Editing House Stark (section)

==Recent Events==
===''A Game of Thrones''===
[[File:John_Picacio_Ned_Stark.jpg|thumb|300px|[[Eddard Stark]] by John Picacio ©]]
Following the death of his [[Hand of the King]], Lord [[Jon Arryn]], King [[Robert I Baratheon]] journeys to [[Winterfell]] to offer Lord [[Eddard Stark]] the office.{{Ref|AGOT|2}}{{Ref|AGOT|4}} A letter arrives from [[Lysa Arryn]], Jon's widow and Eddard's wife [[Catelyn Stark|Catelyn]]'s sister, who claims the [[House Lannister|Lannisters]] were behind Lord Arryn's sudden death. At Catelyn's urging, Ned grudgingly accepts the Handship and a betrothal of their daughter [[Sansa Stark|Sansa]] to Prince [[Joffrey Baratheon]].{{Ref|AGOT|6}} During the royal party's stay, Eddard's second son, [[Bran Stark|Bran]], accidentally witnesses Queen [[Cersei Lannister]] having sex with her twin brother, Ser [[Jaime Lannister|Jaime]].{{Ref|AGOT|8}} Jaime throws Bran out of the tower window, hoping to kill him to keep their relationship a secret.{{Ref|AGOT|8}} Bran survives, but is crippled and comatose.{{Ref|AGOT|9}}{{Ref|AGOT|10}}

Eddard rides to [[King's Landing]] along with his daughters, Sansa and [[Arya Stark|Arya]], while Catelyn remains at Winterfell with their sons. Meanwhile, Ned's bastard son, [[Jon Snow]], rides north with his uncle, [[Benjen Stark|Benjen]], to join the [[Night's Watch]].{{ref|AGOT|19}} Catelyn is inconsolable in her worry for Bran, ignoring her duties as Lady of Winterfell, but she is jolted back to reality by [[catspaw|an attempt]] on Bran's life thwarted only by [[Summer|his direwolf]].{{ref|AGOT|14}} As Bran lies comatose, he begins to have visions of a [[three-eyed crow]].{{ref|AGOT|17}}

Near the [[ruby ford]] and the [[crossroads]], Arya defends her friend [[Mycah]] from the aggressions of Prince [[Joffrey Baratheon]], upsetting Sansa.{{ref|AGOT|15}} This is exacerbated when Sansa's direwolf, [[Lady (direwolf)|Lady]], is ordered killed in place of Arya's, [[Nymeria (direwolf)|Nymeria]], which has escaped.{{ref|AGOT|16}} 

In [[King's Landing]], Eddard is outraged to find that the crown is heavily in debt (largely to Robert's goodfather, [[Tywin Lannister]], [[Lord of Casterly Rock]]) and that the king intends to throw a [[Hand's tourney|lavish tourney]] in his honor.{{ref|AGOT|20}} After taking up his duties as Hand, Eddard assigns twenty of [[House Stark guards|his household guard]] to assist the [[gold cloaks]] in keeping order in King's Landing.{{ref|AGOT|27}}

Ned investigates the death of Jon Arryn, determining that he was looking into the king's [[bastard]] brood. When Robert holds a [[small council]] meeting to arrange the death of the exiled [[Daenerys Targaryen]], who has wed [[Drogo]], a mighty ''[[khal]]'' of the [[Dothraki]], Ned refuses to condone the assassination and resigns as Hand.{{ref|AGOT|33}} In the streets of the capital, he is waylaid by Jaime Lannister and [[House Lannister guards|red cloaks]] in retaliation for Catelyn's abduction of [[Tyrion Lannister]], whom her foster-brother, [[Petyr Baelish]], had told her was responsible for the attempt on Bran's life.{{ref|AGOT|35}} Ned's leg is broken and his best men slain, but Ned survives and Robert re-confirms his appointment as Hand before going on a hunt and leaving Ned to sit the [[Iron Throne]].{{ref|AGOT|39}} In this capacity he sends men, including twenty Stark guards, under [[Beric Dondarrion]], [[Lord of Blackhaven]], to stop Ser [[Gregor Clegane]] from raiding the [[riverlands]].{{Ref|AGOT|43}} Gregor's attacks were ordered by Lord Lannister; since Lord Stark was wounded he was not lured into the field and thus could not be captured and traded for Tyrion. The men sent after Gregor are [[Battle at the Mummer's Ford|ambushed]] and many are slain.{{ref|AGOT|55}} Catelyn brings Tyrion to her sister Lysa at the [[Eyrie]], but Tyrion is released after [[Bronn]] is victorious in a [[trial by battle]].{{ref|AGOT|40}}

