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Robb's place in history


Fat Mac

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Robb will be a legendary figure in the North and the Riverlands- like Daeron I, probably a bigger one than he should- but even in the rest of the realm he will be remembered, mostly because of the Red Wedding. We're already seeing it happen. The young charismatic warrior that didn't lose a single battle, chose love over his own honor, and was killed in a savage and revolting betrayal is too appealing of a story to just be ignored.

People saying he'll be ignored sound like haters, frankly. Absolutely nothing in the story indicates that the Red Wedding will be forgotten anytime soon, and not only in the North. The Targaryens being overthrown also didn't stop the likes of Aegon the Conqueror, the Young Dragon, Jaehaerys the Conciliator, and to a lesser extent, even Rhaegar to be well-remembered. Likewise, Daemon Blackfyre is also somewhat of a mythical figure 100 years after he died and lost.

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Robb will be a legendary figure in the North and the Riverlands- like Daeron I, probably a bigger one than he should- but even in the rest of the realm he will be remembered, mostly because of the Red Wedding. We're already seeing it happen. The young charismatic warrior that didn't lose a single battle, chose love over his own honor, and was killed in a savage and revolting betrayal is too appealing of a story to just be ignored.

People saying he'll be ignored sound like haters, frankly. Absolutely nothing in the story indicates that the Red Wedding will be forgotten anytime soon, and not only in the North. The Targaryens being overthrown also didn't stop the likes of Aegon the Conqueror, the Young Dragon, Jaehaerys the Conciliator, and to a lesser extent, even Rhaegar to be well-remembered. Likewise, Daemon Blackfyre is also somewhat of a mythical figure 100 years after he died and lost.

Legendary for what? He's a boy king that doesn't even rule for a year. He has three minor victories that accomplish nothing in the long term. The men that followed him love him I'm sure and if they survive they'll tell their children of the Young Wolf that was taken too soon but other than that there's really nothing I see Robb being remembered for other than the Red Wedding. It's not hate, it's just bitter fact the boy died young playing the game of thrones

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Legendary for what? He's a boy king that doesn't even rule for a year. He has three minor victories that accomplish nothing in the long term. The men that followed him love him I'm sure and if they survive they'll tell their children of the Young Wolf that was taken too soon but other than that there's really nothing I see Robb being remembered for other than the Red Wedding. It's not hate, it's just bitter fact the boy died young playing the game of thrones

At least Whispering Woods and Oxcross were major battles (in the latter. the Lannister lose 10,000 men for example), and it's obvious that were more in the war than the ones we've seen, just like in Robert's Rebellion- unless you believe that one consisted only of Ashford, the Battle of Bells and the Trident.

And like I said, the Young Dragon is the most obvious comparison: he failed to hold Dorne and died young, but the mystique of being a teenage handsome and charismatic warrior that set himself into a glorious mission and died young is too big to resist; and, unlike Robb, he wasn't invincible, and didn't die in such a vile act of treachery. Absolutely everything in Robb's story is tailor made for being the stuff of legends, and it was GRRM's intention all along.

I also pointed out history will probably be kinder to him than he deserved.

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His haters will remember him as the King who won everything, but lost it all because of a...you know what.

The Northman will remember him as a great leader who was betrayed by the Freys and the Boltons, the only reason for him not having achieved his plans.

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"They call him the Young Wolf. They say he rides into battle on the back of a giant direwolf. They say he can turn into a wolf himself when he wants. They say he can't be killed."

Robb's story is made for legendary songs. He's the young wolf who marched south to free his father and sisters. He valiantly rode to the defense of the Tullys and the Riverlords. He rode into battle with a giant direwolf at his side and he was never defeated on the field. He was the first King in the North in 300 years. His enemies had to violate ancient laws to defeat him.

Throw in the Jeyne Westerling love story and Robb's immortalized as a tragic, romantic hero. It doesn't matter that the Ironborn invaded the North or that he broke his promise to the Freys. If Westeros can forgive Rhaegar for his faults and mistakes, than I have no doubt Robb will be remembered for his daring bravery and his tragic end.

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Legendary for what? He's a boy king that doesn't even rule for a year. He has three minor victories that accomplish nothing in the long term. The men that followed him love him I'm sure and if they survive they'll tell their children of the Young Wolf that was taken too soon but other than that there's really nothing I see Robb being remembered for other than the Red Wedding. It's not hate, it's just bitter fact the boy died young playing the game of thrones

I more or less agree but his story will lead to him becoming a romanticised figure. If Jeyne does have a child through him then his story isn't necassarily over yet.

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"They call him the Young Wolf. They say he rides into battle on the back of a giant direwolf. They say he can turn into a wolf himself when he wants. They say he can't be killed."

This is a quote from the show, not the books. I know you probably know this, but it's my personal mission to keep show fact separate from book fact.

Robb's story is made for legendary songs. He's the young wolf who marched south to free his father and sisters. He valiantly rode to the defense of the Tullys and the Riverlords. He rode into battle with a giant direwolf at his side and he was never defeated on the field. He was the first King in the North in 300 years. His enemies had to violate ancient laws to defeat him. Throw in the Jeyne Westerling love story and Robb's immortalized as a tragic, romantic hero. It doesn't matter that the Ironborn invaded the North or that he broke his promise to the Freys. If Westeros can forgive Rhaegar for his faults and mistakes, than I have no doubt Robb will be remembered for his daring bravery and his tragic end.

I agree with this. There will certainly be songs about him and the future Old Nans will be telling his stories. He will be heavily romanticized in the North, which is all that really matters.

