[BOOK SPOILERS] The implications of Robb's pregnant wife on the show

[jenerationx]

Well they can still show Robb's will in the Tv Show, remember Robb sent Galbart Glover and Lady Maege Mormont to GWW and they have Robb's will with them. The show can easily show Robb's will in the later seasons when they introduce Howland Reed. Well a lot of things can happen and Winds of Winter will probably clear a lot of things for us. Apart from Robb's will, Bran and Rickon are alive and when Davos finds Rickon and brings him to White Harbor the North will rally behind a true-born Stark heir............and if you think about it Robb's will becomes a bit irrelevant when it is found out tht both bran and rickon are alive. Don't get me wrong i'm a Jon Snow supporter but as we know Jon, knowing his brothers are alive Jon will never take winterfell.

Sure, but why would Robb even have a will? The reason he does in the books is because if he were to die, with no child even on the horizon, the North could fall into the hands of the Lannisters (since Tyrion is married to Sansa) or some distant family relations from the Vale. In the books, he does it to prevent that from happening -- he wants it to go to a Stark, Ned's fourth son, even though Catelyn fights him on it.

On the show, his wife is pregnant and he knows it. There's no reason for him to have a will leaving anything to Jon (or legitimizing him), because as far as Robb believes, he has an heir on the way.

It depends on what you believe re: whether his will is irrelevant when it's discovered that Bran and Rickon are alive. Robb is the FIRST King of the North (in modern times) -- Ned was not one, so his line of succession ended when he died. Robb is the first of the new King of the North line, therefore, so the former line of succession may no longer apply. If he makes Jon his heir in his will, it could very well be that Jon is next in line, with Bran and Rickon following (though, given what we know in the books, Rickon is the more likely one). Also, if in the will he legitimizes Jon, which it's implied in the books that he will, even in the former line of succession, Jon *is* rightfully next in the line, being older than Bran and Rickon.

All that said though, I completely agree with you that no matter what happens, if Jon finds out that his younger brothers are alive, he'd never take Winterfell (or would give it up in their favor).

[Ti-Guy]

I would only say, and I know G.R.R.M also stated it in an interview but I can't remember which, there are things that will happen in the show that change part of the story of what will happen in the books and that the end will be similar but it is possible that at some points and for some characters or some event the show create alternative stories and that in a sort we'll get two different endings.

[jenerationx]

I would only say, and I know G.R.R.M also stated it in an interview but I can't remember which, there are things that will happen in the show that change part of the story of what will happen in the books and that the end will be similar but it is possible that at some points and for some characters or some event the show create alternative stories and that in a sort we'll get two different endings.

Thanks. I haven't ever seen/heard that, but it would explain quite a bit. I guess I've been spoiled because up until now they've been pretty faithful to the big plot points, and this seems like a big one to change -- or maybe it gives away something that I don't like to believe, that it's irrelevant whether or not Robb ever legitimizes Jon or makes him his heir.

[Khal Porno]

If it's relevant to the outcome of Jon's story, it will be included when the time comes for it to be revealed that Robb had a will (just like in the books). If it's not relevant to the outcome of Jon's story, it will likely not be included at all (and rightly so).

Just because we haven't heard anything about it on the show doesn't prove or disprove anything.

[jenerationx]

If it's relevant to the outcome of Jon's story, it will be included when the time comes for it to be revealed that Robb had a will (just like in the books). If it's not relevant to the outcome of Jon's story, it will likely not be included at all (and rightly so).

Just because we haven't heard anything about it on the show doesn't prove or disprove anything.

That may be true. I just find it difficult to see how they'll even explain why Robb NEEDED a will when he had a kid on the way. Which he doesn't in the books, and that's why he needed the will. But you're right, they could pull something out, I guess.

[Khal Porno]

That may be true. I just find it difficult to see how they'll even explain why Robb NEEDED a will when he had a kid on the way. Which he doesn't in the books, and that's why he needed the will. But you're right, they could pull something out, I guess.

They could just say he wrote it before he found out Talisa was pregant...of course, since baby Ned was really just fetus Ned at that point and wasn't an actual heir running around and there was the likelihood that Talisa could have miscarried (or been stabbed repeatedly in the uterus), there still could have been a provision naming Jon the heir in the absence of a son even if it had been written after Robb learned the joyous news.

[Pikachu101]

They could just say he wrote it before he found out Talisa was pregant...of course, since baby Ned was really just fetus Ned at that point and wasn't an actual heir running around and there was the likelihood that Talisa could have miscarried (or been stabbed repeatedly in the uterus), there still could have been a provision naming Jon the heir in the absence of a son even if it had been written after Robb learned the joyous news.

Then why didn't they show it? :dunno: when Robb stood up to Cat it was one of the few times I liked him

It just seems far fetched for him to write a will

[Caelestis]

Then why didn't they show it? :dunno: when Robb stood up to Cat it was one of the few times I liked him

It just seems far fetched for him to write a will

Because unlike the books, where the issue of Robb's will seems to disappear into a myriad of other plot-threads (most likely so GRRM can blindside us, while still laying out subtle clues to make it plausible, when the Grand Northern Conspiracy is finally revealed), the TV-audience will be extremely impatient to see Robb's will come into play if it was revealed outright that Robb named Jon his heir. In the books, we know that there are a crapload of extenuating circumstances why the Northern bannermen can't reveal their true intentions to crown Jon immediately (supposing the GNC is true), which is why they're playing along with the Boltons and Stannis for the time being. I don't think there's any way that the showrunners could capture the level of intricacy of the GNC without immediately blowing the secret to the audience outright.

If you look at the short-term goals that the TV-show needed to accomplish in Season 3, the most important of them was the seemingly permanent death of the Northern cause, closing an important chapter of the overall storyline. Without that feeling of absolute despair, the Red Wedding immediately loses its full impact. Again, GRRM can pull off both, because he manages to make it seem as if nearly all of Robb's followers have turned traitour, chosen the Boltons and ignoring Robb's wishes, while simultaneously laying clues that maybe not all is as it seems.

If one of the major surprises of TWOW is that, instead of trying to get Rickon back and supporting Stannis, the Northern lords actually intend to crown Jon, then this needs to be kept under wraps for the TV audience, not providing any major hints until the time is almost there. And the only way to accomplish this is to keep the will off-screen. Given that D&D appear to focus more on the shock value for the most significant moments instead of subtle developments, it seems entirely plausible to me that they intend to completely surprise the audience, turning horror to hope in the blink of an eye, simply by saying that Robb had written the will as a contingency in case Talisa miscarried or he didn't have any children with her before he died.

All of this would fit perfectly in the show's M.O.: condensing and simplifying a lot of plot-threads while still sticking to the major beats.

[Fightbringer]

i think that talisa being killed off in the show does make it likely that jeyne isnt pregnant in the books, add in all the other evidence against that and i highly doubt she is gonna have much relevance to the plot. However, i think that Robbs will, could well emerge in later seasons, or the show could take a different route to achieving whatever effect the will has on the storyline

[Draco_Dracul]

Any theories that require a child of Robb are dead as no one can fill the same role.