The wars that inspired Game of Thrones - Alex Gendler

View full lesson: ed.ted.com/lessons/the-wars-th...
Beginning around 1377, medieval England was shaken by a power struggle between two noble families, which spanned generations and involved a massive cast of characters, complex motives and shifting loyalties. Sound familiar? Alex Gendler illustrates how the historical conflict known as the Wars of the Roses served as the basis for much of the drama in Game of Thrones.
Lesson by Alex Gendler, animation by Brett Underhill.

[@user-ui7uv8kh7f]

Moral of story: To end a war, marry the enemy

[@wickandde]

Love thy enemy.

[@rosemariepinks8396]

Exactly

[@Roberta_Trevino]

Keep your enemy close, Think like your enemy, Befriend your enemy, Bed you enemy. Makes sense

[@ChronicRen]

Pretty much

[@zandyzain6241]

Yup, one of many diplomatic tactics

[@maettsook]

'As far as we know medieval England was never invaded by ice zombies' that all depends on how you define the Scottish.

[@Samuel-ut7mj]

Scotland didn't invade England really

[@Bastikovski99]

Or they could be the Vikings

[@kamanashiskar9203]

@@Bastikovski99 By 1399, the Vikings were long dead.

[@kamanashiskar9203]

@@Samuel-ut7mj Yes. It was most of the time quite the opposite.

[@ScootsMcDootson]

@@Samuel-ut7mj Yes they did, multiple times, nearly always while England was at war with France, and they nearly always lost.

[@TheDneaves]

You can just imagine if one day someone makes a successful book or tv series about the wars of roses and people say it's ripping off game of thrones. Lol

[@gevara454]

Then you are in luck. Look for Toby Clements Kings maker series of book, that is why im here reading about it

[@proximitive3872]

G filmer bruh right it down dont show it to people. They can tske your idea. Be careful with your works

[@gfilmer7150]

@@proximitive3872 Relax, I already have the copies of the writing.

[@MrKitEA]

This TV series already exist. It's called - "Britain's Bloody Crown", presented by Dan Jones.

[@aladinbenterzi1315]

actually it exists, season 1 called the white queen and season 2 is the white princess

[@PhilipJackson03]

And for those who are wondering, House of the Dragon is based on the Anarchy. One of Britain’s earliest civil wars against Empress Matilda (Rhaenyra) and Stephen of Blois (Aegon).

[@cloud2451]

Woww

[@honeymaghuyop7856]

The first part of the vid kinda sounds like the prelude of the House of the Dragon though

[@AJK17.5]

I'd day william the conqueror would be aegon considering how he took the throne and also established his dynasty

[@overdrive1224]

@@AJK17.5 Different aegon

[@vitoraugusto9596]

Just one point: The difference is that Henry I never pointed Matilda as his heir. He pointed his grandson, her son, Henry II. And of course, several kings in general are similar. Aegon the Conqueror and William the Conqueror, Aegon IV and Henry VIII, etc.

[@octapusxft]

Aside from the lack of dragons, the war of the roses sounds even more amazing Though the people had to wait for decades for the next chapters

[@KilaLemon]

Bit like us then

[@MM-xm5vx]

Na I like the game of thrones because it’s more complex and the magic makes the stakes higher.

[@sheikhspeare6637]

lol Where do you think GRRM got that from?

[@justanotherdamnerd4434]

So, no difference?

[@satorugojo6579]

They’re just as complex as each other if you read ASOIAF

[@Pyrospriter042]

How is the real life ending to "Game of Thrones" better than the ending the show had.

[@ratugakaboom2010]

or the entire game of thrones

[@alaskaoalaska]

Because TV show writers took over from the original writer of the book who, I'm assuming, wrote with the War of the Roses in mind. They could just as easily have had Jon Snow marry and have kids with his Aunt Danny, I'm not sure I would have wanted to see that though.

[@withalittlehelpfrom3]

Because D&D wrote to subvert audience expectations instead of actually thinking about the political implications of what they were writing. I can’t imagine they thought through the political implications of putting Bran on the throne, or how the people of Westeros would react to it!

[@mijanhoque1740]

They could have Jon marry dany and overthrow cersi and euron

[@mohdghazali3473]

So you mean, you prefer the Game of Thrones to ended in the same fashioned as the War of Roses ?

[@vicmantiri6782]

"If you think this has a happy ending, you're not paying attention."

[@alterego5007]

This quote didn't age well.

[@vicmantiri6782]

@@alterego5007 oh my...

[@Confucius_76]

who said that again?

[@alterego5007]

@@Confucius_76 Ramsay, but he was wrong LULZ

[@giselaswaragita1326]

It's a happy ending, jon reunites with ghost

[@thanosinfinity9098]

A Lancaster always Pays his debts

[@MatthewCYN15]

The Lannisters send their regards.

[@therealjesus1317]

LANCASTER FILTH!!!

[@jacklancaster8622]

A Lancaster sends his regards

[@antonironstag5085]

Yorkshire remembers!

[@Alderwood]

It seems we do

[@illbeurbaby17]

I'm literally shocked at the amount of people calling history a spoiler... lol

[@7ItalianStallion]

Well it totally is. The creator of the book is a total hack and the writers of the show are just hacks hired to fill in all the empty time with fluff. Instead of just creating something that's your own all these Pretenders just take history and then throw zombies into it

[@shubhamgupta-sv2hn]

@@7ItalianStallion Lul

[@Sleipnirseight]

The *book* series is well-written, with in-depth world and character building. I have no qualms with fiction being inspired by aspects of reality - all the best fiction is. I would be surprised to hear that RR Martin is a "hack" from someone who's actually read his work, but to each their own... Now, the show is an entirely different beast with questionable writing, but I can still enjoy it for what it is and understand that screen adaptations are often seriously limited and a poor way to judge original works/authors 🤷

[@TheFLAMEXD]

Consciousness How is being inspired by history a bad thing? Newsflash; you CAN NOT create something from nothing.

