Robb Stark
Robb Stark, nicknamed the Young Wolf, is a fictional character in the A Song of Ice and Fire series of epic fantasy novels by American author George R. R. Martin, and its television adaptation Game of Thrones.
Introduced in A Game of Thrones, Robb is the eldest son and heir of the honorable Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell, who is the Warden of the North, and Eddard's wife Lady Catelyn Stark. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings and A Storm of Swords, after his father is captured and executed by the Lannisters in King's Landing, and assembles his Northern bannermen and is crowned 'King in the North', and marches south to seek vengeance against the Lannisters and independence for his new kingdom. The stunning twist involving Robb and his Northern army at the wedding of his uncle Edmure Tully at the hands of House Frey and House Bolton in the third novel and the third-season episode "The Rains of Castamere" shocked both readers of the book and viewers of the TV series.
Robb is portrayed by Scottish actor Richard Madden in the HBO television adaptation.
Character description
Robb is 14 years old at the beginning of A Game of Thrones. He is the oldest legitimate son of Eddard "Ned" Stark and his wife Catelyn, and has five siblings: younger sisters Sansa and Arya, younger brothers Bran and Rickon, and a bastard half-brother Jon Snow. He is also a close friend to Eddard's ward Theon Greyjoy. Robb is constantly accompanied by his direwolf, Grey Wind. Like most of his siblings, Robb inherited his mother's Tully features, being strong and fast with a stocky build, blue eyes and thick red-brown hair.As Eddard's heir, Robb remains at Winterfell and rules in his father's stead when Eddard goes to King's Landing to become King Robert Baratheon's King's Hand. After King Robert's death, Eddard is imprisoned in political struggle with Queen Cersei. Robb calls his banners and raises a Northern army to aid his maternal House Tully against the invading Lannister army, and scores a crushing victory at Whispering Wood, capturing Jaime Lannister. After his father is publicly beheaded under King Joffrey Baratheon's order, Robb is crowned King in the North by his bannermen, and declares the North and the Riverlands an independent kingdom, officially starting the War of the Five Kings. Despite displaying an exceptional proficiency in military talent, Robb is ultimately betrayed and murdered at the wedding of his uncle Edmure with Roslin Frey, by the treacherous Walder Frey and Roose Bolton, all under discreet command of Tywin Lannister.
Development, overview and reception
James Poniewozik of Time describes Robb as less eager to seek retaliation than his father Eddard but as more pragmatic. Poniewozik's overview of the television version of Robb focuses on his role as a foil for Eddard:Robb has risen to take his father’s place, as a lord of Winterfell and as a focal character in the show. We never saw what kind of warrior Ned was in the field, but in King’s Landing, he fought a straight-ahead battle, telegraphing his moves, and died for it. Robb, seeing the Lannisters' numbers, shows himself capable of feints and deceptions—albeit at the cost of 2,000 men and the guilt of having sent them on a suicide mission.
In the third novel, A Storm of Swords, Robb is assassinated in an event called the Red Wedding, which was inspired by the Black Dinner and Glencoe Massacre from Scottish history. George Martin has said that he decided to kill Robb Stark because he wished to keep the story difficult to predict: "I killed Ned because everybody thinks he’s the hero... The next predictable thing is to think his eldest son is going to rise up and avenge his father. And everybody is going to expect that. So immediately became the next thing I had to do."
In their 2015 book, Game of Thrones and Business, Tim Phillips and Rebecca Claire agree:
The Scottish actor Richard Madden has received positive reviews for his role as Robb Stark in the TV series.
