Canon

The A Song of Ice and Fire canon refers to materials either written by or approved by George R.R. Martin that are considered "official" for the history and events of the setting. The Song of Ice and Fire canon consists of works that fully canonical, semi-canonical (or canon until proven otherwise) and non-canon.
==Canonical sources==
The Song of Ice and Fire novels and short stories written by George R.R. Martin are considered fully canonical. Where material conflicts, either the more recent or more common information is considered canon.
===The novels===
# A Game of Thrones
# A Clash of Kings
# A Storm of Swords
# A Feast for Crows
# A Dance with Dragons
# The Winds of Winter
# A Dream of Spring
===The short stories===
* The Hedge Knight
* The Sworn Sword
* The Mystery Knight
* The Rogue Prince
* The Princess and the Queen
* The She-Wolves
==Semi-canon sources==
Semi-canon sources mostly consist of material that is written by other authors, but which George R.R. Martin has approved, or which Martin himself has written, but is not considered final. This material includes preview chapters that Martin has released or read out at conventions (which are not considered final and canon until the novel is released), 
* The World of Ice and Fire: this book is written from the subjective POV of a maester within the setting, who may himself be biased or an unreliable narrator, or using unreliable sources. The majority of the material in the book is expected to be canon, but the above excuse allows Martin to change things for the later novels if necessary.
* The Lands of Ice and Fire: the maps in this collection are created from the POV of someone in Westeros, with information becoming less reliable the further from Westeros someone gets. The maps are considered canonical, but not the full story, allowing Martin to introduce locations not marked on the maps if necessary later on.
* A Game of Thrones: The Roleplaying Game: The 2005 roleplaying game released by Guardians of Order features some information provided by George R.R. Martin and not available in other sources, including material on the military forces of Westeros and the War of the Ninepenny Kings. Martin has approved this information, but also reserves the right to change it if necessary.
* Preview chapters: chapters from later novels in the series which Martin has read out at conventions or released on his website. This also includes the excerpt novellas he has released in the past (Path of the Dragon, Blood of the Dragon and Arms of the Kraken). This material is considered canonical until the final novels are released, in which case they superscede the preview material.
* House arms and words: George R.R. Martin has provided information on more than 300 of the noble houses of Westeros to the Westeros.org website, including names and arms for all of them and mottos for many. This information is considered canonical unless it is changed for the novels.
* Interviews: George R.R. Martin occasionally reveals new information about the world and books in interviews and articles. These are again considered canonical until or unless changed for the novels themselves.
==Non-canon sources==
* Game of Thrones: the TV series is a separate continuity and canon from the books. Though they share many elements, the TV series is not considered canonical for the books and vice versa. This includes the map of Essos on the HBO Viewer's Guide website, which has been rendered non-canonical for the books by the publication of The Lands of Ice and Fire (though it may remain canonical for the TV series).
* Game of Thrones: The RPG: the computer game draws upon elements of both the novels and the TV series for its setting, but is not considered canon for either.
* Any Song of Ice and Fire material that does not originate with Martin or is approved by him, including fan fiction, fan theories and speculation and amateur mods for computer games.
==Canon conflicts==
There have been several conflicts of canon in the past which have been resolved. These are as follows:
===Viserys II Targaryen===
In the original edition of A Game of Thrones, Viserys II Targaryen is listed as the youngest son of Aegon III. However, it was brought to Martin's attention that this would make Aegon III far too young to become king. Martin changed this in later American editions and in the text of the novels so that Viserys I was Aegon III's younger brother instead. This change was canonised in-text during a discussion between Tyrion Lannister and Oberyn Martell in A Storm of Swords. The UK edition of A Game of Thrones has never been adjusted to take account of this change.
===Sothoryos===
The southern continent of Sothoryos was spelled as such on the map in A Storm of Swords. However, subsequent textual references made spelled it both "Sothoroyos" and "Sothoros". For The Lands of Ice and Fire, Martin confirmed that "Sothoryos" is the correct spelling. Some fans have speculated that "Sothoros" may just be a variant pronunciation.
===Samyriana===
The city of Samyriana is spelled "Shamyriana" in A Game of Thrones and "Samyrian" on the HBO map. The Lands of Ice and Fire gives the spelling as "Samyriana". Whilst The Lands of Ice and Fire version was originally a misprint, Martin has ruled it as the canonical spelling and future versions of A Game of Thrones should be adjusted to take this into account.
==Non-canon conflicts==
Martin has confirmed that several apparent mistakes in the novels are actually characters misremembering things or making errors themselves rather than being the result of author error or canon conflicts. As an example, Sansa Stark's later remembrance of kissing Sandor Clegane is a mistake Sansa herself makes rather than an author error.
Category:Reference
Category:Trivia