[@gfilmer7150]

@@Sleipnirseight D&D are hacks though

[@Mr_Metro]

The ice zombies are just the angry Scottish

[@aidandeng950]

White walkers

[@MrDoubleJ2012]

Brothers and sisters are natural enemies! Like northmen and white walkers. Or free folk and white walkers. Or white walkers and other white walkers! Damn you white walkers! You're ruinin da north!!!

[@lowquality49]

Plu to HAHHAHAHAHHAH

[@Sam-hu3nm]

No the Wildlings are the Scottish

[@kevinli1438]

And the dragons... *St. George would like to see you in his office*

[@kennedy072]

Thousands of poor men died just because of a Dysfunctional Family.

[@sofar2218]

you should learn about the French revolution, it's really fascinating

[@akosleoszilagyi2529]

History in short. :-D

[@HudaefCares]

Nowadays people will and have died because of a dysfunctional government.

[@ethanporter8233]

Try World War One that was also a massive mess between multiple countries royals including Germany, Russia, and Britain whose royals were all part of the same dynasty and were descended from Queen Victoria and Prince Albert

[@putikeswarasudarsono]

@@ethanporter8233 family conflict that killed millions and devastated a continent in the process

[@homestuck_official]

No mention of the Tyrells? Their symbol is a double rose, and they gain power mostly via their crops and marriage. They're definitely a reference

[@saleka_art]

Just a youtube commenter Tyrells is Nevilles A noble family, Anne Neville was a widow princess and then married Richard 3. She was queen of England 🌝

[@saleka_art]

They have no parallels except that Anne Boleyn was played by Natalie Dormer.Anne Boleyn does not fit into the age of the war of roses. 🤔

[@stars-hk9uo]

Tyrells can be the tudors (please correct the spelling of "tuders" if wrong)

[@lohisnormalguy9355]

@@stars-hk9uo tudors

[@stars-hk9uo]

@@lohisnormalguy9355 ok edited it

[@aram9167]

Real life: unites the roses Show: burns the roses

[@morsmordre3]

With wildfyre

[@speedycord4916]

So it's confirmed Danerys is going to marry Sansa

[@joseph-kim]

+Speedy Cord When I saw that, I thought you said m"Santa" instead of "Sansa"

[@EVEMASTER99]

+Speedy Cord It will probably be Jon but I get what you are saying lol.

[@joseph-kim]

Jon Cena.

[@maimasiero945]

+Speedy Cord YES

[@stevekoron7059]

+Joseph Kim ?

[@CitizenDuarte]

"King Henry died while in captivity." Probably from a severe case of the murders

[@delphinidin]

i'm dying laughing

[@SpoonyMcFork]

I had that once. Put a little cream on it and it cleared right up 😂

[@beemillo4741]

It hurts at first, but the pain eventually goes away.

[@juf9055]

i don’t get it someone explain

[@ntpgmr]

@@juf9055 Henry probably got murdered while imprisoned. They're making jokes as if "a case of the murders" is like a minor skin condition.

[@tardarsauce1842]

Son: *"You love me as a son right?"* Dad: *"I love you as a political bargaining tool"* Heir to the throne in a nutshell

[@forickgrimaldus8301]

Well its a bit of both but for the most part yes as a Prince can at times rebel against the King like what happened between Richard the Lionheart and his Dad.

[@jameshailerthepostmaster4389]

Younger Son: Hey Dad. Dad: What you want little Man, can you see I'm busy talking to my son. Younger Son: I'm your Son. Dad: I HAVE ANOTHER SON?

[@L1d0]

...and then he died. Dad: Oh, my alliance with Spain. My poor, poor alliance with Spain. "And your son Sire?" Dad:. Oh yes of course my son... ...But mostly my alliance with Spain.

[@mamtasahu286]

This is a reference to oversimplified i sense

[@maskrlzxw6823]

oversimplified

[@dan6848]

Margaret could be both Cersei and Margery

[@aileenzhao7951]

but Cersei is meaner

[@foreveryoungblink8545]

I immediately thought of Margaery when he introduced Margaret.

[@justadult3493]

Maybe because of the names? Cersei and Margaret have more in common that Margaret and Margaery.

[@khondamirimamnazarov6983]

@@justadult3493 Cersei could never successfully manipulate her husband, Margery on the other hand...

[@ansgarhamer3731]

@@khondamirimamnazarov6983 she quite literally manipulated him, that's why she doesn't have his children....

[@axiezimmah]

This is why i like game of thrones. Because it's a pretty realistic portrayal of warfare and politics. It's never simple in life, why should stories be simple?

[@greenergrass4060]

zimri19 exactly!

[@samd2013]

Ya minus the dragons and Ice zombies

[@heavysaber9431]

Got is a fantasy world after all, but it doesn't mean that it should be unrealistic, after all, it's based from our real world, you could add a talking animal or a race of sentient trees, dragod or ice zombies but that would still make it realistic if the characters make realistic choices, have real human emotion and reaction, and of course follows what is logically should be happening. Most of the shows today that are set in the real world are truly unrealistic compared to GOT, in my opinion.

[@simplythebest286]

realistic??dragons?white walkers??

[@riomarcelang]

yes and seasons 1-4 especially. but after that it’s like the show gobbled up some steroids and had a bad reaction, still gonna watch it tho

[@GerardMichaels]

This six-minute supercut was more dedicated to character development than season seven and eight of Game of Thrones combined.

[@Nobody-fb7ni]

That’s just not true . . .

[@miguelpadeiro762]

@@Nobody-fb7ni But Gerard's muh queen!

