Deciphering an A Song of Ice and Fire family tree is no easy task. Due to the prevalence of remarriages, bastards, and even incest, it's not always as simple to tell who is related to whom in George R. R. Martin's Westeros universe as it may seem.
In fact, some hugely important characters in the books, who take on an even larger role in the TV adaptation, Game of Thrones, are secretly related, and it seems to have flown over many fans' heads. While the familial connection between these characters might feel more like a forgotten piece of trivia than a vital piece of the series' lore, this could have foreshadowed big alliances, betrayals, and even deaths from the later seasons of Game of Thrones.
Jorah Mormont is Margaery Tyrell's uncle
Anyone who knows anything about Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) knows that he's madly in love with his queen, Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke). The exiled knight was sent to Essos after selling slaves in Westeros, and he agrees to spy on the last two Targaryen siblings, Daenerys and her older brother Viserys (Harry Lloyd), in exchange for a royal pardon to come home from King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy). Before long, Jorah becomes smitten with Daenerys, and swears fealty to her, believing she and her inevitable conquest of Westeros can finally take him home.
However, Daenerys is not Jorah's first love. As per the books, Jorah had been married twice before his exile. His first wife, a member of House Glover, passed away after ten years of marriage. After her death, he married Lynesse Hightower, the youngest daughter of Lord Leyton Hightower of Oldtown, a man who was married four different times and had enough children to form a small army. Although Lynesse has yet to appear in any A Song of Ice and Fire book, Jorah confirms that she looks strikingly similar to Daenerys.
Another of Lord Leyton Hightower's daughters, Alerie, is married to Mace Tyrell (Roger Ashton-Griffiths). Unlike her sister, Alerie has appeared physically in A Song of Ice and Fire, playing a small role in A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows. She and her husband have several children, including Loras (Finn Jones) and Margaery (Natalie Dormer), both of whom play large roles in the series. As such, Jorah is Loras and Margaery's uncle by marriage.
Margaery, Jorah, and Cersei's prophecy
Jorah's loose connection to the Tyrells might not seem like much on paper beyond a fun fact. However, it offers more foreshadowing and symbolism than might initially be apparent.
After Margaery, Loras, and Mace are killed in the explosion of the Great Sept of Baelor towards the end of season 6, the last surviving member of House Tyrell, Lady Olenna (Diana Rigg), forms an alliance with Daenerys in order to get back at her family's killer, Queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey). Olenna helps fund and advise Daenerys until her death during the Lannister capture of Highgarden. Given that Jorah, who himself has been somewhat associated with House Tyrell, or at least Olenna's grandchildren. is so heavily tied to Daenerys, the connection between him and Margaery and Loras could clue careful audience members into this iconic, albeit brief, alliance long before Daenerys and Olenna ever meet.
Additionally, throughout the series, Cersei is haunted by a prophecy she heard from Maggy the Frog (Jodhi May) as a child. Maggy predicts that Cersei will lose all she holds dear to a "younger and more beautiful queen," a warning which turned her into the paranoid character fans have grown to love, and love to hate.
Cersei believes this "younger and more beautiful queen" to be Margaery, which explains her cruel demeanor towards her daughter-in-law. However, after Cersei murders Margaery, it becomes clear that Maggy was either referring to someone else, or that her prophecy was flat out wrong.
In the end, the show implies that Daenerys is the prophesized "younger and more beautiful queen." Cersei is killed during Daenerys' attack on King's Landing in season 8, along with her brother and lover Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and much of the rest of King's Landing. Additionally, Daenerys acts as Cersei's direct successor as Queen of the Seven Kingdoms, ultimately taking her place and neatly fitting Maggy's prophecy.
While Cersei's suspicions about Margaery filling this role proved to be incorrect, the connection between Margaery and Jorah points eagle-eyed audience members in the right direction. Ultimately, Margaery would not be the one to undo Cersei, but it would instead be a dear friend of her uncle's. While this may just be a coincidence based around how complicated the family trees of Westeros can become, Jorah's relation to the Tyrells helps tease their future storylines towards the end of Game of Thrones.
For more from the world of Westeros, make sure to stream A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms Season 1 on HBO Max.
April marks the 15th anniversary of Game of Thrones' premiere, and we're celebrating all month long with deep dives, retrospectives, quizzes and more. Want to go into your rewatch of the series armed to the teeth with reading material to help you get the most out of it? We've got you covered!