1 Upcoming Game of Thrones Spinoff Will Explain the Most Confusing Part of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ Ending

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One of the best references to its place in Westeros came at the very end of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1, when Egg corrected Dunk that there are nine kingdoms, not seven, with a title card then popping up with “A Knight of the Nine Kingdoms.” To be clear, the TV show is not changing its title, but Egg’s pedantry did create confusion among the audience, especially those who haven’t read Martin’s books. The show doesn’t really explain it, but the wider lore does, and it’s something the planned Aegon’s Conquest prequel can properly explain.

Aegon’s Conquest Will Have To Explain The Seven Kingdoms Of Westeros

The “Seven Kingdoms” pre-dates Aegon’s Conquest, which happened around 209 years before the events of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1. When Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives, Rhaenys and Visenya, flew their three large dragons from Dragonstone to conquer mainland Westeros, it was a land that, at that point, was divided into seven distinct kingdoms. There was a long history of this landscape changing – at one point, there were 100 – but that was the situation Aegon entered into, with the table below laying out the kingdoms and who ruled them.

Kingdom	Monarch
The North	Torrhen Stark
Mountain & Vale	Ronnel Arryn
The Isles & The Rivers	Harren Hoare
The Reach	Mern IX Gardener
The Rock	Loren I Lannister
The Storm	Argilac Durrandon
Dorne	Meria Martell

Unfortunately, it’s not quite as straightforward as Aegon conquering all seven of those. Dorne was actually able to resist, but when Aegon was made king, he was also named “Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.” Keeping this nomenclature served some symbolic importance, as the Targaryens needed the support of the Faith of the Seven and, well, seven is the most important number there is to them (and quite generally significant in Westeros).

As a reward for their support of Aegon, House Tully was given rule over the riverlands, thus splitting it from the Iron Islands (which were given to the Greyjoys). Thus, even without Dorne, the Targaryens ruled over seven distinct regions of Westeros, and the name “Seven Kingdoms” still loosely worked. However, the area with King’s Landing was also built up following the conquest, becoming the eighth major region, known as the crownlands (while some others changed their name).

The Aegon’s Conquest prequel, which is being written by The Batman scribe Mattson Tomlin and, as it stands, could be either a TV show or movie(s), will need to explain at least some of this to audiences. It’ll show us a divided Westeros that we’ve never seen on-screen before, and explore exactly how it was unified under the newfound Targaryen dynasty, and it’s likely each distinct ruler of their own region will be a character featured in the spinoff.

The one part it won’t be able to get into is Dorne becoming the ninth “kingdom.” While Aegon tries, Dorne won’t ally itself with the Iron Throne until 161 years after the Conquest. That obviously can’t be in the prequel, but it does mean it at least happened in time for Egg to be referencing it almost 50 years later in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.

All six episodes of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms are now streaming on HBO Max. Season 2 is expected to release in 2027.

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