The Game of Thrones TV series is responsible for spreading several misconceptions about the world of Westeros. Of course, HBO can’t be blamed entirely for this. There is no screen adaptation that could ever cover a fantasy world with the scope of a book series. George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire is especially detailed in the way of lore, so it really would have been impossible for Game of Thrones to fill viewers in on all the details. With so much left unsaid, lies are bound to be believed.

Still, while several elements of confusion and misunderstandings can be blamed on the lack of additional information within the on-screen narrative, it can’t be denied that Game of Thrones has also made some specifically misleading adjustments. This is typically for convenience, but there’s also an added element of drama and flair. Game of Thrones and then, later, House of the Dragon, leaned heavily into certain falsehoods for no other reason than that it was simply cooler than what Martin wrote.

The trouble is that TV viewers now seem to live in a different reality from book fans. There is the Westeros of the screen, and then Westeros of the page. If you’ve only ever watched Game of Thrones, you might not even realize you fell right into these lies.

Half Of All Targaryens Go Mad

There’s a saying in Game of Thrones—”When a Targaryen is born, the gods flip a coin.” Cersei mentions this early on in the series, and it is repeated on other occassions, implying that this is a truth that everyone in Westeros knows and understands. There’s certainly a lot of evidence for it. The Targaryens ruled the Seven Kingdoms for centuries, and while there were some great kings, there were also several tyrants. House of the Dragon has further emphasized this, showcasing how the madness of House Targaryen led the family to tear itself apart.

While this line technically comes from Martin’s books, the context and general usage are different. The people of Westeros certainly have their opinions about Targaryens, but this widespread belief that there is a 50% chance that the next Targaryen will lose their mind doesn’t exist. Instead, it was only Ser Barristan Selmy who spoke this line to Daenerys, and he was repeating what he had once heard from her grandfather, King Jaehaerys II Targaryen:

“King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, he said, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land.”

Jaehaerys isn’t initially talking specifically about the Targaryens. He states that, objectively, madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire goes to great lengths to demonstrate how it wasn’t a specific bloodline that caused madness, but the act of ruling in general. The Targaryens ruled Westeros for centuries, so Jaehaeyra was naturally talking about the Targaryens. However, far fewer than 50% of Targaryens went mad—really only a small fraction. Whether Targaryen, Baratheon, Lannister, or Stark, anyone who sits the throne is a risk.

True Targaryen Rulers Are Fireproof

This is an example of a Game of Thrones lie told on purpose for the sake of drama. We all saw in season 1 when Daenerys Targaryen claimed that her brother hadn’t been a true dragon, since fire cannot kill a dragon. We then saw her herself survive the burning pyre while hatching her dragon eggs. Then, later, when held captive by the Dothraki Khals, Daenerys burned the place to the ground and once again didn’t suffer a single burn.

This naturally led to the idea that Targaryens are fireproof. This created further confusion when Jon Snow was revealed to be a Targaryen, even though it had already been established that he could burn like anyone else. Did this mean he wasn’t a worthy ruler? Did this fact prove without a shadow of a doubt that Daenerys, not Jon, was meant to be king?

In truth, Daenerys was only fireproof for that one single moment in her life in A Song of Ice and Fire. Her ability to survive the flames was a result of the very specific circumstances of that funeral and the blood sacrifice that came with it. Daenerys saw in a dream what she had to do, and it worked. From that moment on, however, she could burn just like the many other Targaryens who died in flames before her.

The Night King Is The Central Villain Of Game Of Thrones

It’s easy for even book fans to forget that the Night King we see in Game of Thrones doesn’t actually exist in A Song of Ice and Fire—at least not in the same capacity. In Martin’s books, the threat to the north is referred to as “Others.” HBO redubbed them as White Walkers and gave them a single, ancient, immortal, supreme leader known as the Night King. This isn’t the case in the books, where the Others are a purely mysterious force with no evident organization.

The idea of a “Night King” certainly comes from A Song of Ice and Fire, but the character wasn’t actually an Other. Rather, the “Night’s King” refers to a legend regarding the 13th commander of the Night’s Watch, who fell in love with an Other and declared himself king. It took a joining of the Starks and Wildlings to take this “king” down, but he was himself still a mortal man.

