Test Your GOT Knowledge: Did These Things Really Happen?
- by Dylan Dembrow
- – on
- in Movies and TV
With only a handful of episodes left, it feels like Game of Thrones fever has been at an all-time high this past season. After years and years of waiting, audiences have finally gotten to see the Starks return to Winterfell, while Daenerys Targaryen has finally landed on the shores of the Seven Kingdoms to reclaim her birthright. Not to mention that the White Walkers are fast approaching the Wall and threatening all of mankind's' existence.
The stakes may be raised, the budget of the show may be higher, but unfortunately, once season seven wraps up, audiences will have another grueling wait to see how this hit HBO series manages to wrap everything up. But that will also give everyone plenty of time to binge-watch the entire series from start to finish once again.
Game of Thrones has so many characters, plot lines, and plot twists that it can certainly be hard to keep track of everything if you’ve only been watching the episodes as they air. In fact, with so much going on it can be hard to remember what happened even a few seasons ago. So it’s time to separate the true plot line from the false ones.
Do you know if these events actually took place on Game of Thrones?
Bronn almost killed Drogon, Dany’s most powerful dragon.
Bronn has certainly come a long way since we first met him. Though the ragged warrior may still be nothing more than a sellsword, he's aligned himself with the richest family in Westeros ever since he decided to fight as Tyrion's champion in a trial by combat at the Vale. Since then, he took place in the defense of King's Landing against Stannis Baratheon's fleet, earning him the nickname Ser Bronn of the Blackwater. Though he now serves under Jaime instead of Tyrion, it's fair to say that Bronn just goes wherever the gold is.
Jon Arryn was poisoned by Cersei because he learned that the king’s children were illegitimate.
If there's one event that really gets the events of Game of Thrones rolling, it is the untimely death of King Robert's Hand, Jon Arryn. Though Jon Arryn is never actually shown alive on screen, he is taken about numerous times throughout the first season, particularly how he spent his last days and the conditions surrounding his death. The new King's Hand, Ned Stark believes that Jon was likely murdered rather than taken by sickness, but unfortunately, Ned also meets an early demise before he can discover the truth behind Jon's death.
Davos Seaworth is nicknamed the Onion Knight for how bad his feet smell.
The power in the Seven Kingdoms often belongs to the Great Houses, Davos Seaworth has proven that even a poor boy from Flea Bottom can go on to achieve great things. Though Davos may not be a learned man, he's as common sensical as they come, and he has risen to the ranks of Stannis Baratheon Hand and is now serving under Jon Snow, the King of the North. Davos is sometimes mockingly referred to as the Onion Knight, but do you remember how he acquired such an unusual nickname?
The Night King was once a mortal man, turned into a White Walker by the Children of the Forest.
Since the first scene of episode one, the White Walkers have remained a mysterious presence looming in the background of the entire series. But now with Jon and a handful of other brave warriors headed back beyond the Wall, the White Walker and their leader the Night King have become the main antagonist of the series. Outside of Valyrian Steel and dragonglass, the mysterious beings seem nearly indestructible. Not to mention that they've literally been alive for thousands upon thousands of year, biding their time beyond the Wall and waiting for the most opportune time to strike.
Oberyn Martell fought The Mountain to avenge the death of his first wife.
First Tyrion got lucky when Bronn volunteered to fight in his stead, then Oberyn Martell strolled into the scene and also offered to serve as Tyrion's champion during another trial by combat. But instead of money, the already rich Dornishman was interested in revenge again The Mountain, along with Tywin Lannister, who Oberyn believed have the Mountain permission to carry out a number of horrible atrocities. Unfortunately, Tyrion wouldn't be so lucky a second time, and Oberyn's lust for revenge would end up costing him his head -- and his life.
Before his death, Tywin Lannister was having a secret affair with Lady Olenna to secure Highgarden.
Tywin Lannister was such an excellent military strategist and master manipulator that it's a wonder he never tried to secure the Iron Throne himself. No doubt that he would have been able to hold it than most of the kings we've seen pop up on the show since the beginning of the series. Tywin was also an expert at securing alliances with other Great Houses, often at his childrens' expense, as he married Tyrion to House Stark and his grandson to House Tyrell.
Mirri Maz Duur killed Khal Drogo with blood magic to avenge her people.
When Mirri Maz Duur steps forward to aid Dany, we believe that the elderly woman truly means to help. After all, the Khal's wife did spare Mirri and a number of her people from being brutalized by the Dothraki. However, it is later revealed that the sorceress is playing Dany for a fool and that she is still bitter over the massacre of her people. While it may be easy to call Mirri a traitor, we can't forget that the Dothraki are famous for pillaging town and raping the women without a moment's hesitation.
