Complete Guide to Westeros

The Complete Guide to Westeros is a series of 24 special featurettes that appear in the Game of Thrones Season 1 Blu Ray box set. The actual cast, in-character, narrate the major events of the 12,000 year long history of Westeros. They have a combined running time of 60 minutes and functionally constitute a full-length "bonus episode" of sorts. The featurettes were written by series staff writer Bryan Cogman.

The goal is that viewers new to the TV series that are not familiar with author George R.R. Martin's books are given within the space of an hour a thorough crash-course on all of the vital things one needs to know about the backstory of the world of Westeros.

Similar to the theme of the books and TV series that events rarely have black and white "good guys" and "bad guys", each of the characters from different factions in the series gives their own perspective on historical events. For example, Robert Baratheon is filled with righteous fury when he describes the Sack of King's Landing, while Viserys Targaryen stresses what a betrayal it was and how the Targaryen children were butchered. The House Stark characters are horrified by the bloodshed in the Sack of King's Landing, while Tywin Lannister considers it to have been a necessary evil.

There are two groups of featurettes. Five "Great Houses" featurettes are in full-color, and explain the specific history of the major factions in Season 1: House Stark, House Lannister, House Baratheon, House Arryn, and House Targaryen. These featurettes are presented in such a way that the characters themselves are supposed to be narrating them in-universe, while the characters are viewing artwork which stylistically represents these histories. For example, the "House Lannister" featurette consists of the camera panning across a series of stained-glass images in a castle, as Tywin Lannister (supposedly off-screen) explains to his "guest" the specific events in the history of House Lannister that they represent.

The remaining 19 featurettes are part of a series called "History and Lore". They consist of black and white sketches of historical events, still narrated by the characters, but presented with more straightforward images (instead of stylistically interpreted histories represented in stained glass or illuminated manuscripts).

The Children of the Forest, The First Men, and the coming of the Andals
Narrator: Bran Stark

The continent of Westeros was originally inhabited by a non-human race known as the Children of the Forest. No bigger than human children when grown, this aboriginal race ruled Westeros for unknown ages. Their wise men known as Greenseers are said to have wielded powerful magics. The Children of the Forest worshiped the innumerable and nameless spirits of every tree, rock, and stream, the Old Gods of the Forest. It was the Children who carved faced into the trunks of the sacred weirwood trees.

12,000 years ago, the first humans to live in Westeros migrated from the eastern continent, Essos, across a land bridge known as the Arm of Dorne, and they became known as the "First Men" (not the first in the world, but the first in Westeros). The First Men and the Children of the Forest engaged in wars for dominance of Westeros for two thousand years. The First Men were more numerous than the Children, armed with weapons of bronze and riding horses. Eventually, both sides came together on an island in Gods Eye lake in central Westeros, and established a lasting peace known as The Pact: the First Men were granted dominion over the coastlands, mountains, high plains, and the bogs of Westeros, but the deep forests would belong to the Children. The First Men agreed never to cut down a sacred weirwood tree again. To seal The Pact, the Children carved a face into every weirwood tree on the island, known ever since as the Isle of Faces.

6,000 years ago, a race of tall fair-haired warriors known as the Andals invaded Westeros from the eastern continent. Armed with steal and wearing heavy armor, the First Men and the Children were overwhelmed. The Andals burned out the weirwood groves, and seeing their magic as an abomination, slaughtered the Children of the Forest wherever they encountered them. The Andals suppressed the religion of the Old Gods, and spread their new religion throughout Westeros, the Faith of the Seven.

In the centuries that followed, the Andals spread through Westeros and conquered all of its regions, except for one: the North. Led by the Kings of Winter, the line of House Stark, the First Men living in the North were able to repel the repeated attempts by Andal kingdoms to invade (due to the geographical choke point of the Neck which separates the North from southern Westeros). To this day, the Northerners are direct descendants of the First Men, and continue to worship the Old Gods.

As for the Children of the Forest, the handful that survived the slaughter by the Andals were said to have fled to the far north, Beyond the Wall, and have not been seen again. Most think they are long dead, and many think they are merely the stuff of legends and never existed at all. But the carved faces remain in the weirwood trees.

The Long Night, the White Walkers, and the Birth of the Night's Watch
Narrator: Lord Commander Jeor Mormont

Legend tells of a winter 8,000 years ago that lasted a generation, and a darkness which fell on the land, which came to be known as The Long Night. In the midst of this darkness, the demonic non-human race known as the White Walkers emerged from the far north. They killed all they came into contact with, and magically resurrected the dead as Wights to fight the living. After years of horrible conflict and loss, an alliance of the First Men and the Children of the Forest was able to drive back the White Walkers and their armies of the dead, to the furthest north from whence they came.

As a safeguard against another invasion, the First Men built "The Wall", a massive fortification of ice,stone 700 feet high, and stretching across the entire continent at the narrowest point in the north, from the Frostfang mountains in the west to the Bay of Seals in the east. According to legend, the Wall infused with powerful magical spells to prevent the White Walkers from crossing it. Indeed, many say that a structure so massive as the Wall could only have been constructed with the aid of Giants, and the magic of the Children of the Forest.

