Who really killed Robb Stark?

While I will warn that many spoilers are coming this way about the world of Game of Thrones, I will not apologise for the title, as you would not be able to get away from this even if you don’t watch the show!

Anyway, everyone knows he is dead. All you have to do is read or watch the first season where he becomes King of the North to know he dies. But what shocks everyone is how he dies! Murdered by several Frey crossbowmen and Roose Bolton, the second most powerful man in the North. What shocks most people is the fact it happens mid way through a Storm of Swords, and the fact George R.R. Martin goes to special lengths to tell you that now Robb has eaten at the twins he is safe under the sacred guest laws. While this makes the Frey’s and the Bolton’s the two most detestable families in Westeros, just how much of this murder was down to them? Well lets look at all those responsible…..

1) Tywin Lannister  

                                Without Tywin Lannister’s input , Robb Stark would certainly still be alive. In the show Tywin is unknowingly defending his home Casterly Rock, by plotting this shocking event. But in reality he is just using an opportunity to kill an enemy. As hand of the king he promises the safety of House Frey (which is evidently not possible) and gives them Riverrun, the home of the Tullys. He also grants Roose Bolton the title of Warden on the North. Without these, of course Robb Stark would not have been killed. But then, surely if someone started writing to you asking you to kill your king, the man you fought for and was meant to love, you would not just go ahead and do it for the promise of power. Even if your king broke his promise to marry your daughter, cold-blooded murder is not the answer. Even in Westeros. There has to be more at work here than a powerful man seducing less powerful ones.

Guilt rating 7/10

2) Theon Greyjoy 

Possibly the most detested character in season two, Theon certainly had his part to play in Robb Stark’s murder. If it wasn’t for Theon’s betrayal Robb would never have been at the twins in the first place. As you know he was at the Twins to get support for the attack on Moat Cailin and the following rescue of the North from the Ironmen. As that is what a King does when he loses his Kingdom, tries to win it back. He doesn’t plan to take a castle that has never been taken and is meant to be impenetrable with fewer men than he could even hope to muster. (Thanks HBO for making Robb Stark not a believable character, I mean you are meant to love a King that doesn’t even jump straight back to save his Kingdom). But enough of that, he was great in the books, and this is about Theon. He attacked Winterfell, got rid of the Stark boys and allowed Ramsay Snow an opportunity to secretly betray the Starks and kill Rodrik. (Theon beheads Rodrik in the show). Without this the Starks keep the North, Ramsay doesn’t betray the Starks on Roose’s orders and Robb is not present at a red wedding.

Although saying all this Theon does get tortured for one and a bit years by Ramsay. And does become a character you really pity. But still, shame on him!

Guilt rating 9/10

3) Catelyn Stark                                

She is here for one reason. Jaimie Lannister. She let him go, thinking somehow her daughters will be able to return to her from this secret trade. Whilst the journey does change Jaimie in many ways, it was nearly impossible for him to make it home in the first place (without the help of Roose Bolton, in yet another betrayal). What she really does is allow Tywin Lannister the freedom to plot Robb’s murder and allows Roose to see how weak Robb is as a king. Yet again, without this Robb is not betrayed and does not die as if anything would happen to him, Tywin would fear the death of his son.

However due to the fact she does all these things in order to protect and save her children, believes two of them are dead, sees her eldest son murdered in front of her eyes and then brutally murdered herself, it would be extremely harsh to blame her for his death.

Guilt rating 6/10 

4) Robb Stark 

Unfortunately I had to consider the man himself. For quite simply, being an idiot. I mean, he trusts Theon to bring him an army from a family who hate him. He marries the westerling girl from the Lannister’s ranks and betrays his oath. (Marries a random foreigner in the show). Even though he previously stated how important it is to keep oaths and honour. HOWEVER by marrying Jayne he is technically doing the honourable thing in his books. But it does lead to his death, quite how his father’s honour led to his.