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I believe the fact that his monarchy was a "blink and you miss it" moment trumps everything else. In the long run the only thing remembered would be the Red Wedding.

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I more or less agree but his story will lead to him becoming a romanticised figure. If Jeyne does have a child through him then his story isn't necassarily over yet.

Very true, a son could well change things.

It'd probably help to agree on a definition of history, I see people on here talking about Rhaegar when there are still plenty of people still alive that knew him personally. That's not my idea of history or even the three hundred years of the Targs being in power other than they united Westeros into one kingdom. I'm sure there might be folk songs of the Young Wolf making the rounds for a few hundred years but it's just hard for me to imagine a boy king that ruled in name for less than a year will have a place in thousands of years of history like a Bran the Builder or even a Torrhen. Except as a cautionary tale perhaps for the Red Wedding.

It also doesn't help he was the King in the North that was never actually in the North as a King. I wonder how many Northerners there are that don't even know they were an independent nation for a few months?

What will Robb's legacy be? jarl the climber raises the good point a son is still possible but otherwise what did Robb actually do? He doesn't prevent his father from being executed, not saying it's his fault or he could do different and succeed, it's just fact. He has three minor victories to his name, yes they are minor. I know they seem shiny up close in the books but what will they look like even just a few hundred years from now, like little more than raids. No cities or castles were taken and kept, no lands conquered, not one of his battles mattered in the longterm even if he hadn't been murdered.

Even without the Red Wedding he was bleeding allies left and right and the Ironborn held the North and especially Winterfell thanks to his letting Theon go. He might be a shiny folk hero as everyone suggests but he could just as easily become the Fool Wolf that brought the Starks to one of their lowest points in history taking a lot of Northern boys south to die playing in the southron's damn games while Winter Was Coming. Now Winterfell is a burned out husk infested with vermin instead of the bastion of warmth and life it's meant to be during the long cold winter that is coming.

The coming winter could make all recent history be completely irrelevant anyways. . A Targ could very well be coming to Westeros with three dragons in her wake. The white walkers are stirring for the first time in thousands of years. People on here keep talking as if they expect the Wall to fall. This War of the Five Kings might end up having the same historical weight as a liquor store hold up on the day Kennedy was assassinated.

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If Robb is solely remembered for the RW, where he was slaughtered by a family who committed one of the most heinous crimes one can commit, his story will be considered tragic. And people remember tragic characters fondly, so I an only see Robb being remembered fondly in northern history.

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I think that the North will get its independence. I cannot see any other outcome. So Robb will be remembered for that. He'll probably end up being overshadowed by his cousin, Jon, who saves the world. Which is ironic because Jon was the one who was overlooked when both were kids.

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King Robb Stark:

-Reclaimed the Crown of the North.

-Was undefeated in Battle so the Lannisters (Former Great House of the Rock until the House was exterminated) used the Freys to betray him at the Red Wedding.

-Brother Rickon Stark with the Gudeance of Davos Seaworth helped to secure the North which then passed to Robb's son Eddard Stark current King of the North.

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Tragic heroes like Robb are meant to endure in history. Although his legacy will depend on the winning side (and I'm sure that the Starks will win and he'll be redeemed), Robb's stint as King in the North and the Trident (I think he was the only one ruling over these regions) has all the recipes of a good ballad, chivalry song or cautionary tale. I see him more as a kind of "sleeping king" for the Riverlands/North who would wake up when his kingdom will sorely need him.

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A rebel with illusions of grandeur if Stannis or the Lannisters win in the end.

A rebel with delusions of grandeur if anyone but a Stark or Tully end up on the Iron Throne.

Pretty much this, some people will love him and parrot his military accomplishments, others will declare loudly that he's an idiot for losing where it matters. Those who love him will try to brush the issue of Jeyne Westerling off, those that don't will scream it loudly from the rooftops.

This sounds reasonable.

The northerners seem to hold him in high regard still, and that's really what matters. The Lannisters don't care how the North perceives them, so why should Robb be judged based on how the south views him? His own people still love him and I'd say that's a big damn deal. And the idea that (wrongfully, yes) breaking a marriage contract is on the same moral level as a mass slaughter and breaking pretty-much-divinely-sanctioned guest right is fucking absurd.

The Northmen may celebrate him, for one bizarre reason or another like throwing the North into a major war on the eve of winter, but the rest of the realm where the war was fought will probably see little good in him.

King Robb Stark: -Reclaimed the Crown of the North.

He made a new one to be honest.

–Was undefeated in Battle so the Lannisters (Former Great House of the Rock until the House was exterminated) used the Freys to betray him at the Red Wedding.

Screw you. The Lannisters allowed the Frey to solve the problem rather than have another year of war and misery for the Riverlands before Robb was killed by conventional means.

-Brother Rickon Stark with the Gudeance of Davos Seaworth helped to secure the North which then passed to Robb's son Eddard Stark current King of the North.

You mean “Brother Rickon Stark was helped and later betrayed his aider in the Stark tradition of betraying the ones who help you, and was later killed and his line exterminated when he tried to go to war with the rest of Westeros.”

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Depends very much on who wins and what he wants to do.

Everything between fool and last soul with honor.

His story makes a great piece propaganda for killing a lot of nobles to secure order. (A Dany thing to do, I guess)

So if she wins and is smart about it, she will probably use his story as an other "reason" why the Houses XYZ needs to be eliminated...

I like that idea, for it gives everything a very bitter taste. He, who only wanted peace and freedom, has build the gallons on which great houses are hanged.

(So his mother got his revenge but it will mean nothing to her or to him anymore...)

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