[House Stark — Houses]
Jon talks Eddard into allowing the young Starks to adopt them, pointing out that a direwolf is the sigil of House Stark: given that there are five direwolves and five trueborn Stark children, it must be a sign that the Stark children are meant to have the pups. In order to make this point, Jon intentionally leaves himself out of the count of Stark children, and when Bran asks about this, Jon responds that he is not a Stark. Just as they are about to leave, however, he finds the runt of the litter, an albino, which crawled away from its mother's corpse. Theon remarks, "The runt of the litter, that one's yours, Snow." Jon takes this direwolf as his own, naming him Ghost .
Though it seems as if Jon will kill Ramsay, he stops when he sees Sansa, knowing she has as much right to revenge as he does. Jon orders Ramsay locked up and the remaining Boltons surrender, restoring House Stark's hold on Winterfell. Rickon's body is found and Jon orders his body buried in the crypt with Ned's bones. Sansa asks Jon for Ramsay's whereabouts, and he directs her to the kennels, where she kills Ramsay that night by setting his own hounds on him.
When Sansa advocates that the Umbers and Karstarks be stripped of their lands and titles as punishment for supporting Ramsay, Jon advocates forgiveness and insists that children will not be punished for the crimes of their fathers. Despite Sansa's continued insistence, Jon insists his decision is final and summons Ned Umber and Alys Karstark to reaffirm their loyalty to House Stark. They oblige and kneel before King Jon. Jon says that the mistakes of the past don't matter anymore.
Jaime remains a captive of House Stark. Robb keeps Jaime caged and chained to a post in his camp at all times to prevent Tywin bribing or threatening one of his bannermen into giving him up. Jaime remains defiant, taunting and insulting Robb when he comes to confront him. Stannis has made Joffrey's parentage public, by sending letters to all the lords throughout the kingdom, exposing Jaime's incest with Cersei. Jaime counters that Stannis has a personal stake in these accusations, as if all of Cersei's children are Jaime's bastards that means Stannis is heir to the throne. However it is Jaime who is intimidated when Robb threatens him with the snarling Grey Wind .
He changes subject, focusing on her virginity and childhood. They find a trio of women, hanged for sleeping with Lannister soldiers. He mocks her service to House Stark and she asserts that she serves Catelyn specifically. As Brienne goes to bury the bodies they are accosted by a trio of Stark soldiers. Brienne kills all three after they recognize Jaime, and he is impressed by her skill. He questions her readiness to kill Stark men and she reasserts her dedication to Catelyn and the task she set her.
Sansa attends a breakfast held before the wedding of Joffrey and Margaery. There, Joffrey is presented with a gift from Tywin: the second sword re-forged from Ice , the recently-destroyed ancestral sword of House Stark and which had been used spitefully to kill her father. Sansa shoots the sword a grim look of understanding when this occurs, and is shocked when the sword is turned on Tyrion's gift to Joffrey, a copy of The Lives of Four Kings . Joffrey names his new weapon Widow's Wail , commenting that he will be reminded of Ned Stark's beheading each time he uses it. Sansa looks on in obvious grief.
Sansa and Jon later travel to Deepwood Motte , to ask for the assistance of House Glover. They receive a frosty reception from Robett Glover , who has just reclaimed Deepwood Motte from the Ironborn . When Jon fails to bring him around. Sansa tells Robett that the Glovers are pledged to House Stark, and sworn to fight when called upon. Robett responds he pledged to House Stark and fought for Robb Stark but it cost the Glovers their home and many lives, due to Robb's lack of stability following his marriage to Talisa . Sansa and Jon are only able to recruit a few Northern houses and only gain a few hundred men. Jon says they should strike Winterfell immediately before the coming storm and before Ramsay can gather more men. Sansa says they don't have enough men and wants to go to Castle Cerwyn to try and persuade Lord Cerwyn, however, Jon reflects on their lack of time. When Jon refuses to change his mind, Sansa writes a letter to an unknown party (but does not tell Jon) for reinforcements.
With the Stark victory, the remaining Northern lords joined by the Vale Lords arrive at Winterfell to discuss the new situation in the North. Some, such as Lord Yohn Royce , object to the wildlings' presence, but Tormund responds they were invited. The lords of both the North and the Vale claim that they need to return to their homes before the winter hits but Jon warns them that the war is not over - the true enemy "won't wait out the storm. He brings the storm." At this point, Lyanna Mormont stands up and chastises the assembled Northmen for refusing House Stark's call in their greatest hour of need.
Jon organizes the North's defense against the White Walkers. He asks Tormund and his people to man the Wall at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea and Tormund agrees. When the issue of the lands and strongholds belonging to the Umbers and Karstarks arises, Sansa says these castles and lands should be given to new families who fought with House Stark against the Boltons. Jon disagrees, stating that the children of Houses Umber and Karstark cannot be held accountable for the past mistakes of their fathers and elder siblings and the children of these houses will retain their family lands and castles. Sansa disputes Jon's decision in front of Jon's bannermen. Ned Umber and Alys Karstark pledge fealty to House Stark.
The survivors of the battle later gather in front of Winterfell's walls to light the funeral pyres of all who gave their lives in defense of the living. Sansa tearfully places a pin bearing the House Stark direwolf onto Theon's body before lighting his pyre herself. During the celebration feast that follows, she makes her way to the table where the Hound is seated.
