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Why by the old gods is Robb going to war to begin with?


Fire and Lemoncakes

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I always thought the War of the Five Kings was about the Iron Throne. Meanwhile Robb Stark neither wants the throne for himself nor supports any other claimant. So what is he actually trying to accomplish?

And if he insists on joining the fighting his best bet for an ally might be ...

*drumroll*

... House Lannister.

And that is why:

  • The Lannisters hold Ned and Sansa as hostages, so to see them alive and hale Robb's best chance is to join them.
  • Allowing the Joffrey-Sansa marriage to go through could give him blood ties to the royal family and political influence in King's Landing.
  • Fighting for the king is honourable.

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And even before. The Lannisters stroke first, attempting to kill Bran twice and the using the pretext of Tyrion being a poor hostage that had to be rescued, as an execuse to loot the Riverlands and even attacking Ned Stark in KL's streets and slaughtering some of his guard. Eventually with Robert's death and Ned's defiance they not only took him and Sansa captive (Arya too was presumed captive) but also slaughtered the entire Stark household and ordered Robb to bend the knee to King Joff. Even before Robb called the banners, war had already started.

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He was attempting to secede from the authority of the Iron Throne which he feels has grown corrupt and dangerously unstable (thus rupturing the social contract). Plus a dose of personal vengenace.

Robb didn't want to be the King of the Seven Kingdoms, i.e. the Iron Throne, he claimed himself the King in the North (and Riverlands).

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did

And even before. The Lannisters stroke first, attempting to kill Bran twice and the using the pretext of Tyrion being a poor hostage that had to be rescued, as an execuse to loot the Riverlands and even attacking Ned Stark in KL's streets and slaughtering some of his guard. Eventually with Robert's death and Ned's defiance they not only took him and Sansa captive (Arya too was presumed captive) but also slaughtered the entire Stark household and ordered Robb to bend the knee to King Joff. Even before Robb called the banners, war had already started.

Joffrey did his stupidity first - without the consent or will of house Lannister, not to mention he is a Barateon not a Lannister. The first act of agression was the abduction of Tyrion and when Cat did it Ned stood behind her. So the chain of even started there.

Edit: to the OP - no they were not natural allies. The North would not get involved just to help the Lannisters so they had two options - fight the Lannisters or stay neutral.

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After the False King Joffrey removed Lord Eddard's head publicly, peace negotiations became impossible. Following Lord Eddard's execution, Robb declared himself King in the North and the only way for this claim to become legitimate is for Robb to defeat the False King and ensure that the Lords of the South never invade the North again, but rather recognize it as its own independent Kingdom. However, Joffrey would never let the northern half of his kingdom slip away quietly, and has chosen to respond to Robb Stark's claim with aggression, and since Joffrey's main military and economic might comes from his grandfather, Lord Tywin Lannister, war is impossible to avoid.

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I always thought the War of the Five Kings was about the Iron Throne. Meanwhile Robb Stark neither wants the throne for himself nor supports any other claimant. So what is he actually trying to accomplish?

And if he insists on joining the fighting his best bet for an ally might be ...

*drumroll*

... House Lannister.

And that is why:

  • The Lannisters hold Ned and Sansa as hostages, so to see them alive and hale Robb's best chance is to join them.
  • Allowing the Joffrey-Sansa marriage to go through could give him blood ties to the royal family and political influence in King's Landing.
  • Fighting for the king is honourable.

Sorry, but who's that Robb Stark you're speaking of?

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The main issue was wounded pride and the loss of losing face. If Robb expected to have any kind of respect from his bannermen then he needed to avenge Eddard Stark, either he was a prisoner or dead, and not back down from a confrontation. That's the main reasons that Robb went to war for and from that point it just kind of rolled on to its final end.

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Robb called his banners before

1) Ned was beheaded,

2) he made himself King in the North,

so you all missing the point of my post.

Anyway for secession to work he could just defend the north instead of going south.

He originally called his banners so he could defend the Riverlands from the Lannister aggression and to press for Neds freedom. Add to that the personal enmity between Joffrey and Robb and you have the recipe for a war.

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Robb called his banners before

1) Ned was beheaded,

2) he made himself King in the North,

so you all missing the point of my post.

Anyway for secession to work he could just defend the north instead of going south.

Maybe cause Ned, and possibly his whole family thus, were being called traitors?

As far as the bolded, I still think that was Ned's plan, and waiting it out would likely have been Robb's best chance... but it was the least human.

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I always thought the War of the Five Kings was about the Iron Throne. Meanwhile Robb Stark neither wants the throne for himself nor supports any other claimant. So what is he actually trying to accomplish?

The War of the Five Kings was a bit more complex than that...........

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Robb called his banners before

1) Ned was beheaded,

2) he made himself King in the North,

so you all missing the point of my post.

Anyway for secession to work he could just defend the north instead of going south.

He raised his banners because his father and sisters were held prisoners in KL. He was made King in the North only after Ned`s execution.

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Robb's war aims never made much sense, tis true.

At first he hoped to fight a brief war to get Ned and the girls back, and then, presumably, bend the knee.

He would have achieved this. Tywin wanted peace after the WW, Ned could be sent to the wall or something, or exchanged for Jaime and the Starks head north (in theory).

Then LF threw a spanner in the works by advising Joff to kill Ned. Then Robb, for reasons of honour and vengeance refused to make peace.

Then he ended up with a north-riverlands kingdom which was at war with the lannisters and would be at war with whichever Baratheon brother chanced to capture the throne if Tywin-Joff were defeated.

He won his two battles but he never got any closer to winning peace.

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