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Between being betrothed to Brandon, Petyr's affections for her, and being promised to Ned,


Angel Eyes

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She was the daughter of a Great House, she couldn't afford to fall in love, and even if she did, would not admit to it. She would do her duty, and honour her family.

Hence this:

10 hours ago, SecretWeapon said:

not LF, she probably found Brandon hot back then but she grew to truly love Ned

No grand passion for Cat, just that comfortable affection which grows in the more successful of arranged marriages.

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There is actually no indication that Cat knew Brandon very well or that she did love him. She didn't love Littlefinger, either, though. Ned may have been the first man Cat grew to 'love', with her not having been in love ever before.

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5 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

what's with the incomplete topic headings now? It's like some sort of thread click bait, and a bit annoying. :)

 

Thank you!

On topic, I'd agree with most everyone else.  Petyr was some kid she grew up with, a cousin Oliver who harbored a deep sociopathic rage.  Brandon she never knew well, if at all, but of whom she may have had an idealized view that, as a young girl, she could have confused for love.  And Ned, she came to love over time through familiarity and the support they each gave the other.

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7 hours ago, kissdbyfire said:

What @SecretWeapon said. But since I'm here already, let me ask you something... what's with the incomplete topic headings now? It's like some sort of thread click bait, and a bit annoying. :)

 

What’s with it? Because I need something to fill the lower part of. The. Post.

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3 hours ago, Widowmaker 811 said:

She kissed Petyr.  Loved Brandon.  Was lukewarm to Ned but grew to love him.  Catelyn is your average girl who matured into womanhood.

There is no textual evidence that Cat loved Brandon. No indication whatsoever. All we know is that she was betrothed to him. That's it.

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I think Catelyn may have been in love with the idea of Brandon when she was young, but she realized it wasn't love after many years with dear old Ned. Just about everyone falls in love with Ned when they spend enough time with him. Robert being the first then later his bannermen. Had Ned taken Cersei's offer, she would have fallen for him too. 

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59 minutes ago, Ralphis Baratheon said:

I think Catelyn may have been in love with the idea of Brandon when she was young, but she realized it wasn't love after many years with dear old Ned. Just about everyone falls in love with Ned when they spend enough time with him. Robert being the first then later his bannermen. Had Ned taken Cersei's offer, she would have fallen for him too. 

Everyone truly wants to fuck Ned Stark.  But seriously that's the case for nearly anyone no? Arranged couples having to spend their lives together either grow to like each other than their initial meeting or hate each more and more.

 

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7 hours ago, Ralphis Baratheon said:

I think Catelyn may have been in love with the idea of Brandon when she was young, but she realized it wasn't love after many years with dear old Ned. Just about everyone falls in love with Ned when they spend enough time with him. Robert being the first then later his bannermen. Had Ned taken Cersei's offer, she would have fallen for him too. 

There is no evidence for Cat having any positive feelings for Brandon, actually. Nor is there any indication that Hoster cared that his daughters get betrothed to men they actually like. Far to the contrary, actually, when you think that Hoster wanted to marry Lysa to Jaime without ever talking to her about that.

6 hours ago, Varysblackfyre321 said:

Everyone truly wants to fuck Ned Stark.  But seriously that's the case for nearly anyone no? Arranged couples having to spend their lives together either grow to like each other than their initial meeting or hate each more and more.

If we consider the fact that there should be pretty much no romantic/sexual attraction in an arranged marriage where the couple only meet each other a couple of time before their wedding, then love really has no place in such a marriage. These people afterwards know they have to get along, and may thus grow to like each other in a way. But they are not likely to ever feel the passion of love in their marriage bed. Most arranged marriages in Westeros should be of the quality of the Stannis-Selyse or Jon-Lysa marriage. If things are better you get Rhaegar-Elia or even Ned-Cat.

Real love matches like those of Egg-Betha (and all their children aside from Rhaelle) or Tywin-Joanna (at least on Tywin's part) should be very rare indeed.

Love and romance and passions is what affairs, mistresses, paramours, and even whores are for. Not wives. Wives are the women at your side who give birth to the children who carry your name.

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She probably found Brandon attractive, maybe had a young girls crush on him. There's no indication at all that she loved him; given that they hardly knew each other at all; but she probably saw herself as quite lucky with that match. She loved Baelish like a brother or close cousin, not romantically. She grew to truly love Ned, which actually isn't as common as some people seem to think in arranged marriages.

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"Romantic love" seems to be depicted as A Very Bad Thing in ASOIAF. It ends badly, inspires people (largely men) to do stupid, destructive, even self-destructive things, to forget their responsibilities and vows. Romantic love seems to be limited to the young and foolish - basically, adolescent crushes plus overdoses of hormones which override the higher brain functions. I know, I know - that's how we're built. It's only disastrous on a large scale when it involves powerful people with large capacities for violence and destruction via their armies and those of their bannermen.

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4 hours ago, zandru said:

"Romantic love" seems to be depicted as A Very Bad Thing in ASOIAF. It ends badly, inspires people (largely men) to do stupid, destructive, even self-destructive things, to forget their responsibilities and vows. Romantic love seems to be limited to the young and foolish - basically, adolescent crushes plus overdoses of hormones which override the higher brain functions. I know, I know - that's how we're built. It's only disastrous on a large scale when it involves powerful people with large capacities for violence and destruction via their armies and those of their bannermen.

Is that GRRM’s message, that love is bad?

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