Catelyn's wedding guests

[Aemond's Eye]

She can Hermione us. Kick our asses with her knowledge.

Ah. Not a fan of Harry Potter, so didn't get the reference at first.

Rhaenys and Lord Varys are two of my favourite posters for that reason. There are a lot of posters whose interpretations of things I enjoy reading, but those two stand out a lot in terms of loremasters.

[SFDanny]

Yeah, the app states it:

At the age of twelve, Catelyn is betrothed to the heir to Winterfell , Brandon Stark. When the date of their wedding is announced some years afterward, Petyr–;who has fallen in love with Catelyn–;challenges Brandon for her hand and is grievously wounded. He might have even been killed had Catelyn not begged Brandon beforehand to spare Petyr's life. Still, Petyr is sent away from Riverrun, while Brandon departs to join his father's wedding party, coming down from the north. But when Brandon hears of Rhaegar's abduction of Lyanna on his way back, he abandons Catelyn, racing to King's Landing. There, he is arrested for calling on Rhaegar to face him in single combat, and killed.

As to why Rickard didn´t stop him.. That would suggest that either Brandon learned about it first (the younger men racing ahead, for example) and rode to KL immediately, or simply stormed off after Rickard told him..

I don't read that section in the same way. I see it as Brandon leaving from the duel to go join up with his Father's party, but on the way back he hears of Lyanna's abduction and he changes his mind and travels to King's Landing. Nothing about whether or not he actually meets up with his Father after hearing the news. I find it hard to believe Rickard would have allowed Brandon to ride to King's Landing and challenge Rhaegar to a duel. Unlike Brandon, we have nothing to indicate Lord Rickard was a "gallant fool." I can see Rickard going to King's Landing and demanding his daughter back, but he isn't stupid enough to give Aerys the reason to kill him or his son. Rickard has spent years constructing alliances against Aerys, and he is not likely to have abandoned all of that with a challenge against a prince of the blood. Perhaps I'm wrong, but if you have something else that shows explicitly that Brandon and Rickard met before Brandon's ride to King's Landing, I'd love to read it. So, I just don't see option "b" as really possible.

[Crippledtank]

This is why we need a series of books with the events before Robert's rebellion to the skirmish at the tower of joy.

^this

I read In a magazine that the guy who played tywin was talking about "talks" of a movie series but they haven't discussed which time line.

I'd love a series based on RR and all the way up to the greyjoy rebellion

[Rhaegarslance]

Yeah, the app states it:

At the age of twelve, Catelyn is betrothed to the heir to Winterfell , Brandon Stark. When the date of their wedding is announced some years afterward, Petyr–;who has fallen in love with Catelyn–;challenges Brandon for her hand and is grievously wounded. He might have even been killed had Catelyn not begged Brandon beforehand to spare Petyr's life. Still, Petyr is sent away from Riverrun, while Brandon departs to join his father's wedding party, coming down from the north. But when Brandon hears of Rhaegar's abduction of Lyanna on his way back, he abandons Catelyn, racing to King's Landing. There, he is arrested for calling on Rhaegar to face him in single combat, and killed.

As to why Rickard didn´t stop him.. That would suggest that either Brandon learned about it first (the younger men racing ahead, for example) and rode to KL immediately, or simply stormed off after Rickard told him..

Sounds more like Brandon was visiting Ned actually after his duel with Littlefinger

“She has,” Ned replied with a chill in his voice. The sly arrogance of the comment rankled him. “I understand you knew my brother Brandon as well.”

Renly Baratheon laughed. Varys shuffled over to listen.

“Rather too well,” Littlefinger said. “I still carry a token of his esteem. Did Brandon speak of me too?”

“Often, and with some heat,” Ned said, hoping that would end it. He had no patience with this game they played, this dueling with words.