This is one of those Northern stories that may have bits and pieces of the truth mixed in, though it’s hard to be certain. Regardless, the frightening monster we see Arya defeat in Game of Thrones is an invention of the show. While A Song of Ice and Fire may reveal that the Children of the Forest created the Others as a weapon against the First Men, this Night King is very unlikely to be among them.

Characters Can Be Brought Back To Life Without Consequence

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Game of Thrones makes it pretty clear that death doesn’t necessarily have to be the end. Especially when it comes to the Lord of Light, people who have a certain purpose can be brought back by someone who knows what they are doing. The same is true in A Song of Ice and Fire. In fact, even more characters seem to come back to life in the books than they did in the show. For example, in Martin’s version of the story, Catelyn Stark is resurrected following her brutal death at the Red Wedding.

Where Game of Thrones goes wrong is the supposed ease with which a person is called back from the world of the dead. Whenever it happens in the show, such as with Jon Snow, the character bounces right back to being exactly who they had always been (though perhaps a bit more rattled). In A Song of Ice and Fire, however, characters like Catelyn Stark are brought back to life, but something is missing. They are no longer the same.

Catelyn returns as a vengeful, violent monster, completely lacking empathy or humanity. It’s an intriguing concept, since, in the books, Jon Snow has not yet been brought back. The last book ends with his murder, and while it’s heavily implied Jon will be brought back, the fact that Catelyn has become something else entirely leaves us wondering how he will be changed. Jon Snow’s body may return to life, but there is bound to be something significantly wrong with him. There’s a price to be paid.

‘Dracarys’ Is A Universal Targaryen Command

In HBO’s version of Game of Thrones, Daenerys Targaryen learned to command her dragons to breathe fire by speaking the word “dracarys.” This allowed for several pretty badass moments. There’s something deliciously powerful about this Targaryen queen uttering only a single word to watch her enemies burn. As an audience, we all ate it up, so the Game of Thrones franchise naturally had to lean all in.

In House of the Dragon, “dracarys” becomes the universal command for all Targaryens and their dragons. Once again, it makes for some pretty intense scenes. Epic dragon battles become even more epic when the characters get to roll their tongues over this word and be immediately rewarded with flames. Unfortunately, this isn’t canon.

It had been centuries since any Targaryen rode a dragon by the time Daenerys hatched her own, so she really had no guidance in how to train or even care for them. She had to figure it out on her own, and when it became clear that Daenerys’ dragons could only eat charred meat, she had to teach them to cook it for themselves. “Dracarys” is the command she settled on to order them to light their meal on fire.

Jon Snow Is Really Prince Aegon Targaryen

There’s a lot that happens at the end of Game of Thrones that we don’t know for certain will or will not happen in the books. Daenerys may not burn King’s Landing to the ground, Job might not murder her, and Bran might not become king. Still, we can’t exactly call these lies since the canon truth has yet to be fully established. However, regarding Jon Snow’s parentage, legitimacy, and secret identity, answers were recently provided.

In HBO’s Game of Thrones, it’s revealed that Jon is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, who were married in secret and named their unborn son Prince Aegon. The books have confirmed none of this, though it is heavily implied that Jon is Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son. There is no indication, however, that he would be legitimate, or that his true name would be Aegon. In fact, that would make no sense, because Rhaegar already had a son with that exact name.

Now, a new installment in the Game of Thrones franchise has confirmed that Jon’s name is absolutely not Aegon Targaryen. The reveal comes from the official stage production titled Game of Thrones: The Mad King, which officially confirms that Rhaegar and Lyanna were in love, and that Jon is their son. It also confirms that the pair were not legally married. So, Jon is still a bastard, not a prince, and if he does have a secret Targaryen name, it’s not Aegon.

Release Date

2011 – 2019-00-00

Showrunner

David Benioff, D.B. Weiss

Directors

David Nutter, Alan Taylor, D.B. Weiss, David Benioff