[@mijanhoque1740]

Agree

[@sharp5132]

Ngl season 7 was for the most part ok, Sansa, Daenerys, and Jaime all had pretty good character development. It’s just that season 8 threw all of that out the window for shock factor

[@joeyjerry1586]

@@sharp5132, Jamie yes but what character development did Sansa and Daenerys have? Sansa did nothing the whole season and Daenerys didn’t learn much. S7 is almost as bad as 8. Only good scenes were olenna’s death and when cersei poisoned tyene

[@Lucy-gn6fc]

I like how Game of Thrones notes pop up beside their real life counterparts

[@miloblackmetalhate]

Jon Snow' assassination was definitely a nod to Julius Caesar.

[@ariannemontemayor2885]

Milind Tripathi yes, but though he just got stabbed seven times just for marrying Cleopatra the last queen of Egypt

[@chokemewithmydiamonds9456]

he was NOT stabbed for JUST marrying her. it was much more political.

[@Chepis96]

Arianne Montemayor he was said to be stabbed over 20 times and it wasn't bc he married cleopatra. It was bc roman senators were scared of his increasing power and the idea of another dictator.

[@alshnevermore3741]

Actually they didn't like him at all from the start.

[@eccentrichorse11]

In the books it is the Ides of Marsh.

[@hassankhan7555]

"Finally ending nearly a century of war"... Only to give birth to henry the 8th aka "divorced, beheaded, died, divorced beheaded, widowed"

[@pablodonner5213]

And finally survives

[@lisabriggs9064]

"Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, watch out here comes survived."

[@aspiringbaker3607]

And just, for you, tonight. We’re divorced, beheaded, LIVE.

[@shaypatra9840]

How can you possibly even write like that?!

[@vampirecaptain7676]

You have managed to mess up a simple child's rhyme.

[@memoweb01]

Wildfire = Greek fire. Archimedes used it against the Roman ships. Valyrian steel = Damascus steel. Like in the series, the exact manufacturing process is unknown.

[@memoweb01]

@TheFlower They are not real damascus steel but similar to some ancient japanese steel. You can find more online.

[@borismuller86]

Guillermo López Damascus steel isn’t a mystery any more. It’s being reproduced quite a lot now. Greek fire still appears to be a mystery though.

[@memoweb01]

@@borismuller86 No. Those knives sold online are not real Damascus steel, they only look similar (they are closer to some japanese and indian steel weapons but do not have the same properties). You can find more info online.

[@predemitdeer7508]

valyrian steel/ damascus steel/ vibranium

[@leslieblanco3536]

DAMN. I feel like history has even more amazing stories than any fantasy series or ficiton. Thats essentially what we base our imagination on .

[@dramaholicsanonymous6420]

The boys in prison that disappeared are bran and Rick on In

[@fatimaiqbal7965]

Hi Pi 😯

[@shosty575]

😶

[@MrFuller876]

😦

[@TheDneaves]

Jofery and Tommen are more equivalent. Stannis as Richard, Jofery having a false claim.

[@mimiHTcat]

there is a tv show / book series about the wars of the roses called the white queen. I definitely recommend it. there's also a movie series called the hollow crown, which is essentially the shakespeare version of these events.

[@aegonii8471]

mimiHTcat I’m gonna search it up.

[@bindon4]

The White Queen is brilliant, yes, but a little bit of fiction is added. Also Shakespeare lived and wrote in the time of the Tudors, so was extremely biased. I highly recommend Dan Jones' 4 part documentary "Britain's Bloody Crown".

[@blackwidow7176]

Elizabeth Woodwille ❤ (idk if the surnames spelling is correct)

[@erinlee5936]

cat The sequel to The White Queen, The White Princess, is already out. Very good series, I highly recommend it. Love The Hollow Crown! Henry V is my favorite. Brilliant cast, excellent performances, just ❤️ it!

[@markjustdiditc]

The White Queen was pretty terrible imo, they could've made it so much better if they ditched the sole focus on love and focused more on battle and political situations, they needed more funding

[@LordGarth6]

so the Scottish are the white walkers, or the free folk beyond the wall?

[@ThatIcelandicDude]

The scottish are the free folk!

[@ThatIcelandicDude]

adamnesico if the wall is hadrians wall then the northerners are yorkers (which fits historically to the war of the roses, and those north of hadrians wall are the scottish...

[@ThatIcelandicDude]

adamnesico well Grrm said himself that his inspiration for the wall and the freefolk were the scottish during the roman era, he said that his idea for the nights watch was the roman soldiers who guarded Hadrians wall against the savages....

[@ThatIcelandicDude]

adamnesico The scots are the decedents of the picts arent they? look i'm not saying that the northerners not in any way based on the scotts, they obviously heavily are, but in the the context of the war of the roses they are clearly the yorkers.

[@moomimi]

how dare

[@dudeska8488]

Teacher: Learn the History of England Student - goes home & sees Game of Thrones.

[@kamanashiskar9203]

Well, the Game of Thrones only portrays the history of England from 1399 to 1485.

[@yespls4184]

It's so difficult to follow what happens in the Wars of the Roses because there are way too many Edwards

[@INFIDEL96]

Like all the eddards and brans in A song of Ice and fire

[@BlackDogWhiteRabit]

And Richards...

[@mage1over137]

At least the Game Thrones has more than three names for everyone.

[@Victoriacariad]

mage davee Ikr? Lol. It takes a while to get your head around all the Henry's, Edward's, Margaret's and Elizbeth's. Though atleast it got easier after they used Roman numerals...but still confusing with the women descended from royal families, duchies and the aristocracy after all their name changes and titles.

[@franciscoandrade8588]

And just remember that Kings had different Roman numerals for different territories and that other monarchies also used many of the same names as those in other countries.

[@VCYT]

mage davee -ahh but now we got kate & william + baby george !

[@Zeredek]

+King Aelle of Northumbria well I mean the Yorks and Lancasters had literal lifetimes to think of cool names

[@Zeredek]

***** well clearly those kings didn't have the ambition GRRM has

[@sohambanerjee6343]

"Mindblowing" - Oberyn Martell

[@masterson0713]

Ha i get it

[@madarauchiha8508]

Warwick's man: **stabs Edward IV** Warwick: *Lancasters sed their regards.*

[@souravku457]

Anyone here after seeing the ending of game of thrones season 8 , would be highly conflicted

[@playboy]

This is truly fascinating.

