Why did Robert stay in the Eryie for so long time?

[purple-eyes]

He was already 20 years old during the rebellion and he still lived with Jon Arryn. 

He had a Strom's end and whole Stormland to rule, and we know in westeros, even you are a king, you should rule independently at 16 years old. 

This is not like he went to serve in small council so he left other people to rule in his stead. 

Why did he stay there for so long time?

For Ned?

 

By the way, so many people married and had children at 14, 15 years old in westeros. 

Since he loved Lyanna so much, why did not he marry her earlier?

Lyanna was at least 15 at kidnapping. 

And we know dany already married at 13. Rhaella was like 14. Sansa was like 13. 

What is he waiting for? 

 

 

 

[thelittledragonthatcould]

Lyanna was 16 when she died, she was either 14/15 when she was kidnapped/eloped.

 

Robert split his time equally between the Vale and the Stormlands as well as attending Tourneys around the realm. A Lord does not have to been in his Homeland fulltime, Robert had appointed Castellan(s?) to run things for him. He was enjoying himself doing what he wanted, no real big deal many other Lords had probably led similar lifestyles.

[Bellenora Black Pearl]

IIRC Robert & Ned were in the Vale at the the beginning of the rebellion just visiting. They weren't still being fostered there.

As far as waiting to marry Lyanna is concerned, I always assumed it had something to do with the whole Southron Ambitions plot. Maybe they were waiting to have all of the marriages between the various noble houses occur around the same time & then quickly make their political moves to prevent King Aerys from becoming suspicious and/or have time to act.

Brandon was older to Ned & Robert but still hadn't married Catelyn. That whole generation seemed to be marrying later than the current one, which is pretty strange.

 

[purple-eyes]

IIRC Robert & Ned were in the Vale at the the beginning of the rebellion just visiting. They weren't still being fostered there.

 

really? I did not know this. 

So they just visited the Vale shortly before the rebellion? 

Do you have a quote? thanks. 

[Clegane'sPup]

really? I did not know this. 

So they just visited the Vale shortly before the rebellion? 

Do you have a quote? thanks. 

Perhaps for once you could supply a quote to support any one of your thoughts.

He was already 20 years old during the rebellion and he still lived with Jon Arryn. He had a Strom's end and whole Stormland to rule, and we know in westeros, even you are a king, you should rule independently at 16 years old. This is not like he went to serve in small council so he left other people to rule in his stead. Why did he stay there for so long time?For Ned?

[purple-eyes]

 

Perhaps for once you could supply a quote to support any one of your thoughts.

?

I knew Robert was fostered in Vale, I knew Robert was in Vale when king asked for his head. I also knew Robert went back to Stormland to collect his army. That is why I thought he lived there all the time. This is kind of like a natural assumption. 

I may be wrong, of course, so I am interested and asked for reference. 

What is the problem here?

[The Great and Mighty Poo]

?

I knew Robert was fostered in Vale, I knew Robert was in Vale when king asked for his head. I also knew Robert went back to Stormland to collect his army. That is why I thought he lived there all the time. This is kind of like a natural assumption. 

I may be wrong, of course, so I am interested and asked for reference. 

What is the problem here?

there's no problem.

[Clegane'sPup]

?

I knew Robert was fostered in Vale, I knew Robert was in Vale when king asked for his head. I also knew Robert went back to Stormland to collect his army. That is why I thought he lived there all the time. This is kind of like a natural assumption. 

I may be wrong, of course, so I am interested and asked for reference. 

What is the problem here?

There is no problem.

[Bellenora Black Pearl]

really? I did not know this. 

So they just visited the Vale shortly before the rebellion? 

Do you have a quote? thanks. 

Honestly, I'm new at this & not good at finding/posting quotes yet. Tried a quick Google search & the quote I was thinking of is in a Reddit thread with no attribution so maybe it's bogus. It said:

"Jon grew fond of both youths, and they returned that love, visiting the Vale often - even after reaching their majority. But trouble arose after King Aerys II killed both Brandon Stark and his father. Believing that Eddard Stark would seek revenge for the deaths, and that Robert Baratheon would support him because of Rhaegar's having stolen away his betrothed, Lyanna Stark, Aerys demanded the heads of both Eddard and Robert."

Edit: The quote was from TWOIAF app, on Jon Arryn's page. I'd consider that cannon since its from Martin's official app.

[Rhaegar Estellion]

 

He was already 20 years old during the rebellion and he still lived with Jon Arryn. 

He had a Strom's end and whole Stormland to rule, and we know in westeros, even you are a king, you should rule independently at 16 years old. 

