Trollheart

House Stark

Things seem to be a lot more friendly in Winterfell. Generally, everyone seems to get on with everyone else, and there's a genuine sense of love and belonging there, for most of the Starks anyway. Though she was not originally his love, Ned has clearly fallen in love with Catelyn and would do anything to protect her, and he loves all his sons and daughters equally, even if Arya sometimes acts more like a boy than a girl. Yes, even Jon Snow, to the disgust of his wife. Jon is the only fly in the ointment, as it were: his presence at Winterfell is a constant source of anger and impotent contempt to Lady Stark, who is reminded every day that her husband cheated on her. Jon has however forged a deep bond with his siblings; it is he, after all, who convinces Ned to allow the children to adopt the direwolves, and he is seen coaching Bran early on.

Honour is a sacred concept to House Stark, almost as much as it is all but foreign to House Lannister. Everything Ned and his family does is informed by honour, from taking a personal hand in the execution of criminals to adopting a boy that is not his, and without honour their House would be nothing. Their House motto should probably be something like Honour Above All, though it is in fact Winter Is Coming. Honour and duty go hand in hand, and Ned, though he has no time for Cersei and her children, agrees to allow Sansa to be betrothed to Joffrey because he knows it is the King's wish, and also he realises it will strengthen all three Houses, and perhaps heal the bad blood between them. He is under no illusions that Joffrey will not succeed to the throne on the death of Robert, and so, though he does not personally play the game of thrones, he knows that it is to his advantage to move, or allow to be moved, any pieces on the board that will help ensure the safety of his family.

But no family is perfect, and Ned deals with his own share of problems within his. Sansa and Arya, as dissimilar as can be, fight constantly, as sisters do, but Sansa must hate the fact that Arya is such a tomboy. No doubt when she was born Sansa believed that she would have someone to dress and plait her hair and talk about boys, and Arya does not want to do anything like that, more interested in swordplay and exploration and climbing, the pursuit of boys. To some degree, Lord Stark might as well have four trueborn sons, not three. The addition of Theon Greyjoy, who is only peripherally mentioned here and could be mistaken for another of Ned's children, complicates matters, as he seems not to get on with Robb. It is he who advocates the slaughter of the pups, and goes to kill one, but is stopped by Robb. “I take orders from your father,” he sneers, “not you.” No love lost there, then.

Bran's predilection towards climbing, while something expected in a young boy, is a constant source of worry to his mother, and as we see here, has very tragic consequences at the end. But at least Ned does not have to worry about any objections from his daughter about marrying Joffrey, as noted earlier, because this is something she has dreamed of. Were Arya the elder, well then we would definitely have problems, but as it stands, Sansa is happy to be betrothed to her prince, while Arya would probably be glad to see the back of her. We also learn that Ned has two brothers, one of whom is dead (Brandon) and one of whom is in the Night's Watch (Benjen). Quite what led to the latter going to Castle Black is not explained, as it's not generally a career chosen by anyone, hard and unforgiving as it is.

Machinations

Game of Thrones is built solidly on a foundation of schemes, plots and intrigue, and here we'll be looking into the various nefarious machinations of each House, or person, or group. With consummate ease, Martin will have characters switch sides and change loyalties to suit whatever the prevailing wind is, and as they change I'll note that here.

The death of Jon Arryn: Although officially this is put down to the older man taking a fever, there's obviously more to it than that, and we can assume the Lannisters are involved.

The Old Gods

Game of Thrones is also reliant on religion, or more specifically, the worship and/or remembrance of ancient gods. Most Houses seem to worship different gods, though there may be some crossover. None have been mentioned yet by name (though they will) but Ned has made it clear that House Stark follows “the old gods”, whichever ones they may be while Catelyn has remarked (I can't remember if this is in the series or the book, so forgive me if it's only in the novel but it's not like it's a plot twist or anything) that she does not worship the same gods when she tells Ned archly “Your gods, not mine.”

Alliances

And of course, any series dealing with kings and queens and kingdoms and wars survives on the alliances it makes, breaks, perhaps remakes. Like most alliances, those made in Game of Thrones shift and change like the sands of the desert, so here I'll be pointing out who's allied to whom, how, and when (if they do) those alliances alter.

Currently
House Baratheon is allied to House Lannister by marriage through Cersei
House Stark is allied to House Baratheon by loyalty; Robert and Ned fought side by side against the Mad King
House Targaryen (such as it is) is not yet allied with anyone, but is seeking alliances, specifically with the Dothraki, though this is really more in the nature of using them as an army. Nevertheless, to achieve this Daenerys has been wed to Khal Drogo by her brother, Viserys.

The Game of Thrones bodycount

I have done this with certain other series, but when you're dealing with a sweeping epic like this an accurate bodycount would be completely impossible (how many men died in that battle? What was the crew of that ship that was sunk?) so I'll only be concentrating here on actual important characters who are killed over the course of the series, or at least, ones whose deaths can be quantified. Nevertheless, expect to have to order a lot more body bags!

Note: This will not include any retrospective deaths, eg the Mad King, nor will it concern any deaths that occur in the novels but are not mentioned in the TV series

Name: Jon Arynn
Status: former Hand of the King
Mode of death: Uunconfirmed as yet
Killer, (if any): Unknown as yet

Name: Will
Status: Ranger of the Night's Watch
Mode of death: Execution by beheading
Killer: Lord Eddard Stark

Name: Ser Raymar Royce
Status: Ranger of the Night's Watch
Mode of death: Beheading
Killer: Unknown (White Walkers?)

Name: Gared
Status: Ranger of the Night's Watch
Mode of death: Unknown (takes place offscreen, scream only)
Killer: Unknown

Bodycount total: 4

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