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Why didn't Robb marry Jeyne to someone else?


Canon Claude

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Robb could have avoided a lot of trouble if he'd kept quiet about his deflowering Jeyne and given her a match to one of his high ranking bodyguards in exchange for House Westerling's allegiance. It didn't even have to be an heir. The Westerlings are poor and would be grateful for even the second sons of a noble house more powerful than themselves.

Ser Wendel was an option. Lucas Blackwood was another. So were a number of the Freys (I'm sure Walder wouldn't object to such an ancient name as Westerling marrying into his house). If Jeyne and Robb kept quiet about their affair then surely there'd be no dishonour and Robb would still be able to wed Roslin when he got back.

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10 minutes ago, Canon Claude said:

 It didn't even have to be an heir. The Westerlings are poor and would be grateful for even the second sons of a noble house more powerful than themselves.

 

Not really, not during the war. Aligning with Robb's force would be seen as traitorous to the Lannisters and other Westerland lords

"Yes. Jason Mallister captured him in the Whispering Wood and has been holding him at Seagard for ransom. Of course I'll free him now, though he may not wish to join me. We wed without his consent, I fear, and this marriage puts him in dire peril. The Crag is not strong. For love of me, Jeyne may lose all."

It would be in their best interests to allow her to have a bastard rather than side with the enemy.

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31 minutes ago, Canon Claude said:

Robb could have avoided a lot of trouble if he'd kept quiet about his deflowering Jeyne and given her a match to one of his high ranking bodyguards in exchange for House Westerling's allegiance. It didn't even have to be an heir. The Westerlings are poor and would be grateful for even the second sons of a noble house more powerful than themselves.

Ser Wendel was an option. Lucas Blackwood was another. So were a number of the Freys (I'm sure Walder wouldn't object to such an ancient name as Westerling marrying into his house). If Jeyne and Robb kept quiet about their affair then surely there'd be no dishonour and Robb would still be able to wed Roslin when he got back.

It was the honourable thing to do. It doesn't matter wether people would have known or not. Robb is the son of Ned Stark, and he couldn't have lived with doing such a dishonorable thing, even if no one knew. It's about himself, not what the others might think.

 

Plus he is kind of a kid still in many ways. 

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Sure....but Robb is Ned's son. He has too much honor to do something so sneaky. It would be hard to keep something like that secret when you're "King in the North." It would have ended badly, but probably not as bad the "Red Wedding."

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20 minutes ago, thelittledragonthatcould said:

It would be in their best interests to allow her to have a bastard rather than side with the enemy.

This is the main reason I have always regarded his decision to marry Jeyne as Robb's worst decision.  Not only does it anger the Frey by breaking his promise to them, it is a bad idea for the Westerlings.  She is marrying her liege lord's main enemy!   I suspect that if Catelyn had been there, she would have realized this and pointed it out.  The Westerlings are better off having nothing to do with Robb, and the fact they were willing to do so should have rung alarm bells.  If he wins, he can find her a good marriage.  If he loses, she is better off not being around him.

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1 hour ago, Nevets said:

This is the main reason I have always regarded his decision to marry Jeyne as Robb's worst decision.  Not only does it anger the Frey by breaking his promise to them, it is a bad idea for the Westerlings.  She is marrying her liege lord's main enemy!   I suspect that if Catelyn had been there, she would have realized this and pointed it out.  The Westerlings are better off having nothing to do with Robb, and the fact they were willing to do so should have rung alarm bells.  If he wins, he can find her a good marriage.  If he loses, she is better off not being around him.

It's definitly the worse choice, since it leads to his death :D. Damn those honourable Starks!

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With no Robb marriage, the Westerlings would have no opportunity to play both sides to see who wins, so would have rejected the offer.

2 hours ago, thelittledragonthatcould said:

It would be in their best interests to allow her to have a bastard rather than side with the enemy.

Tyrion says practically the same thing - '"It would have been kinder to leave her with a bastard in her belly," said Tyrion bluntly. The Westerlings stood to lose everything here; their lands, their castle, their very lives. A Lannister always pays his debts.' Tyrion, ASOS III

 

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Is there another example in the novels of a broken marriage pact being punished by death?

The Mad King maybe? (Rhaegar/Cersei?)