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

I don't read that section in the same way. I see it as Brandon leaving from the duel to go join up with his Father's party, but on the way back he hears of Lyanna's abduction and he changes his mind and travels to King's Landing. Nothing about whether or not he actually meets up with his Father after hearing the news. I find it hard to believe Rickard would have allowed Brandon to ride to King's Landing and challenge Rhaegar to a duel. Unlike Brandon, we have nothing to indicate Lord Rickard was a "gallant fool." I can see Rickard going to King's Landing and demanding his daughter back, but he isn't stupid enough to give Aerys the reason to kill him or his son. Rickard has spent years constructing alliances against Aerys, and he is not likely to have abandoned all of that with a challenge against a prince of the blood. Perhaps I'm wrong, but if you have something else that shows explicitly that Brandon and Rickard met before Brandon's ride to King's Landing, I'd love to read it. So, I just don't see option "b" as really possible.

If Brandon leaves with the goal to meet up with Rickard, how can he be on his way back without being anywhere near Rickard and his two hundred men?

Rickard travelled with 200 men in his group, and Brandon had his own little group of friends with him.. Why should the younger men keep the steady pace of the entire group, instead of racing ahead, having a bit of fun on the way? And if Brandon travelled a bit ahead of the main group, he would have been in the perfect position to learn about Lyanna, by being the first to meet any messenger on the road coming from the other side.

Look at Robb's march from Riverrun to the Twins, for example. Catelyn rides, IIRC, somewhere in the middle. If something happens at the front of the column, she won't immediatelyn know, nor will she be immediately aware when something happens in the back of the column. Now, Rickards group was of course quite a bit smaller, consisting only out of 200 men, but the same principle, although on a smaller scale, applies. And younger men tend to like to race ahead (doesn't Edmure and his friends do that during the march to the Twins?).. Plenty of oppertunity for Brandon to have learned about Lyanna an hour or so before Rickard, at which point Brandon will have raced ahead in his anger (due to his "wolfblood" which got him killed) with only a few companions, while Rickard is with a bigger group, which will definitly travel faster..

It is certainly possible that Rickard had send men after Brandon, of course.. If so, either those failed to find him, or failed bring him back.

Sounds more like Brandon was visiting Ned actually after his duel with Littlefinger

Brandon would have visited Riverrun multiple times during the course of his betrothal, which lasted quite a few years. As LF had been in love with Catelyn before her betrothal already, I doubt that he and Brandon got along well..

In any case, this quote doesn't state that Brandon spoke with Ned about the duel after the duel had occured.. Only that he spoke of LF.. often..

[SFDanny]

If Brandon leaves with the goal to meet up with Rickard, how can he be on his way back without being anywhere near Rickard and his two hundred men?

Rickard travelled with 200 men in his group, and Brandon had his own little group of friends with him.. Why should the younger men keep the steady pace of the entire group, instead of racing ahead, having a bit of fun on the way? And if Brandon travelled a bit ahead of the main group, he would have been in the perfect position to learn about Lyanna, by being the first to meet any messenger on the road coming from the other side.

Look at Robb's march from Riverrun to the Twins, for example. Catelyn rides, IIRC, somewhere in the middle. If something happens at the front of the column, she won't immediatelyn know, nor will she be immediately aware when something happens in the back of the column. Now, Rickards group was of course quite a bit smaller, consisting only out of 200 men, but the same principle, although on a smaller scale, applies. And younger men tend to like to race ahead (doesn't Edmure and his friends do that during the march to the Twins?).. Plenty of oppertunity for Brandon to have learned about Lyanna an hour or so before Rickard, at which point Brandon will have raced ahead in his anger (due to his "wolfblood" which got him killed) with only a few companions, while Rickard is with a bigger group, which will definitly travel faster..

It is certainly possible that Rickard had send men after Brandon, of course.. If so, either those failed to find him, or failed bring him back.

We are, of course, both guessing here, but my only point was that the quote from the app doesn't say that Rickard and Brandon are together when they hear the news of Lyanna's abduction. My guess, based on the foolhardy nature of Brandon's response, is that Lord Rickard had nothing to do with it. Instead of putting them in such close proximity when Brandon hears the news, I'd think that Rickard sending his son's party ahead of the main column to meet Lyanna on her journey to the wedding is more likely. It will be interesting to find more of these details fleshed out in the next two books.

As an aside, the great part of the quote from the app is that it resolves a long standing debate about where Lord Rickard was when Brandon is taken prisoner in King's Landing. For years we have debated how long it would take Lord Rickard to travel from Winterfell once he gets the King's summons, but now we know he was already in the south when he is summoned - as many of us have thought likely.