Game Of Thrones: 10 Things That Make No Sense About The Greyjoys

Of all the major houses in Game of Thrones, House Greyjoy is one that probably gets overlooked more than any other. The Greyjoys are the leaders of the Ironborn, a group of people who live in the Iron Islands, separated from the rest of Westeros, and living a pirate-like lifestyle.

House Greyjoy produced a number of memorable characters from the show, such as Theon, Yara, and Euron. It has also explored some of the history and culture of these people which has been fascinating yet also confusing. There is still a lot about House Greyjoy that doesn’t make a lot of sense.

10 Raiding The North

While he is at war with the Lannisters, Robb Stark sends Theon back to the Iron Islands to convince Balon Greyjoy to join their army. Instead, Balon announces that they will attack the North while the armies are away and conquer the lands.

Even with that massive advantage, this turns out to be a terrible plan. After winning some small victories, the Ironborn are quickly forced back as soon as the Northern houses start pushing back. How did the Greyjoys become such a powerful house if their attacks are so poorly planned and executed?

9 Joining Daenerys

After Euron Greyjoy takes over the Iron Islands, Theon and Yara quickly decide to steal his plan of joining Daenerys’ army. They sail to Meereen to meet with her and form an alliance that will allow them to rule the Iron Islands while answering to Daenerys.

Daenerys also demands that the Ironborn will no longer rape and pillage, though Yara argues that is their way of life. Eventually, she does agree to Daenerys’ terms. But since the original rebellion was about having their own ruler so they could do what they wanted, why would any of the Ironborn agree to Yara’s plan?

8 Failed Rebellion

Long before Balon invaded the North under Robb Stark’s rule, he led another failed rebellion. This time he led the Ironborn army against all of Westeros, including King Robert Baratheon. While they managed to burn the Lannister fleet, it ended pretty quickly as well.

After Balon was defeated and two of his sons were killed, Balon was forced to give up Theon as a ward to Ned Stark and bend a knee to Robert. But after leading a rebellion against the Iron Throne, why would they ever allow Balon to keep a position of power? Why not remove him and put someone loyal in place?

7 Their Religion

The Greyjoys, like the rest of the Ironborn worship the Drowned God. Like the other religions in Westeros, this is a complex belief system and part of it includes a ceremony in which believers are literally drowned and then come back to life, blessed by the Drowned God.

This is a ceremony we see Euron undergo when he is named King of the Iron Islands. Given the nature of the ceremony, one has to wonder how many people die from it. Isn’t that a risky way to name a new king that could easily end in the new ruler dying?

6 Theon’s Uncles

Euron Greyjoy emerges in Season 4 as Balon’s exiled brother. No mention was made of Euron by name before his appearance, but there was an earlier mention of Theon’s uncles. Tyrion mentions that they burned the Lannister fleet years ago.

In the books, Theon has three uncles, Euron, Victarion, and Aeron. Despite Tyrion mentioning Theon’s uncles, the other two never come up in the rest of the series. It seems strange that the show would make a point of establishing multiple uncles and then pretend like they didn’t exist.

5 The Pirate Life

As mentioned before, the Greyjoys and the rest of the Ironborn live by a code that seems similar to pirates. Instead of making deals for things they want, they simply take it. It is called “paying the Iron price.” They also raid other villages, take their gold, and steal any food they might need.

If they invade the mainlands to survive, why would the rest of Westeros ever put up with that kind of behavior? If they only raid their own islands, how is that possibly a sustainable way to live if everyone is just stealing from each other?

4 Euron And Jaime

In the later seasons of the show, it seems like the showrunners decided they needed a new villain for everyone to hate. Euron Greyjoy was then reimagined as an over-the-top bad guy who partners with Cersei Lannister.

The show also introduces a completely unnecessary rivalry between Euron and Jaime that just comes off as childish. It reaches its peak in the penultimate episode when Euron and Jaime have a fight to the death. It’s such a strange thing to waste time on in one of the last episodes as it’s never even clear why they are fighting.

3 Abandoning Daenerys

Yara Greyjoy becomes the leader of Daenerys’ fleet but she is captured after Euron attacks them and burns most of the fleet. However, Theon comes to his sister’s rescue before joining the rest of the heroes at Winterfell to fight the Night King’s army.

However, Yara does not join Theon. Instead, she sails back to the Iron Islands. Given that she is one of Daenerys’ most valuable allies, it seems strange that Yara would just abandon her queen. Even stranger, Daenerys seems to have no problem with the desertion.

2 Kinslaying

One of the most unforgivable crimes in Westeros is kinslaying, which means to murder someone in one’s own family. Someone guilty of this is said to be immediately condemned by the gods and becomes an outcast in the world.

In the books, the Ironborn take kinslaying especially seriously. But when Euron kills Balon, he openly admits it to everyone and they just accept it. Then when he is named king, Euron tells everyone he’s going to kill Theon and Yara and they are fine with that too.

1 Euron Greyjoy As King

Besides the fact that he immediately admits to being a kinslayer, Euron becoming king seems like a totally farfetched idea. He is an exiled member of the Greyjoy family who suddenly shows up and everyone decides he sound be king.

He explains that he’s going to marry Daenerys and use her dragons to conquer Westeros. But then Yara goes to team up with Daenerys and Euron has to find a new plan. He sets his sights on Cersei but simply becomes her lackey. Why would any of the Ironborn choose to follow this guy?

About The Author

Colin McCormick
(2028 Articles Published)

Colin McCormick is a Senior Writer with Screen Rant and has been a proud member of the team since 2019. In addition to his work as Screen Rant, Colin is also a writer of News, Feature and Review pieces at Game Rant. Colin has had a long passion and obsession with movies going back to the first time he saw The Lion King in theaters. Along with movies, Colin stays up-to-date on the latest must-see TV shows. While he loves to find interesting projects in any kind of genre, he has a special movie of crime stories that are infused with a little dark humor much like the work of his favorite author, Elmore Leonard.

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