Storylines
Novels
Robb Stark is not a point of view character in the novels and is mostly a background character. His actions are mainly witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of his brother Bran and mother Lady Catelyn, as well as via memories of Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy.''A Game of Thrones''
When his father leaves for King's Landing to be made King Robert Baratheon's Hand, Robb becomes acting Lord of Winterfell. After his father's arrest for presumed treason, he marches south with an army in attempt to free his father. To secure passage through the Green Fork at the vital crossing of the Twins, Robb consents to the marriage to one of Walder Frey's daughters or granddaughters negotiated by his mother Lady Catelyn Tully. After crossing the river, he surprises and destroys the Lannister army besieging Riverrun, capturing Jaime Lannister in the process. Upon hearing of his father's execution at King's Landing, Robb is crowned the King in the North by his bannermen, and also King of the Trident by the Riverlands lords.''A Clash of Kings''
Robb continues to win victories against the Lannister army, and earns the nickname "Young Wolf" for his ferocity in battle. He sends his mother Lady Catelyn to negotiate an alliance with Renly Baratheon, but Renly is assassinated by his brother Stannis Baratheon with blood magic from the red priestess Melisandre. As Stannis and the Starks still share a common enemy, Robb invades the Westerlands in order to strategically assist Stannis's campaign against the Lannisters. He also sends Theon Greyjoy to Pyke in hope to win the alliance of Theon's father Balon Greyjoy, ruler of the Iron Islands. However Balon decides to take advantage and attack the North instead. Theon joins his father and seizes Winterfell by surprise, where he is believed to have murdered Robb's youngest siblings Bran and Rickon, though in reality they have escaped and gone into hiding.''A Storm of Swords''
During one of his assaults in the Westerlands, Robb is wounded, at the same time learns the news of his brothers' apparent murder. Falling ill due to mourning and injury, he falls in love with the noble maiden in charge of nursing him, Jeyne Westerling, and takes her virginity. To preserve Jeyne's honor, Robb marries her, rescinding his previous marriage arrangement with House Frey, causing the Freys to desert his army. Meanwhile, Stannis Baratheon, who has suffered a major defeat at the Battle of Blackwater, is urged by Melisandre to use blood magic with leeches to curse the three rival kings Joffrey Baratheon, Robb Stark, and Balon Greyjoy.After Stannis' defeat at the Blackwater, Robb withdraws from the Westerlands and returns to Riverrun to attend the funeral of his grandfather Lord Hoster Tully. Upon returning, Robb learns that his mother Lady Catelyn has secretly released the prisoner Jaime Lannister in the hope of exchanging her hostage daughter Sansa in King's Landing. This leads to the mutiny of Lord Rickard Karstark, whose two sons were slain by Jaime during the Battle of Whispering Woods, forcing Robb to execute Lord Rickard and lose the Karstark support. As the war situation is looking bad, Robb tries to repair the alliance with the Freys, by bargaining his uncle Edmure Tully to marry Roslin Frey, hence rebuilding the marriage alliance. The Freys then demand that Robb personally attend the wedding at the Twins as a gesture of apology.
On their way to the Twins, Robb learns that Balon Greyjoy has accidentally died, and the ironborn commanders are returning to the Iron Islands to attend Kingsmoot. He decides to lead his army to retake the North immediately after the wedding is complete.
He soon learns that his sister Sansa has been forcibly married to Tyrion Lannister. To prevent the Lannisters from claiming Winterfell through Sansa's child by Tyrion, Robb, against the opposition of his mother Catelyn, disinherits Sansa and signs a decree legitimizing his half-brother Jon Snow as his heir if he happens to die with no children, and requests the Night's Watch release Jon from service. Robb then entrusts the decree to Lord Galbart Glover and Lady Maege Mormont, sending them to secretly sail up the Neck seeking contact with Howland Reed, Lord of Greywater Watch, so he can launch a coordinated attack to recapture the strategically crucial Moat Cailin. However at the Twins, the Northern convoy, who are unarmed in attendance to the wedding, are betrayed and massacred by the Freys during the wedding feast in an event known as the "Red Wedding". Robb is shot by crossbows multiple times, and then personally murdered by his chief vassal Roose Bolton, who has also secretly defected to the Lannisters and been rewarded with the title Warden of the North. After his death, the Freys mutilated his body by sewing the head of his dead direwolf Grey Wind onto his decapitated corpse.
TV adaptation
Robb Stark is played by Richard Madden in the television adaption of the series of books. There are some slight differences between Robb's TV portrayal and the book version. Due to the child characters' ages being increased, Robb's age is changed from fourteen to seventeen-years-old at the start of the series. Instead of marrying Jeyne Westering, he marries a healer from Volantis named Talisa Maegyr, who is also killed during "The Red Wedding". And while Robb is a background character in the books, not having any chapters told from his perspective, he is listed ahead of Michelle Fairley, who plays POV character Catelyn Stark in the books, in the opening credits of many episodes, and we see the Stark's storyline in seasons two and three revolve more around Robb in the viewers' eyes as opposed to the readers'.James Poniewozik comments in TIME, on Madden's performance in "The Pointy End": "both the script and Richard Madden show in deft, quick strokes how the crisis focuses him. "
Madden said that he learned that the character would be killed off early on but otherwise read the books season by season, focusing primarily on the scripts: "I'm, as an actor, forced to bend the path I put Robb on and change it and keep the surprises coming. Hopefully, I managed to do that."