Obviously Robb should have known it would cause problems, but never could have predicted murder at a wedding in violation of the guest right. (By a man that never did anything bold in his life no less)

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1 hour ago, gregg22 said:

Is there another example in the novels of a broken marriage pact being punished by death?

The Mad King maybe? (Rhaegar/Cersei?)

Obviously Robb should have known it would cause problems, but never could have predicted murder at a wedding in violation of the guest right. (By a man that never did anything bold in his life no less)

In some way Lyanna/Robert was a broken marriage pact and he didn't end well for Rhaegar who broke it. But it is different.

 

Robb knows it would cause problems, that's why he tries to apologize to lord Walder and mend the relationship, and Catelyn insists heavily on that. He didn't think it would go that far though indeed.

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2 hours ago, gregg22 said:

Is there another example in the novels of a broken marriage pact being punished by death?

Marriage pacts are serious business in Westeros, we know that the Stormlands rebelled against Aegon V (Egg) because of a broken marriage contract.

2 hours ago, gregg22 said:

Obviously Robb should have known it would cause problems, but never could have predicted murder at a wedding in violation of the guest right. (By a man that never did anything bold in his life no less)

Surely joining Robb Stark against the Crown, which at the time included the Reach, Stormlands, and Narrow Sea Islands, was an incredibly bold/stupid move.

Cat certainly thought it was a possibility, that is why she kept on insisting that Robb eat Walder's bread.

"Robb, listen to me. Once you have eaten of his bread and salt, you have the guest right, and the laws of hospitality protect you beneath his roof."
Robb looked more amused than afraid. "I have an army to protect me, Mother, I don't need to trust in bread and salt. But if it pleases Lord Walder to serve me stewed crow smothered in maggots, I'll eat it and ask for a second bowl."
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I would have been a more sensible thing to do. I think it was honour, selfishness and regard of Jeyne's feelings that he didn't do that. Robb did not want a girl he was attracted to with another man and Jeyne likely didn't wish for a "pity"marriage with a stranger. Robb was too young and idealistic to consider anything else a Sybil likely pushed him this way too.

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3 hours ago, thelittledragonthatcould said:

Marriage pacts are serious business in Westeros, we know that the Stormlands rebelled against Aegon V (Egg) because of a broken marriage contract.

Surely joining Robb Stark against the Crown, which at the time included the Reach, Stormlands, and Narrow Sea Islands, was an incredibly bold/stupid move.

Cat certainly thought it was a possibility, that is why she kept on insisting that Robb eat Walder's bread.

"Robb, listen to me. Once you have eaten of his bread and salt, you have the guest right, and the laws of hospitality protect you beneath his roof."
Robb looked more amused than afraid. "I have an army to protect me, Mother, I don't need to trust in bread and salt. But if it pleases Lord Walder to serve me stewed crow smothered in maggots, I'll eat it and ask for a second bowl."

 

He definitely should have considered near mortal or near as bad treatment. I believe it's relatively unprecedented in AC Westeros to have a non-royal (made when he was heir to the North) betrothal result in murder, let alone complete slaughter. Jenny of the Oldstones resulted in a rebellion but the other 2 (3?) did not, and I'm sure there are others that didn't mean anything. Pretty sure one of the Lannisters tossed aside a fiancee because he was begged to by a Reyne/Tarbeck lady.

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It is actually just the point he did something almost nobody else would have done. Everyone else would have chosen the way to either have his bastard or marry her to someone else. Robb didn't. He made the decision which according to him was the most honorable: marrying her herself to protect her honor.

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Knowing nothing is Starks' family trait. I mean knowing nothig about other people's intentions and interests. Robb has never become suspicious about sudden loyalty of Lannister's vasslas  and fell into the trap without any secon thought. Besides that he was kinda a kid himself.

Cat being a Tully not a Stark is alarmed about Westerlings being around and understands that the freys are offended and won't forget. But her own unwise decisions (setting Jaime free) and trustfulness bring her efforts to nought.

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9 hours ago, Horse of Kent said:

With no Robb marriage, the Westerlings would have no opportunity to play both sides to see who wins, so would have rejected the offer.