[[File:Enife Stark children.jpg|thumb|350px|[[Rickon Stark|Rickon]], [[Bran Stark|Bran]], [[Arya Stark|Arya]], [[Sansa Stark|Sansa]], [[Jon Snow|Jon]], and [[Robb Stark|Robb]], by enife ©]]

At the [[Wall]], Jon Snow deals with the cruel tutelage of Ser [[Alliser Thorne]] while making friends such as [[Samwell Tarly]] and learning lessons from his elders.{{ref|AGOT|26}} Jon becomes the personal [[steward]] of [[Jeor Mormont]], [[Lord Commander of the Night's Watch]].{{ref|AGOT|48}} The youth encounters a hint of the evil that supposedly lies [[beyond the Wall]] when the corpses of two of his uncle's men [[Wight|rise from the dead]] and go on the rampage at [[Castle Black]]; Jon saves the Lord Commander from being killed by [[Othor|one of the wights]].{{ref|AGOT|52}}  

Eventually, Ned arrives at the same conclusion at which Jon Arryn did: that Queen Cersei's children are not Robert's, but bastards born of [[incest]] between the Lannister twins, and determines that it is this secret for which Jon was murdered. He approaches Cersei with this truth, warning her to flee the city.{{ref|AGOT|45}} Enlisting Lord Baelish to recruit the gold cloaks,{{ref|AGOT|47}} Ned confronts Cersei after Robert's death from a hunting accident, insisting that [[Stannis Baratheon]] is now king by rights. Littlefinger betrays Ned, however, and the Hand's men are slaughtered by [[Janos Slynt]]'s gold cloaks and Ned is thrown into a [[black cell]].{{ref|AGOT|49}} Sansa is held hostage in the [[Red Keep]],{{ref|AGOT|51}} but Arya manages to escape thanks to [[Syrio Forel]], the fencing master Ned had hired to train her in swordplay.{{ref|AGOT|50}}

[[Robb Stark]] calls the banners to Winterfell and marches south to aid his mother's family, [[House Tully]] of [[Riverrun]], against the Lannisters, and to rescue his father and sisters from the capital.{{ref|AGOT|53}} At the [[Twins]], Catelyn arranges an alliance with [[Walder Frey]], [[Lord of the Crossing]], to negotiate passage over the [[Green Fork]], promising that Robb and Arya will wed [[House Frey|Freys]].{{ref|AGOT|59}} Robb captures Jaime in the [[battle of the Whispering Wood|Whispering Wood]]{{ref|AGOT|63}} and then relieves the Lannisters' siege of Riverrun with the [[Battle of the Camps]].{{ref|AGOT|69}} The rest of the Stark army, led by [[Roose Bolton]], [[Lord of the Dreadfort]], is defeated by Tywin in the [[battle on the Green Fork]], however.{{ref|AGOT|62}}

Ned initially refuses to name Joffrey as the true king, but in the end agrees in order to ensure the safety of Sansa.{{ref|AGOT|58}} When he publicly announces this support at the [[Great Sept of Baelor]], however, the capricious boy king orders Ned's execution rather than allow him to join the Night's Watch as planned.{{ref|AGOT|65}} In response, the northern and river lords at Robb's war council in Riverrun proclaim him [[King in the North]], seceding from the realm of the [[Iron Throne]].{{ref|AGOT|71}}

Benjen has gone missing [[beyond the Wall]], and Jon Snow, after briefly deserting the Watch to join his half-brother's army, rides as part of the [[great ranging]] meant to determine his fate and the threats of the [[Others]] and [[wildlings]].{{ref|AGOT|70}}