[@delicious_mm2079]

Omg it's the real playboy tho

[@playboy]

Delicious_mm Yes it is!

[@fatboyRAY24]

Delicious_mm lmao

[@gosucalime]

***** I know right, this was very interesting

[@hussainashour6367]

***** The fucking hell are you people doing here?

[@georgyngomez5864]

"We often think of historical wars as decisive conflicts with clearly defined winners and losers, but the Wars of the Roses, like the fiction they inspired, show us that victories can be uncertain, alliances unstable, and even the power of Kings as fleeting as the seasons." well said

[@anderurteaga3707]

I love how the animator summarized their main characteristics with a few lines, the gestures of their paintings were accurately captured. It's funny how every person had a very distinct feature, pretty much apropiate for media adaptation.

[@Confucius_76]

This is the best and clearest explanation of the Wars of the Roses that I've seen on youtube! Thanks for this!

[@madeleinedartois4689]

You should take a look at the Timeline documentary series about this ! It's really interesting !

[@kaiplue]

A summary of this video: No actual spoilers from the show or books. Just historical background. half of the comment section: "OMG YOU SPOILED ME!!" other half of the comment section: **TELLS THE SPOILERS**

[@roidroid]

***** STANNIS KILLED DUMBELDORE

[@RWatsonChung]

***** Im not sure about you but when i first read the 1st book AGoT, i already bet that Danaerys will own the throne. It's just a matter of "how". That has always been my guess; haven't read Book 6 and 7 so no idea what's gonna depicted within these 2 books, that might change the course.

[@JJDvorshak]

R. Watson Chung I am also counting on Dae to claim the throne- in addition, it will keep my favourite actress busy a bit longer. Although I do hope I can still spot a Broadway show with her performing as a charming New York dolly.

[@RWatsonChung]

***** Yeah, that's true. especially with G.R.R Martin that loves to troll readers/fans with a sudden kill (i still never recover from my fav, Renly's death, that was too sudden and i was just warming up to his character!). for all i know, he could feed Daenaerys to Dorgon and make the bloodlines into somebody else (for the sake of spoiler, i won't disclose). Nonetheless, let's sit back and relax, and see how much GRR Martin decides to troll!

[@RWatsonChung]

***** oh well, i never watched the show (probably will start soon!). but in terms of the book, Dae's character is one of my female favorite. though there are times that i wish she just unleashes Dorgon the trios to burn down the conspirators. easy job done. hahahaha

[@zombiemistress]

Neat! Why the hell aren't all history classes taught in cartoons? Kids would remember the facts more often....

[@TechnoMinarchistBall]

+Eric Dietz Costs money, and we all know that the state hates spending money on education...

[@katavia4131]

im in a college course for this and have a midterm tomorrow and this just made it wayy m ore simple lol cartoons really help

[@kooolkidninjamaster]

time squad taught history. to an extent it was a cartoon in cartoon network.

[@Arrwmkr]

well good history teaching is less about remembering facts (names dates etc), what's really important is learning how to analyse and interpret the available data. But now that we have the net we just watch videos and think we know it all! :)

[@MonkeyBidness359]

Not necessarily. I use short video clips to illustrate the concepts I am teaching but I don't expect my student to remember the facts they contain. The only way they can remember my content is through frequent, deliberate, and effective studying. Sadly, studying is a skill we are fast losing as a society thanks to the rise of portable digital technologies which have made us all lazy.

[@kaushilkundalia2197]

Still a better ending than the Game of Thrones

[@godzillavkk]

Shall I fetch some tear buckets?

[@puneetmishra4726]

Wayyyy bettter

[@nurulsofea01]

And if we go further then Henry the eighth will appear and next is Mary then Elizabeth. To my opinion the war of roses only ended after Elizabeth died along with house Tudor

[@phos4552]

​@Nurul Sofea Ismadi That doesn't make sense. The War of the roses established the Tudor dynasty. Elizabeth dying dosen't in anyway connect to it.

[@goodgame3374]

Anyone who thought Dany acted out of character at the end wasn't paying attention to her character development throughout the series

[@firewatch9224]

Well this never inspired Got S8 finale tho

[@chronoSprockets]

i think it inspired the dance of the dragons alot aswell, which ends with a marriage between the two opposing targaryen factions

[@viviannguyen03]

xavi_shadow the dance of the dragons is probably inspired by the anarchy a lil bit. matilda and stephen are basically rhaenyra and aegon lol

[@gfilmer7150]

@@chronoSprockets True but Aegon III's reign was nightmare for him as his own advisors tried to have him arrested and deposed.

[@postmodernshaman5929]

That's more like a bodily excretion than history

[@gfilmer7150]

@@postmodernshaman5929 True. It was God awful. 1/10 would not recommend

[@racheldewitt8368]

I'm impressed how hundreds of years of battles for the throne was crammed into the space of six minutes, and even more so that it all made sense. Bravo!

[@3baxcb]

Decades is more like it.

[@mijanhoque1740]

It was just 30 years

[@smarthinus3286]

Henry Tudor, the First of His Name, The Unburnt, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar and the First Men, King of Meereen, Khal of the Great Grass Sea, Protector of the Realm, Lord Regnant of the Seven Kingdoms, Breaker of Chains and Father of Dragons.

[@awaywiththefaeries9464]

Seventh of his name actually

[@johanagonzalez6544]

When I was first explaining Game of Thrones to my cousin I got confused and said Lancasters instead of Lannisters.

[@damselinthedress]

Daenerys will marry Sansa? Okay George, I see you.

[@SnowSNS11]

Daenerys Sansa Jon? a nod to Aegon and his sister wives!

