A Clash of Kings

Part of the appeal behind Martin’s wildly popular epic high fantasy series owes to the intricate realization of the world the characters occupy. Although A Clash of Kings is the direct sequel to A Game of Thrones, the history of Westeros provides helpful context for the motivations of certain characters and the power struggles that inform these books.

Fifteen years before the start of A Game of Thrones, the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros were ruled by King Aerys of House Targaryen, a dynasty that spanned three centuries of rule in the continent’s history. The Targaryens conquered the Seven Kingdoms with the use of dragons. However, family infighting culminated in a civil war called the Dance of the Dragons, which marked the supposed extinction of dragons. This coincided with the decline of House Targaryen until the time of King Aerys and many of the adult characters in A Game of Thrones.

Following the kidnapping of Lyanna Stark by Aerys’s eldest son and heir, Rhaegar, Aerys ordered the deaths of Lyanna’s kin, including her brother, Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, and her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End.