Highlights
- Valyrian steel is a rare and highly valued metal in the Game of Thrones universe, as the art of forging it was lost during the Doom of Valyria.
- Various noble houses possess Valyrian steel swords, such as House Mormont’s Longclaw and the Tarly’s Heartsbane.
- Ice, a Valyrian steel sword, was famously owned by Lord Eddard Stark and later reforged into Oathkeeper and Widow’s Wail.
Valyrian steel is the most precious of the metals that feature in Game of Thrones. It is rare as the art of forging the eponymous metal was lost when the infamous volcanic cataclysm, known in Game of Thrones lore as the Doom of Valyria, destroyed the Freehold and the key components of its civilization, such as art, history, and metallurgy.
House Of The Dragon: The Doom Of Valyria, Explained
The Doom of Valyria is an important event in the Game of Thrones lore. It brought an end to the once-great civilization of the Valyrian Freehold.
Valyrian steel is undoubtedly the most valued metal and, so when Jaime Lannister holds a freshly reforged sword made out of it in Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1 “Two Swords,” he correctly remarks:
No one has made a Valyrian steel sword since the Doom of Valyria.
The honorable Houses on Game of Thrones such as Stark, Tarly, and Mormont, possessed a Valyrian steel sword. While the Lannisters lost their ancestral Valyrian steel greatsword, Brightroar before the events of HBO’s Game of Thrones, Aenar Targaryen’s Valyrian steel dagger changed hands throughout Thrones.
6 Jon Snow – Longclaw
House Mormont had Longclaw for five centuries
Jon Snow wielded Longclaw during his time at Castle Black, and afterward. In Game of Thrones season 1, episode 9 “Baelor,” the man who preceded Jon as Lord Commander of Night’s Watch, Jeor, bestowed House Mormont’s heirloom Valyrian sword upon him as a reward for saving him against a Wight attack. To honor Jon’s Stark heritage, he had Longclaw’s bear pommel replaced with that of a wolf:
l thought a wolf was more appropriate for you than a bear, so I had a new pommel made. It’s called Longclaw. Works as well for a wolf as a bear, I think…. It was my father’s sword, his father before him.
Jon carried this bastard sword with him on the major expedition beyond the Wall, known in Game of Thrones lore as the great ranging. He used it to kill Qhorin Halfhand to be able to infiltrate into the King-Beyond-the-Wall, Mance Rayder’s ranks. Jon wielded his sword in epic battles against the Dead and the living. In the Massacre at Hardhome, he killed a White Walker with Longclaw because of which he and Samwell Tarly deduced that Valyrian steel is fatal to the Walkers.
5 Randyll Tarly And Ser Jorah Mormont – Heartsbane
The Tarlys had Heartsbane for five hundred years
The unpleasant Lord Randyll Tarly proudly displayed the greatsword – Heartsbane on a mantle at Horn Hill. He forced Samwell to take the Black and decided that his title and land would go to his second-born son, Dickon Tarly.
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While none of the Tarlys used Heartsbane on the show, Samwell did steal it in Game of Thrones season 6, episode 6 “Blood of My Blood,” while fleeing Horn Hill with Gilly and baby Sam in the dead of the night. Samwell’s motto was simple – having acquired the tactical information that Valyrian steel was lethal to White Walkers, he wanted to study the greatsword’s metal at the Citadel. Later, Samwell gave Heartsbane to Jorah Mormont before the Battle of Winterfell, and the latter wielded it in the war against the Dead:
I’ll wield it in his memory to guard the realms of men.
4 Lord Eddard Stark And Ilyn Payne – Ice
Ice was spell-forged in Valyria
The greatsword, Ice is the first of the Valyrian steel swords to be featured on the HBO show. In Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1 “Winter Is Coming,” Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, better known as Ned, uses Ice to execute a deserter from the Night’s Watch. His ward, Theon Greyjoy, helps him draw Ice from the wolf pelt scabbard.