Tyrion says practically the same thing - '"It would have been kinder to leave her with a bastard in her belly," said Tyrion bluntly. The Westerlings stood to lose everything here; their lands, their castle, their very lives. A Lannister always pays his debts.' Tyrion, ASOS III

That's not what the Westerlings were doing, though. As explained by the app, Jeyne's feelings for Robb were genuine, but Sybell had been attempting to get Robb and Jeyne together, as per Tywin's instructions, so Robb would break his betrothal with House Frey, freeing the way for a Lannister-Frey alliance which could defeat Robb.

This is also hinted at in the books, starting here:

This Westerling betrayal did not seem to have enraged his father as much as Tyrion would have expected. Lord Tywin did not suffer disloyalty in his vassals. He had extinguished the proud Reynes of Castamere and the ancient Tarbecks of Tarbeck Hall root and branch when he was still half a boy. The singers had even made a rather gloomy song of it. Some years later, when Lord Farman of Faircastle grew truculent, Lord Tywin sent an envoy bearing a lute instead of a letter. But once he’d heard “The Rains of Castamere” echoing through his hall, Lord Farman gave no further trouble. And if the song were not enough, the shattered castles of the Reynes and Tarbecks still stood as mute testimony to the fate that awaited those who chose to scorn the power of Casterly Rock. “The Crag is not so far from Tarbeck Hall and Castamere,” Tyrion pointed out. “You’d think the Westerlings might have ridden past and seen the lesson there.”
“Mayhaps they have,” Lord Tywin said. “They are well aware of Castamere, I promise you.
“Could the Westerlings and Spicers be such great fools as to believe the wolf can defeat the lion?”
Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister would actually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone was terrible to behold. “The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them,” he said, and then, “You will marry Sansa Stark, Tyrion. And soon.”

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Because he was an idiot like his father. He could had married her with Edmure or a someone else who would had been highborn that he might wanted her like Wendel.

 

9 hours ago, gregg22 said:

The Mad King maybe? (Rhaegar/Cersei?)

I don't think that there was a pact to marry Cersei and Rhaegar. That was what Tywin wanted.

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31 minutes ago, Rhaenys_Targaryen said:

That's not what the Westerlings were doing, though. As explained by the app, Jeyne's feelings for Robb were genuine, but Sybell had been attempting to get Robb and Jeyne together, as per Tywin's instructions, so Robb would break his betrothal with House Frey, freeing the way for a Lannister-Frey alliance which could defeat Robb.

This is also hinted at in the books, starting here:

This Westerling betrayal did not seem to have enraged his father as much as Tyrion would have expected. Lord Tywin did not suffer disloyalty in his vassals. He had extinguished the proud Reynes of Castamere and the ancient Tarbecks of Tarbeck Hall root and branch when he was still half a boy. The singers had even made a rather gloomy song of it. Some years later, when Lord Farman of Faircastle grew truculent, Lord Tywin sent an envoy bearing a lute instead of a letter. But once he’d heard “The Rains of Castamere” echoing through his hall, Lord Farman gave no further trouble. And if the song were not enough, the shattered castles of the Reynes and Tarbecks still stood as mute testimony to the fate that awaited those who chose to scorn the power of Casterly Rock. “The Crag is not so far from Tarbeck Hall and Castamere,” Tyrion pointed out. “You’d think the Westerlings might have ridden past and seen the lesson there.”
“Mayhaps they have,” Lord Tywin said. “They are well aware of Castamere, I promise you.
“Could the Westerlings and Spicers be such great fools as to believe the wolf can defeat the lion?”
Every once in a very long while, Lord Tywin Lannister would actually threaten to smile; he never did, but the threat alone was terrible to behold. “The greatest fools are ofttimes more clever than the men who laugh at them,” he said, and then, “You will marry Sansa Stark, Tyrion. And soon.”

I don't have the app so it may prove me totally wrong. Do you think/does it explicitly say that the trap set by Sybell was agreed with Tywin before Robb picked up his injury? Getting hit in the arm with an arrow seems a completely unpredictable event, and, if the opportunity did arise to target him with such accuracy, the simpler way would be to hit somewhere fatal. As a result Sybell's scheme seems like something invented off the cuff when Robb was injured, which she then informed Tywin about. In this situation if the North won the war, then she would have the advantage of still being able to side with the victors and have her daughter be the queen of a powerful, independent kingdom.

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