This is not like he went to serve in small council so he left other people to rule in his stead. 

Why did he stay there for so long time?

For Ned?

 

really? I did not know this. 

So they just visited the Vale shortly before the rebellion? 

Do you have a quote? thanks. 

 

In the worldbook, Maester Yandel calls Robert and Ned Jon Arryn's "former wards", indicating that they are not fostered anymore.

Since they is no reason for them to live there, if they are no wards anymore, it is only logical that they were visiting.

 

Honestly, I'm new at this & not good at finding/posting quotes yet. Tried a quick Google search & the quote I was thinking of is in a Reddit thread with no attribution so maybe it's bogus. It said:

"Jon grew fond of both youths, and they returned that love, visiting the Vale often - even after reaching their majority. But trouble arose after King Aerys II killed both Brandon Stark and his father. Believing that Eddard Stark would seek revenge for the deaths, and that Robert Baratheon would support him because of Rhaegar's having stolen away his betrothed, Lyanna Stark, Aerys demanded the heads of both Eddard and Robert."

 

 

If you look for quotes I can only recommend the Search of Ice and Fire.

http://asearchoficeandfire.com/

[Lord of Westeros]

One thing I find strange is why Ned would be fostered at the Vale. Because given the history, the Vale and the North have been bitter enemies. I don't understand why Rickard gave Ned as a hostage(in reality) to Jon Arryn. Also, the Starks have the purest First Men blood and the Arryns the purest Andal blood. Given such history I find it quite unusual.

To answer your question, I think the North does not believe in early marriages like the South.

[Good Guy Garlan]

Can you blame him? It's like, on the one hand there's the Vale, lots of girls, his bff Ned, gentle Jon Arryn, nice weather and scenery.

On the other side there's Stannis.

[Rhaegar Estellion]

One thing I find strange is why Ned would be fostered at the Vale. Because given the history, the Vale and the North have been bitter enemies. I don't understand why Rickard gave Ned as a hostage(in reality) to Jon Arryn. Also, the Starks have the purest First Men blood and the Arryns the purest Andal blood. Given such history I find it quite unusual.

To answer your question, I think the North does not believe in early marriages like the South.

Southern Ambitions.

Rickard was trying to build strong alliances with the Riverlands and Vale. Especially since the traditional animosity between North and Vale he needed to send a powerful signal of peace and trust. It showed the Vale that he means them no harm and is eager to have friendly relations with them.

In the meanwhile, Ned was an important hostage, but not indispensable. He wasn't the heir and still had a younger brother.

[naseridrl]

Can you blame him? It's like, on the one hand there's the Vale, lots of girls, his bff Ned, gentle Jon Arryn, nice weather and scenery.

On the other side there's Stannis.

And Mya who he seemed to be quite involved with by his standards before the rebellion.

[Bellenora Black Pearl]

In the worldbook, Maester Yandel calls Robert and Ned Jon Arryn's "former wards", indicating that they are not fostered anymore.

Since they is no reason for them to live there, if they are no wards anymore, it is only logical that they were visiting.

 

 

If you look for quotes I can only recommend the Search of Ice and Fire.

http://asearchoficeandfire.com/

I actually found the quote in question. It was from the official World of Ice and Fire app under Jon Arryn's profile. That's why I couldn't find it when searching the books. Was starting to think I was crazy. I feel better now! :)

[Pox Americana]

One thing I find strange is why Ned would be fostered at the Vale. Because given the history, the Vale and the North have been bitter enemies. I don't understand why Rickard gave Ned as a hostage(in reality) to Jon Arryn. Also, the Starks have the purest First Men blood and the Arryns the purest Andal blood. Given such history I find it quite unusual.

To answer your question, I think the North does not believe in early marriages like the South.

The Starks have had many intermarriages with Vale houses in the generations prior to this, and really since the last great conflicts between the two regions. I distinctly remember something about Lord Eddard having half-Royce cousins who all carried names of great Vale houses, but they may be pretty distant. 

Lord Rickard wanted to build influence in the South. Sending a second son as ward is one way to do that. I'd hesitate to equate to giving a hostage, though the line can be blurred sometime. 

[Walda]

From what we are given in the books, it does seem Robert and Eddard spent more time in the Vale than their ancestral homelands, even after they reached their majority (and curiously, in all five books, GRRM does not use the word majority once.)

