Robert Baratheon dies in the first season, and the whole board tilts. One hunting accident, one boar, one drunk king, and suddenly nobody in Westeros is competing for a seat at the table. They’re competing for the table.
That’s the engine of the entire show. The many warring houses ensured the civil war for the Iron Throne was a conflict where the winner wasn’t a foregone conclusion. Lannisters, Starks, Targaryens, every great family had a viable path to the seat of power and rule over the Seven Kingdoms at one point or another.
But stack them against each other and it gets clear fast. Some of these houses were never going to rule.
House Targaryen ruled Westeros for centuries, going back well before the events of prequel House of the Dragon. Their collapse after Robert’s rebellion left a vacuum, and Robert’s death filled it with knives.
The Starks won by not wanting it
By the end of the series, House Stark is the most powerful family in Westeros and it isn’t close. Bran the Broken sits the Iron Throne. Sansa is crowned Queen in the North. Two crowns, one family.
Winterfell helped. It’s among the northernmost settlements in the Seven Kingdoms south of the Wall, which made the Starks prominent long before anyone started counting swords.
The Starks have always known their place is up north, away from the politics and viciousness of King’s Landing. They got dragged into the War for the Seven Kingdoms half-willingly and then proved themselves a formidable force anyway.
“Winter is coming” is the family motto, and here’s what’s smart about it. They could have used it for self-promotion or self-aggrandizement. Instead it’s a reminder to every other house that there’s much more going on in Westeros than there seems.
What they didn’t have was the support for a claim on the throne. Not until Daenerys attacked King’s Landing in the finale, after which Bran became the clear best choice for a benevolent ruler for the beleaguered commonfolk.
The Lannisters play a different game
When audiences and readers first meet Westeros, House Lannister is a family devoted almost entirely to the pursuit of power. House of the Dragon shows they’ve always been close to the Iron Throne. They held King’s Landing through most of the series, and Cersei embodied the fierceness, the last Lannister to sit the seat of power before Bran’s ascension.
Most people think their words are “A Lannister Always Pays His Debts.” That’s marketing. The actual motto is “Hear Me Roar,” and the debt line exists to serve it.
Casterly Rock is one of the most impressively fortified castles in Westeros. After Cersei’s death, Tyrion becomes head of the house, and unlike some families on this list, the Lannisters will likely stay a powerful presence even with a Stark on the throne.
Dorne is the one everybody underrates
House Martell has always been considered one of the most powerful families in Westeros and it’s the most culturally distinct. The show undersells them. But consider that the Lannisters saw Dorne as a safe place to send their children after Robert’s death, at least until it looked like Dorne contained a threat. That tells you plenty.
“Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken” is the Martell motto, and it fits.
Like the Tyrells, the Martells aren’t strangers to wealth. They’re skilled warriors. They’re also by far the most progressive house in the series, with no problem putting women in positions of power and no shame around bastards.
And unlike most of Westeros, they built their power through marriage rather than war. The Dornish were the last to join the Seven Kingdoms. They don’t let that slow them down in the power games.
The Vale keeps outliving its own leadership
House Arryn’s greatness predates the show by several centuries, including the House of the Dragon era. They’ve ruled the Vale of Arryn for thousands of years and were still central to the politics of the Seven Kingdoms when the series opens.
Their seat is the Eyrie, an impenetrable fortress tucked away in the mountains.
When the Baratheons and Starks needed the Vale to stand up to the Mad King, Jon Arryn and his men fought against the tyranny of a corrupt and maniacal ruler. After Jon’s death, the leadership got thin enough that Littlefinger manipulated his way into power there.
Then Littlefinger dies, Robin Arryn takes his rightful place at the head of the feared Knights of the Vale, and the Vale keeps its seat in Bran’s court.
The Greyjoys are terrifying until they touch land
House Greyjoy, or the Iron-Born as they call themselves, is one of the most unique families in the show. They live on the Iron Islands, far from the Westeros mainland, by their own traditions and customs. Sometimes they resemble the Dothraki more than they resemble the Lannisters.
They’re just as formidable as Khal Drogo’s kin, too, at least on the water. The Greyjoys command one of the largest and most impressive naval fleets in Westeros, and they’re a sight to behold locked in battle on the open sea.
Landlocked, it’s a different story entirely.
They’re used to fighting, used to paying the “iron price” for what they have. “We do not sow” is the family motto and it tells you everything about their military capabilities. They refuse to play by most of the rules the other houses follow, and they sustain themselves mostly by pillaging and taking what they need from whoever they can take it from.
The Baratheons burned themselves down
By the time the series ends, House Baratheon is all but extinct. For centuries before, and through most of the show, they were one of the most prominent families in Westeros. Robert’s rebellion is the proof. The other houses wouldn’t have followed anything less than one of the most powerful families into war against the might of the long-ruling Targaryens.
Then Robert dies and the family splinters into a shadow of itself.
“Ours is the Fury” are their words, and they live by them. The Baratheons are hot-headed and brash, always ready to start or end a fight, which is a significant factor in what ends the house. The three Baratheon heirs all but destroy themselves and each other after Robert’s death. Hard to imagine what a united version of that family could have done.
Only Gendry is left to carry the legacy. The power he wields is minimal.
Bear Island doesn’t need to be big
Lyanna says it best: “We are not a large house but we are a proud house.”
House Mormont isn’t the most powerful family when the show begins. It’s a historic one with a proud legacy, and their home on Bear Island keeps them clear of most of the King’s Landing conflict, with one exception. Any fight involving a Stark.
The Mormonts know no king but the King in the North and will stop at nothing to protect the Stark family, entering any battle on their behalf at the drop of a hat. Their motto is “Here we stand.” Their sigil is the bear.
Put those two things together and you understand why a house that small gets to sit this high on any list.
