About

ince it appears that the FAQ at King's Landing has disappeared -- along with the rest of the site -- we've decided to begin work on a new A Song of Ice and Fire FAQ. We had initially hoped to construct it through collaboration with the many fans out there, but it has proven much too difficult to get something done that way.

For the time being at least, we are attempting to do it ourselves. It will, however, be somewhat limited to its nature, as we probably won't tackle the big topics with a multitude of different theories.

Important Notes

• Page references refer to the following editions: US hardcover of A Game of Thrones (I), UK hardcover of A Clash of Kings (II), UK hardcover of A Storm of Swords (III), UK hardcover of A Feast for Crows (IV), US hardcover of Legends for "The Hedge Knight" (THK) and UK hardcover of Legends II for "The Sworn Swords" (TSS). To find the correct page in a different edition, see the index of chapters.
• SSL/SSC/SSR refer to parts of the So Spake Martin collection. SSL refers to correspondence with fans from the Tor hosted Legends bulletin board, SSC refers to correspondence by email and SSR refers to reports from conventions.
• EHC refers to the Event Horizon chat from March 18, 1999.
• KLQ refers to the King's Landing 10 Questions Interview from September, 1999.
• BNC refers to the Barnes & Noble chat from November 3, 2000.
• SFC refers to the Scifi.com chat from December 12, 2000.
• D&D refers to the Dromen & Demonen Chat from April 23, 2002.

Index

• 1. About the FAQ
  • 1.1. What do I do if I have a question that the FAQ doesn’t cover?
  • 1.2. How can I contribute to the FAQ?
  • 1.3. What do I do if I find an error in the FAQ?
  • 1.4. How do I link to/provide a mirror to this FAQ?
• 2. The Essential Facts
  • 2.1. A Song of Ice and Fire
    • 2.1.1. What is A Song of Ice and Fire?
    • 2.1.2. How many books will there be and what are their names?
    • 2.1.3. What is the name of the next book and when is it due?
    • 2.1.4. What happened to the five-year gap that was supposed to follow ASoS?
    • 2.1.5. Which PoVs will appear in A Dance with Dragons?
    • 2.1.6. Where can I find out more about ADwD?
    • 2.1.7. What are Blood of the Dragon, Path of the Dragon and Arms of the Kraken?
    • 2.1.8. What are The Hedge Knight, The Sworn Sword and The Mystery Knight?
    • 2.1.9. Will there be any more Dunk and Egg stories?
    • 2.1.10. What are these The Hedge Knight and The Hedge Knight II comic books?
    • 2.1.11. What is The World of Ice and Fire?
  • 2.2. George R.R. Martin
    • 2.2.1. Who is George R.R. Martin aka GRRM?
    • 2.2.2. What does the R.R stand for?
    • 2.2.3. What else has he written?
  • 2.3. Fan Matters
    • 2.3.1. Can you explain some of those acronyms and abbreviations for me?
    • 2.3.2. What is the Brotherhood without Banners?
    • 2.3.3. How does Mr. Martin feel about A Song of Ice and Fire fan fiction?
    • 2.3.4. How does Mr. Martin feel about A Song of Ice and Fire MUDs or MUSHes?
• 3. About the World
  • 3.1. Which are the Seven Kingdoms?
  • 3.2. What is the bastard name for each region?
  • 3.3. Which are the nine Free Cities?
  • 3.4. Which are the known Valyrian steel swords?
  • 3.5. Are Targaryens immune to fire?
• 4. Events Prior to the Books
  • 4.1. What were some important events in the ancient past?
  • 4.2. What was the Doom of Valyria?
  • 4.3. What happened at Summerhall?
  • 4.4. What happened when during Robert’s Rebellion?
  • 4.5. What was the kindness Jaime never did for Tyrion?
• 5. Events During to the Books
  • 5.1. Who tried to kill Bran?
  • 5.2. Why was Renly showing Ned the locket?
  • 5.3. Was Balon Greyjoy murdered?
  • 5.4. Who killed Joffrey?
• 6. About the Characters
  • 6.1. Dead or Alive
    • 6.1.1. Is Aegon dead?
    • 6.1.2. Is Rhaenys dead?
    • 6.1.3. Is Syrio dead?
    • 6.1.4. Is Ned dead?
    • 6.1.5. Is Davos dead?
    • 6.1.6. Is Catelyn dead?
    • 6.1.7. Is Gregor dead?
    • 6.1.8. Is Sandor dead?
    • 6.1.9. Is Brienne dead?
  • 6.2. Unknown Identities
    • 6.2.1. Who are Jon Snow’s parents?
    • 6.2.2. Who is the Prince that was Promised/Azor Ahai reborn?
    • 6.2.3. Who were the men Arya saw beneath the Red Keep?
    • 6.2.4. Who is Jaqen H’ghar?
    • 6.2.5. Who or what is Tansy?
    • 6.2.6. Who were the different people in Meera’s story?
    • 6.2.7. Who was the Knight of the Laughing Tree?
    • 6.2.8. Who is Coldhands?
    • 6.2.9. Who is the false Arya?
    • 6.2.10. Who is the alchemist in Oldtown?
    • 6.2.11. Who is Alleras?
  • 6.3. Miscellanous Matters
    • 6.3.1. Who is not straight?
    • 6.3.2. How good a swordsman was Ned?
    • 6.3.3. How old is Edric Dayne?
    • 6.3.4. Was Jeor Mormont a skinchanger?