night ’s Watch was established to guard it , and to fight back any effort by the Others .
The order was almost destroy shortly after its founding however — the 13th commander of the Night ’s Watch allegedly fell in sexual love with a Female Other , eventually marrying her and using her abilities to enthrall the Night ’s Watch . The Commander , now have sex as the Night King , used the Watch and the Others to test and take over the North , committing countless atrocities until he was eventually overwhelmed and vote down . The Watch , so ashamed of their unsuccessful person to safeguard the region , chose to move the Commander ’s name and record from their story leger , forbidding anyone to talk of his name ever again .
chiliad of twelvemonth passed after the Night King ’s reign with no sighting of the Others , leading most of Westeros to believe that they had vanished — or , in most cases , that they had never existed beyond the legends find in the archives of the Citadel . But in contemporary Westeros , the Others are once again renascent , prepare to coin at an altogether unsuspecting Seven Kingdoms — and if the Game of Thrones TV series is to believed ( or more specifically , ahastily - delete reference find in an accompanying guide to the season 4 sequence “ Oathkeeper ” ) , the Night King may have risen to bring together them once more .
The Age Of Valyria
Not all of Westeros ’ mystic history is limit to the upstage past , however — and not all magic result involve Westeros itself .
Three thousand years after the Long Night ended in Westeros , across the sea in Essos , settlers in the Valyria peninsula discovered that dragons had settled there . Using brawny legerdemain the Valyrians tame the dragons , and learned to multiply and control them , using the creatures to establish an empire that spanned across Essos after consuming the former Ghiscari Empire , creating a fellowship that was fueled by magic . The Valyrians even spread as far as a set of island off the coast of Westeros ’ Stormlands , where the Targaryen family emigrated with their own dragon .
After 5,000 year of prosperity , however , the Valyrian empire collapsed in disaster . A cataclysmic event spurred by the Valyrian ’s expectant use of trick ( and the volcanic mountains they had settled in ) snap asunder the Valyrian peninsula , with many dragon and Valyrians go in the wake .
As former citizens rebelled and established the Free Cities of Essos , the Targaryens and their three dragon call up themselves to be the last surviving Valyrians . In an effort to ensure that the Valyrian bequest would last the disaster , they look to Westeros .
After nearly 300 years of Targaryen rule , for most of which Dragon were present , this conduct to the Westeros that we see at the commencement of Game of Thrones : A world with no magic , no flying dragon , and no mystical creatures … or so they believe .
BooksGame of ThronesGeorge R.R. MartinTelevision
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