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The chronology of Westeros

The Complete Timeline of Ice & Fire

Twelve thousand years, weighed and set in order — from the Dawn Age and the Long Night to Aegon’s Conquest, the Dance of the Dragons, and the war for the Iron Throne. Follow the thirteen ages below, or open any age to read its events in full on the living chronicle.

Read the full chronicle

The thirteen ages

  1. The Dawn Agebefore c. 10,000 BCOf the dawn of days the Citadel holds no records, only the songs of the children of the forest and the stones the First Men raised. What follows is legend, weighed and found — mostly — worthy.
  2. The Age of Heroesc. 10,000 – 8,000 BCFour thousand years of peace under the Pact, a hundred petty kingdoms, and the founders whose names every great house still wears like armor.
  3. The Long Nightc. 8,000 BCIn the darkest hour of the age, the Others came from the uttermost north. Of all the chronicle, no chapter matters more — and none rests on thinner parchment.
  4. The Coming of the Andalsc. 6,000 – 2,000 BCOut of Andalos came iron, the Seven, and the end of the First Men’s dominion everywhere but the North. When the year is asked, wise maesters answer slowly.
  5. The Freehold of Valyriac. 5,000 – 114 BCAcross the narrow sea, shepherds found fire sleeping in fourteen mountains. Five thousand years of Valyrian noon follow — ending with one family’s remove to a smoking rock called Dragonstone.
  6. The Doom & the Blood114 – 2 BCThe Fourteen Flames burst, the dragonlords perished, and a century of blood followed as the Freehold’s orphan cities tore at the carcass. On Dragonstone, one house of dragonlords remained.
  7. Aegon’s Conquest2 BC – 48 ACAegon Targaryen and his sisters landed with a small host and a great fire, and the reckoning of the world changed — literally: all years hence are counted from his conquest. His sons would nearly unmake his work.
  8. The Conciliator’s Peace48 – 129 ACJaehaerys the Old King and Good Queen Alysanne knit the realm together with roads, law, and marriages. Under Viserys the realm grew richer, the dragons more numerous, and the household quarrels more dangerous.
  9. The Dance of the Dragons129 – 131 ACThe great Targaryen civil war: green against black, brother against sister, dragon against dragon. Two years that cost the house its future and the world most of its dragons.
  10. After the Dance131 – 196 ACBroken kings, boy kings, blessed kings, unworthy kings. The last dragon died in a courtyard, Dorne was won and lost, and a deathbed word lit a fire that would burn for a hundred years.
  11. The Blackfyre Rebellions196 – 262 ACDaemon Blackfyre’s claim outlived him by three generations. Between the risings: plague, a hedge knight and his squire, an unlikely king, and a fire at Summerhall that consumed a dynasty’s dreams.
  12. Robert’s Rebellion262 – 297 ACAerys the Second’s reign began in promise and ended in wildfire. A tourney, an abduction — if abduction it was — and the dragon’s three-hundred-year dynasty fell in a single bloody year.
  13. A Song of Ice & Fire297 – 300 ACThe events of the five published novels, set down as history. New readers, be warned: this chapter is veiled for your protection. Unveil it when you have read, or when you no longer fear to know.

Ten turning points

  1. c. 12,000 BCThe First Men cross the Arm of Dorne
  2. c. 12,000 – 10,000 BCThe Hammer of the Waters
  3. c. 10,000 BCThe Pact of the Isle of Faces
  4. c. 8,000 BCThe Long Night falls
  5. c. 8,000 BCThe Battle for the Dawn
  6. c. 8,000 BCThe Wall is raised; the Watch begins
  7. c. 6,000 BC †The Andals cross the narrow sea
  8. c. 5,000 BCShepherds tame the dragons of the Fourteen Flames
  9. c. 700 BCNymeria’s ten thousand ships
  10. 114 BCDaenys the Dreamer; the Targaryens quit Valyria

Questions about the timeline

How long is the Game of Thrones timeline?

Roughly twelve thousand years of recorded history, from the First Men crossing the Arm of Dorne (c. 12,000 BC) to the events of A Song of Ice & Fire (297–300 AC). Everything before the Long Night is legend the Citadel weighs but cannot verify.

When does Game of Thrones start?

The main story — the novels and the HBO series — opens around 298 AC, in the thirteenth and final age charted here, A Song of Ice & Fire (297–300 AC). Almost everything else on this page is the deep past that shapes it.

What do AC and BC mean in the dates?

Westeros counts its years from Aegon’s Conquest. AC means After the Conquest, taking Aegon’s landing as year one; BC means Before the Conquest. The Conquest itself spans 2 BC to 1 AC.

What is the oldest event on the timeline?

The oldest event with a recorded place is the First Men crossing the Arm of Dorne (c. 12,000 BC). Older still are the songs of the Dawn Age — the children of the forest and the giants — of which the Citadel holds no written records, only legend.