===''A Clash of Kings''===
[[File:Tomasz Jedruszek Battle for Westeros.jpg|400px|thumb|[[Robb Stark]] invades the [[westerlands]], by Tomasz Jedruszek © Fantasy Flight Games]]
Robb, [[King in the North]] and [[King of the Trident]], invades the [[westerlands]], winning a string of victories against Lannister bannermen.{{Ref|ACOK|35}}{{ref|ACOK|39}} In an effort to gain allies, he sends his father's ward, [[Theon Greyjoy]], and his mother, [[Catelyn Stark|Catelyn]], as envoys to [[Balon Greyjoy]] and [[Renly Baratheon]], respectively. However, Theon joins his family, [[House Greyjoy]], in [[War of the Five Kings#Rise of the Kraken|attacking the north]],{{ref|ACOK|37}} while Catelyn's diplomatic progress is shattered when [[Siege of Storm's End (299)|Renly is killed]] by [[Melisandre]]'s [[shadow assassin]].{{ref|ACOK|33}} Renly's [[sworn shield]], [[Brienne of Tarth]], takes up service with Catelyn.{{ref|ACOK|39}} While Riverrun celebrates the [[Battle of the Fords]], Robb is reported to have taken the [[Crag]].{{ref|ACOK|55}}

Arya journeys north with [[Yoren]] and his new recruits for the Night's Watch, including King Robert's bastard [[Gendry]],{{ref|ACOK|1}} but their band is attacked by westermen at a [[Gods Eye town]]{{ref|AGOT|14}} and she is eventually taken into captivity by the [[Mountain's men]].{{ref|ACOK|19}} At [[Harrenhal]], she is witness to myriad atrocities, but remains strong, orchestrating several deaths of her tormentors via the assassin [[Jaqen H'ghar]].{{ref|ACOK|30}} During the [[fall of Harrenhal]] to Roose Bolton, Arya helps free a band of northern prisoners.{{ref|ACOK|47}} The incognito Arya is named Roose's cupbearer, but she does not trust her father's bannerman and flees the castle when Roose intends to give it to [[Vargo Hoat]].{{ref|ACOK|64}} Meanwhile, Sansa remains in custody at the Red Keep, betrothed to King Joffrey. She suffers abuse at his hands,{{ref|ACOK|32}} but makes tenuous relationships with [[Sandor Clegane]],{{ref|ACOK|52}} [[Dontos Hollard]],{{ref|ACOK|18}} and [[Tyrion Lannister]], the acting [[Hand of the King]].{{ref|ACOK|32}}

At Winterfell, Bran enjoys titular reign and hosts two [[House Frey|Frey]] wards, [[Walder Frey (son of Jammos)|Big Walder]] and [[Walder Frey (son of Merrett)|Little Walder]].{{ref|ACOK|4}} Maester [[Luwin]] and Ser [[Rodrik Cassel]] deal with such issues as the [[harvest feast]], the [[House Hornwood|Hornwood]] inheritance, and the atrocities of [[Ramsay Snow]], the Bastard of Bolton.{{ref|ACOK|16}}{{ref|ACOK|35}} With the guidance of the [[House Reed|Reed]] children, [[Jojen Reed|Jojen]] and [[Meera Reed|Meera]], Bran hones his gift for [[greensight]] and [[skinchanger|skinchanging]].{{ref|ACOK|28}} When Rodrik leads six hundred Winterfell men, among others, to [[fight at Torrhen's Square|battle]] the ironborn under [[Dagmer|Dagmer Cleftjaw]], Theon Greyjoy [[capture of Winterfell|seizes Winterfell]].{{ref|ACOK|46}} On his return to Winterfell, Rodrik and his men mean to liberate the castle from Theon, but are [[battle at Winterfell|betrayed and routed]] by Ramsay. Luwin is mortally wounded by Ramsay's men, and Theon is captured during the [[sack of Winterfell]].{{ref|ACOK|66}} Bran and Rickon, thought to have been killed by Theon, leave the [[crypts of Winterfell]] after the [[House Bolton|Boltons]] depart. The Stark boys split up and flee towards remote northern havens.{{ref|ACOK|69}}

