Legitimization

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Ramsay Snow is legitimized and becomes Ramsay Bolton.

Roose: "From this day until your last day, you're Ramsay Bolton, son of Roose Bolton, Warden of the North."

Ramsay: "You honor me. I swear I will uphold your name, and your tradition. I'll be worthy of your name, father. I promise."

— Roose and Ramsay Bolton.

Legitimization ​is the process by which a bastard receives the rights and social status of trueborn offspring by royal decree.

History

​Season 1

​The infamous Great Bastards, legitimized bastard children of King Aegon IV Targaryen, are mentioned in The History of the Greater and the Lesser Houses.

Season 3

When Eddard Stark's bastard Jon Snow became ill as an infant, Catelyn Stark prayed to the Seven to let him live, and in return promised to love him and ask her husband to legitimize him. Jon recovered, but Lady Stark did not stay true to her vow.

Season 4

As a reward for liberating Moat Cailin from the ironborn, Roose Bolton presents his bastard son Ramsay Snow with a decree of legitimacy. This makes him an official Bolton and Roose's heir, with the right to inherit his lands and titles when he dies. Ramsay is grateful for this, and promises to uphold his father's name and traditions.

Known legitimized bastards

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House Blackfyre was founded by the legitimized bastard Daemon Blackfyre

• {Daemon Blackfyre}, bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and Daena Targaryen. Legitimized by his father on the latter's deathbed. Founded the cadet branch House Blackfyre and led a a rebellion against his half-brother King Daeron II Targaryen. Killed in the Battle of Redgrass Field.
• {Aegor Rivers}, bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen. Legitimized by his father on the latter's deathbed. Took his half-brother Daemon's side in the Blackfyre Rebellion. Founder of the Golden Company. Died in exile in Essos.
• {Brynden Rivers}, bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen. Legitimized by his father on the latter's deathbed. Took his half-brother Daeron's side in the Blackfyre Rebellion. Believed to be a sorcerer. Killed his half-brother Daemon in the Battle of the Redgrass Field. Served as Hand of the King, Master of Whisperers and later Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
• {Shiera Seastar}, bastard daughter of King Aegon IV Targaryen. Legitimized by her father on his deathbed. Famous seductress and rumoured sorceress. Lover of her half-brother Brynden, but was also beloved by her other half-brother Aegor, causing a bitter hatred between them.
• Ramsay Bolton, formerly Snow, bastard son of Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort and Warden of the North. Legitimized after liberating Moat Cailin from the ironborn.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, bastards can receive a bill of legitimacy, allowing them to take their father's surname and formally join his House, or to take a new surname and found a new House (some bastards take new names altogether, like "Blackfyre", while others add a prefix to their bastard name, such as "Longwaters"). For example, House Baratheon was founded by Orys Baratheon, the legitimized bastard half-brother of Aegon the Conqueror.

However, while bastards stand outside the lines of succession and inheritance, there are still exceptions which have caused immense problems. King Aegon IV Targaryen legitimized three of his bastard sons and one of his bastard daughters on his deathbed. His eldest bastard son, Daemon Blackfyre, later claimed the Iron Throne and led a bloody civil war known as the First Blackfyre Rebellion. His sons and descendants launched four more attempts to take the Iron Throne before their final claimant, Maelys the Monstrous, was slain by Ser Barristan Selmy during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. This is sometimes used as an example of what happens if a bastard is treated too well and given too much power and legitimacy. It should be noted that the social stigma is not automatically removed even after the formal legitimization is performed.

George R.R. Martin has stated that in-universe, legitimization happens so rarely that there is no set legal principle for where a legitimized bastard ranks in the line of succession: whether they should go after all of a lord's trueborn children, or whether they should be placed according to birth order. For example, if Eddard Stark ever had Jon Snow legitimized, there is no established rule for whether Jon would go behind or ahead of his younger but trueborn half-brothers Bran and Rickon. In the case of the First Blackfyre Rebellion this was a moot point, because Daemon Blackfyre was not only bastard-born, but simply younger than Daeron II Targaryen. Daemon's followers therefore had to promote the rumor that Daeron II was himself a bastard of his father's younger brother.

Robb Stark had planned to legitimize Jon Snow and name him his heir until a son was born to him from Jeyne Westerling. He signed the decree in the presence of several lords as witnesses. However, it is unknown what became of the decree, as it is no longer mentioned in the books. It is speculated that Robb gave it to Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover, but their current location is unknown. So far Jon has not received the decree, and has no idea of its existence.

In the novels, Ramsay receives his decree of legitimacy signed by King Tommen Baratheon as a reward for the part his father played in the Red Wedding, as he was in need of an heir after the death of his trueborn son Domeric who apparently died of a stomach virus. Roose believes Ramsay to have poisoned Domeric out of jealousy of his status as their father's heir. He wins Ramsay's legitimacy despite this, as he believes that due to his age he will not live to see any children he might have with his new wife Walda live to adulthood, and suspects that Ramsay will kill them anyway. Ramsay is very sensitive to his origin, and reacts very violently if someone calls him "bastard" or "Snow", even without offensive intention.