Jon Snow was revealed to be the legitimate child of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.
For his entire life, Jon Snow has always thought of himself as the bastard child of Lord Eddard Stark and some unspoken woman that he was with while off fighting during Robert's Rebellion. But as we've recently learned, Jon was actually born to Ned's sister, Lyanna Stark, after she was stolen away by Prince Rhaegar. However, it seems that only a few people actually known the truth behind Jon's birth, and it's still up in the air over whether he'll discover who he really is before the series ends.
Arya Stark tried to feed Walder Frey his own wife that she baked into a pie.
Arya's training at the House of Black and White has paid off massively, as in a recent episode she was able to hold her own while sparring with Brienne of Tarth, one of the most renowned sword fighters in the Seven Kingdoms. Arya also still has a few names left on her death list, and we don't doubt that she could assassinate every single one of them if she put her mind to it. Though for the time being, she seems satisfied with the revenge she was able to enact on the Freys.
The Hound is afraid of fire because his brother burned his face when they were children.
While most of the evil character on Game of Thrones go from bad to worse, the Hound is one of the few unsavory characters that have actually become more likable over time. Despite things never seeming to go his way after he departed Joffrey's side and King's Landing, the Hound has seemed to find his calling alongside the Brotherhood without Banners. Sandor Clegane is currently headed north of the Wall alongside Jon Snow to fight against the White Walkers in the service of the Lord of Light.
Jaime Lannister lost his sword hand while battling Robb Stark in the Whispering Wood.
Jaime Lannister has always been smug, but losing his hand has definitely been one of the best things that could have happened to this member of the Kingsgaurd. Since the injury, Jaime has been forced to examine his worth beyond being one of the best sword fighters in the Seven Kingdoms. He knows that his legacy will probably not be made on the battlefield, and instead, Jaime has tried to right his past wrong and try to unearth what little honor he has left inside himself.
It was revealed that Lord Varys has been pretending to be a eunuch this entire time so people are more likely to trust him.
Much like Littlefinger, it was unclear who Lord Varys truly served at the start of the series. But after King's Robert death and the rule of Joffrey began to spin the Seven Kingdoms into chaos, it was revealed that Varys had chosen to support Daenerys Targaryen's claim to the throne, believing the Mother of Dragons to be the greatest hope of restoring peace. Although Varys is no longer the Master of Whispers serving on the Small Council, he certainly has no shortage of secrets still tucked up his sleeves.
After his death, the Frey’s attached Grey Wind’s head to Robb Stark’s body.
Despite his young age and lack of inexperience on the battlefield, Robb Stark somehow managed to win every battle that he found himself squaring off against the Lannisters. Unfortunately, the Young Wolf shot himself in the foot when he decided to break his word to the Freys and marry a woman of his own choosing instead of one of Walder's daughters as a marriage alliance. This would inevitably lead to Robb's downfall when he ventured to the Twins to apologize and lost far more than an ally.
Mance Rayder was burned at the stake by Jon Snow for deserting the Night’s Watch long ago.
Once a brother of the Night's Watch, Mance Rayder defected to the other side of the Wall due to his love for women and wildling music. However, when the cold winds of winter began to stir, Mance was tasked with uniting the various tribes of Free Folk to wage the greatest attack on the Night's Watch ever orchestrated in an attempt to get away from the White Walkers. But in an unexpected turn of events, another party swept in from the ocean and caught Mance totally unaware and ended up capturing the King-beyond-the-Wall.
King Joffrey was poisoned at his own wedding feast by Lady Olenna with the help of Tyrion Lannister.
With the White Walkers currently on the doorstep of the Seven Kingdoms, it's hard to imagine that there was a time when King Joffrey was the biggest threat to Westeros. But even if he was just a boy, Joffrey was relentlessly ruthless, and it was only a matter of time before someone was going to kick him off the Iron Throne. In an unexpected turn of events, Joffrey is poisoned during his own wedding feast. Though Tyrion is immediately blamed by Cersei, there were far more people in involved than she expected.
Dany smothered her first husband to death.
Though Dany certainly wasn't as dainty as Sansa Stark at the beginning of the series, the young Targaryen was far from the ruthless conqueror she is today. Dany had a fairly quick rise to power, which began once to she was wed to Khal Drogo and was finally able to see the world from outside the shadow of her sinister older brother Viserys. While she is rubbing many of the Great Houses in Westeros the wrong way, we don't doubt that she'll be able to at least secure a number of the Seven Kingdoms within the next few episodes.
Jaqen H’ghar was revealed to be Arya’s former sword trainer, Syrio Forel, who was also from Braavos.
