Robert Arryn being renamed.

[Andhaira]

GRRM has said that Robert Arryn will be renamed as Robin. Why?

Him being named Robert showed us how much Jon Arryn cared for Robert Baratheon, that he would name his own kid after him. It would also tell us how that must have grated on Lysa Arryn over the years. Renaming the character takes all that drama and angst away.

By the way, since Jon Arryn will be shown in a flashback, we may get to see the Tower of Joy sequence in flashback as well. Along with Robert and Rhaegar fighting on the Trident.

[Black Wizard]

What an absurd idea. :blink:

[Spanky]

It's slightly justified. The average viewer would be sitting there, going, "Robert? Huh? I thought that was the big fat guy who died." The name change lessens confusion.

[Padraig]

GRRM has said that Robert Arryn will be renamed as Robin. Why?

Given Lysa called him Sweetrobin, calling him just Robin is a minory change. :) TV shows generally don't have characters with the same name.

One can always assume that his name is still Robert, it just morphed into Robin as the kid grew up. (I always wondered was Robb Stark actually Robert Stark but maybe not).

Interesting about the flashback though. I didn't expect there to be many (if any) of those. But means we can expect more. The best ones always revolved around Jaime for me. But that's for aCoK.

[JungianQueen]

Yeah, you have to consider the average here. My mom, bless her heart, still can't tell the difference (physically) between Aragorn and Boromir in the films and she had issues with Gandalf and Sarumon. So, yeah. Doesn't Lysa call him her little Robin or her little bird anyway? Robin could also be a derivative of Robert in a sense too.

[The Pita]

The name change lessens confusion, but also lessens the meaning. To be honest, though, the meaning was never really that important. He's named Sweetrobin most of the time. We also know that Arryn loved Ned, but he didn't name his son Eddard. Sure, the change detracts, but not enough for it to matter.

EDIT- fuck, just realized Jon Arryn's last words were Robert. Strike what I said. This matters. The whole misconception that Lysa has that he's talking about his son is gone now.

[Trebla]

yeah, I have no issue with it. Hell, reading the books was confusing enough even with all the names in the back! I imagine he'll be called Sweetrobin from the get go by Lysa.

[Trebla]

The name change lessens confusion, but also lessens the meaning. To be honest, though, the meaning was never really that important. He's named Sweetrobin most of the time. We also know that Arryn loved Ned, but he didn't name his son Eddard. Sure, the change detracts, but not enough for it to matter.

EDIT- fuck, just realized Jon Arryn's last words were Robert. Strike what I said. This matters. The whole misconception that Lysa has that he's talking about his son is gone now.

Not really. "The Seed is Strong" was more key.

[Brude]

With two other important characters already named Robb and Robert, this just lessens confusion. Named Robert Robin, it can still be in honor of Robert. I could see the Arryns maybe favoring bird-related names, anyway.

It's such a minor change, it doesn't matter.

[Evrach]

One can always assume that his name is still Robert, it just morphed into Robin as the kid grew up. (I always wondered was Robb Stark actually Robert Stark but maybe not).

The appendix always give the complete name, "Brandon Stark" for Bran for exemple, and Robb is just Robb according to the appendix :)

[Padraig]

The appendix always give the complete name, "Brandon Stark" for Bran for exemple, and Robb is just Robb according to the appendix :)

Fair point.

Robin Arryn can still be born as Robert Arryn if people want him to be anyhow. But he is called Robin normally (while in the books he is Sweetrobin to Lysa). Very little change.

[Maltaran]

It looks like HBO is enforcing the One Steve Limit

[Gertrude]

Like others have said, Robin being a nickname for Robert is not a stretch at all if it is important that Jon's last word's be kept intact. If they do actually chance the name and it's not short for Robert, I won't be fussed either. They are going to have to deviate from the book in so many places because of the medium that I'd get prepared for things like this.

Of course I reserve the right to retract this statement when something I consider vital is messed with :P

[Padraig]

It looks like HBO is enforcing the One Steve Limit

At least to a degree. We still have Robert and Robb...and Robin. :P

[Kat]

This is sort of a silly complaint. (But less silly than 'The snow looks fake!!' :P) He can still be named Robert, but if he's called Robin or Sweetrobin by characters, then call him that in the credits to lessen confusion. I mean, imagine if HBO didn't list Stringer Bell as Stringer in the credits, but as....you know, Tyson Bell or something. People would be scratching their heads. Because in prose, you can call everyone by their full names when describing them, but no one does that when they're actually talking; you mainly get 'Lord Stark' or 'Ned' unless they are being formally introduced.

[Brude]

It looks like HBO is enforcing the One Steve Limit

I suspect we will still have a a few dozen Walders and Waldas, though.

[Alexia]

I have to admit that this is one change that I'm less than fond of but ah well. :frown5:

[mashiara]

I don't mind this, I don't see what the fuss is about. He is mostly called Sweetrobin in the books anyway. It's a little detail to change and it's going to help the average viewer understand the show better. Isn't that what we want anyway?

[Dryvus]

Ridiculous, moreso because there's no good reason for it. I'm sorry, but if you can't keep track that a large, boisterous middle-aged man and a timorous scarecrow of a boy are separate characters, what hope is there for you in keeping track of everybody else's name?

Are they going to change Jon's name to Jimmy? He was named after someone his father knew as well, better get right on it.

[Padraig]

Ridiculous, moreso because there's no good reason for it.

Isn't it also ridiculous to get annoyed about it, given how small the change is? :)

TV series don't have characters with the same names generally. And yes, in a worst case scenario they could have changed Robb Stark to Rick Stark and Jon Arryn to Jimmy Arryn etc. But they didn't. Rather than say "yaay" to that, some people instead focus on how they decided to take advantage of the fact that Robert Arryn was already called Sweetrobin in the books, and just call him Robin altogether. The change is just to make things a little easier for people who will have no knowledge of the books but they have tried to minimise it as much as possible.

A lot of changes are required to change a book into a TV series. This is so small, its practically blink and you miss it.

And as Kat and others have said. His birthname can still be Robert Arryn. Just called Robin. Like Eddard Stark is commonlly called Ned Stark.

Its amazing how faithful they have been to the series so far. Genuinely amazing. We should be thanking HBO everyday...