[King's Landing — Locations]
Eddard becomes Hand of the King to King Robert Baratheon after the death of Jon Arryn . Ned takes Sansa and Arya to King's Landing . It is there that he discovers the true lineage of Robert's assumed children. Upon Robert's death, Ned publicly declares that Joffrey was the product of incest between Cersei and Jaime , and therefore is not the rightful heir to the Iron Throne . He is subsequently executed for treason . His firstborn son and heir Robb is declared the King in the North by his bannermen (the first in 300 years), and fights to secede from the Seven Kingdoms in what would become the War of the Five Kings . Sansa becomes a political captive of House Lannister , while Arya escapes King's Landing with Yoren of the Night's Watch .
After the end of the War of Five Kings, House Stark takes part in the Battle of Winterfell , during the Great War , where the House's forces suffer heavy casualties. The remaining Stark forces later partake in the Battle of King's Landing alongside the Vale and Targaryen troops, apparently not taking significant losses.
The sigil of House Stark, a direwolf, is also symbolic. For starters, the direwolf mother who gave birth to the cubs featured in the series is found with a deer antler sticking out of the mother's side, representing the fact that Ned's downfall was brought on by him accepting the position of Hand of the King. The names of the cubs are also symbolic. Like direwolves, the Starks are loyal and protective, and, like the direwolves, almost go extinct. Sansa names her direwolf Lady, representing her dreams of being Queen Consort to Joffrey, whom she describes as handsome. However, Lady is eventually killed for another wolf's crimes (see below), representing how Sansa's youthfulness died after Joffrey tortured her for most of Season 2 in King's Landing, until he married Margaery Tyrell. Arya names her direwolf Nymeria, after a warrior princess from the Age of A Hundred Kingdoms, a fitting depiction of Arya's warrior spirit. When Nymeria attacks Joffrey, Arya sends her away to avoid her being "executed", and Lady is thus punished for the crime (see above). This is foreshadowing of the way Arya flees King's Landing at the end of Season 1 to the Wall. The losing of the wolf also symbolises that Arya is uncertain of what her future holds. Robb's direwolf, Grey Wind, is absolutely inseparable from him. During the Red Wedding, the Freys lock Grey Wind in a cage and kill him, just as they do with Robb. Bran's direwolf is not yet named when he enters a coma, a result of Jaime pushing him out of a tower. After awaking, however, he names him Summer. Summer dies when White Walkers burst into the Weirwood tree, and his death symbolises Winter truly arriving. Bran is also known as "The Sweet Summer Child", for he has never known Winter and its hardships. Rickon's direwolf, Shaggydog, because Rickon never received a proper education or grooming lessons, and was instead raised by a wildling, Osha. When they seek refuge with House Umber, the Umbers betray them and kill Shaggydog. Likewise, the Umbers are allied with Ramsay Bolton, who is eventually Rickon's killer at the Battle of the Bastards. Jon's direwolf, Ghost, is albino and the runt of the litter, representing a bastard's disadvantage in front of his half-sibilings. The word "ghost" makes us think of the part of a person that lives on, and when Jon is resurrected by Melisandre in Season 6, Ghost is the first being to see him alive. Ghost is white, and Jon Snow is also sometimes called the White Wolf, such as by Wyman Manderly in " The Winds of Winter ."
In King's Landing , while the Silent Sisters prepare the body of Lord Jon Arryn , the former Hand of the King , Cersei and Jaime wonder if Jon discovered their secret and told someone else. They, their children, and Tyrion arrive at Winterfell as a part of King Robert's entourage.
While Jaime and Brienne are on their way to King's Landing, Tywin conspires with Walder Frey and Roose Bolton to destroy the Starks. Sansa is wed to Tyrion. Robb and many of his followers are killed at the Red Wedding by the Lannisters' collaborators.
According to Tyrion, Casterly Rock alone, even by Season 7, still held a garrison of at least 10,000 Lannister soldiers, well trained and provisioned. However, much of this army has been later destroyed by the Targaryen forces in the Battle of the Goldroad , and its remnants have essentially been wiped out in the Battle of King's Landing .
There were dozens of these artillery units, arrayed on the battlements of King's Landing and fitted to ships of the Iron Fleet, with specially trained Lannister and Greyjoy engineer crews manning them. Though deadly even to dragons, they were slow to reload as well as difficult to turn, due to their own size. None of Cersei's or Euron's artillery scored hits on Drogon, and all were destroyed by dragon-fire in short order.
