Popularly known as the Young Wolf, Robb Stark is the pride of House Stark and is a stark reflection of his father, Lord Eddard Stark, in character. When Eddard leaves Winterfell for King’s Landing to become Hand of the King, Robb becomes the Lord of Winterfell with his mother as his guide. However, an attempt on Bran Stark’s life makes Catelyn travel to King’s Landing. After Catelyn captures Tyrion Lannister, his father, Tywin, calls his banners and begins raiding the Riverlands. Later, Robb raises his flags and leads an army against Tywin.
Robb Stark Personal Details
- Name: Robb Stark.
- Year of Birth: 283 AC at Riverrun.
- Year of Death: 299 AC at the Twins.
- Aliases: The Young Wolf, The King Who Lost the North, Robb the Boy, The Boy Wolf, Wolf King, The Wolfling, Robb the Lord, The Pup.
- Titles: Lord of Winterfell, King in the North, King in the Trident.
- Wife: Jeyne Westerling.
- Parents: Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully.
- Siblings: Jon Snow, Sansa Stark, Arya Stark, Bran Stark, Rickon Stark.
- Culture: Northmen.
- Religion: Old Gods of the Forest.
Appearance and Personality
Robb Stark takes after the Tully side in looks as he has deep blue eyes and lush red hair. He is sturdy and has an excellent build for a boy his age. Robb mostly wears a white surcoat and cloak and wields a longsword and a shield with a direwolf’s head as an emblem. Though he is slightly unskilled with a sword, Robb is better with a lance. He has about three horses.
Robb has a keen sense of justice, like his father. He believes in honor and duty to family first and is kind-mannered to those around him. He is also a follower of the Old Gods of the Forest and shares his father’s devotion to family. After discovering some direwolf pups, Robb names his direwolf Grey Wind and goes around with the beast.
History
Early Life
Robb got conceived on the wedding night of his mother and father, Catelyn and Ned, at Riverrun. At the time of his conception, Eddard fought on Robert’s side during the rebellion against King Aerys II Targaryen. After riding off to help Robert, Catelyn remained at Riverrun and eventually gave birth to Robb with Maester Luwin’s help. She and her newborn son returned to Winterfell after the war ended.
While at Winterfell, Eddard Stark brought home another child, a son whom he named Jon Snow. Though Catelyn did not forgive her husband for having another child outside their marriage, she accepted the boy at Winterfell. As time went on, Robb and Jon became best of friends and played together every time. They met Mance Rayder and another brother of the Watch, accompanying Lord Commander Qorgyle. When Mance caught them making a snow mountain, he promised not to reveal what they were doing to anyone. They later poured the snow on Fat Tom, one of the guards at Winterfell.
Greyjoy’s Rebellion
After Robert Baratheon became King, Lord Balon Greyjoy tried to become King of the Iron Islands and declared independence from the Iron Throne; this marked the beginning of the Greyjoy Rebellion. During the conflict, Balon’s eldest sons get killed, and after he loses, Eddard takes his last son, Theon Greyjoy, to Winterfell as a hostage. Upon getting to Winterfell, Theon developed a close relationship with Robb and trained with him. The Stark children got trained by Ser Rodrik Cassel and Maester Luwin. When Alys Karstark danced with Robb, he commended her skill.
Relevance in A Song of Ice and Fire
A Game of Thrones
When Gared, a man of the night’s Watch, deserts and gets caught, Robb watches as his father executes him. On the way home, he and his brothers find a litter of six direwolf pups. After his brother Bran convinces their father, he agrees for his children to keep the pups. Robb names his direwolf Greywind. On getting to Winterfell, Eddard learns from Catelyn that Lord Jon Arryn is dead and King Robert Baratheon is traveling to the castle.
Upon reaching Winterfell, Robert Baratheon asks Eddard to become the Hand of the King. After contemplating, Ned agrees and decides to take Bran and his daughters. During Robert’s visit, Ser Rodrik Cassel stops Robb from sparring with Prince Joffrey Baratheon with real weapons. Before Eddard leaves, Ser Jaime Lannister throws Bran off a tower when he discovers him and his sister, Cersei Lannister, sleeping together.
When Eddard and his daughters leave Winterfell, Robb becomes the lord. Because of Bran’s fall, Catelyn becomes traumatized, and all the responsibility of manning Winterfell falls on Robb. He looks after his youngest brother, Rickon, and ensures the castle is in order.
When an assassin tries to kill Bran, Catelyn travels to King’s Landing to learn more about the target of her son. Meanwhile, Jon Snow leaves for the Night’s Watch, and Tyrion Lannister follows him. Bran wakes up, and when Maester Luwin makes him a custom saddle for riding a horse, he goes out with Robb. A band of wildlings holds Bran at ransom, but Robb and Theon defeat them all, sparing Osha.
After Catelyn learns Tyrion owns the knife the assassin tried to use on Bran, she has him arrested at the Crossroad Inn. When Lord Tywin Lannister hears of his son’s arrest, he calls his bannermen and begins raiding the Riverlands. In King’s Landing, Eddard discovers Cersei’s secret, but she kills Robert. Eddard gets arrested for treason. When he hears of his father’s arrest, Robb calls his bannermen. Lord Roose Bolton and Robett Glover seek battle command while others try to disprove him. Robb unites them all and chooses Greatjon Umber as his champion.
