Game of Thrones · A Viewer's Companion
Four families, five kings, one throne — and two secrets that decide everything.
Everyone in Westeros seems to be somebody's cousin, ward, or secret child. This chart sorts them by house: ice grey-blue for the Starks, crimson for the Lannisters, blood-red for the Targaryens, storm-grey for the Baratheon brothers caught in between. The two dashed lines are the whole show: who really fathered Cersei's children, and who Jon Snow's parents really are.
Why it’s confusing — and the four facts that fix it
Nearly every war, wedding, and betrayal in the show traces back to what’s drawn on this chart.
Why everyone thinks Jon is a bastard
Ned came home from war with a baby and let all of Westeros — including his own wife — believe he’d fathered it on some stranger. The truth: Jon is Lyanna’s son by Rhaegar Targaryen, secretly wed. Robert would have killed any Targaryen heir, so Ned’s “dishonor” was actually the most honorable thing he ever did. The dashed red line is the whole series’ endgame.
Three golden-haired “Baratheons”
Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen are officially Robert’s children — but every Baratheon in history was black-haired, and all three are Lannister-gold. Their real father is Cersei’s twin brother Jaime. Jon Arryn found out and died for it; Ned found out and lost his head; the realm found out and got a war.
Five kings, one chair
When Robert dies, the chart splinters: Joffrey holds the throne, Stannis is the lawful heir (if the kids are bastards), Renly crowns himself because he’d be better at it, Robb is proclaimed King in the North, and across the sea Daenerys considers them all usurpers. That’s the War of the Five Kings — every claimant is on this chart.
Who are Daenerys and Viserys?
Children of the Mad King Robert overthrew, smuggled abroad as babies. Viserys spends his life scheming to take the throne back and is memorably crowned with molten gold. Daenerys — sold as a bride, mother of three dragons — spends seven seasons walking home. She and Rhaegar never meet: he died before she was born, which is why she doesn’t know about Jon.
Who are the Tullys?
Catelyn and Lysa are Tully sisters from Riverrun. Catelyn married Ned Stark; Lysa married old Jon Arryn, the Hand whose murder starts the plot — a murder Lysa herself committed, talked into it by Littlefinger, who’d loved Catelyn since childhood. One family of in-laws quietly detonates the entire story.
The name decoder
Westeros loves recycling names — and naming dragons after dead relatives. Keep these apart:
Jon Snow vs. Jon Arryn
Jon Snow = the brooding hero at the Wall. Jon Arryn = Lysa’s elderly husband, dead before episode one — his murder is the mystery that pulls Ned south.
Robert vs. Robb
Robert = the fat king who won the throne. Robb = Ned’s eldest son, named in Robert’s honor — the Young Wolf who dies at the Red Wedding.
Tywin vs. Tyrion
One letter of difference, decades of hatred. Tywin = the terrifying father. Tyrion = the brilliant son he despises — who eventually shoots him with a crossbow.
Stannis vs. Renly
Robert’s brothers, both crowned, both doomed. Stannis = the older, joyless lawful heir with the red witch. Renly = the younger, charming one — killed by Stannis’s shadow-magic.
Rhaegar vs. Rhaegal · Viserys vs. Viserion
The men are Dany’s dead brothers; the dragons are named after them. Rhaegal the dragon ends up ridden by Jon — Rhaegar’s actual son. Viserion is the one the Night King raises.
Aegon vs. Aegon
Jon’s true name is Aegon Targaryen — awkwardly, Rhaegar already had a son named Aegon (killed as a baby in the sack of King’s Landing). Rhaegar just really liked the name.
Sandor vs. Gregor
The Clegane brothers, not on the tree. Sandor = the Hound, burned and bitter, Arya’s reluctant guardian. Gregor = the Mountain, Cersei’s monstrous bodyguard. They settle it in “Cleganebowl.”
Not family — but always in the room
Petyr “Littlefinger” Baelish
Master of coin and of chaos. Loved Catelyn, betrayed Ned, married Lysa, groomed Sansa — started half the plot for his own climb. Executed by the Stark sisters. †
Varys — “the Spider”
Spymaster who serves “the realm” rather than any king — Littlefinger’s opposite number. Burned by dragonfire for one last switch of allegiance. †
Brienne of Tarth
The truest knight on the show, sworn first to Renly, then to Catelyn, then to her daughters — and finally knighted by Jaime.
Sandor “the Hound” Clegane
Joffrey’s scarred bodyguard turned Arya’s road-trip companion. Dies taking his brother the Mountain down with him. †
Samwell Tarly
Jon’s gentle best friend at the Wall — the one who digs up the record proving Rhaegar and Lyanna were married.
Theon Greyjoy
Ned’s ward — raised with the Stark children but never one of them, which is exactly the problem. Betrays Robb, is broken into “Reek,” and dies defending Bran. †
Portraits are in-character stills from the Game of Thrones wiki, cropped and self-hosted so they load without an internet round-trip. The chart covers all eight seasons (2011–2019) — the death daggers, the dashed-line secrets, and the fun facts spoil the story through the series finale. You have been warned.