rickon stark's role

[twikee]

i know he hasn't been mentioned much in the books, but what do you think becomes of him? he seems like a promising lord to me,

[SevasTra82]

Well, the Manderlys want Davos to find him again before they swear allegiance to Stannis. We know that Osha plays a part in TWOW, so one can assume Davos will end up finding Rickon and Osha.

I don't really know if Rickon could play any sort of major role in the future books, considering he's much too young (8 I think now in the books?) and has been away from the story too long. If anything, the Manderlys will take Rickon to Stannis, and Stannis will use him as a figurehead to take back Winterfell in a Starks' name.

I think, somehow, Shaggydog and Nymeria will meet back up.

[Ser Wilfred]

Even by the end of the series he will still be too young to really do much to impact the story himself. I think his name will mean more. Reclaiming Winterfell is my guess

[SevasTra82]

Just checked....Rickon was 3 when the series started, which means he's close to 5 now by the end of ADWD.

He'll be a figurehead for Stannis.

[sweetsunray]

And I'd take his direwolf's name "shaggydog" as a hint. Shaggydog is a literary reference of "much ado about nothing."

Examples of shaggydog stories:

1 - someone has a shaggy dog and enters him into "shaggy dog contests" and wins prize after prize until the national contest and the judges dismiss the shaggydog with "doesn't look all that shaggy to us."

2 - a story being told taht starts with "once my father/certain person went someplace on some animal," but then they veer off from the start to never return to it, so nobody ever really knows what the point was.

Based on that, there's a fuss about him; Davos might even find and retrieve him, but without end-game point. He won't end up as Lord of WF or KitN. He'lll just be a kid.

[aryagonnakill#2]

Manderlys story about Rickon is incredibly suspect. Why did Wex need to tell anyone in the first place? How could a boy with a Direwolf have travelled 500 or so miles to the coast without being seen. Who did they hire to take them to Skagos and how did they pay? If Rickon and Osha went in the direction we are told then they literally crossed Bolton lands, so even if we take that as the case how did Wyman end up with Wex? Was there no 1 else in the village where they found the boat? How could a boy from the Iron Isles have possibly been sneaky enough to follow a fucking Direwolf?!? Why even follow them to begin with, again who follows a fucking Direwolf? So Wex supposedly walked from Winterfell to the coast of Umber lands and then walked another thousand or so miles south to White Harbor and then was just arrested randomly?

I think Lord Wyman is hiding something.

[Masha]

One thing is not in question, Shaggydog is currently (or was until recently) in Skagos. That warg dream of him facing off a deer/unicorn unique to Skagos is a proof of that. One has to assume that Rickon is still alive and close by, otherwise there might have been another indication in the dream.

However, how he got there, why he went there or even if he is still there is in question.

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

And I'd take his direwolf's name "shaggydog" as a hint. Shaggydog is a literary reference of "much ado about nothing."

Examples of shaggydog stories:

1 - someone has a shaggy dog and enters him into "shaggy dog contests" and wins prize after prize until the national contest and the judges dismiss the shaggydog with "doesn't look all that shaggy to us."

2 - a story being told taht starts with "once my father/certain person went someplace on some animal," but then they veer off from the start to never return to it, so nobody ever really knows what the point was.

Based on that, there's a fuss about him; Davos might even find and retrieve him, but without end-game point. He won't end up as Lord of WF or KitN. He'lll just be a kid.

This is why I think Jeyne Westerling Stark shows back up in the story with Robb Jr to be Lord of Winterfell

[Bobby b's bobby]

This is why I think Jeyne Westerling Stark shows back up in the story with Robb Jr to be Lord of Winterfell

I thought George said no to that theory not 100% sure though.

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

I thought George said no to that theory not 100% sure though.

He said that the "hips" theory was just a misprint, that does not mean that Jeyne is not pregnant.

Jeyne's mom tells Jaime that she was giving Jeyne moon tea but we dont actually see it happen. Jeyne's grandmother was Maggie the Frog, someone who would have reason to work against the Lannisters.

The Westerling boy also died at the Red Wedding, so there is no reason to think the Westerlings had any love for the Lannisters, but were only telling Jaime what he wanted to hear.

Blackfish also flew the Direwolf over Riverrun long after Robb died, if Jeyne were pregnant than the baby would be the heir and the flag would still fly.

[Fire Eater]

Manderlys story about Rickon is incredibly suspect. Why did Wex need to tell anyone in the first place? How could a boy with a Direwolf have travelled 500 or so miles to the coast without being seen. Who did they hire to take them to Skagos and how did they pay? If Rickon and Osha went in the direction we are told then they literally crossed Bolton lands, so even if we take that as the case how did Wyman end up with Wex? Was there no 1 else in the village where they found the boat? How could a boy from the Iron Isles have possibly been sneaky enough to follow a fucking Direwolf?!? Why even follow them to begin with, again who follows a fucking Direwolf? So Wex supposedly walked from Winterfell to the coast of Umber lands and then walked another thousand or so miles south to White Harbor and then was just arrested randomly?

I think Lord Wyman is hiding something.

