Robb Stark, also known by his misnomeanor 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 HBO television adaptation Game of Thrones, where he is portrayed by Richard Madden.
Introduced in A Game of Thrones (1996), Robb is the eldest son and heir of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell and Lady Catelyn Stark. He subsequently appeared in Martin's A Clash of Kings (1998) and A Storm of Swords (2000). After his father is executed on the order of King Joffrey Baratheon, Robb is crowned King in the North by his bannermen and wages a war against the Iron Throne. Robb's subsequent betrayal and murder at an event known as the Red Wedding shocked both book readers and television audiences alike.
Contents
Character
Description
At the beginning of A Game of Thrones, Robb Stark is 14 years of age (increased to 17 in the TV series). As the oldest legitimate son of Eddard Stark and his wife Catelyn, Robb is raised as the heir to the ancient House Stark of Winterfell, which holds dominion over the North, one of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Trained by Winterfell's master-at-arms Ser Rodrik Cassel, Robb is a talented rider, swordsman, and lancer. He 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 accompanied by his direwolf, Grey Wind. Like most of his siblings, Robb favors his mother's House Tully features over that of House Stark. He is strong and fast with a stocky build, blue eyes and thick auburn hair.
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 [killing Robb] became the next thing I had to do."
In their 2015 book, Game of Thrones and Business, Tim Phillips and Rebecca Claire agree:
But the Internet-crashing shock wasn't fundamentally about death. There's loads of that on TV. What really made this stand out was that it broke the rules – the story just wasn't supposed to go this way. We'd invested in the revenge story of Robb Stark and his family who, in Hollywood narrative terms, should clearly win the war against the Lannisters because that's the way things are done in fairy stories.
Richard Madden has received positive reviews for his role as Robb Stark in the TV series.
Storylines
Novels
Robb is not a point of view (POV) 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 Catelyn, as well as via memories of Jon Snow and Theon Greyjoy.
When his father departs for King's Landing to serve as the Hand of the King for Robert Baratheon, Robb becomes acting Lord of Winterfell. Following his father's arrest for presumed treason, he calls his banners and marches south with an assembled Northern army in attempt to free his father. Additionally, Robb seeks to relieve the besieged Riverlands, dominion of House Tully, which have fallen under attack by forces of House Lannister after his mother imprisoned Lord Tyrion Lannister for the suspected attempted murder of Bran Stark.
To secure safe passage at the vital crossing of The Twins, Robb consents to marrying one of Lord Walder Frey's daughters or granddaughters as negotiated by his mother. After crossing the river, he surprises and destroys the Lannister army besieging Riverrun, capturing Ser Jaime Lannister during the Battle of Whispering Wood. Upon hearing of his father's execution on the orders of King Joffrey Baratheon, Robb is crowned the King in the North and King of the Trident by his bannermen.
Robb continues to win crushing victories against Lord Tywin Lannister's armies, and earns the nickname The Young Wolf for his ferocity in battle. With the War of the Five Kings raging, he sends his mother to negotiate an alliance with King Renly Baratheon, but Renly is assassinated by his brother, King Stannis Baratheon with blood magic from the priestess Melisandre. Robb invades the Westerlands in order to strategically assist Stannis' campaign against the Iron Throne. He also sends Theon Greyjoy to Pyke to broker an alliance with Theon's father Lord Balon Greyjoy, ruler of the Iron Islands. However, Balon declares himself king and decides to invade the North instead. Theon betrays Robb, seizing Winterfell by surprise. Theon is believed to have murdered Robb's youngest siblings Bran and Rickon, though in reality they have escaped and gone into hiding.
During an assault in the Westerlands, Robb is wounded and learns of the apparent deaths of his brothers at the hands of his closest friend. Falling ill due to mourning and injury, he is cared for by Lady Jeyne Westerling and takes her maidenhood. To preserve Jeyne's honor, Robb marries her, rescinding his previous marriage arrangement with House Frey, causing them to desert his army.
Television adaptation
Robb Stark is portrayed by Richard Madden in the television adaption of the series. There are some slight differences between Robb's TV portrayal and the book version. Robb's age is changed from age 14 to age 17 at the start of the series. Instead of marrying Jeyne Westerling, he marries a healer from Volantis named Talisa Maegyr. Robb is not a POV character in the books, but he is given a much larger role in the TV series.
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. (This is another case where having a live actor does a better job of showing a transition that seemed more abrupt in the book.)"
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."
Robb is the eldest son of Lord Eddard Stark and Lady Catelyn. When King Robert Baratheon summons Eddard to King's Landing to serve as Hand of the King, Robb becomes acting Lord of Winterfell. After his father is arrested for apparent treason, Robb summons the Northern bannermen and assembles an army of 20,000 in an effort to rescue his father and aid the Riverlands, which have come under attack by the armies of House Lannister. Catelyn brokers an alliance between the North and House Frey when Robb consents to marrying one of Lord Walder Frey's daughters, allowing the Stark army to strategically cross the river at the Twins and launch a surprise engagement against the Lannisters, successfully capturing Ser Jaime Lannister in the process. After the death of King Robert and the execution of Eddard Stark on the orders of King Joffrey Baratheon, a bastard born of incest between Jaime and Cersei Lannister, the Northern and Riverland lords declare their independence from the Iron Throne and proclaim Robb as the King in the North.
Robb proves to be a skillful military commander and he wins a succession of battles against Lord Tywin Lannister's forces, earning him the nickname "The Young Wolf". He sends his closest friend, Lord Theon Greyjoy, to the Iron Islands to broker an alliance with Lord Balon Greyjoy, Theon's father. In exchange for Greyjoy support and the use of their naval fleet, Robb intends to recognize the Iron Islands' independence. Robb also sends his mother to parlay with Renly Baratheon, who has declared himself king and has amassed an army of 100,000. However, Stannis Baratheon, having also declared himself king via the lawful line of succession, prepares to engage Renly. Catelyn is successful in brokering an alliance with Renly, but he is assassinated by Stannis' using blood magic. Theon fails to convince his father to ally with Robb, and instead Balon declares himself a king and launches an invasion of the North. Theon decides to capture Winterfell to earn his father's favor. Robb offers amnesty to the Ironborn invaders on the condition that they hand over Theon. Robb soon meets and falls in love with Talisa Maegyr, a foreign healer from Volantis.
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 [Robb's cause]. He is also doing it to avenge his father, Ned, and to recover his sisters Arya and Sansa [Robb's intention]." 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."
Family tree of House Stark
Rickard Stark
