[Book and TV Spoilers] The Hidden Story of Rob Stark

[Harrad]

I find the GoT portrayal of Rob Stark to be cruel and unusual punishment for non-book readers. And as book readers know, he was not a POV character, so details of his story are all new to the world. Just like his father's death punched the audience in the solar plexus in season 1, what's coming for him is a sad recapitulation. OK he did make one little mistake by getting married, but aside from that, he is such an admirable character, both honorable (aside from that mistake), brave, and strategically brilliant. Is the Red Wedding this year?

[StarkDragon]

Is the Red Wedding this year?

Yes, and if you believe it, the Purple wedding is next year.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

I find the GoT portrayal of Rob Stark to be cruel and unusual punishment for non-book readers. And as book readers know, he was not a POV character, so details of his story are all new to the world. Just like his father's death punched the audience in the solar plexus in season 1, what's coming for him is a sad recapitulation. OK he did make one little mistake by getting married, but aside from that, he is such an admirable character, both honorable (aside from that mistake), brave, and strategically brilliant. Is the Red Wedding this year?

Exactly, but I disagree with one thing. Getting married wasn't a 'little' mistake. It was huge. I lost a lot of respect for his story arc after that point in the books.

In a way that could be intentional. Both GRRM and the showrunners make you reassess your take on a character just prior to something major happens to them. This is the case with Jaime. He tries to kill Brienne, then he tries to save her, then... *Whammo*. Rob is seen to be spiralling out of control. Cat had the expose of her feelings of guilt now her father's funeral...

[Mulled Wino]

I think the impact of the RW is being cheapened a bit by showing so much weakness amongst the Northern camp.

[KhalFrodo]

I think the impact of the RW is being cheapened a bit by showing so much weakness amongst the Northern camp.

If the North wins a battle in the lead up and they go into it with spirits high, the impact will be on par with the books. I'm more interested to see what they do with Robb's wife after the RW... Are we just going to not see her again or do they include her in the massacre?

[Mulled Wino]

If the North wins a battle in the lead up and they go into it with spirits high, the impact will be on par with the books. I'm more interested to see what they do with Robb's wife after the RW... Are we just going to not see her again or do they include her in the massacre?

As much as I would like her to be included because I'm sick of seeing her, I don't think it's a good idea. It would ruin a cliffhanger.

[wolverine]

Exactly, but I disagree with one thing. Getting married wasn't a 'little' mistake. It was huge. I lost a lot of respect for his story arc after that point in the books.

In a way that could be intentional. Both GRRM and the showrunners make you reassess your take on a character just prior to something major happens to them. This is the case with Jaime. He tries to kill Brienne, then he tries to save her, then... *Whammo*. Rob is seen to be spiralling out of control. Cat had the expose of her feelings of guilt now her father's funeral...

I didn't, but it was perhaps harder for me to look at it in a completely practical non-romantic way.

[StarkDragon]

I didn't, but it was perhaps harder for me to look at it in a completely practical non-romantic way.

I found it to be completely erm, stitched in. Him marrying Jeyne was wagging in my face the whole time in the book, I was expecting something to pop up. I even expected Robb to die...

Which reminds me, kudos to GRRM surprising me still with RW regardless of that.

[Mother of Mini Dragons]

I wasn't a Robb fan in the books and I only mildly like him on the show. I think the marriage was a HUGE mistake. I'm not sure why Robb is given a pass so much for that decision on either the show or in the books. I still don't think he deserved the Red Wedding results. But I do see how they are building him up and how TV viewers are going to be shocked and hurt by what is coming. I have personally always related to and identified with Cat more and for me, the most tragic part of RW was her point of view during that chapter. It will be very interesting to see how those feelings and the mood is conveyed on the screen. That chapter was written so beautifully - it really came alive for me in my mind.

[StarkDragon]

I have personally always related to and identified with Cat more and for me, the most tragic part of RW was her point of view during that chapter.

Same, same. Worst part of RW for me was what happened to Cat during* and after it.

[Tadco26]

TV Robb makes me a Frey sympathizer compared to the book. TV Robb is older, has the council of his mother before making the decision to marry, does not have his future wife's "honor" as a reason for getting married, and did not fall into that situation after hearing that his brother's had been killed. TV Robb basically just breaks his oath strictly because he feels like it, and everyone else be damned.