[@MrFuller876]

@@SnowSNS11 👍👌

[@reaganrambles1951]

I’m here for it. Would be a way more satisfying ending than what the show gave us

[@MamtaSingh-il4lk]

It would have fit better if Aegon VI (Rhaegar's elder son with Elia Martell ) was alive then he could have married Sansa.

[@thetalesofelbek7042]

no way ! it won't bring much needed peace, the faith will revolt.

[@romeblanchard3419]

Bran and Rickon were inspired by the princes in the tower.

[@7ItalianStallion]

You mean plagiarized? LOL

[@char4980]

@@7ItalianStallion no

[@Notreallyhereanymore]

Yea

[@excalibur5118]

@@7ItalianStallion Whats wrong with you? It is not plagiarized, do you even know what it means?? George R.R Martin took inspiration from the war of the roses, history is the best inspiration, it happened in real life, why can it not happen in a story. George built worlds, created unique characters for ASOIAF, they changed the execution, which matters.

[@jezzaus2124]

GRRM has been very clever with his books. He's basically taken true history and mixed it with epic fantasy. Its what makes it do great.

[@IdlerWeiss]

War of Roses is one of my favorite power struggle and knowing that GOT was inspired by it. I wanna watch GOT now

[@rc59191]

You'll be disappointed by the last season. Do yourself a favor and watch only to season 4.

[@MM-xm5vx]

Read the books too, they really are amazingx

[@soulscyther666]

Just read the books, they are far better, though it is not finished yet. Or you could watch the show and be disappointed with the later seasons (when the tv show overlapped the books). Your call.

[@ms_scribbles]

Actually do yourself a favor and ignore anyone who tells you how to feel about the show or the books. Watch the show, read the books, and come up with your own opinion.

[@SnowSNS11]

as many say if there's a book it's better

[@210clevenger9]

Two Households. Both Alike In dignity. In fair England, where we lay our scene. Where civil blood makes civil blood unclean. Where an ancient grudge, breaks to new mutiny.

[@ichirotakamura3608]

Romeo York and Juliet Lancaster. Not bad 👌👌👌

[@cheaphoujing2770]

Nice Romeo and Juliet reference👌👌

[@OKA4LIVE]

Romeo and Juliet reference. Nice. Also, I've seen you comment this comment before on feature history's video on the War of the Roses.

[@210clevenger9]

@@OKA4LIVE Oh shoot. I'm famous.

[@alexandertsamourlidis646]

Well Shakespear has actual plays about the War of the Roses, you know his Henry the Fourth sagas, and King Richard, are all of that time. Moreover Shakespear is responsible for poeple today thinking of Richard III as a cruel monster, by all accounts he was averagely cruel for the times, and wasn't demented as good ol' Will portrays them

[@tcpgblizzard]

And this is one of the many, many reasons why I absolutely adore English history.

[@ZlatkoTheGod]

***** I envy you for that. Though this video was presented in a very entertaining way, I can only imagine how excruciating learning this in school must be. Personally, I find it quite boring, just a collection of power struggles and betrayals. Personally I'm more in the culture and science boat so I'd say ancient history and the renaissance are more interesting but that's just me.

[@user-bh4rx8mf8g]

The Red Baron An endless dirge of dates and political names can be very dull....but find a good teacher, some well-written books, and get your hands on some real Mediaeval armour and weapons to play with and I assure you it's anything but boring!

[@MustafaKulle]

***** The tragedy is we were never taught this in school. The War of the Roses was only briefly mentioned in Primary and in Secondary shcool just once. We were taught the Battle of Hastings, and Henry VIII and his six wives, but we had no idea what happened in between. This video single handedly explained everything in 6 minutes.

[@wolverineeagle]

Mustafa Kulle It’s so much more than just that. Look up the “White Ship” and the Anarchy. England went to hell in a hand basket once Henry I died(William the Conqueror’s son). Eleanor of Acquitaine was aquite the schemer. I’m almost positive you guys were taught about the Hundred Years War. That war saw the rise of some of England’s greatest warrior kings and princes. Edward III, Edward of Woodstock aka the Black Prince, and Henry V. Crecy and Agincourt are two of England’s greatest military victories.England’s history is so very rich(and bloody).Oh and we must not forget Edward I. The Hammer of the Scots. As an American with much British ancestry I am fascinated by British history.

[@misterbaybers4013]

***** Each history is fascinating. All it needs is a good story teller to convey it.

[@nikkagaddi7225]

Fun fact: 1. Richard III bones were found in a parking lot in England. 2. The bones of the brothers were found on the castle, along with many other tales about their remains. 3. Henry Tudor is the first monarch and the one who started the House of Tudor , another colourful era of British monarchy who includes the famous 6 time husband Henry VIII, Bloody Mary & Virgin Queen Elizabeth I. Hoping a nice series would be inspired by this era as well

[@TheObsidianX]

Henry was married 6 times not 8

[@nikkagaddi7225]

+TheObsidianX Yup, my bad, he was married 6.

[@norman4948]

English*

[@robbosturko]

+Hodor says nothing because he's dead after not being able to do the one thing he's been training for his whole life. holding the fucking door.

[@OmegaF77]

Finding the bones of two imprisoned children is not something I would describe as "fun."

[@javiercamacho1998]

Dang. Whenever I start to think that history's not all it's cracked up to be, I watch a video about a conflict that lasts for decades and is complicated, to say the least. I love your work!

[@alexander9703]

Henry VII was an illegitimate descendant of the first duke of Lancaster through a line explicitly barred from the throne. He married Elizabeth of York cos his claim was so weak. I'm mean, I guess it was direct; not sure what an indirect descendant is. But in this way he is more similar to Robert, descended from an obscure branch of the Targargens, than Daenerys, the daughter of the previous King.

[@gfilmer7150]

Richard II = The Mad King

[@subarnapapaul9186]

But through his mother’s side gives him legitimate claim.