However, blaming the king in the north for his own slaughter is a bit extreme, especially how he was only at the twins in order to flank Moat Cailin and retake the north. However he does take some responsibility for being a total tit.

Guilt rating 5/10

P.S. People who watch the TV show don’t know this but Robb actually married a Lannister girl, and she wasn’t murdered, in fact she is still well and alive. But she also didn’t have a hand in the red wedding and was murdered.

5) Melisandre and Stannis

Well, how are these two responsible for the red wedding I hear you ask? One answer. R’hllor. There are many Gods in Westeros and even more in Essos, but only two of the religions really seem to have any power. The Lord of Light R’hllor and the old Gods of the north that the Starks worship. But up to now in the show we have only seen R’hllor’s power. He has brought back Beric 6 times from death, and given Melisandre demon babies. Both scary concepts. But what makes these guys to blame is what happens directly before Robb Stark’s death, actually I think it happened a few pages before the red wedding, (correct me if I am wrong) and certainly takes place in the episode before it on HBO. They used Edric Storm’s blood and named the Usurper Robb Stark. Soon after he was dead. Coincidence? Definitely not!!!

Guilt Rating 10/10

P.S It is Gendry’s blood they use in the show as HBO wanted to yet again ruin something. Although it kind of worked, if you don’t consider one the plot changes from a dance with dragons.

6) Jaimie Lannister

Started the whole thing by pushing Bran out of the window. Also behind the deaths of both of Lord Karstark’s sons. Also told Roose Bolton to give Robb Stark his regards. And of course Roose Bolton says, ‘Jaimie Lannister sends his regards’ as he plunges his knife into his heart. However, the Jaimie Lannister in a Storm of Swords and the one after his journey to Kings Landing is arguably the best character in the series.

Guilt Rating  6/10

7)Roose Bolton and Walder Frey

They committed the slaughter, betrayed the king. Special mention must go out to Walder Frey, takes revenge for someone breaking an oath to him by breaking an even more powerful one! He also takes the blame,  breaks the sacred guest laws, etc etc. But it took more than two jealous lords who wanted more power. All I can say is come on Wyman Manderly!!!!  

Guilt Rating 9/10

Result, it was clearly R’hllor. The Fire God is scary as hell!!

Well, Season 4 is now upon us and it will be even better than season 3! Seriously I have not read a book better than a Storm of Swords! And I have read a lot of books!!

But do not worry folks, I am going to give Game of Thrones a rest for a while, my next post will not be Westeros related!!

What will happen now that Winter has come?

First of all if you are a massive fan of A Song Of Ice And Fire, and you have not read up to the end of A Dance With Dragons then DO NOT read this post as it has many spoilers!

Again….. Too many Spoilers… You have been warned.

Right, so after finishing A Dance With Dragons and being informed the wait for The Winds Of Winter could be another 2 years away or even more, I have decided to write about what I think and actually what I hope will take place.

I will start with the two big battles that George RR Martin has confirmed will take up the start of the sixth novel. We left Dany in the Dothraki Sea with Drogon and being encountered by a Khalasar. Khals are brave warriors but on their horses they will join with the Dragon, not fight it. So Dany will march to the relief of Meereen just in time to save it. Also at Meereen is Victarion with the dragon horn but I believe he will die and the dragon horn will be captured by Dany who then uses it in some way to tame her wild dragons. One of A song of Ice and Fire’s main character viewpoints, Tyrion, will reveal himself to Dany and she will let him join her, but Ser Jorah will perish in the battle leaving Dany heartbroken. By the end of her and Tyrion’s story in The Winds of Winter I think they will be ready to sail to Westeros and take the Iron throne. But most importantly, they will have to encounter the Others in A Dream Of Spring .