[Ser Desmond Wine's Bane]

I found it to be completely erm, stitched in. Him marrying Jeyne was wagging in my face the whole time in the book, I was expecting something to pop up. I even expected Robb to die...

Which reminds me, kudos to GRRM surprising me still with RW regardless of that.

Agree totally. For me the Red Wedding wasn't the 'brick to the face' that Ned's execution was - this time the brick was covered in the gore and blood from Ned's execution. It was just nasty and ugly on the page. Really difficult to read for some of the wrong reasons (although mostly for the right ones). I had emotionally disengaged from Robb and Cat. I wasn't dispassionate, I was just so frustrated at the bumbling mess they had made and had a lot of difficulty reading all the chapters after Jaime's release and Robb's shotgun wedding.

[StarkDragon]

TV Robb makes me a Frey sympathizer compared to the book. TV Robb is older, has the council of his mother before making the decision to marry, does not have his future wife's "honor" as a reason for getting married, and did not fall into that situation after hearing that his brother's had been killed. TV Robb basically just breaks his oath strictly because he feels like it, and everyone else be damned.

True, true.

Infact I have so little to add beyond that, I just italicized, bolded, and underlined some points.

[Cas Stark]

TV Robb makes me a Frey sympathizer compared to the book. TV Robb is older, has the council of his mother before making the decision to marry, does not have his future wife's "honor" as a reason for getting married, and did not fall into that situation after hearing that his brother's had been killed. TV Robb basically just breaks his oath strictly because he feels like it, and everyone else be damned.

I agree, they totally butchered this storyline in the show. Making "Talisa" a random chick from Essos with no family makes his decision to marry her even more bizarre, the TV character seems like the type of person who would have no problem at all being Robb's mistress, am I wrong?

I get that they were trying to appeal to a modern sensibility about marrying for love, but in the show context, it doesn't work. It makes him a selfish jerk to marry an adult woman, with no ties in Westeros, no family, no one will care that she is deflowered, she doesn't care as she never raises the idea of marrying before they have sex.

If they had at least made her a Westeros woman from a Lannister bannerman house then you could have seen that he would feel he had to marry her to protect her.

[Harrad]

When I said a "little" mistake...it was dramatic irony clothed in wry wit. I would think the RW would have more of an impact on TV because Robb is a POV character on TV whereas he was largely offscreen in the book. Further, there is so much foreshadowing of it on TV, that the most naive watcher has to feel that something is up.

[relish5k]

And where the hell is Grey Wind? The lack of giant direwolf is the thing that strikes me the most as massive character assassination.

[Bannerman918]

If the North wins a battle in the lead up and they go into it with spirits high, the impact will be on par with the books. I'm more interested to see what they do with Robb's wife after the RW... Are we just going to not see her again or do they include her in the massacre?

With as much screen time as she's getting, I have a feeling they're going to make her part even bigger after the RW.

[Mulled Wino]

TV Robb makes me a Frey sympathizer compared to the book. TV Robb is older, has the council of his mother before making the decision to marry, does not have his future wife's "honor" as a reason for getting married, and did not fall into that situation after hearing that his brother's had been killed. TV Robb basically just breaks his oath strictly because he feels like it, and everyone else be damned.

Here here!

This guy is just bumbling around doing whatever he wants. Who ever heard of calling an army in for a funeral during a war? It's not like they have endless food and military transport vehicles. It's all signs of weakness/incompetence that wasn't there in the books, which made the RW so tragic (even if it was predictable). Right now, he's blundering him way into it.

[Penguin king]

With as much screen time as she's getting, I have a feeling they're going to make her part even bigger after the RW.

It seems like a good bet that they'll do away with fake arya and have her married to Ramsy instead.

[Castle Black]

How was the North in any way doing well right up to the Red Wedding? And this is in reference to the novels. Once Robb married Jeyne Westerling (which made 100X more sense in the novels than in the tv show), the North pretty much lost all hope. Stannis' loss at the Blackwater really killed the Northmen's chances. The blunder at Duskendale, which in my opinion was setup purposely by Roose Bolton, really hurt their military strength. The Freys leaving the Northern army was devestating. Robb knew the war in the Riverlands/South was lost at this point and thus had no choice but to retreat back to Winterfell and reclaim the North. Nothing was going right for the Starks and their bannermen directly leading up to the RW.