[@alexander9703]

@@subarnapapaul9186 No. Henry VII's only claim is through his mother, and it's that claim which is weak and borderline non-existent. The Beauforts decend from the first Duke of Lancaster's third wife Katherine Swynford, and since the children were born before the marriage it is an illegitimate line. Only legitimised after, with the condition that they be barred from the line of succession. The thing is, even if the Beaufort line wasn't illegitimate, it was still incredibly weak. The first Duke of York had two previous marriages, one from which the Spanish (Castilian) royal family decended, meaning even Katherine of Aragon had superior (and legitimate) claim to the throne of England than her father-in-law. Like I said, Henry VII won the throne, and kept the throne solely because his wife was a pure blueblooded Plantagenet. A daughter, sister, and niece of Plantagenet Kings of England. Meaning after Henry VII, the Plantagenet line would continue after the reign of an interloper.

[@haleemulhassan9158]

So the real Rob Stark did succeed after all. That is some consolation

[@stevohawks822]

+Haleem ul Hassan Robb Stark

[@3baxcb]

+Haleem ul Hassan And he got to avenge his father too. Also, there are some Yorkist descendants living today which is how investigators confirmed that a skeleton discovered a couple of years ago was Richard III.

[@-_-5470]

Robb Stark was a traitor to the realm and got exactly what He deserved for rebelling against the rightful King!

[@shakshi_]

I wish Robb had the same fate but...

[@alexander9703]

@@3baxcb the Queen, the Kings of Spain, Norway, Belgium the Netherlands, Queen of Denmark, Grand Duke of Luxembourg and Prince of Liechtenstein are all descended from Elizabeth of York. As are the Habsburgs of Austria, Romanovs of Russia, the Houses of Bourbon and Orleans of France, House of Savoy of Italy, Hohenzollerns of Prussia. TLDR: Every reigning monarch in Europe (besides the Prince of Monoco?) plus every major deposed royal House of Europe is descended from Elizabeth of York. Pretty good going for the House of York, eh?!

[@GrimlyGaming]

3:24 Do my eyes see a Monty Python reference?

[@richardhollis3783]

***** Ha ha. Nice catch.

[@alisilcox6036]

Tis but a scratch!

[@victornoorts4779]

***** Thou art quite observant indeed...

[@SUPD100]

TIS' BUT A FLESH WOUND.

[@peroz1000]

CHICKEN! CHICKEN!

[@ilo2224]

3:25 *’Tis but a scratch!*

[@joshh6104]

I was about to comment this! "Just a flesh wound!"

[@cerebrummaximus3762]

Poor Henry VI, not only did poor Henry inherit the throne so young, but he also inherited a loosing war, the 100 years, then when the 100 years war ended, Henry had to deal with a bunch of relatives which wanted the throne. And if this and the recently begining war of the Roses was not enough for poor Henry, he also titled a Yorkist (Richard of York) who Henry believed was loyal to him. Eventually, the Yorkist hired an army and declared war, after which, Henry got so shocked he caught a mental illness. Margaret of Anjou is litteraly the only good thing that happened to Poor Henry.

[@mishitoshi6383]

I think Henry is Tommen

[@KanaidBlack]

Yeah, Herny it's Tommen, and Margaret was divided in two different characters, Cersei and Margaery

[@andro7862]

Omg yes, war of the roses is such an intersting part of history.

[@ellamedley7558]

I pretty sure some of the battles toke place near me.

[@andro7862]

Ella medley Which? :-)

[@ellamedley7558]

There was one at a Abby about 30 half a hours walk, 5 min drive with good traffic.

[@andro7862]

Ella medley Cool

[@ladydominion8632]

War of the Roses is one of my favorite parts of history. I am a little biased towards York’s though.

[@tariyelali7237]

So the Scottish are free folk and Vikings is White Walkers

[@DPAE-xc4ph]

@bw 1506 While the powerful families of Westeros (USA, China and Russia) fight for the Iron Throne (money and military dominance) there is an existential threat that could kill them all (global warming). This threat is hard to believe and the few who know about the threat (scientists) are ridiculed and called liars by the powers that be. This threat keeps growing and growing until the Lords and Ladies have no choice but to fight it. The White Walkers were created because men were destroying werewood trees and killing the Children of the Forest (deforestation). I think it's pretty clear that the White Walkers symbolise climate change. And that is one of the (many) reasons why I was extremely disappointed with season 8 of 'Game of Thrones'. This threat was destroyed with a knife to the stomach. What message does that send? Either the White Walkers had to win or Bran had to be the one who stopped them. Since Bran symbolises knowledge and wisdom he knows the truth and understands what needs to be done.

[@livgyldendal8301]

There where no more vikings at that time, the scandinavians where Christians then

[@beybye8366]

The muslims are the dothraki

[@silva3658]

@@beybye8366 no I think they're inspired by Mongols, see horses and physiology. They're definitely an horde. Also at the time Muslim countries were the most developed in the world, no sense Martin would representing them like a bunch of warmongers with no administration and culture.

[@bayekofsiwa7035]

there is something like "white walkers" in the norse mythology. the free folk are the vikings and the white walkers are the ice monsters.

[@richter0139]

This is amazing, I love the narration, the animation is amazing, what this historic story inspired is amazing, overall this was an amazing video

[@mariaochenas3634]

Something important that wasn’t mentioned: the Yorks were also descended from Lionel of Antwerp, Edward III’s second oldest son. Richard of York’s mother came from Lionel’s line, so they had claims through the second son. This makes, in my opinion, the Yorks have a stronger claim to the throne.

[@2HRTS1LOVE]

Real history is so much more dramatic, ruthless, heartbreaking, inspiring, jaw-dropping, fascinating, etc. than any fiction could ever hope to be. You seriously can't make this stuff up, and if you did write some of the truth as fiction, it would be criticized as being too fantastic or unbelievable. I love AGoT, and I hope it inspires its fans to learn more about the past, before we repeat it, as the saying goes. The fact that so many people hate history or think it's boring is a testament to many horrible teachers out there who somehow manage to make it so. That is a real shame, because knowing our history is truly valuable, for many different reasons.