Men were required to guard and maintain the Wall, so the sworn brotherhood of the Night's Watch was created. The Night's Watch has, according to legend, been actively guarding the Wall and the realms of men south of it for the past eight thousand years unbroken, against the dark forces that lay in the unknown lands beyond it. Life in the Night's Watch is one of hardship and sacrifice: the vows are taken for life, and the penalty for desertion is death.

Mormont then explains some of the internal structure of the Night's Watch. It is divided into three branches: the Rangers, the Builders, and the Stewards. All sworn brothers of the Night's Watch are expected to be able to fight should the need arise, but the Rangers are their true warriors, actively scouting beyond the Wall for threats. Although the White Walkers have not returned in eight thousand years, barbarian tribes of men known as Wildlings live north of the Walll and frequently try to raid the lands south of it. Thus, while ever-vigilant against the return of the White Walkers, the common duty of the Night's Watch and its Rangers came to be to defend the lands to the south against these savage raiders. The Builders are carpenters, masons, miners, and woodsmen. They are tasked with maintaining the Wall, its castles, and various other structures, most of which have fallen into disrepair over the centuries. The Stewards serve as cooks, butchers, and hunters, providing logistically support for the rest of the Night's Watch. They also tend to the horses, and the messenger-ravens, as well as sow clothing, gather firewood, and bring supplies from further south.

The Night's Watch is a diverse group composed of volunteers from noble Houses and petty criminals forcibly conscripted from dungeons. But all class distinctions that exist south of the Wall are left behind on joining the Night's Watch. A man gets what he earns in the Night's Watch, and even a lowborn peasant can rise to a position of high rank if he proves himself worthy.

The Night's Watch has diminished with time, but it still maintains its vigil after eight thousand years. Dynasties rose and fell in the south, the Andals invaded, and later House Targaryen conquered Westeros, but the Night's Watch has endured.

The History of the Night's Watch - House Stark
Narrator: Maester Luwin

Maester Luwin explains that in current times, many noble Houses in the North such as House Stark still consider "taking the black" (joining the Night's Watch) to be an honor, because their ancestors the First Men established it and their lands are closest to the Wall and potential Wildling attacks that try to cross it. However, the Night's Watch no longer commands the admiration and respect it once did with the powerful Houses from all of the southern kingdoms. Even their subjects in the south think that the Night's Watch is an obsolete order made up of outcasts.

Maester Luwin admits that in the current generation the Night's Watch is a shadow of its former glory. Their numbers have dwindled to less than a thousand. Of the 19 castles built along the Wall, only three are still functional and manned: the Shadow Tower on the west end, their headquarters at Castle Black in the middle, and Eastwatch-by-the-Sea on the eastern end on the Bay of Seals (which serves as their main port to and from cities on the east coast like King's Landing). Any efforts to add to their fortifications and the Wall have long since been abandoned, as they barely have the resources to maintain what they have.

Recruiting officers known as "wandering crows" (such as Yoren) scour the dungeons and slums of the realm to find new recruits. The Night's Watch still gets the occasional noble-born volunteer now and then, even Maester Luwin admits that the newest recruits are almost entirely criminals; thieves, rapists, and murderers sent to the Wall as punishment for their crimes. Others are starving commoners so desperately poor that they join the Night's Watch simply to have something to eat.

The decline of the Night's Watch is troubling, because even if the White Walkers are simply myths, there is a very real danger in the barbarian tribes known as the Wildlings that live north of the Wall. At certain points in history, the disparate Wildling tribes have united behind a single leader, an over-chief known as a "King-Beyond-the-Wall", who has rallied them to make large-scale attacks south of the Wall. In past centuries, every time a new "King-Beyond-the-Wall" led the Wildlings to threaten the realm, they were soundly defeated by the Night's Watch. But today, the Night's Watch has dwindling numbers, lack of widespread support, and winter is coming...

The History of the Night's Watch - House Lannister
Narrator: Lord Tywin Lannister

Tywin Lannister sarcastically recounts the story of the creation of the Night's Watch, the original war against the White Walkers and the creation of the Wall with magic. Tywin then says that these are lies, fairy tales told to children in the North and nothing more. To be sure a giant Wall does exist, but how does anyone know that it was made with magic? It seems to be just a triumph of engineering.

Tywin admits that in previous centuries there may have been prestige and honor in serving in the Night's Watch. But today, Tywin says, the Wall is a glorified penal colony. The membership of the Night's Watch is primarily composed of outcasts, criminals, and assorted ne'er-do-wells. Most are either beggars who could not afford to feed themselves, rapists and murderers who chose joining the Night's Watch instead of their assigned punishment, or village idiots. Bastard children of noble Houses join the Night's Watch because they have nothing to inherit where they are.

