'House of the Dragon': Who Is Nymeria, Queen of the Rhoynar? (2024)

The history of Westeros is one of the richest in pop culture. George R.R. Martin wove a beautiful tapestry of heroes and conquests that is rarely seen in such detail in other fantasy worlds, and now one of those epic characters has resurfaced. In last week's episode of House of the Dragon, "Heirs of the Dragon", young princess Rhaenyra Targaryen (Milly Alco*ck) studied with her best friend and soon nemesis-to-be Alicent Hightower (Emily Carey) the history of Nymeria, Queen of the Rhoynar and one of the greatest warriors to ever set foot in Westeros.

We have all heard the name Nymeria before if you're at all familiar with Game of Thrones. For those with sharp memories, a very young Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) named the direwolf given to her by her father Nymeria. Unfortunately thanks to a very spoiled prince named Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson), the direwolf would have been executed back in Season 1 had Arya not sent her on her way into the Riverlands woods to save her life. Six seasons later, in the episode "Stormborn", Arya and Nymeria would meet again, both bigger and meaner, as Arya made her way up to Winterfell and the direwolf led her pack of Lannister-killing wolves. Both, are also, heavily influenced by the direwolf's namesake: the original Nymeria, one of the most important women in Westerosi history.

From the Rhoyne to Dorne

The tale of Nymeria begins centuries before House of the Dragon, before even the Doom of Valyria, in the Rhoyne basin. At that time and place, the most powerful nation was the Valyrian Freehold, the official name of the empire of Old Valyria. Its expansion engulfed most of the free cities we got to see Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) conquer in Game of Thrones, from Astapor to Meereen. Eventually, Valyrian conquest led the Freehold to the Rhoyne, one of the mightiest rivers in Essos, and home to the Rhoynar, the people who lived in the cities on its margins.

The Rhoynish Wars that followed were a doomed endeavor from the start for the locals, and Princess Nymeria knew it. She took part in the conflict, but upon learning of her fellow Rhoynar's demise, she decided to gather every ship she could find and set sail to the West with as many women and children she could find, seeing as most of the men had died fighting in the war. Legend tells that her fleet consisted of as many as 10,000 ships, an endeavor that made HBO even consider giving Nymeria and her ships their own Game of Thrones spinoff. After a long and perilous journey, only some of the ships managed to make landfall on Dorne, the southernmost land of Westeros.

Game of Thrones and the A Song of Ice and Fire book series describes Dorne as one of the strongest and most rebellious of the Seven Kingdoms, but it wasn't always so. At the time of Nymeria's arrival, Dorne was a poor country, with lords quarreling over water and every piece of fertile land. For trained warriors such as the Rhoynar, an already divided land should be easy to conquer. One of the Dornish lords saw an opportunity with the arrival of the Rhoynar, though. In order to bring legitimacy to her claim over Dorne and bring even more strength to her military, Nymeria married Lord Mors Martell. That was the start of her conquest of Dorne, and House Martell rebranded itself into House Nymeros Martell, bringing the new matriarch's name into the fold.

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Nymeria and House Martell

For the Rhoynar, the wedding of Nymeria and Mors Martell meant an important milestone: their running had finally come to an end. What they didn't expect was that their leader would also order the ships they arrived in to all be burned down, to prevent any possible desertions or people returning to Essos. Publicly, though, Nymeria very cleverly stated that the burning of the ships was supposed to be a symbol of the Rhoynar finally finding their homes and that now they could at last stop running.

What followed, of course, was more fighting. Mors' lands and his military strength weren't that big, so the bulk of House Nymeros Martell's army comprised Rhoynar warriors, who were also skilled armorers and artisans. The war of Dornish conquest - also called Nymeria's War - lasted a few years, as they had to fight and defeat a number of rivals, from petty lords to people who fashioned themselves kings of their domains. The biggest blow they suffered was the demise of Mors in a duel against king Yorick Yronwood. Nymeria would remarry twice: first lord Uller of Hellholt, then ser Davos Dayne of Starfall. Two years after Mors' demise, she would eventually subdue Yronwood and finally have control over all of Dorne.

Under Nymeria, Dorne would consolidate its position as one of the most powerful territories in Westeros, at a time when the the idea of Seven Kingdoms was nothing but laughable. She also incorporated some Rhoynish customs into Dornish politics, with two being the most important. The first was establishing it as a Principality, crowning herself Princess and Mors Prince of Dorne (her other husbands only had the status of consorts). The second was abolishing the need for having a male heir to ensure succession. In this way, House Nymeros Martell would never fail to keep its seat of power as the rulers of the land, and that remained until the days seen in both book and TV series. In the books, Prince Doran Martell (Alexander Siddig) was the ruler, with his heir being his eldest daughter Arianne Martell. In the show, however, his heir was Trystane Martell (Toby Sebastian), with no mention of Arianne's existence whatsoever (which the show was all the worse for, by the way).

But a woman in a position of power, especially in a land such as Westeros, has never been something that was looked on kindly, either by the big political players or by the lowest populace. This meant that there were many rumors about Nymeria that lasted centuries. The weirdest and most popular one was that not only was she a warrior, but also a witch, which would magically explain (no pun intended) how she could rise to such a position of power. Much in our own real world, male leaders in Westeros have always seen women as a threat to their dominion and losing power and influence to them is still seen as a weakness by many.

The truth is that Nymeria was an inspiring leader and a cunning stateswoman, something most lords in Westeros were not. Her legacy was so strong that the traditions she installed lasted centuries, and her tales of conquest still inspired little girls centuries later. Dorne would grow to be one of the most powerful territories of the Seven Kingdoms while still keeping its Principality status by the time of Game of Thrones; that's how strong were the foundations she lay. She's one awesome inspiration for both Arya and Rhaenyra... And, coincidentally, Dorne would only be brought into the Seven Kingdoms by one of Rhaenyra's royal descendants – King Daeron II Targaryen. But that's a story for another day.

House of the Dragon airs on Sundays on HBO. Episodes are available to stream on HBO Max.