Lady Barbrey Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 33 minutes ago, Jaemi Greysnow said: Yeah, I don't pretend to know or understand the specifics, but this idea is as good as any other; he's guilty for something he said or didn't say that in some way made the situation worse, Ned comes home and he is told just how much impact his mistake has had, and he punishes himself/cleanses himself of the percieved crime by joining the watch. I really just can't see his reason for joining the watch turning out to be the standard one that all the other 2nd & 3rd sons had for joining. Or, as if Ned would be like "You're 17, time to go, you can't possibly still live in Winterfell now I'm back and am the lord and we've lost all the other members of our family so c'mon off you go, I've been home a few months chop chop on yer way!" Exactly. I think we sometimes forget that the North is supposed to be the size of half a continent, and there must have been any number of holdfasts, garrisons, castles, etc., that could have been bestowed on Benjen to command without consigning him to a life without sex or comfort from the age of seventeen on. Still, Ned let Jon go without much fuss, the one thing that undercuts this argument a bit I think. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaemi Greysnow Posted July 24, 2016 Author Share Posted July 24, 2016 15 minutes ago, Lady Barbrey said: Exactly. I think we sometimes forget that the North is supposed to be the size of half a continent, and there must have been any number of holdfasts, garrisons, castles, etc., that could have been bestowed on Benjen to command without consigning him to a life without sex or comfort from the age of seventeen on. Still, Ned let Jon go without much fuss, the one thing that undercuts this argument a bit I think. He did, but only cos Catelyn basically told him she'd make Jon's life miserable if Eddard took Bran et al but left Jon, I get the picture he would've preferred to have let him stay at Winterfell. I've always found it slightly odd how we hear Jon say he wants to join the watch, then we get the stuff with Ned deciding to go south and saying he will tell Jon himself he is to join the watch; then from Bran we hear Jon has been going off on his own with Ghost, and he seems angry; but didn't he JUST say he wanted to join?! I guess it's cos he wants to go south with Arya et al, maybe, and is angry he's not being given the choice. But I guess now we know Eddard was probably just trying to keep Jon away from Robert, he certainly wouldn't have been shunned at court like Ned says, surely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adam_Up_Bxtch Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I feel like if Ned was to tell anyone else (aside from Howland who was there) about what really happened to Lyanna it would of been Benjen he told, as that was both their sister. Though I still find it hard to believe that honor bound Ned would even tell Benjen what really happened, since Ned kept it from literally everybody else as well. Though it seems like Ned was gonna tell Jon eventually after he had sworn his nights watch vows so who knows... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Barbrey Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 2 hours ago, Adam_Up_Bxtch said: I feel like if Ned was to tell anyone else (aside from Howland who was there) about what really happened to Lyanna it would of been Benjen he told, as that was both their sister. Though I still find it hard to believe that honor bound Ned would even tell Benjen what really happened, since Ned kept it from literally everybody else as well. Though it seems like Ned was gonna tell Jon eventually after he had sworn his nights watch vows so who knows... True, if he told anyone I think it would be Benjen too. But it's possible that Benjen had his own heavy suspicions, particularly if he knew more about the supposed abduction than others did. I'm honestly surprised that more people didn't suspect, and I think it's largely due to Catelyn's ongoing hostility towards Jon. People would have expected Ned to tell Catelyn if Jon wasn't his bastard but she never softened towards him so the proof was in the pudding. Catelyn's attitude probably provided Jon with the best shield possible in the circumstances. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashes Of Westeros Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Benjen joined the NW soon after Ned returned from the war, when Robb was already born. It seams plausible that Benjen being 3d in line of succesion was unlikely to inherit anything. And the NW has been considered a honorable path by Starks. Another explanaition is that Benjen played some role in Lyanna's abduction. Benjen was close to Lyanna's age and the spend time together. We see them playing together in Bran's vision: Quote Now two children danced across the godswood, hooting at one another as they dueled with broken branches. The girl was the older and taller of the two. Arya! Bran thought eagerly, as he watched her leap up onto a rock and cut at the boy. But that couldn't be right. If the girl was Arya, the boy was Bran himself, and he had never worn his hair so long. And Arya never beat me playing swords, the way the girl s beating him. She slashed at the boy across his thigh, so hard that his leg went out from under him and he fell into the pool and began to splash and shout. "You be quiet, stupid," the girl said, tossing her branch aside. "It's just water. Do you want Old Nan to hear and run and tell Father?" She knelt and pulled her brother from the pool, but before she got him out again, the two of them were gone. Apparently the girl (Lyanna) is more dominant than her brother. As we know L diappeared sometime after the tournament in Harrenhall. If she really eloped with R, they had to plan it somehow, so they had to be in contacct, exchanging letters. Probably Benjen knew about it or suspected smth, but didn't tell anyone because Lyanna told him not to. After Ned returned from the war with dead Lyanna Benjen took black because he blaimed himself for failing to preclude or stop Lyanna's elope (abduction), which led to war and many deathes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaemi Greysnow Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 10 minutes ago, Ashes Of Westeros said: Benjen joined the NW soon after Ned returned from the war, when Robb was already born. It seams plausible that Benjen being 3d in line of succesion was unlikely to inherit anything. And the NW has been considered a honorable path by Starks. Ofcourse, but my point about that is that there's not much mystery to Benjen joining the watch if he did it for the same reason all the other 3rd born sons joined, so I think there's probably more to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ashes Of Westeros Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 2 minutes ago, Jaemi Greysnow said: Ofcourse, but my point about that is that there's not much mystery to Benjen joining the watch if he did it for the same reason all the other 3rd born sons joined, so I think there's probably more to it. I agree. Actually I never asked myself why Benjen joined the NW before I started reading the forum But if It is ASOIAF, and everything happens for a reason and we need some mystery, then here is my explaination. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaemi Greysnow Posted July 25, 2016 Author Share Posted July 25, 2016 It's as plausible as anything else. Bran's vision certainly made them seem like they're in cahoots, which was probably it's porpoise.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chancho Posted July 27, 2016 Share Posted July 27, 2016 A burned father, a hanged brother, a lost sister, much pain, guilty, heavy secrets on his back... The war burned all bridges on this boy, he just wanted to forget, start fresh... There is some he said to JON... Something like, it's a pity he is not Jon's father... Secrets everywhere... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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