Major Spoiler Alert for
Seasons 1-3 of “Game of Thrones” so read at your own risk!
The fall of Robb Stark of
Winterfell also known as the “The King in the North” is one of the most tragic
stories in Game of Thrones; there’s
no denying that. The young wolf was betrayed by those who swore allegiance to
him, saw his beautiful wife and unborn child gutted and lost everything he ever
loved and fought for. The most common reasoning for Robb’s downfall is that he
broke his vow to marry a daughter of Walder Frey and while this is certainly a
large component of his downfall it was not the only cause of it. Quite frankly
I don’t even think it was his worst mistake.
Robb Stark was a
brilliant strategist and he knew how to motivate his fellow northerners in the
War of the Five Kings, yet he still made “stupid mistakes” like his father as
his own sister, Sansa, put it last season. Robb won every battle and still lost
the war, so it makes sense that he must have made some rather foolish mistakes
along the way. In season 3 of the show, the King in the North has decided to
attack the HQ, if you will, of the Lannisters, Casterly Rock. Twyin Lannister
was Robb’s primary adversary and Casterly Rock was his home as well as a
supplier of gold and power for Twyin so taking the stronghold would’ve proven
quite fruitful. Most of all, Casterly Rock falling at the hands of Robb would’ve
shown the seven kingdoms that Twyin Lannister isn’t invincible and can be
beaten. Robb may have succeeded in this noble endeavor if he had the right
troops.
It’s hard to win a war
without soldiers, especially good ones, and Robb has little shortage of that as
he won every battle. The Bannerman of House Stark proved to be formidable foes
for the Lannisters and perhaps the best of Robb’s bannerman was House Karstark
of Karhold which made up half of the young wolf’s forces. Lord Rickard
Karstark, the Lord of Karhold, had a tragic story of his own in the War of the
Five Kings. His two sons tied in the war; one was killed in the field of battle
and the other was strangled by Jamie Lannister during an escape attempt. Lord
Karstark’s thirst for vengeance became unquenchable towards the Lannisters
which led to him betraying Robb’s, his King’s, orders when he murdered two
captive innocent Lannister boys, Willem and Martyn, in cold blood. Karstark’s “revenge”
greatly upset Robb and thus Lord Karstark was executed for treason by the King
in the North himself. This didn’t sit well the rest of the Karstark army
leading to their abandonment of Robb’s cause shortly after their Lord’s
execution. Remember that the Karstarks made up half of the North’s forces?
There were many who counselled
against Robb executing Lord Karstark but instead to keep him as a hostage to
preserve the featly of his army, but Robb’s honor got the better of him just
like his headless father. Obviously, Robb couldn’t march on Casterly Rock and
unfold his master plan with half his army depleted. There was only one family
that could possible fill the void left by the Karstarks, the Freys. Lord Walder
Frey was the man Robb betrayed by breaking his vow to marry one of his daughters
which led to the Freys betraying Robb as well in the Red Wedding. My overall
point here is that if Robb has just kept Rickard Karstark alive as a hostage
than the young wolf’s army would still be a competent strength for the attack
on Casterly Rock and he wouldn’t have needed to ask a Lord he betrayed for help
which means no Red Wedding.
Now I know that’s hypothetical,
but it seems rather plausible to me. Robb’s betrayal almost seems inevitable
after he broke his vow to Walder Frey in hindsight. If only Robb had left his
honor at the door just once to spare Lord Karstark and preserve his army, then
I do believe the War of the Five Kings may have turned out differently but alas
Robb did the honorable thing and it cost him everything.
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