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In the series finale they acknowledge that

The North

seceded from the rest of the Realm. They then call it the

Six Kingdoms

but there are still

eight kingdoms remaining from the original nine "Seven Kingdoms" (Dorne, Westerlands, Crownlands, The Reach, Iron Islands, Vale, Riverlands, Stormlands)

So, why not just keep the name?

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21

The crownlands and the iron islands are not kingdoms.

The name seven kingdoms originates from the seven kingdoms, which existed before Aegon's conquest. These are:

  • Kingdom of the North (Stark)
  • Kingdom of Mountain and Vale (Arryn)
  • Kingdom of Isles and Rivers (Hoare)
  • Kingdom of Rock (Lannister)
  • Kingdom of the Reach (Gardener)
  • Kingdom of Storm (Durrandon)
  • Principality of Dorne (Martell)

The iron islands were part of the Kingdom of Isles and rivers, House Hoare hailed from there and conquered the riverlands a century or so before Aegon's conquest from the Storm Kingdom. House Hoare was virtually destroyed in the conquest. Aegon divided the Kingdom of Isles and Rivers into the Iron Islands and the Riverlands and gave two local houses Greyjoy (selected by the ironborn themselves) and Tully (the first house to rebel against Hoare) control as his Lords Paramount.

What is now the crownlands was a constant warzone between the Reach, the Rivers and the Stormlands vying for control over this area, as such it was a prime spot for establishing a beachhead in Westeros. After the conquest, Aegon declared this land Crownlands and founded the capital there.

The name seven kingdoms however still originates from those seven kingdoms, which were there before Aegon, he did not include the two constituencies he created in that. The North was one of those original seven kingdoms, since it's independent now, by all rights, it's now the six kingdoms.

Note that the "Seven Kingdoms" were already only six for the most part of their history. Aegon still called himself Lord of the Seven Kingdoms, as he always laid claim to Dorne. But Dorne didn't come to the fold until 200 years after the conquest, so only 100 years before the show, after marrying into House Targaryen. Which makes it also a questionable choice of the showrunners for Dorne not to demand their independence as well.

Sources:

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6
  • 2
    Aegon created the two new houses Tully and Greyjoy, Aegon did not create them. Aegon raised them to more prominence. The houses themselves were very old. For details on Pre-Conquest kingdoms, see here. Also, the Rock never fought for now-Crownlands, it was the Ironborn, Stormlanders, Riverlanders and Reachmen who did so. – Aegon May 21 '19 at 6:51
  • @Aegon, Yep, I already fixed that. – Dulkan May 21 '19 at 6:51
  • Well now you are implying that they were minor houses before Aegon raised them. Tullys have always been major powers of Riverlands ever since they built Riverrun. Not a Great House as they are after conquest, but still a major House. And House Greyjoy was always a major power of Iron Islands, other than Houses Greyiron and Goodbrother, Greyjoys produced the most Ironkings back when the office was elective rather than hereditary. – Aegon May 21 '19 at 6:54
  • @Aegon Doesn't change the fact, that both are minor houses at the time of the conquest under rule of House Hoare. Whether you call Hoare a great house and Tully major or Hoare major and Tully minor doesn't make a difference. – Dulkan May 21 '19 at 6:58
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    It makes lot of difference. House Osgrey is a minor house, House Clegane is a minor House, House Bar Emmon is a minor house. Tullys weren't minor, now or then. Greyjoys weren't minor, now or then. In the more familiar Stark vassals, compare the Norreys with Boltons. That's the difference. Starks were great house, Boltons were major House, Bar Emmon were minor house. I have edited your answer to be more correct regarding the lore and the historical facts. Please review it, if you do not like it, you can always rollback. – Aegon May 21 '19 at 7:02
14

Because it’s symbolic and makes it so everyone can easily recognise that the North is now independent. The same reasoning also works for out of universe reasons.

On top of that the North is the biggest Kingdom by far so one could make an argument that it took a seventh of the Seven Kingdoms away.

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2
  • 3
    It seems like it's symbolic of the way the Iron Islands always get shafted – Brad May 20 '19 at 20:17
  • a 7th would make it average is size, it look about half if I remember the maps – Andrey May 21 '19 at 20:36

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