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Titles of the person who sits on the Iron Throne


Vaedys Targaryen

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The king who sits on the Iron Throne is always called King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. I just now read that the king can renounce one of the titles, which is what Daeron II did. This got me thinking, what if a king were to renounce two of his titles? Would there then be three rulers, or very powerful individuals, of the Seven Kingdoms?

The Protector of the Realm title implies military, but do the other two titles imply another role, that is unique in regard to leadership?

I've been thinking about it and if we go by what I suspect, it will go like this:

Protector of the Realm - military focused

Lord of the Seven Kingdoms - law and rule focused

King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First men - spirituality?? Faith?? A person who is "among the people"??

 

It also got me thinking, what if these titles are the Three Heads of the Dragon? One for military, the second for rulership and lawmaking and then a third that might be "the people"? These are all things that are essential for governing a nation and they are nearly impossible for one person to embody.

I'm sorry if this makes very little sense, because I can't properly articulate myself.

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Don't think the 3 fold Royal title is the 3 heads of the Dragon, but it's a neat parallel. I don't think a King could permanently renounce any of the titles as they carry huge significance. 

"Lord of the 7K" def is a law focus, and is a succint way of showing both the autonomy and unity of the 7 Kingdoms in the person of the king. 

The "Protector of the Realm" title can be outsourced to a Regent or a Hand if the king is underage, but it is definitley a martial title, like a modern ruler being titular head of the armed forces. 

Note that it's King of the "Andals Rhoyanar and First Men" even though the first such King was Valyrian to the bone and his supporters (Velaryon, Celtigar, Baratheon) were of same ethnicity. It implies a common ground with the 3 ethnicities of Westeros, sign of having nothing more to do with Essos. 

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5 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

It also got me thinking, what if these titles are the Three Heads of the Dragon?

Daenerys Targaryen - Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men.

Rhaego - Lord of the Seven Kingdoms (in her vision Dany saw him as a lord - "A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him." - which is a prove, that he is alive, and will live to adulthood).

Jon Snow/Aegon VII Targaryen - King (Dany's husband) and the Protector of the Realm (because he is Azor Ahai reborn, and will become Lightbringer's weilder, so it will be something similar to the Night's Watch vow - I am the sword in the darkness., ...  the shield that guards the realms of men). So, after he will marry with Dany (because in her other vision, with the blue rose on the wall of ice, Dany was referred to as the bride of fire, thus she will marry with Jon, who is R'hllor's champion), and they will conceive a child, a girl, that later will become Rhaego's bride, Jon will return back to The Wall, where he will continue to serve in the Night's Watch, and thus will be the Protector of the Realm, instead of taking Iron Throne.

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10 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

The king who sits on the Iron Throne is always called King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. I just now read that the king can renounce one of the titles, which is what Daeron II did. This got me thinking, what if a king were to renounce two of his titles? Would there then be three rulers, or very powerful individuals, of the Seven Kingdoms?

The Protector of the Realm title implies military, but do the other two titles imply another role, that is unique in regard to leadership?

I've been thinking about it and if we go by what I suspect, it will go like this:

Protector of the Realm - military focused

Lord of the Seven Kingdoms - law and rule focused

King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First men - spirituality?? Faith?? A person who is "among the people"??

 

It also got me thinking, what if these titles are the Three Heads of the Dragon? One for military, the second for rulership and lawmaking and then a third that might be "the people"? These are all things that are essential for governing a nation and they are nearly impossible for one person to embody.

I'm sorry if this makes very little sense, because I can't properly articulate myself.

Impossible for the average, but possible for the child of three.  

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18 hours ago, Vaedys Targaryen said:

The king who sits on the Iron Throne is always called King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms and Protector of the Realm. I just now read that the king can renounce one of the titles, which is what Daeron II did. This got me thinking, what if a king were to renounce two of his titles? Would there then be three rulers, or very powerful individuals, of the Seven Kingdoms?

The Protector of the Realm title implies military, but do the other two titles imply another role, that is unique in regard to leadership?

I've been thinking about it and if we go by what I suspect, it will go like this:

Protector of the Realm - military focused

Lord of the Seven Kingdoms - law and rule focused

King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First men - spirituality?? Faith?? A person who is "among the people"??

 

It also got me thinking, what if these titles are the Three Heads of the Dragon? One for military, the second for rulership and lawmaking and then a third that might be "the people"? These are all things that are essential for governing a nation and they are nearly impossible for one person to embody.

I'm sorry if this makes very little sense, because I can't properly articulate myself.

Maybe that's your three heads right there. One to lead or represent each group. As Daenerys has Dornish/Rhoynish blood she could qualify for them.

Then again there are all those threes in the HotU stuff for Dany. Could be a nice tie-in with that.

Also, Protector of the Realm doesn't have to be military. Some could argue that Bloodraven (if he's not a big bad) is doing the most to protect the realm at this point.

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Protector of the Realm: Highlights the duty of the King; that being to protect the realm. If a dynasty doesn't protect its people and lands, how long does it last? In-universe and out-of-universe answer: not very long (i.e. Starks ruling for 8,000 years, Targaryens having multiple rebellions in a comparatively short 300 year reign. China as an example of protection and non-protection. Also Rome and every other empire ever).

Lord of the Seven Kingdoms: Details the lands the King had sovereignty over; the Seven Kingdoms (nine technically, but seven when Aegon stopped conquering) of the North, Vale, the Iron Islands, the Riverlands, the Westerlands, Dorne, the Reach, the Stormlands, and the Crownlands. It also implies that the King isn't the actual King of the Kingdoms, just the lord; this placates the deposed houses and dynasties by symbolizing that they're still the kings of their castles. They technically weren't, because dragons, but then the lords realized there were no more dragons and kicked the Targaryens' dynasty straight off the Iron Throne into Essos and most likely Winterfell. 

King of the Andals, the First Men, and the Rhoynar: The lords needed to be placated. The smallfolk don't. Monarchs need the grand majority of their subjects to kneel and submit to their authority. Historically, peasant rebellions have been the thorn in the side of every empire that lasted any significant period of time. The smallfolk don't have lordships, they have identities; as Andals, and as the First Men, and as the Rhoynar. The sitter on the IT has to be their king, all of them, else the smallfolk stop ponying up those sweet, sweet taxes.

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