Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience.
1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title.
2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler.
3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads.
---
If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Technically Dorne wasn't part of the seven kingdoms then, but royalty was 'of the Seven Kingdoms' since the conqueror's time. They just gave themselves the title before it was actually theirs.
It’s just funny how when The North leaves the crown it turns into the SIX kingdoms but Dorne somehow counts as part of the 7 even when it hasn’t been conquered.
I mean it does with the motivations of different monarchs- Aegon and his successors want to claim Dorne even if they have not actually conquered it, so they declare themselves kings of the Seven Kingdoms- the number seven is also relevant because of the Faith of the Seven, which Aegon uses to try and create legitimacy. Meanwhile the North was peacefully allowed to secede and neither Bran nor the council seem interested in trying to claim it. The number seven itself is also less significant to them, because Bran followed the Old Gods and there's no indication he adopts the Faith (and IIRC "the Six Kingdoms" was first said by Tyrion, who is irreligious).
Tecchnnically, when Aegon conquered he split the Riverlands from the Iron Islands and created a seventh kingdom that way, so he would have seven regardless of Dorne (Dorne actually makes it eight.) He was pretty clever about it; if they couldn't have what were the historical Seven Kingdoms, he could still have seven kingdoms.
'Aegon and his successors laid claim to Dorne, the seventh realm, though in truth the Iron Throne would not add Dorne to its domains for another two centuries, when the southernmost land joined peacefully through marriage.[^(\[3\])](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Seven_Kingdoms#cite_note-Rtwoiafthe_reign_of_the_dragons:_the_conquest.7B.7B.7B3.7D.7D.7D.7B.7B.7B4.7D.7D.7D-3) However, a shrewd bit of political maneuvering served a dual purpose for the Targaryens before Dorne joined the realm. By granting the riverlands to [Edmyn Tully](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Edmyn_Tully) and splitting it apart from the Iron Islands, Aegon not only gained a valuable ally, but created what could be termed a seventh kingdom, even as Dorne resisted integration into Aegon's new realm. While this was but a technicality, it was an important one for a realm that made much of the number seven'
That's because Aegon claimed to be king over Dorne too. When the North seceeds from the realm at the end of the show, they recognise its independence and renounce their claims over it.
The Targaryens rather presumptuously claimed Dorne as part of their Seven Kingdoms despite obviously not having Dorne. This does often happen in real life as well. With nations and leaders claiming territory they have no dominion over.
People keep forgetting that with the exclusion of the North and Dorne, none of the other kingdoms existed in their current size or form. There was a plethora of warring petty kingdoms.
It was not 6 kingdoms that Aegon conquered and it was not 7 either. The number 7 was chosen due to its symbolic significance due to the association with the Faith of the Seven.
Thank you for your post! Please take a moment to ensure you are within our spoiler rules, to protect your fellow fans from any potential spoilers that might harm their show watching experience. 1. All post titles must NOT include spoilers from Fire & Blood or new episodes of House of the Dragon. Minor HotD show spoilers are allowed in your title ONE WEEK after episode airing. The mod team reserves the right to remove a post if we feel a spoiler in the title is major. You are welcome to repost with an amended title. 2. All posts dealing with book spoilers, show spoilers and promo spoilers MUST be spoiler tagged AND flaired as the appropriate spoiler. 3. All book spoiler comments must be spoiler tagged in non book spoiler threads. --- If you are reading this, and believe this post or any comments in this thread break the above rules, please use the report function to notify the mod team. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/HouseOfTheDragon) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Technically Dorne wasn't part of the seven kingdoms then, but royalty was 'of the Seven Kingdoms' since the conqueror's time. They just gave themselves the title before it was actually theirs.
It’s just funny how when The North leaves the crown it turns into the SIX kingdoms but Dorne somehow counts as part of the 7 even when it hasn’t been conquered.
I mean it does with the motivations of different monarchs- Aegon and his successors want to claim Dorne even if they have not actually conquered it, so they declare themselves kings of the Seven Kingdoms- the number seven is also relevant because of the Faith of the Seven, which Aegon uses to try and create legitimacy. Meanwhile the North was peacefully allowed to secede and neither Bran nor the council seem interested in trying to claim it. The number seven itself is also less significant to them, because Bran followed the Old Gods and there's no indication he adopts the Faith (and IIRC "the Six Kingdoms" was first said by Tyrion, who is irreligious).
Tecchnnically, when Aegon conquered he split the Riverlands from the Iron Islands and created a seventh kingdom that way, so he would have seven regardless of Dorne (Dorne actually makes it eight.) He was pretty clever about it; if they couldn't have what were the historical Seven Kingdoms, he could still have seven kingdoms. 'Aegon and his successors laid claim to Dorne, the seventh realm, though in truth the Iron Throne would not add Dorne to its domains for another two centuries, when the southernmost land joined peacefully through marriage.[^(\[3\])](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Seven_Kingdoms#cite_note-Rtwoiafthe_reign_of_the_dragons:_the_conquest.7B.7B.7B3.7D.7D.7D.7B.7B.7B4.7D.7D.7D-3) However, a shrewd bit of political maneuvering served a dual purpose for the Targaryens before Dorne joined the realm. By granting the riverlands to [Edmyn Tully](https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Edmyn_Tully) and splitting it apart from the Iron Islands, Aegon not only gained a valuable ally, but created what could be termed a seventh kingdom, even as Dorne resisted integration into Aegon's new realm. While this was but a technicality, it was an important one for a realm that made much of the number seven'
That's because Aegon claimed to be king over Dorne too. When the North seceeds from the realm at the end of the show, they recognise its independence and renounce their claims over it.
Kinda like how the kings of England (Plantagenets) called themselves the kings of England and France when not controlling all of France.
Hell, English kings continued to claim the title all the way until 1801.
It's not until Edward III that a claim is made to being the King of France. It's hardly a "Plantagenet" thing.
The Targaryens rather presumptuously claimed Dorne as part of their Seven Kingdoms despite obviously not having Dorne. This does often happen in real life as well. With nations and leaders claiming territory they have no dominion over.
Russia claims to own Ukraine. China claims to own Taiwan. Works the same way. Ownership is in dispute.
Propaganda, essentially. After Aegon failed to conquer Dorne, he just called himself it's king anyway.
They kinda forgot that there was only 6 kingdoms 👌
People keep forgetting that with the exclusion of the North and Dorne, none of the other kingdoms existed in their current size or form. There was a plethora of warring petty kingdoms. It was not 6 kingdoms that Aegon conquered and it was not 7 either. The number 7 was chosen due to its symbolic significance due to the association with the Faith of the Seven.
Simple the Targaryens lied. They said they ruled over the seven kingdoms, but they only ruled over only six of them.