We do not sow.
House Greyjoy may be on the edge of Westeros and one of the lesser talked main houses of Game Of Thrones, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of seriously cool things about them. Unfortunately, compressing those massive books into a TV show meant that a lot of things had to be cut and House Greyjoy suffered for it.
They’re a seriously cool family with a wicked past (literally), and a lot of awe-inspiring details from the books didn’t quite to make it to the show. So whether you haven’t read the books or have and have just forgotten, here are ten cool things about the Greyjoys that didn’t quite make it to the screen.
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They’re Descended From The Grey King
The Grey King is a legendary figure who was said to have ruled the Iron Islands for a thousand years. He’s never mentioned in the show, but has some seriously cool lore surrounding him; such as having a crown made of teeth, carving a ship from a so-called demon tree, and he taught men how to make nets and sails.
He’s also said to have had a hundred sons, which is fairly possible considering how much the men of Westeros tend to sleep around, and it’s assumed these were all to different women. The sixteen who survived the fight after his death divided the Ironborn among them.
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They Were Chosen To Rule By The Ironborn
House Hoare of Orkmont ruled the Iron Islands before the Greyjoys. When Aegon conquered the Seven Kingdoms and took down the ruling family of the Iron Islands, he allowed the Ironborn to select their new leader and they chose Vickon Greyjoy of Pyke. This was the beginning of House Greyjoy ruling the Iron Islands right through to the current series as we know it.
In that way, the Iron Islands are more of a democracy than most of the regions in Westeros, which is odd to think about considering the rest of Westeros tends to view them as backwards. And true, not every new ruler is elected, but the Greyjoys were originally.
Yara’s Name Is Asha
She wasn’t left out of the show, per se, but she was entirely changed. Asha Greyjoy in the books was changed to Yara Greyjoy in the show, the writers saying that Asha sounded too similar to Osha and people might get confused between the characters. It makes sense, but that wasn’t all they changed. Although George R.R. Martin firmly says that Asha is heterosexual, Yara Greyjoy is definitely not since she shows attraction towards women throughout the show. She’s a heavily altered character, perhaps bringing some much-needed LGBTQA representation to Game Of Thrones.
Can’t fault the writers for that one.
Balon Wanted Her As Heir
Although Balon’s relationship with Theon is depicted as pretty bad in the show too, the full extent of it is left out simply because we don’t see very much of Balon and therefore, don’t see how he actually feels about Theon. Forced to give his son up as a hostage to the Starks after the Greyjoy rebellion, he’s left resenting Theon deeply in the books despite Theon bearing no responsibility for this consequence. He actively wishes Theon was dead so he can declare his daughter, Asha, heir of the Iron Islands and be done with it all.
Yikes. Poor Theon. It’s easy to see why the guy’s a little messed up after all this.
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Dalton Greyjoy’s Story Was Cut In The Show
As a character, he wasn’t so much cut as just barely mentioned, but his story was definitely cut.
Dalton Greyjoy was Lord of the Iron Islands during the Dance of the Dragons civil war. He was known as the Red Kraken, and was one of the most fearsome Ironborn to have lived. He earned his nickname through a battle he participated in at fifteen where he killed so many enemies that he emerged from it covered in their blood.
His death occurred because his throat was slit by his mistress Tess while he was asleep, which is a pretty grim way to go after surviving so many battles.
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As Was Victarion
Victarion is a brother of Balon Greyjoy, and has been cut from the show altogether.
He was very loyal to Balon in the books, seemingly supporting his rule over the Iron Islands despite the discord frequently present in the family. He was very religious and fought in the Greyjoy rebellion. Like many of the Ironborn, he used an axe when it came to battles, although he was skilled with a longsword too. It can be safely assumed he was a pretty awesome warrior, so it’s a shame we didn’t get to see him do his stuff on-screen.
He also had a pretty troubling feud with his brother Euron…
Meaning Euron And Victarion’s Past Isn’t Talked About
Victarion and Euron’s story is one that was pretty notable and important to the Greyjoys in the books but because Victarion was cut from the show, it was never talked about.
Victarion married three times. His first wife died in childbirth, giving birth to a stillborn daughter; his second died of illness; his third is where all the problems started between him and Euron. Euron forced himself on Victarion’s wife and impregnated her. In his anger, Victarion beat his wife to death to “restore honor” to himself and Euron ended up banished from the Iron Islands.
You knew Euron was messed up thanks to the show, but you didn’t know how much.
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The History Of The Silence…
Speaking of Euron being messed up.
His ship is called The Silence and although it’s not exactly cut from the show, the crew pretty much are. Euron sailed around Essos and is said to have gone even further on this ship, collecting artifacts and secrets. The reason Euron is shrouded in so much mystery is because his crew keeps his secrets. He makes sure of it. How? By cutting out their tongues.
That’s right. Every crew member on his ship is minus one tongue. Somehow, it doesn’t seem a fair price to pay to sail around with Euron. But it would appear they didn’t get much choice in the matter.
Euron’s Magical Horn
The ruins of Valyria is one place that Euron is said to have gone, and to the kingsmoot, he brought with him something he found there: a dragon horn.
It’s apparently called Dragonbinder. Where Daenerys trained her dragons with a rope and a whip, Euron said this could be used to control dragons. Daenerys did say that the dragonlords of Valyria used sorcerous horns to control their dragons, so it seems as if this one might be legit. It’s never been mentioned in the show, so it probably won’t play a part in controlling any dragons in season eight. However, in the books, it just might.
And His Dragon Egg
As if Euron didn’t have enough treasures, another thing he claims to have is a dragon egg.
Well. Had.
He apparently found this too in Valyria but when questioned if he still has it, says he threw it into the sea in a fit of rage. This isn’t questioned much further, because Euron is unstable, but in the books he’s painted as a much more manipulative, clever man - spawning theories from fans that he may have used the egg for something else (like to pay for Balon’s assassination).
Alas, we’ll probably have to wait for The Winds Of Winter to find out if those theories hold any weight.