[@Anubisdream1]

+OGSpaceCadet This was my thought after aSoFaI series inspired me to read the books "The Plantagenets" and "The War of the Roses" by Dan Jones. I kept telling people, It's what Game of Thrones was based upon, except that the details of the real history are way crazier, harsh and over the top.

[@amber2372]

+OGSpaceCadet Oh, please; it's not that there's "so many horrible teachers" it's that kids aren't interested in history. I love the stories of history, but so many of my classmates over the years don't care because it's 1.) not relevant to the future careers they have in mind, and 2.) not relevant to their social and leisure lives. Personally, I've had SCIENCE lessons that were interesting at the moment, but I've completely forgotten because I'm not interested in science. Also, GoT isn't going to inspire anyone like these people to learn about history. They'll just watch it for fun - you know, sex and violence - and move on to their own jobs and free time without a care in the world.

[@Anubisdream1]

+Amber Main I tend to agree with you. That being said I get frustrated that so many people think that history is not relevant to their present lives. So many things that go on in the news today doesn't really make proper sense unless you do understand the long history. The issues going on with Islamic world is a perfect example.

[@amber2372]

Todd Plunkett Exactly, and I agree with your example. Truthfully, the only reasons I got into history were because I'm an avid reader (meaning I like stories and history is just non-fiction stories), I have history nerds in my family, and I used to read historical fiction books. Particularly the LAST one got me into learning about different time periods because, even though they were fiction, a good percentage was still based in fact and I wanted to know more. GoT may be INSPIRED by history, but it's not based on it, and that's why no one is going to make connections between it and the War of the Roses, and hence won't look into at all because they're interested.

[@2HRTS1LOVE]

+Amber Main All of my history teachers except one were awful. They taught it as a dry, dull timeline of dates and events to be memorized and regurgitated for tests. The good one taught it as people, relationships, cause and effect and the difference was dramatic. My real interest in history came as I was able to travel, and actually see the places I'd studied. Roman history has a whole new meaning when you're standing in the middle of the Colosseum. That is probably the best history teacher--traveling and meeting people who live in the various locations opens your eyes in so many ways. I think Mark Twain has a quote, the gist being he'd never met a well traveled racist. That's because you learn that no matter our differences, we still have so much in common. And if we can ever learn to learn from our past, that is when we'll truly begin to advance as a civilization. Until then, it's just lather, rinse, repeat.

[@sarahenglerstone2814]

The Tudor rose is now the national flower of England! Never knew it's origin... awesome!

[@TKTTKT-lr9tq]

I love this. I recently got into this show and I love royal history. That part with the animals moving showing which family was based off who was a great touch.

[@madelaine0601]

Amazing story. I smiled when the two roses combined ❤️

[@nastrael]

If anything, Henry Tudor is Young Griff.

[@gradualdecay]

+Nastrael Rowe Unless Young Griff is Perkin Warbeck...

[@IonTorch52]

+Gradual Decay Interesting, but Henry Tudor has to be king before Perkin Warbeck.

[@SuperLigad]

+Nastrael Rowe Aegon and Sansa will marry confirmed

[@linearman0245]

+Gradual Decay I think Young Griff is supposed to be a mix of Perkin Warbeck and Lambert Simnel.

[@Noouuuuu]

+Nastrael Rowe I was actually thinking that.. xD

[@Sunzu49]

I pretty much learned about the War of the Roses through the Philippa Gregory adaptation of The White Queen mini-series (which has a canon uncle-niece romance between Richard and Elizabeth, which reminded me of Jaimie and Cersei). I've never seen nor read Game of Thrones, but it's interesting how much research George R.R. Martin did for this, and seeing this makes me all the more intrigued in checking out the books!

[@adamgonzalez9650]

Ted ed: GOT is like war of roses HOTD: Allow us to introduce ourselves

[@cynmann4584]

Good summary of the War of the Roses. You covered the main points. I hope it sparks people's interest. This was a fascinating time in English history.

[@AngelusSpkGrrl]

Anyone else think of Henry VIII when they think of King Robert. of course that would be out of order in the wars... but still

[@jorgizoran4340]

no aegon the fourth

[@inthegarbage9834]

His physical transition from a warrior to a fat old man is very similar to Henry VIII

[@goodgirlkay]

Umm...no. Robert was a bitch. Henry VIII was not and would never let a conniving bitch like Cersei get the better of him.

[@MURPHYCHACHO]

Maegor the Cruel was partly based on him, considering all the wives and desperation for an heir. Though Henry didn't go quite as far as Maegor and marry multiple women at once.

[@MURPHYCHACHO]

True, but at least Henry never married multiple women in the SAME CEREMONY.

[@Dogbehu]

This story is way too complicated to be explained in 6 minute video

[@gurpreetsingh793]

Watch "Britain's Bloody Crown", a 4-part documentary on KZbin. It's absolutely amazing!

[@marcelinebrownell8399]

Dogbehu it felt like a 30 minute video

[@feetbilo8169]

The King Of Maxia it taught me as much as an hour in school.

[@dimetronome]

@@gurpreetsingh793 Yes! Awesome documentary!

[@ms.und3rst00d6]

This is simple and straight to the point without the unnecessary characters and confusing.

[@ann_george]

Wow what a video!!!!!! Got inspired to learn more about the Wars of the Roses... Please do upload more of these amazing videos related to English history and literature. 🙏

[@sirevangeline1550]

Elizabeth of York: Jon Snow Henry Tudor: Daenerys Targaryen Is that what you're telling me? It all makes sense now...

[@barbaramarbell9358]

A summary of GOT: Everyone dies. Deal with it.