Maester Luwin had pointed out that there are still the occasional highborn volunteers from noble Houses. Tywin explains that these few highborn members of the Night's Watch either fought on the wrong side of a war, or were disowned by their parents for one reason or another.

Safe at Casterly Rock in the south, Tywin waves aside claims that the Night's Watch still provides protection against the very real danger of the Wildling tribes north of the Wall. Tywin says that they are a nuisance, primitives that are not sophisticated or powerful enough to be a significant threat to the realm. Meanwhile, Tywin doesn't believe any of the old myths about the White Walkers or the possibility of their return.

 Notes : As Tywin explains, noblemen who fought for the losing side in a war are often given the choice between execution or being exiled to serve on the Wall. Thus in the current generation, quite a few Targaryen-loyalists ended up choosing exile to the Wall after the fall of House Targaryen in Robert's Rebellion, such as Ser Alliser Thorne and Ser Jaremy Rykker. Samwell Tarly, meanwhile, is the firstborn son of a powerful noble House, which is quite unusual for the Night's Watch. However, his militaristic father Randyll Tarly disowned him because he is fat and bookish, and a scholar could not follow in his own warlike footsteps. Thus Samwell's father gave him the choice that he could either join the Night's Watch, or be killed by his father. A small handful still join in the manner initially envisioned, in which younger sons of noble Houses with nothing to inherit at home join the Night's Watch, as was the case with Ser Waymar Royce, a third son.

Jeor Mormont himself actually used to be the head of House Mormont, but did not lose a war or become dishonored. As a staunch Northerner well aware of the threats beyond the Wall, after many years he willingly retired from his duties in House Mormont to join the Night's Watch. Such a manner of joining, purely out of voluntarily belief in the goals of the Night's Watch, is extremely rare, indeed.

The Old Gods and The New
Narrators: Bran Stark and Catelyn Tully Stark

In the present-day, the dominant religion in the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros is the Faith of the Seven, which was introduced by the Andal invaders some 6,000 years ago.

Recapping the last segment, Bran Stark explains that the First Men took up the worship of the Old Gods of the Forest from the non-human Children of the Forest. The religion of the Old Gods which worships innumerable and nameless spirits of nature, and devotion is centered around sacred weirwood trees. The castles of the First Men throughout Westeros each came to be built to contain a godswood, with a weirwood tree at its center known as a heart tree, a weirwood that had a face carved in it by the Children of the Forest.

Catelyn Stark explains that according to legend, 6,000 years ago in a region of the eastern continent of Essos known as Andalos (on the north-west coast), the "God of Seven" revealed itself to the Andals. Spurred on with the zeal of their new faith, the Andals soon sailed west across the Narrow Sea to conquer Westeros. Many Andal warriors carved a Seven Pointed Star into their flesh as a symbol of their new faith. The Andals were armed with weapons of steel and wore heavy armor, swept across Westeros.

Bran continues, reiterating that the Andals conquered all of the kingdoms of the First Men, except for the Stark-held North, where the worship of the Old Gods continued. The Andals cut down most of the weirwood trees in southern Westeros, and slaughtered the Children of the Forest wherever they encountered them, and they have not been seen since. The religion of the Andals, the Faith of the Seven, spread with their armies and became the dominant religion of all of Westeros except the North.

Catelyn and Bran then give a more detailed explanation of the beliefs and structure of the Faith of the Seven. The Seven is "a single deity with seven aspects". Each of the "aspects" symbolizes, and is responsible for, a different area of life. The "God of Seven" is a single deity, though most people casually refer to them as separate "gods".

The Field of Fire - House Stark
Robb Stark describes how Aegon burned down the Gardener and Lannister forces in the south, and then planned to attack the North. Robb describes Torrhen's role and his determination to not let the Targaryens succeed. When confronted with Aegon's mighty host, he realizes he could nto subject his people to this horror, and wisely-selflessly-surrendered.

House Stark
Robb and Bran Stark describe their houses origins in the wake of the long night, and the construction of the wall under Brandon the Builder, who unified the North under House Stark, making them the oldest great house on the continent.

Robb mentions with pride the North's unconquerable stance against the Andals, standing strong while Southron Kingdoms fell.

Robb also describes how Aegon burned down the Gardener and Lannister forces in the south, and then planned to attack the North. Robb describes Torrhen's role and his determination to not let the Targaryens succeed. When confronted with Aegon's mighty host, he realizes he could nto subject his people to this horror, and wisely-selflessly-surrendered.

Bran talks of Ice, The Stark family heirloom, and the symbolism of the Direwolf sigil, commenting that House Stark is the stuff of legend and wonder. Robb and Bran speak at the same time, linking their motto to the hardships of life.

Voice Cast

 * Charles Dance as Lord Tywin Lannister
 * Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark
 * Richard Madden as Robb Stark
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * Donald Sumpter as Maester Luwin
 * James Cosmo as Lord Commander Jeor Mormont
 * Mark Addy as King Robert Baratheon
 * Harry Lloyd as Prince Viserys Targaryen