Daenerys had Varys burned alive by Drogon for treason shortly before the Battle of King's Landing . The Targaryen-Northern forces suffered light casualties in the battle, but they emerged victorious when the city surrendered to Daenerys, allowing her to take the Iron Throne. However, Daenerys laid waste to a surrendered King's Landing, killing thousands of civilians in the process. She declared to her assembled Dothraki and Unsullied forces that they "liberated" the people of King's Landing and will do so all over the world. Daenerys had Tyrion Lannister arrested for treason upon finding out Tyrion tried to save his brother Jaime. Jon pleaded with Daenerys to stop this path of destruction but Daenerys believed her actions were necessary to build her ideal world. Unable to dissuade her, an agonized Jon assassinated her to prevent more carnage upon the world. Drogon was anguished to discover his mother’s lifeless body, but he did not blame Jon for her death. Instead, he used his fiery breath to melt the Iron Throne before carrying Daenerys across the Narrow Sea.
House Tyrell resumes its shipment of foodstuffs from the Reach to King's Landing. The Tyrell army joins the Lannisters in overrunning the Stormlands . Olenna Tyrell conspires with Varys to wed Sansa Stark to Loras, but when Baelish informs the Lannisters, Tywin cuts off the plot by arranging Sansa's marriage to Tyrion, and Loras's marriage to Cersei . He then coerces Olenna's consent.
By the end of the fifth novel, Kevan becomes concerned because the Tyrells increase their power gradually at the expense of the Lannisters: they have three of the seats in the Small Council (Mace - the King's Hand, Randyll Tarly - Master of laws and justiciar, Lord Paxter Redwyne - Master of ships and grand admiral); a hundred of Highgarden men have been added to the gold cloaks; Lord Tyrell and Tarly have both brought armies to King's Landing, while most of the Lannister troops are away in the Riverlands. Kevan's hands are tied, however, because Cersei's attempts to limit the Tyrells' power were utterly ludicrous and could only be resolved by giving the Tyrells their current concessions.
In Robert's Rebellion , Elia was kept in King's Landing to ensure the continued allegiance of House Martell to the Targaryen's against the rebels. Elia bore Rhaegar two children, but all three were later killed during Robert's Rebellion , during the Sack of King's Landing by Tywin's army. Elia's brothers Doran and Oberyn were outraged and, while peace was restored, the Martells withdrew from interacting with the royal court. During King Robert Baratheon 's subsequent reign, the Martells and Dorne were rarely if ever even mentioned at court, except for their Dornish wine.
Tyrion announces his plan to marry Myrcella to Prince Trystane Martell of Dorne. The alliance is intended to keep the Dornish from siding with their enemies in the War of the Five Kings , and to ensure the survival of a Baratheon/Lannister heir should King's Landing fall.
Ellaria and the Sand Snakes arrive at Dragonstone and hold council with Daenerys and her court, where a plan is laid out on how best to deal with Cersei and her allies. The Martells are taken by the Ironborn fleet to return to Dorne, where they will gather their armies and prepare to lay siege to King's Landing along with the Tyrell armies. En route, however, Euron Greyjoy attacks them . Tyene and Ellaria are both captured, while Obara and Nymeria are killed by Euron.
The Martells were loyal vassals of the Iron Throne , with Princess Elia Martell marrying Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and bearing him two children. During Robert's Rebellion , the Martells were unhappy with Rhaegar's betrayal of Elia by taking Lyanna Stark as his paramour and sparking a war over the matter. Still, they supported King Aerys II Targaryen 's bid to retain the throne, predominantly due to Aerys effectively holding Elia as a hostage to ensure their loyalty. The Martells lost many soldiers at the Battle of the Trident and Princess Elia and her children were brutally killed during the Sack of King's Landing by Lannister soldiers. Ironically, the Martells had only grudgingly stayed loyal to the Targaryens during the civil war, but the needless and brutal murder of Elia turned Dorne into a hotbed of pro-Targaryen sentiment (to the point that, after the Sack of King's Landing, Oberyn had wanted to continue the fighting on behalf of Viserys Targaryen ). Though House Martell swore fealty to King Robert Baratheon after the war (though this was only due to extensive peace negotiations on the part of Jon Arryn ), they have harbored anger and resentment towards the Lannisters ever since and have adopted a mostly isolationist policy ever since, not mixing with the other Great Houses unless totally necessary. As a result, the Dornish have stronger relations with the Free Cities of Essos than the rest of Westeros.
Although House Greyjoy did not maintain a standing army, they were the commanders of the Iron Fleet . During the Last War , Euron and Yara controlled different factions of the Iron Fleet. Yara had under her command 100 of the best ships from the original Iron Fleet, while Euron expanded the portion of the fleet that was under his control, eventually having 1,000 ships in his faction. During the Last War, Yara's fleet was destroyed during the assault on the Targaryen fleet , eventually only having three ships under her command. Euron's fleet, including the Silence , was annihilated during the Battle of King's Landing , with little to no surviving ships.
A member of House Bolton travels to King's Landing to participate in the Heir's Tournament ; a joust to celebrate the birth of Prince Baelon Targaryen . They dress in dark armor adorned with the flayed man of the Dreadfort, and wear a helmet with a plume of crimson feathers.