Benjen remains lost beyond the Wall. Jon Snow joins [[Qhorin Halfhand]] on a scouting mission in the [[Skirling Pass]], during which he refuses an order to execute a [[spearwife]] named [[Ygritte]].{{ref|ACOK|51}} On their return to Lord Commander [[Jeor Mormont]], the pair encounter a wildling band led by [[Rattleshirt]]. Jon, on orders from Qhorin, joins the wildlings as a double agent, and is forced to kill the Halfhand to prove his earnestness. Ygritte, now with Rattleshirt, vouches for Jon.{{ref|ACOK|68}}

===''A Storm of Swords''===
[[File:Zippo514 youngwolf.jpg|thumb|200px|The [[House Frey|Freys]] murder [[Robb Stark]] and sew [[Grey Wind|his wolf]]'s head on his body, by Zippo514 ©)]]
With [[Stannis Baratheon]]'s power broken by the [[Battle of the Blackwater]] and the [[House Tyrell|Tyrells]] and [[House Martell|Martells]] allied with the Lannisters, the Stark-Tully forces stand alone against their foes in the south, and the Greyjoys threaten the north.{{ref|ASOS|14}} Ramsay blames the slaughter at Winterfell on Theon and his [[ironborn]].{{ref|ASOS|35}}

Having been informed of Bran's and Rickon's alleged deaths, Catelyn frees Jaime Lannister in a desperate attempt to trade him for her daughters, sending Brienne to accompany him to King's Landing. Catelyn is put under house arrest at Riverrun.{{ref|ASOS|2}} Meanwhile, Robb returns from his westerlands campaign having wed [[Jeyne Westerling]], the daughter of a minor Lannister bannerman. Jeyne had treated Robb's wounds after the [[storming of the Crag]], and the youths slept together after Robb was informed of the deaths of his brothers. This marriage breaks the Starks' alliance with the furious Freys, however.{{ref|ASOS|2}}{{ref|ASOS|14}} With Jaime gone from Riverrun, the vengeful [[Rickard Karstark]], [[Lord of Karhold]], murders two prisoners, [[Willem Lannister]] and [[Tion Frey]]. Rickard is in turn executed for treason by Robb, alienating [[House Karstark]].{{ref|ASOS|20}}

Lord [[Walder Frey]] accepts Robb's offer to forgive his breach of marriage contract by having Robb's uncle, [[Edmure Tully]], now [[Lord of Riverrun]], stand in the king's place.{{ref|ASOS|35}} Robb and Catelyn ride with thirty-five hundred veterans to attend the wedding at the [[Twins]].{{ref|ASOS|45}} At [[Hag's Mire]] Robb designates his heir (believed to be Jon Snow,{{ref|AWOIAF|Robb Stark}} in spite of the Night's Watch vows) and resolves to march north to reclaim his homeland from the Greyjoys.{{ref|ASOS|45}} Meanwhile, Arya traverses the [[riverlands]], unknowingly entering the mind of her lost direwolf, [[Nymeria (direwolf)|Nymeria]], and killing several sellswords of the [[Brave Companions]] chasing her from Harrenhal.{{ref|ASOS|3}} She joins with the [[brotherhood without banners]], whose founding members included the Winterfell guards [[Alyn]] and [[Harwin]].{{ref|ASOS|17}} However, Arya is abducted by the Hound, [[Sandor Clegane]], who hopes to ransom her at Edmure's wedding.{{ref|ASOS|47}}

In preparation for the [[siege of Moat Cailin]], Robb's host reconvenes with Lord [[Roose Bolton]]'s thirty-five hundred men at the Twins. Lord [[Tywin Lannister]], the [[Hand of the King]] to [[Joffrey Baratheon|Joffrey I Baratheon]], has been conspiring with Roose and Walder, however. Despite [[guest right]], Robb, Catelyn, and many of their bannermen are murdered or taken captive in the [[Red Wedding]].{{ref|ASOS|51}}