There is a fan theory that the book scene, in which Sansa builds a snow model of Winterfell and Littlefinger helps her (its analogous show scene in " Mockingbird ") is a foreshadowing that she and Jon, with Littlefinger's help, will restore both their home and House Stark. In view of the finale of season 6, it may actually happen in the books too.
Eddard Stark was the head of House Stark and Warden of the North , and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rules the region from their seat of Winterfell , and Eddard also held the title Lord of Winterfell .
On the way back to Winterfell , the party finds a dead stag and a dead female direwolf . The direwolf is found with her litter of six living pups. Eddard's first instinct is to kill them, but Jon tells his father that since the direwolf is the sigil of House Stark , the pups may be an omen. Eddard agrees to let his children look after them on the condition that they clean, raise, and feed them with no help from the servants.
As she prepares to maim Sansa , Myranda quips that Ramsay Bolton needs her alive because her father Ned was the Warden of the North so Ramsay Bolton needs Sansa until she gives him an heir. Myranda then threatens to maim Sansa, as she does not need to be completely "intact" to bear Ramsay children with Stark blood. However, Theon begins to atone for the role he played in the downfall of House Stark by killing Myranda before she can harm Sansa and helps Sansa escape the clutches of the deranged Ramsay.
Robb holds a feast for several of his newly-arrived bannermen. Greatjon Umber assumes that he will lead the vanguard, and is offended by the suggestion that he would be made to march behind Galbart Glover , threatening to withdraw from the host. In response, Robb promises that, after the conflict with the Lannisters, he will oust Greatjon from his keep and hang him for breaking his oaths to House Stark; when the enraged bannerman goes to draw a weapon, Robb's direwolf Grey Wind sets upon him, biting off two of his fingers. Robb recites that "it [is] death to bear steel against your liege lord", but then diffuses the situation by excusing Greatjon's aggression, saying that "doubtless, the Greatjon only meant to cut my meat for me." The Greatjon roars with laughter and accepts Robb's commands, much to the shock of Bran, who witnessed the entire incident. Robb says farewell to Bran and to Rickon, who is convinced he'll see neither Robb nor his parents again.
Robb ignores their pleas, and he has Lord Karstark brought out to the courtyard of Riverrun to be executed during a driving rainstorm. Karstark points out that not only are both of their Houses descended from the First Men , but the Starks and Karstarks are kin (as House Karstark is a cadet branch of House Stark, founded centuries ago by younger son Karlon Stark ).
Following Robb's death at the Twins, his army was completely massacred with the exception of the Bolton and Frey men. Robb's involvement in the War of the Five Kings comes to an abrupt end with King Joffrey and House Lannister being victorious over House Stark. The North, now without a King and having lost thousands of men during the war, have no choice but to adhere to House Bolton's control of the North. Roose Bolton and his then-bastard son Ramsay, demand complete loyalty from former Stark bannermen and enforce their new rule by executing and flaying any who oppose. The Boltons also rally the north behind a common enemy, House Greyjoy, whose Ironborn soldiers still occupy areas in the north following Robb's death. With Bolton assistance, the northerners repel the Ironborn and once again become loyal to the crown. Robb's execution of Rickard Karstark days before the Red Wedding lead the Karstarks, a cadet branch of House Stark, to abandon Robb, and over the years they continued to view him with distaste and considered the execution of Rickard to have been the ultimate act of betrayal. Other once-loyal northern lords also found themselves with unsavory views of Robb. After the death of Greatjon Umber , Smalljon Umber , now lord of House Umber , allied himself to Ramsay, the new Warden of the North following the death of Roose, in order to defeat the thousands of Free Folk whom Jon allowed past the Wall. House Glover, now lead by Lord Robett Glover, refused to answer Jon and Sansa's plea for help when they prepare to take back Winterfell from the Boltons, with Robett going so far as to speak ill of Robb's war and that his marriage to a "foreign whore" got himself and all of his men killed. House Manderly under Lord Wyman Manderly initially also do not assist Jon and Sansa; it is later mentioned that Wyman's son died for Robb, and that he did not want to sacrifice more Manderly lives for a lost cause. Lyanna Mormont, Lady of House Mormont, also initially is hesitant to assist given that she too does not want to sacrifice more Mormont lives.
Balon reveals that he plans to attack the North while it is poorly defended. Balon gives Yara a fleet of thirty ships to take Deepwood Motte and insults Theon by giving him a lesser mission to raid fishing villages on the Stony Shore , with only a single ship. Theon considers informing Robb of the plot but decides that his loyalty lies with his family. Having decided to betray House Stark he is baptized in the name of the Drowned God as Balon and Yara watch. He takes command of the Sea Bitch but finds his crew unruly. His first mate Dagmer tells him that he must prove himself to the men and that Ironborn do not follow orders. Theon senses the opportunity to attack Torrhen's Square to lure the Stark garrison away from Winterfell .
In the aftermath of the battle, Theon's body is retrieved and put on a funeral pyre. He is mourned by Sansa, who places a pin with the insignia of House Stark on his chest piece, as a sign of gratitude and recognition of what Theon did for Sansa and her family since they escaped from Ramsay. Theon's body is then burnt along with the thousand others who died in the battle against the dead.
Winterfell is the capital of the Kingdom of the North and the seat and the ancestral home of the royal House Stark . It is a very large castle located at the center of the North, from where the head of House Stark rules over his or her people.
According to legend, House Stark has held Winterfell for 8,000 years, though it has been considerably expanded upon over the centuries. It was said to have been built by House Stark's founder, Bran the Builder , during the Age of Heroes , who was also said to have constructed the Wall and even Storm's End .