There's still a lot we don't know about Jaquen H'ghar, like how he ever came to be imprisoned in the Black Cells of the Red Keep, or why he let Arya off so easily for killing the Waif. But know that Arya has made her way back to Westeros, there's a good chance that most of these question will continue to be up for the audience to speculate on. But one thing's for sure, and that's that Jaqen has played a huge role in making Arya the expert assassin that she is today.
Myrcella Baratheon accepted that Jaime was her father moments before her death.
Now that Cersei is Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, she doesn't seem to care anymore if anyone knows about her relationship with her brother. And while Jaime is flattered that his sister is no longer embarrassed, he's worried about what the kingdoms will think. When his children were alive, Jaime longed to be a father figure to them but was required to keep his distance to keep people's suspicions at bay. It's currently unknown if Cersei is really pregnant, or if she is just playing on Jaime's desires to father a child of his own with her.
While on his death bed, Ned Stark told King Robert that his children are actually not his at all.
King Robert Baratheon may not have wanted to be king, but no one can deny that the realm was relatively peaceful throughout his entire reign. Despite the Targaryens ruling the Seven Kingdoms for generations, the people quickly accepted Robert as their king because he was a competent warrior with a heavy dose of charisma, which is something we can't exactly say about his "children." However, Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella are not his children at all, which is why none of them were as well suited for the throne as their "father."
Beric Dondarrion was killed during trial by combat against the Hound.
Once a bannerman for House Baratheon, Lord Beric Dondarrion was sent on a mission by Ned Stark to have Gregor Clegane answer for his crimes. But the Lightning Lord never returned to King's Landing, and he was said to have become the leader of a guerilla resistance against the Lannisters and their allies. Beric began serving the Lord of Light, and he joined up with the drunkard Red Priest Thoros of Myr to execute those who took advantage of the common folk.
Grand Maester Pycelle was stabbed to death by Qyburn moments before the Great Sept of Baelor blew up.
For someone who seemed so oblivious to the politics of the Seven Kingdoms, Grand Maester Pycelle actually lasted for a pretty long time in King's Landing before being killed off, luckily due to the fact that he was hardly a threat to anyone. But when Cersei Lannister was finally free of the High Sparrows imprisonment, she wasn't shy about beginning to knock off anyone that was of no use to her, and Grand Maester Pycelle was easily near the top of her list.
Shae had secretly been plotting against Tyrion for their whole relationship at the request of his father, Tywin.
With Cersei champion his guilt and Tywin pulling the strings of the trail, it wasn't much of a surprise that Tyrion was going to be found guilty of murdering his son Joffrey. But no one would have expected that his former lover Shae would take the stand against him. Though Tyrion is almost always the most clever person in the room, he has a bad track record when it comes to women, as he impulsively married a common girl when he was a young man which also ended tragically.
The Lord of Bones was beaten to death by Tormund while the two were at Hardhome.
The Lord of Bones, also known as Rattleshirt, was a leader of a tribe of Free Folk who lived north beyond the Wall. When Jon took part in the great ranging, he was sent off with Qhorin Halfhand to track Mance's movements through the Frostfangs, but before they could report back to the Fist of the First Men, the brothers of the Night's Watch were captured by Rattleshirt and taken prisoner. When Jon returns north to treat with the wildlings, the Lord of Bones refuses to trust him.
Ser Arthur Dayne was slain by a young Ned Stark during the Tower of Joy flashback.
Ser Arthur Dayne, also known as The Sword of the Morning, was a knight serving the Targaryens during the Mad King's reign. He is a Dornishmen who was considered one of the greatest fighters that ever lived, and he wielded his house sword, titled Dawn. During one of Bran's trips with the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran sees what really happened at the Tower of Joy, when his father, a young Eddard Stark, challenges Ser Arthur Dayne to a duel so he can rescue his sister, who is being kept in the tower.
Dany had Samwell’s father and brother burned to death for refusing to bend the knee.
Although Tyrion and Varys are desperately worried that Daenerys will begin to acquire the same reputation as her father, Dany knows that she can't have the title of the Mother of Dragons if she doesn't actually ride her creatures into battle. Therefore, when things quickly don't look to be going her way, the self-proclaimed queen takes Drogon to battle against the Lannister forces, but little does she know that Cersei has been preparing for her dragons arrival better than she previously imagined.
The Blackfish escaped Riverrunn by swimming under the water gate in the dark of night.
Brynden Tully, more commonly referred to as the Blackfish, is one of many characters who has a different fate on the TV show than he does in the books. However, in both stories, he refuses to surrender Riverrun to the Freys and the Lannister after they murdered his lord and nephew, Robb Stark, at the Red Wedding. Thus, Jaime Lannister is sent to retake the castle, though he finds Brynden less than willing to discuss on kind of surrender with the infamous Kingslayer.