Bran journeys north with [[Hodor]], [[Jojen Reed|Jojen]] and [[Meera Reed]], and his direwolf [[Summer]].{{ref|ASOS|9}}{{ref|ASOS|24}} They pass through the Wall at the [[Nightfort]] with the aid of [[Samwell Tarly]] and [[Coldhands]].{{ref|ASOS|56}}

Further north, Jon Snow ingratiates himself with the [[free folk]], beginning a romance with [[Ygritte]] and befriending [[Mance Rayder]], the [[King-beyond-the-Wall]], and other wildling leaders.{{ref|ASOS|15}} He scales the Wall with [[Styr]], the Magnar of [[Thenn (valley)|Thenn]],{{ref|ASOS|30}} and escapes from [[Queenscrown]]{{ref|ASOS|41}} to [[Castle Black]] in time to help prepare for [[attack on Castle Black|the assault of the wildlings]].{{ref|ASOS|48}} Ygritte and Styr are killed during the fighting,{{ref|ASOS|55}} and command over the black brothers falls to Jon after the death of [[Donal Noye]].{{ref|ASOS|64}} Jon successfully defends the Wall during the early stages of the [[battle beneath the Wall]], until Ser [[Alliser Thorne]] and Lord [[Janos Slynt]] arrive and imprison him for allegedly betraying his vows.{{ref|ASOS|69}} They send him to assassinate Mance under a flag of parley, but [[Stannis Baratheon]]'s arrival breaks the wildling host before the deed is carried out.{{ref|ASOS|73}} After the battle, Stannis offers to legitimize the youth as Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell.{{ref|ASOS|76}} Jon decides to decline the offer, however, and is then elected [[Lord Commander of the Night's Watch]] thanks to the maneuverings of his friend, Samwell Tarly.{{ref|ASOS|78}}{{ref|ASOS|79}}

[[File:Sansa_Stark_by_ildraws.jpg|thumb|right|350px|Sansa Stark by ildraws]]

The Hound brings Arya toward the [[Eyrie]] in an attempt to ransom her to her aunt, Lady [[Lysa Arryn]], but they are halted by snow in the [[Mountains of the Moon]].{{ref|ASOS|65}} They are attacked by the [[Mountain's men]] at the [[crossroads inn]] and Sandor is stabbed. Arya leaves the Hound to die along the [[Trident]]. At [[Saltpans]] she uses the iron coin given to her by [[Jaqen H'ghar]] to book passage across the [[narrow sea]] on the galleas ''[[Titan's Daughter]]''.{{ref|ASOS|74}}

Sansa's engagement to King Joffrey is ended by his betrothal to [[Margaery Tyrell]]. She begins to mingle with the Tyrell women in King's Landing and is nearly betrothed to [[Willas Tyrell]].{{ref|ASOS|6}} She is abruptly wed to [[Tyrion Lannister]] instead, but they never consummate their match.{{ref|ASOS|28}} The pair are blamed for [[Purple Wedding|Joffrey's murder]] at his wedding feast; in truth it was orchestrated by [[Petyr Baelish]] and [[Olenna Tyrell]].{{ref|ASOS|68}} Petyr smuggles Sansa out of the capital, murdering his pawn and her friend, Dontos Hollard.{{ref|ASOS|61}} He brings Sansa to the [[Drearfort|Fingers]], where he marries her aunt, Lysa,{{ref|ASOS|68}} and then to the Eyrie.{{ref|ASOS|80}} Littlefinger keeps Sansa hidden by presenting her as his natural daughter, Alayne Stone. Lysa observes Petyr kiss Sansa after the girl builds a snow castle of Winterfell. When Lysa drunkenly accuses Sansa of trying to steal her new husband and reveals that she and Petyr had killed her first husband, Lord [[Jon Arryn]], Littlefinger throws Lysa from the [[Moon Door]].{{ref|ASOS|80}}

With Bran and Rickon thought dead and Sansa and Arya missing, House Stark is all but extinguished in the eyes of the world. The [[Iron Throne]] names Roose Bolton as [[Warden of the North]] and legitimizes his son Ramsay, and most rivermen return to the king's peace.{{ref|ASOS|62}}{{ref|ASOS|72}} [[Ice]], the ancestral [[Valyrian steel]] blade of the Starks, has been reforged into two new Lannister blades, [[Widow's Wail]]{{ref|ASOS|59}} and [[Oathkeeper]].{{ref|ASOS|72}} A revived Catelyn Stark takes leadership of the brotherhood and hangs Freys.{{ref|ADWD|Epilogue}}