How many people would recognize Rickon in the North? Few have ever seen him. Wex didn't have any friends in the North nearby, and needed to survive. They wouldn't need to cross Bolton lands to get to a ship. Wex stayed downwind from them, so Shaggydog couldn't have caught his scent with the wind blowing in the opposite direction. Wex had nothing better to do, and he knew that the info of where they were would be valuable.

GRRM has a lot of plot gifts.

As to the OP, I think Rickon will be the Lord of WF in the end.

[Twenty of House Goodmen]

His role is to be the heir of Winterfell. Especially since Bran will likely be unable to father any children.

[Ibbison from Ibben]

Wyman Manderly to Davos :

Smuggle me back my liege lord, and I will take Stannis Baratheon as my king.

Wyman Manderly's liege lord is Bran, not Rickon.

Rickon will be Bran's heir. The interesting point of his story will be that, due to the fact he lost his parents, he will undergo some major bonding with Osha and Davos. I would not be surprised if he eventually gets fostered out to Davos and his wife.

[sweetsunray]

This is why I think Jeyne Westerling Stark shows back up in the story with Robb Jr to be Lord of Winterfell

And why I think Robb's last will will turn up again, with the clause "in the case there is no other legitimate heir other than Sansa, who I bar from inheriting, then I hereby legitimize Jon Snow as Jon Stark and next in line to inherit."

No Robb Jr, no Sansa, no Rickon (or no suitable leader)... I don't think Bran will return to WF. That makes Arya the heir and QitN, and whomever she marries will be KitN, before Jon.

[King Viserys Targaryen IV]

And why I think Robb's last will will turn up again, with the clause "in the case there is no other legitimate heir other than Sansa, who I bar from inheriting, then I hereby legitimize Jon Snow as Jon Stark and next in line to inherit."

Why would he put all of that into the will? He has no reason to believe that Bran And Rickon are still alive and Arya could be used against the Starks the exact same way that Sansa was being used.

The boys were dead as far as he was concerned and Arya and Sansa were liabilities for someone else to gain control of Winterfell. Jon was the only answer.

In fact, I would bet that they purposefully DONT add things like that to prevent people from trying to claim that they are the long lost heirs that appear out of now where. It is very hard to prove who someone is or is not in this world.

[sweetsunray]

Why would he put all of that into the will? He has no reason to believe that Bran And Rickon are still alive and Arya could be used against the Starks the exact same way that Sansa was being used.

The boys were dead as far as he was concerned and Arya and Sansa were liabilities for someone else to gain control of Winterfell. Jon was the only answer.

In fact, I would bet that they purposefully DONT add things like that to prevent people from trying to claim that they are the long lost heirs that appear out of now where. It is very hard to prove who someone is or is not in this world.

Well, he won't directly appont Jon heir, because then Robb will have a bastard brother becoming heir over his own possible future child... Robb's not going to do that. Normally Robb's child would be his heir. The problems start in the event he dies without having a child. Hence the clause.

And nobody bars anyone from inheriting who they believe to be dead. Robb supposed Bran, Rickon AND Arya to be dead. Kindof totally silly to purposefully write "I bar Arya from inheriting" if you believe her to be dead. So, his will won't mention Bran, Rickon and Arya. Since he has no child yet, he can't write in a name either for the possible future child. He wouldn't even know whether he'd have a daughter or son first. Hence, he only writes a clause about "a rightful heir" and simultaneously dismissing Sansa as one of them, as at the time of writing the will she's confirmed to be alive.

As there is no child, but his siblings are not dead as he believed they were, they still remain the rightful heirs, except for Sansa, with Bran first in line, Rickon second, Arya third and Jon fourth. This basically predicts that Sansa will not have a direct power role in the North. She's the power that will eventually bring the Vale into the game. LF will attempt to put Sansa in power in the North, and I suspect that's when the will is about to resurface. It'll be the wrench in LF's plans, and ironically was written as a result because of his own scheming against Sansa being married to a Tyrell. It's the snake biting his own tail.

ETA: and if you hold to the significance of the direwolf's name "shaggydog" you can't dismiss "Nymeria". Queen Nymeria was a queen in her own right, not through marriage. She did marry to reconcile Dorne, but she didn't become a queen through marrying a king. Barring Sansa from the line of succession thus also has a very significant impact for Arya.

[King17]

Bran is king rickon the heir

[LordToo-Fat-to-Sit-a-Horse]

he´ll be puppet lord of Winterfell for Stannis..

in the end Bran will return..

[SevasTra82]

His role is to be the heir of Winterfell. Especially since Bran will likely be unable to father any children.

Bran's legs are broken and lame, but it doesn't mean his man-junk don't work. There are plenty of people in real-life that are in similar situations who still are able to produce kids.

Bran and Rickon are the only male heirs that could take back Winterfell. Unless Arya/Sansa take over the mantle, but the Stark line still needs to come from Bran/Rickon IMO.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I like Rickon as much as the next guy. I think my no. 2 and Rickon would be fast friends. But if you're a fannof House Stark, you should be careful for what you wish...

boy lords are the bane of any House.