Stannis Baratheon was executed by Brienne of Tarth for using blood magic to assassinate his younger brother.
Though he was actually the one next in line for the Iron Throne after King Robert's death, Stannis Baratheon desperately lacked the charisma and manpower to take King's Landing on his own, and he was forced with traveling north to try and take the Seven Kingdoms one by one. However, under the counsel of Melisandre, Stannis did some truly unspeakable things, including allowing his own daughter, Shireen, to be burned at the stake in a last ditch a tempt to make it through the storm and take Winterfell before it was too late.
Lysa Arryn killed her own husband because she was madly in love with Littlefinger.
Despite being a largely incompetent ruler who wanted to take no part in the happenings of the other six kingdoms, Lysa Arryn survived for a number of seasons thanks to living in one of the most well-protected castles in the realm. However, that still didn't stop her from being pushed at the Moon Door shortly after Littlefinger and Sansa Stark arrived in the Vale. Though Petyr new the elders of the Vale would never accept him as their ruler at first, Petyr has managed to keep Robin Arryn better under his thumb now that his mother is gone.
Ygritte was accidentally killed by Jon Snow during the battle at Castle Black.
Despite being lovers beyond the Wall, Jon's honor would eventually lead him back to the Night's Watch, away from Ygritte and making the couple mortal enemies once again. In fact, even years after her death Jon seems to show little interest in ever being with another woman, despite the fact that he is no longer a brother of the Night's Watch and he is free to be with whoever he chooses. In a show filled with shocking deaths, Ygritte's departure was certainly one of the hardest to bear.
It was revealed that Leaf created the White Walkers to help fight against the dragons that were burning down their forests.
Although the Children of the Forest were thought to be extinct for thousands of years, when Bran arrives at the cave of the Three-Eyed Raven, he meets Leaf, the leader of the Children who has been alive for over ten thousand years. Though the Children now fight against the White Walkers, it was revealed that Leaf actually created the Night King to use as a weapon. However, their weapon grew far more powerful than imagined and sought to destroy their creators along with the entire race of men.
Barristan Selmy was slain by the Sons of the Harpy during the ambush at the great fighting pit in Meereen.
Despite his age, Barristan Selmy was still considered one of the greatest swordsman alive at the time he was dismissed from the Kingsgaurd by Joffrey. This came as an outrageous insult to Selmy, who had sworn on oath to serve for life. So instead of going peacefully into retirement, Barristan decided to travel to Essos where he would live out the rest of his days protecting and offering guidance to the Mother of Dragons. But unfortunately for Barristan, even the most skilled swordsman can be easily outnumbered.
Jeor Mormont was killed by his own men upon returning to Castle Black.
Lord Commander Mormont, also knows as the Old Bear, started losing the support of his men after leading a great ranging beyond the Wall to see the whereabouts of Mance Rayder. Unfortunately, many of the brothers weren't as prepared as Jon Snow, and after a skirmish and a cold storm, a gang of mutineers began to form in Mormont's ranks. It's likely that if Jon and Qhorin had remained at his side, the gang of traitors might have been more hesitant to hold an open rebellion against their sworn leader.
Theon Greyojoy decided to take Winterfell in an attempt to impress his father.
Theon Greyjoy was given to the Starks at a young age to act as their ward, which is basically a fancy word for hostage since the Greyjoy's had openly rebelled against the crown and needed to be put into check. Despite all this, Eddard tried to raise Theon as if he were another one of his sons, teaching him how to be an honorable man and a seasoned warrior. Unfortunately, when Theon returned home his own father was far less welcoming, which sent Theon on a path of self-destruction.
Will escaped the White Walkers only to be beheaded by Lord Commander Mormont for deserting the Night’s Watch.
For a series that has definitely limited the number of times we've gotten to see the White Walkers, it's hard to believe now that you actually get your first glimpse at them in the very first scene of the series. Here, we see three members of the Night's Watch travel north of the Wall to track a wildling party, only to stumble upon a far grusome scene than they ever expected. The Ranger Will is the only one that is ultimately managed to escape.
Podrick Payne was revealed to be yet another one of Robert Baratheon’s bastard sons.
As Tyrion has told us, there has been no squire more loyal than that of Podrick Payne. Podrick has been on the series for almost its entirety, always hovering around in the background and slowly learning to be a better fighter while working under Tyrion, Bronn and now Brienne of Tarth. He is one of only a handful of characters that seems good to the core, even if he can be a bit of a dunce. He's also known to have a way with the ladies, which might be a result of his heredity.