Season 1
Robb Stark is the oldest son of Eddard and Catelyn Stark's and the heir to Winterfell. His direwolf is called Grey Wind. Robb becomes involved in the war against the Lannisters after his father, Ned Stark, is arrested for treason. Robb summons his bannermen for war against House Lannister and marches to the Riverlands. Eventually, crossing the river at the Twins becomes strategically necessary. To win permission to cross, Robb agrees to marry a daughter of Walder Frey, Lord of the Twins. Robb leads the war effort against the Lannisters and successfully captures Jaime. After Ned is executed, the North and the Riverlands declare their independence from The Seven Kingdoms and proclaim Robb as their new King, "The King in the North".Season 2
Robb wins a succession of battles, earning him the nickname "the Young Wolf". However, he feels that he botched the political aspects of war. He sends Theon to the Iron Islands hoping to broker an alliance with Balon Greyjoy, Theon's father. In exchange for Greyjoy support, Robb as the King in the North will recognize the Iron Islands' independence. Robb also sends his mother Catelyn to deal with the brothers Stannis Baratheon and Renly Baratheon, each of whom is fighting to be the rightful King. Theon and Catelyn fail in their missions, and Balon launches an invasion of the North. Robb falls in love with Talisa Maegyr, a healer from Volantis, due to her kindness and spirit. Despite his mother's protest, Robb breaks his engagement with the Freys and marries Talisa in the season two finale.Season 3
Upon learning of the death of his grandfather, Lord Hoster Tully, Robb travels with his party north to Riverrun for the funeral, where the young King is reunited with his great-uncle, Brynden Blackfish, and his uncle, Edmure Tully, the new lord of Riverrun. While at Riverrun, Robb makes the decision to execute Lord Rickard Karstark for the murders of two teenage squires related to the Lannisters. That decision loses the support of the Karstarks and leads Robb to make the ultimately fatal decision to ask the Freys for their alliance.Robb is killed in the Red Wedding massacre, after witnessing the murder of his pregnant wife and their unborn child. Lord Roose Bolton personally executes Robb, stabbing him through the heart while taunting, "the Lannisters send their regards", transmitting a message Jaime Lannister asked Bolton to transmit, when Bolton was leaving for the Twins. After Robb is murdered, his corpse is decapitated, Grey Wind's head is sewn on in its place, and the corpse is paraded around as the Stark forces are slaughtered by the Freys and the Boltons.
Although House Lannister strips House Stark of all lands and titles after Robb's failed rebellion against the Iron Throne, Robb and Catelyn are later avenged in season six and in "Dragonstone", when Jon Snow and Sansa Stark successfully overthrow House Bolton and retake Winterfell. Jon is crowned the King in the North by the remaining Northern lords, wildlings, and Knights of the Vale, restoring Stark rule in the North in the process. Meanwhile, Robb's youngest sister Arya Stark returns to Westeros, murders Walder Frey, and later uses his face to disguise herself as Frey, to poison all of his sons and male descendants at the Twins, ultimately avenging the Red Wedding and exterminating House Frey.
In other media
In his article "The War in Westeros and Just War Theory", Richard H. Corrigan uses Robb to illustrate the concepts of just cause and right intention in the decision to go to war: "Robb is not only fighting this war to ensure that his fellow Northerners have a just king . He is also doing it to avenge his father, Ned, and to recover his sisters Arya and Sansa ." Corrigan speculates that Robb may be suffering from cognitive dissonance and says that, ethically, once Robb has achieved his cause, he is obligated to cease fighting even if he has not yet avenged his family.Robb's decision to renege on his promise to marry one of Walder Frey's daughters features heavily in the fifth chapter of Tim Phillips and Rebecca Clare's Game of Thrones and Business, "Keep Your Word: Robb Stark discovers too late the dangers of broken promises in business deals."