[@hanshintermann1551]

Soon we will find out

[@romerogiovanni7]

Not everyone lol

[@akosleoszilagyi2529]

And nowadays, every important character survived the Long Night...

[@stormbringer2840]

Well let's say it's valid for the 5 first seasons .

[@downthispath6538]

tldr of human lives: everyone dies

[@silentsmurf]

Just watched Richard II and came back to this video. Also needed a refresher earlier this year when I watched Henry VIII related shows. This is on top of the times I watched this over the years and learning about it school a million years ago. One day I will remember all of it!!

[@antonialunarius9564]

I remember hearing about the two princes who disappeared. They said that their ghosts can be seen today running and laughing about.

[@sadlobster1]

I love the animation style you used for both the historical figures and the GoT characters, very impressive

[@cedricgist7614]

Thank you! Have never seen an episode of "Game of Thrones " but have followed from a distance since reading a newspaper article that strove to introduce prospective viewers to the characters and plot line. I'd heard of the Hundred Years War and the War of the Roses but never researched them. I appreciate this summary.

[@juanpablovelez7656]

Very beautiful illustrations, thank you so much.

[@user-qr2ch3ht9b]

Now this is what I was looking for!! Great job!

[@LJLvids]

is is one of my favorite TED-Ed's so far

[@judgeholden6761]

I keep telling people just how much Game of Thrones borrows from history and people look at like me like I'm fucking crazy......like Jesus Christ: Stark and Lannister vs. York and Lancaster how transparent can you be? Not to mention fucking Dorn is like if Italy and Arabia had a baby, wildfire being greek fire, The Red Woman being Rasputin, and The Dothraki are perhaps the biggest fucking Mongol copy I have ever seen only bothering to change one letter from Khan to Khal.

[@daughter-of-loki1062]

Morale of the story: Always listen to Ned.

[@Nakeethus_Hunter]

Robert was right too... If he had just been allowed to kill Dany, Kings Landing wouldn't be a bonfire

[@whenitsraining861]

I absolutely adore this channel and have been waiting for a video on 'The Battle of Plassey(Palashi)' or about the Indian subcontinent in general. It would make me very happy to have my most favorite insight channel to do a video about my country.

[@everdream4200]

Edward the IV, they said he rode on the back of a giant wolf, they said he couldnt be killed

[@andreasballe7470]

The fact you said "The IV" makes me die.

[@Liletter]

They’re literally all cousins.

[@maungmaung3288]

My favorite Ted Ed video so far!

[@aykutrbs5088]

All around the world, from Russian empire to Chinese dynasties, to Austria Hungary or Ottoman, to the Roman empire, you can observe similar conflicts and power games in medieval ages or even earlier times. A good author would just combine all of them.

[@Mister_Cool]

3:29 I said "who's that girl on the right?" but it turned out to be Joffrey. BAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

[@idontgiveafaboutyou]

Reading and learning about the war of the roses and the time period is way more interesting than reading about Game of Thrones.

[@ADZ01982]

You also have similarity's with the Mongols and ottomans in Game of thrones.

[@Sephajinami]

Reading a textbook-like account of historical events is far less interesting than watching them play out in front of you for a lot of people. It all depends on your tastes.

[@MrTohawk]

But all of the main characters are named Henry, Edward or Margaret. Which makes it really confusing.

[@idontgiveafaboutyou]

Yeah well they have last names or titles to identify with. I'm sure some people can't read the people's names from ASOIAF because they look confusing and are different.

[@Sephajinami]

Wendy Hull How slow can a person be that they find names in ASOIAF confusing? They'd have to be a rather low level reader.

[@anavaleriaschneider6819]

One of the best summaries of the War of The Roses.

[@just_a_saeu88]

Love the animation on this

[@jmilber]

Watched the White Queen to fullfill my GoT cravings during the dreaded "month before GoT Season Starts", which feels like a year. The White Queen, although only one season long, captures a lot of the very interesting drama of the War of the Roses mentioned here in this video, and I suggest it to GoT fans in waiting who want to see a good historical medieval English Drama on War of the Roses

[@Sander_Datema]

3:23 Monty Python reference???

[@SnakeVenomTV12191]

Tis but a flesh wound

[@pettersoderberg6903]

+Thnks Fr Th Hos f Gldn Mmrs Fl f Wlvs A flesh wound?! You've got no arms left.

[@ethantemple506]

Sander Datema nah...tis just a flesh wound

[@abbieford2158]

I love Game of Thrones and I live near where the War of the Roses mainly took place. Great video!

[@fullicat]

The pronunciation of Warwick will be thoroughly amusing to any Brit

[@borismuller86]

fullicat wurwock?

[@tomd814]

@@borismuller86 warrick you knobhead

[@feathers457]

They said Lancaster funny but I live in Lancaster county Pennsylvania so we say LANcaster not LanCASTer

[@fredbarker9201]

Feathers 457 I’m English and I say LANcaster. But different parts of England will say LanCASTer

[@yarpen26]

@@fredbarker9201 LAN-Caster sounds like a 90s Internet provider.

[@fooliana1441]

Yorks- Starks Tudor - Targaryen Rhaegar's marriage to Lyanna started the war, now Jon's marriage to Daenerys will end it

[@aegonii8471]

Juliana Toloza No tudors are Lannister. The war will end with Sansa and Tyrion on the throne, and Jon and Danny will die.

[@9822703]

yorks= Baratheons and Lancasters= Targaryens. Percys and the Nevilles are a better fit for the houses Stark and Lannister

[@fooliana1441]

Oscar Wind reread the books boo

[@myllasunaya3871]

Not so fast my friend 😌

[@kiks2925]

@@fooliana1441 you are really saying "read the books" when you put the show content as canon and assumed that, because it happened in the show, it will in the books?

[@vaniatamara3293]

why is no one talking about how amazing the animation is?

[@CREDLACE]

3:23 T'IS BUT A FLESH WOUND! I love you TedEd

[@anitha998]

Absolutely loved this!