===''A Feast for Crows''===
The [[small council]] of Queen [[Cersei Lannister]], the regent for King [[Tommen Baratheon|Tommen I Baratheon]], believes that northmen will accept Bolton control and rule by the [[Iron Throne]] once the [[ironborn]] are expelled from the north.{{ref|AFFC|17}} Ser [[Brynden Tully]] continues to fly the Stark banner at Riverrun,{{ref|AFFC|33}} but Ser [[Jaime Lannister]] peacefully resolves the [[siege of Riverrun]].{{ref|AFFC|44}}

Sansa remains in the [[Vale of Arryn]], where she takes on a maternal role for her young cousin, [[Robert Arryn]], [[Lord of the Eyrie]], and she presents herself as Alayne to [[Nestor Royce]]{{ref|AFFC|10}} and the [[Lords Declarant]].{{ref|AFFC|23}} Littlefinger plots to reveal her identity, wed her to Robert's heir, Ser [[Harrold Hardyng]], and use the [[knights of the Vale]] to retake the north in her name.{{ref|AFFC|23}}{{ref|AFFC|41}}

Arya arrives in [[Braavos]], where she takes up training at the [[House of Black and White]] to become a [[Faceless Man]].{{ref|AFFC|6}}

Soldiers bearing the colors of House Stark have washed up on the shores of the [[Quiet Isle]]. According to the [[Elder Brother (Quiet Isle)|Elder Brother]], they are buried alongside their enemies.{{ref|AFFC|31}} Brienne of Tarth, tasked by Jaime with finding Sansa, uses Oathkeeper in her journeys through the [[crownlands]] and [[riverlands]].{{ref|AFFC|20}}{{ref|AFFC|37}} She is captured by the brotherhood, however, and brought to Lady Stoneheart, Catelyn.{{ref|AFFC|42}} 

===''A Dance with Dragons''===
[[File:Jeyne poole by GibiLynx.jpg|thumb||250px|[[Jeyne Poole]] posing as [[Arya Stark]], by GibiLynx ©]]
Lord Commander Jon Snow begins an uneasy alliance with the free folk, executes the recalcitrant [[Janos Slynt]],{{ref|ADWD|7}} and tactfully deals with the imperious [[Stannis Baratheon]]. While again refusing the king's offer to be legitimized and wed the "wildling princess", [[Val]], Jon offers Stannis advice that helps him in his campaign against the Boltons and Greyjoys.{{ref|ADWD|17}}

At [[Winterfell]], Sansa's friend [[Jeyne Poole]] is wed to [[Ramsay Snow|Ramsay Bolton]] in the guise of "Arya Stark" in an effort to legitimize Bolton overlordship, with Ramsay claiming to be [[House Bolton of Winterfell|Lord of Winterfell]].{{ref|ADWD|37}} A disguised [[Mance Rayder]], sent by Jon Snow, recruits a broken-willed Theon Greyjoy to rescue the girl and deliver her to Stannis.{{ref|ADWD|51}} When Jon gives orders to retake Winterfell from Ramsay after receiving an [[Bastard Letter|inflammatory letter]], the senior officers of the Watch turn on Jon in the [[mutiny at Castle Black]] for allying with wildlings and meddling in the affairs of the realm.{{ref|ADWD|69}}

Bran arrives at the [[cave of the three-eyed crow]], where he meets the [[three-eyed crow|last greenseer]] and [[children of the forest]]. The boy begins perfecting the advanced arts of greensight.{{ref|ADWD|13}}{{ref|ADWD|34}}

Rickon, [[Osha]], and [[Shaggydog]] are said to be on [[Skagos]], where [[Wyman Manderly]], [[Lord of White Harbor]], has requested that [[Davos Seaworth]] search for Rickon, so that Stannis can rally the northmen to fight in his name.{{ref|ADWD|29}}