Robb then marches to the Riverlands to stop the Lannisters from further raids and get his father back. When he reaches Moat Cailin, he learns that Riverrun has gotten besieged by Ser Jaime Lannister. To conquer the forces of Tywin and his son, Robb splits his army into two and gives Roose Bolton command. He plans to lift the siege of Riverrun, but before crossing the river at the Tins, he agrees to Lord Walder Frey’s terms of an alliance by marriage to one of a daughter of House Frey.
After crossing the river, Robb and his uncle, Ser Brynden Tully, the blackfish, ambush Jaime, leading to the Battle of the Whispering Wood. Jaime gets captured, and Tywin’s army retreats to Harrenhal. Robb then lifts the siege after the Battle of the Camps.
When Eddard Stark gets killed, all hopes of peace between the Starks and Lannisters are lost. When Robb’s half-brother, Jon, learns of his father’s death, he tries to leave the Watch but gets stopped by Samwell Tarly and others. With Stannis Baratheon and his brother, Renly Baratheon, claiming the title of King, Robb becomes conflicted in choosing who to support. However, the North and river lord crown him King in the North.
A Clash of Kings
After becoming King, Robb sends Theon, his trusted friend, to the Iron Islands to seek his father’s alliance. However, on getting to Pyke, Theon turns cloak and begins fighting for his father instead. With Jaime in captivity, Robb begins planning how to get his sisters, Arya and Sansa, back. He goes into the Westerlands and deals with Stafford Lannister and his men in training at the battle of Oxcross.
After the battle of the Green Fork, Tywin learns of Robb’s actions in the Westerlands and marches against him. Upon learning Tywin is marching West, Edmure Tully stops Tywin from crossing the Red Fork by defeating his troops.
Meanwhile, Theon Greyjoy takes over Winterfell and stages the fake murder of Bran Stark and his brother Rickon. He refuses to relinquish the castle to Ser Rodrik Cassel, and later, Ramsay Snow kills Rodrik and arrests Theon. Ramsay also orders the destruction of Winterfell. After his defeat at the Red Fork, Tywin learns that Stannis Baratheon is marching on King’s Landing. With Renly Baratheon dead, he and the Tyrells head to King’s Landing and defeat Stannis.
A Storm of Swords
With the War of the Five Kings ravaging Westeros, Robb gets injured in the storming of the Crag. Jeyne Westerling tends to his wounds, and he learns of his brothers’ death. In a moment of sadness, Robb sleeps with Jeyne and marries her.
After learning of Bran and Rickon’s alleged death, Catelyn frees Jaime Lannister and tasks Brienne of Tarth with taking him back to King’s Landing in exchange for her daughters. When Lord Rickard Karstark learns of what happened, he kills two prisoners. When Robb returns to Riverrun, he kills Rickard and loses the support of House Karstark. With his marriage to Jeyne, his alliance with Lord Frey ends. He delivers a formal apology, and Edmure gets betrothed to Roslin Frey.
To secure a realliance, Robb and his mother attend Edmure’s wedding. However, Roose Bolton and Walder betray Robb and kill his men. He and his mother get killed. The event becomes the Red Wedding. After Robb’s death, Jeyne realizes her mother had been giving her moon tea to prevent her from conceiving.
Appearance in Adaptations
In HBO’s Game of Thrones, Richard Madden portrayed Robb. He appeared in seasons 1, 2, 3, and 6 and starred in 23 episodes. After getting crowned King in the North, Robb falls for Talisa and makes her his queen; this destroys the alliance with the Freys, and during Edmure and Roslin’s wedding, Robb gets killed.
Robb Stark: The Boy Who Lost the North
In A Song of Ice and Fire, many tales portray the unforgiving nature of the world. Among such is that of Robb stark. As a young boy, he was the perfect son and brother. He was a strong pillar that gave hope to the Starks. Then everything went downhill with the arrival of King Robert Baratheon.
Even after his brother had an accident, Robb stayed strong and manned Winterfell as a teenager. He stepped up to his duties and protected his family from further attacks. When his father got arrested, he went to war. However, Robb’s ultimate downfall came from one single value; honor.
As a young boy, Robb got inculcated into his father’s teachings of honor above everything. Though this was a good thing, it ultimately led to his downfall. When he became King in the North, Robb failed to realize honor had a different meaning.
Robb could have spared Lord Rickard Stark, not married Jeyne Westerling, and punished his mother for releasing Jaime Lannister but he did not and instead killed the man who lost his heirs for his cause and married Jeyne because he did not want to soil her honor; this ultimately sealed his fate. Though Robb was honorable, he failed to realize loyalty only works when one is a winner.
FAQs
Who killed Robb Stark?
When he attends Edmure’s wedding to Roslin Frey, Robb gets betrayed by Roose Bolton and Walder Frey. Roose kills him, and Catelyn gets killed too. Robb’s death leads to the Lannisters’ victory over the Starks.
What made Robb Stark lose the war?
Robb was a primary contender in the War of the Five Kings. He showed the most promise over the remaining candidates. However, his overreliance on friendships and honor led to his downfall. He trusted people too much and believed people had the same opinion as he did. He could have spared Lord Rickard Stark and not married Jeyne; this would have saved him. However, his tiny mistakes added up and led to his massive downfall.
Was Robb a great leader?
Robb was an exceptional leader and human. He was kind and fair and believed in delivering justice when necessary. Even as a young boy, he led an army against a genius military commander and his prodigy son and still defeated them on two fronts.
Why did Theon betray Robb?
Theon betrayed Robb because he wanted a sense of identity. As he got raised by the Starks, he became an outsider to his father and people, and when the opportunity to prove himself came, he joined the bandwagon of the Iron Islands.