Ned brings Ice with him to King’s Landing when appointed to serve as King Robert Baratheon’s Lord Hand. However, things take a turn after Robert’s death (assassination). He is disarmed, and put in chains on the false charge of treason by the illegitimate king, Joffrey. In a twist of fate, Ned is executed by the King’s Justice, Ser Ilyn Payne, using Ice, and later, the sword remains in the capital. After the fall of the King in the North, Robb Stark, and the northern army at the Twins, Tywin Lannister burns the wolf-head sheath and has a blacksmith reforge Ice into two swords:
The original weapon was absurdly large. Plenty of steel for two swords.
3 Jaime Lannister And Brienne Of Tarth – Oathkeeper
Brienne wielded Oathkeeper in the Battle of Winterfell
Tywin’s favored son, Jaime, inspects the first of the reforged Valyrian steel swords in Game of Thrones’ “Two Swords.” A military man, he is quick to notice the blade is fashioned out of Valyrian steel:
Magnificent! Looks fresh-forged.
When Jaime inquires, Tywin confirms he obtained two Valyrian steel swords from House Stark’s ancestral greatsword. Jaime thanks his father but struggles to sheath his weapon. Having lost his sword hand, he subsequently trains his left hand with Bronn, albeit with a sparring sword. He regifts his Valyrian steel sword to Brienne of Tarth, and dispatches her to find the eldest of Ned and Catelyn Stark’s daughter, Sansa:
It was reforged from Ned Stark’s sword. You’ll use it to defend Ned Stark’s daughter. You swore an oath to return the Stark girls to their mother. Lady Stark’s dead. Arya is probably dead too but there’s still a chance to find Sansa and get her somewhere safe.
Jaime also gifts Brienne a suit of armor, two horses, and a squire (Podrick). Before departing from King’s Landing, Brienne christens the sword as Oathkeeper. She valiantly wields her weapon in her fights on Thrones.
2 Joffrey Baratheon And Jaime Lannister – Widow’s Wail
Jaime wielded Widow’s Wail until his death
The pompous fool, Joffrey Baratheon, is given the second sword obtained from Ice at the breakfast before his wedding. In Game of Thrones season 4, episode 2 “The Lion and the Rose,” Tywin presents the sword to the new king, saying:
One of only two Valyrian steel swords in the capital, Your Grace, freshly forged in your honor.
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A pathetic swordsman, Joffrey struggles with his wrist movements, prompting Grand Maester Pycelle to remark:
Careful, Your Grace. Nothing cuts like Valyrian steel.
Joffrey names the blade as Widow’s Wail at a guest’s suggestion, and it remains in King’s Landing after his assassination. Widow’s Wail reappears in Jaime’s possession in Game of Thrones season 7. Having trained his left hand by then, Jaime uses it in the Sack of Highgarden, to fight the Dothraki in the Battle of the Goldroad, and most importantly, in the battle against the Dead at Winterfell.
1 The Multiple Owners Of The Valyrian Steel Dagger
Bran Stark gave the Valyrian steel dagger to Arya Stark
The Valyrian steel dagger features both in the original and in the prequel series – House of the Dragon. A Game of Thrones artifact, the dagger, goes from one owner to another. In House of the Dragon, Viserys tells his daughter, and heir, Rhaenyra:
That dagger once belonged to Aegon the Conqueror. It was Aenar’s before that. And before that… It is difficult to know.
After Viserys’ death, the dagger is seen in Aegon the Usurper’s possession and thus is highly likely to reappear in House of the Dragon season 2. As for Game of Thrones, the dagger is first wielded by a catspaw sent to assassinate Bran Stark. While Catelyn defends her son, her hands are severely wounded in the process. She carries the dagger to King’s Landing and leaves it in her husband’s possession. Neither Ned, nor the next owners, Petyr Baelish and Bran get to use it, but Arya Stark does. She stabs the Night King in Game of Thrones season 8, episode 3, “The Long Night” and is hailed by Daenerys as “The hero of Winterfell.”
Game of Thrones
Game of Thrones, based on the Song of Ice and Fire book series by George R.R. Martin, tells the sprawling story of warring families in Westeros. This includes the Starks, the Lannisters, the Baratheons, and the Targaryens. Along with human conflicts, Westeros is also threatened by the re-emergence of dragons, and an undead enemy from beyond the Wall.