"Ned remembered Robert’s first child as well, a daughter born in the Vale when Robert was scarcely more than a boy [i.e. just turned sixteen? w.] himself. A sweet little girl; the young lord of Storm’s End had doted on her. He used to make daily visits to play with the babe, long after he had lost interest in the mother. Ned was often dragged along for company, whether he willed it or not. The girl would be seventeen or eighteen now, he realized; older than Robert had been when he fathered her. A strange thought.(AGoT, Ch.30 Eddard VII)

Then there is Mya's memory: “I remember a man throwing me in the air when I was very little."(AFfC, Ch.41 Alayne II) Unless we suppose she has an unusually good memory for a shaken baby, she would be close to two by that time, and Robert about eighteen.

Although they seem to have returned to their ancestral homes for a little while, at least:“Robert will never keep to one bed,” Lyanna had told him at Winterfell, on the night long ago when their father had promised her hand to the young Lord of Storm’s End. “I hear he has gotten a child on some girl in the Vale.”(AGoT, Ch.35 Eddard IX)

 Lyanna never lived to see seventeen, and Robert is four or five years older than her. If she was betrothed at thirteen, Robert would have just turned seventeen, and Eddard sixteen. Of course, Lyanna could have been betrothed up to a year earlier, but not more than that, if Mya was born already. It makes sense that Eddard returned to Winterfell at sixteen, and brought the offer of marriage to Robert with him. 

I think he lingered at the Eyrie because of Mya. Not that a ward has to rush back home as soon as they come of age - Theon stayed on at Winterfell fully three years after he must.

[RumHam]

If you look for quotes I can only recommend the Search of Ice and Fire.

http://asearchoficeandfire.com/

And to search the SSM archive just use:

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=site:http:%2F%2Fwww.westeros.org%2FCitadel%2FSSM%2F

and add what you're looking for on the end.

How did Ned manage to become such a paragon Northener and a close friend of Lyanna's if he spent his time in the Vale from age 8 to 18? Or did he return home at some point(when?) and was just visiting Jon Arryn prior to and after the tourney at Harrenhal?

He was fostered, not exiled. Yes, certainly he returned home. Less frequently the first few years, when he would have been performing the duties of a page and then a squire, more often and for longer periods later. During his "squire" years (he wasn't a squire in the strict sense, since he wasn't training for knighthood, but he was acting as one), he would also have accompanied Jon Arryn on many travels out of the Vale. And once he reached the age of sixteen he was a man grown, free to come to go as he liked... which would have included both time at home and in the Vale, since Jon Arryn had become a second father. The same was true of Robert, who divided his time between Storm's End and the Vale after reaching manhood, not to mention dropping in on tourneys and whatever choice fights he could find.

http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Some_Questions

[Floki of the Ironborn]

 

I think he lingered at the Eyrie because of Mya. Not that a ward has to rush back home as soon as they come of age - Theon stayed on at Winterfell fully three years after he must.

Wasn't Theon a glorified hostage rather than a true ward?

[Walda]

I don't think Eddard saw it that way. 

We have Theon ceremonially drawing Ice at the beheading, and grabbing his own sword to kill the Direwolves (dead mother and living puppies). It is an unusually priviledged hostage that gets to bear and actually draw live steel. Robb loved him like a brother, Jon hated him - not unlike a different sort of brother. Theon says Eddard was cold, but the guy was reserved and formal even to his wife,.

At the time Theon is thinking his anti-Stark thoughts, his biological father is standing over him to betray his adopted family, and his whole biological family is telling him he is not really Ironborn any more, in their own ways. There is no sign that his movements were restricted by Eddard - he has a horse, and goes where he will in Eddards lands. When Eddard leaves Winterfell, he seems to see himself as promoted to second-in-command, rather than not free to leave.

There is always the possibility that Theon had stayed at Winterfell because Balon had not requested to see his son, or even, had refused to see him earlier. That would not be something Theon would want to dwell on when he returned (of his own volition, in a fat wallowing merchant's cob), although he couldn't help observing his father's unwelcoming demeanour. It would also be the sort of hurtful thing Eddard would not unnecessarily inflict on his ward (although, if Balon had positively refused him when Theon was over sixteen, he would probably have thought it his duty to inform him). 

And I am not at all sure that Robert and Eddard were not being held as hostage-wards either,  for all that they were loved by Jon Arryn and loved him back. Brandon and Rickard both seemed a bit hot-headed and, well, loose. If Aerys took a Stark as a ward, there would probably be a northern revolt, but the Arryns were staunch Targaryen loyalists, and Jon Arryn, apart from being perceived as trustworthy by Starks and Targaryens both (at least until Aerys requested his former wards heads), had not named an heir, and had a commercial and strategic interest in cementing his ties to the North, that might soften any belligerent intentions towards the South, from Rickard, at least.