Stannis baratheon will not kill Theon, I do not think that George RR Martin would leave Theon out of two Novels and keep him alive through so much just to  kill him off like that. Asha will die however in an attempt to get Theon away (which actually works). Before Stannis’ battle with the Boltons and the Freys, Davos will return with Rickon Stark and Shaggydog. One of my favourite phrases from the series is ‘The North Remembers’ and they definitely will remember Rickon and rise up against Ramsey and the Freys. This segment will end with Stannis still sieging Winterfell but receiving news that the wall has fallen (due to chaos between the nightswatch and the wildlings) and that the others are on their way. Which makes A Dream Of Spring even more exciting.

Now, while reading the books, there have been three times that I have thrown the book I was reading across the room in anger (but then picked it up again a few minutes later). The first was Ned Stark’s execution, the second and most shocking to me was the Red Wedding and that one really hurt. The third was what seemed like Jon Snow’s murder at the end of ADWD. I have however jumped on the bandwagon that Jon is not dead (Thank the old Gods and the new)! Although we have not seen Melisandre revive someone, after what she did with Mance Rayder, it is clear she is powerful enough for such a thing. Jon will not remain at the wall however and travels south to Winterfell with Wildlings as he planned to do in the first place. I, like many other fans believe the theory that Jon is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegor Targaryen. It is clear that there was more to their relationship and Ned did reveal that she made him promise something. It is also unknown what Lyanna died of but it could have been childbirth. In the end though Jon will unite the North and South against the others and be one of the three dragon riders, but that’s for A Dream Of Spring. The wall will fall without him however due to the wildlings and the nightswatch unable to put aside their differences.

Someone who was left out of ADWD was Samwell Tarly, I expect him to be back in TWOW and his story will consist of learning about the others and how to defeat them. He will end the sixth novel with a race against time to get back and tell Jon all he has learnt at the Citadel (he does not know about the events at the wall as it happens roughly at the same time).

At Kings Landing Cersei will return to her old scheming ways. She will be more determined than ever to get rid of Margery after her ordeal but this time she will be even more devious. With Kevan dead she will have full control of King Tommen and start to increase the split between house Lannister and house Tyrell. Varys will kill off more people in Kings Landing in preparation of Aegon, who is not a fake. I have seen many people predict he is a fake Targaryen but if he was fake I think Tyrion would have seen it. Aegon will fail to take Kings Landing and will flee to Dorne to marry Princess Arianne. I am not sure whether he will be the other dragon rider as it could end up being Tyrion or my most likely prediction, Bran.

Bran can see what is going on in Westeros and will try to help. As a Warg he can take control of people and animals and even see the past through the eyes of the world. He may end up controlling a Dragon in the seven novel, but for TWOW I think he will try to use his powers to help in the north and be involved in Theon’s storyline as he called his name in ADWD. Arya will kill some more people in Bravos before accepting a contract to come back to Westeros and there she will meet another family member. Every Stark has been separated from each other for so long so I think two have to meet up again, it may even be Arya meeting her mother Lady Stoneheart. Sansa will marry the heir to the Vale conveniently a few days before Lord Robert dies( although it is just a coincidence). Little finger has underestimated how much Sansa has learnt since her father was killed and she will get rid of him and bring the Vale into the war against the Lannister and Tyrell alliance.

Two people I do not want to die in this book are Jamie and Brienne, and while it looks very likely that one or both of them will die, I think they could surprise us. I hope that Jamie convinces Cat/Lady Stoneheart that he too wants to avenge Robbs death and leads the Brotherhood without Banners against the twins. Or they will set off on a wild goose chase to find Sansa which would be silly. Most disappointing would be if Brienne has to kill Jamie.

So, a lot of things are going to happen to a lot of characters including a few deaths. But most importantly I think this book will be the set up for the final battle against the others in A Dream Of Spring. The Others will feature much more in TWOW and at the end of the book they will be near Winterfell.

It will be some time before we know whether my predictions are true but I think there is a very high chance that at least one of them will come true. Saying that George RR Martin is highly unpredictable and I could as well be 100% wrong. But either way I cannot wait to find out!