Rickard Stark

Lord Rickard Stark was the Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, and head of House Stark until he was executed along with his eldest son and heir Brandon by the Mad King, Aerys II Targaryen. He was the father of Brandon, Eddard, Lyanna and Benjen Stark. Both Rickard Stark and the Mad King are grandfathers to Jon Snow.
==Biography==
===Background===
Rickard Stark was the head of House Stark and Warden of the North.HBO viewers guide, season 2 guide to houses, House Stark entry He served under King Aerys II (known as the Mad King). He was saved from drowning by Ser Gwayne Gaunt during the siege of White Harbor by the outlaw Sea Kings. Rickard is the father of Brandon, Eddard, Lyanna and Benjen Stark. He arranged for the betrothal of his daughter Lyanna to Robert Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands. He also betrothed his son and heir Brandon to Catelyn, the daughter of Hoster Tully, Lord Paramount of the Trident. Both engagements were broken when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen allegedly abducted Lyanna.
When Lyanna was kidnapped by Rhaegar, Rickard's eldest son and heir, Brandon, rode to King's Landing seeking justice. Aerys imprisoned Brandon and ordered that Rickard ride south to answer for his son's impertinence. Against advice, Rickard agreed, assuming that the matter would be settled through a trial or a bargain of some kind. Instead, Aerys had Rickard burned alive while Brandon strangled himself trying to save his father.
Aerys then ordered Jon Arryn to hand over his ward and new Lord of Winterfell Eddard Stark. Having sworn a sacred oath to protect Eddard, Jon instead rose his banners in rebellion. He was supported by the North, Lyanna's betrothed Robert, and Hoster Tully. This sparked the beginning of the war known as Robert's Rebellion, which led to the near-destruction of House Targaryen and its removal from the Iron Throne.
===Game of Thrones: Season 1===
Reaching King's Landing, Eddard is greeted by Jaime in the throne room, who recalls listening to Eddard's father and brother scream as hundreds watched them die at the whim of the Mad King. He suggests his assassination of the Mad King was an act of justice, but Eddard dismisses that as a paltry self-justification for breaking his solemn Kingsguard vows.
===Game of Thrones: Season 5===
Barristan Selmy vaguely alludes to Rickard and his son Brandon's deaths when he tells her about how her father murdered sons in front of their fathers and how his actions led to a rebellion that killed every Targaryen, save for Daenerys and her other brother Viserys, who has also since died.
Later, when Tyrion is advising Daenerys about her strategy of reclaiming the Iron Throne, he points out her lack of support by the Great Houses. As he lists them, he reminds her that House Stark is gone due to the actions of their "two terrible fathers" though he doesn't discuss the specifics - her father executing Rickard and Brandon and his father orchestrating the Red Wedding.
===Game of Thrones: Season 6===
Bran, with the aid of the Three-Eyed Raven, has a vision of Lord Rickard giving some parting words to the young Ned Stark as he prepares to leave Winterfell to be fostered in the Eyrie. Rickard advises his son to comport himself with dignity and stay out of fights, but implores him to win if he must fight. Seeing and hearing his grandfather for the first time brings a smile to Bran's face.
===Game of Thrones: Season 7===
When Jon Snow agrees to meet with Daenerys to discuss an alliance, Sansa angrily reminds him what Daenerys's father did to their grandfather. Jon refuses to bend the knee to Daenerys, reminding her of how her father executed his grandfather and uncle. Daenerys admits that her father was an evil man and asks forgiveness for the crimes he committed against House Stark.
After the execution of Randyll and Dickon Tarly, following the Battle of the Goldroad, Varys compares Daenerys to Aerys, as he did the same with Rickard and Brandon. Varys then implores Tyrion to make her listen, fearing that this will make her be viewed in a similar vision to her father.
===Game of Thrones: Season 8===
Rickard is mentioned under the entry about Ser Arthur Dayne, in the Book of Brothers, which the new Lord Commander of the Kingsguard Brienne of Tarth is flicking through.
==Quotes==
===Spoken about Rickard===
 
==Family==
==In the books==
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Rickard's role is unchanged. His wife Lyarra, with whom we had his four aforementioned children, was his first cousin once removed (her name was already "Lyarra Stark" before they were married). Her father was named Rodrik Stark, and he was the younger brother of Rickard's grandfather Willam Stark. First cousin marriage is not considered incest in Westeros.
In A Clash of Kings, Jaime explains to Catelyn just how he died: Rickard demanded trial by combat to clear his son's name, assuming he would face a Kingsguard such as Jaime, but the Mad King had him locked in a cage with fire spewing beneath it, saying "Fire is the champion of House Targaryen" and mockingly offering that all he had to do to win the trial was not to burn. When Brandon tried to stop his father's death, he ended up strangling himself due to the device the Targaryen men had strapped him to. Jaime did not say how many knights were present, only that Gerold Hightower was there, and (having noticed Jaime's visible disgust at the proceedings) told him afterwards that they were sworn to defend the king, not to judge him.
In A Storm of Swords, Jaime offers to swear an oath not to harm Brienne in exchange for being unchained, so that the two of them can share watches after they are attacked. When Brienne reminds Jaime about how he broke his oath to the Mad King, Jaime alludes to Rickard's death saying she never cooked anyone in their armor as far as he knows.
Rickard's father was Lord Edwyle Stark, son of Willam. Edwyle's sister (Rickard's aunt) married a junior member of House Royce from the Vale, and through her the Royces are blood relatives of the Starks. The Royce whom Rickard's aunt married was a member of the cadet branch of the main line of that family known as House Royce of the Gates of the Moon (or perhaps, he was specifically the founder of that cadet branch). Thus Nestor Royce, the head of House Royce of the Gates of the Moon at the time of the War of the Five Kings, is Eddard Stark's second cousin. After hearing of the Sack of Winterfell and the alleged deaths of his brothers, Robb Stark felt the need to name a new heir (otherwise the Lannisters would press a claim to Winterfell through Sansa's forced marriage to Tyrion). Catelyn suggested naming one of the Royces due to this distant blood relationship, but Robb insisted on naming Jon - either way, the point was rendered moot after the deaths of them both and the destruction of the Northern army at the Red Wedding.
==Appearances==
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==References==
===Notes===
==External links==
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Category:Bannermen of House Targaryen
Category:Individuals appearing in Game of Thrones
Category:Individuals from Game of Thrones: Conquest & Rebellion: An Animated History of the Seven Kingdoms
Category:Individuals from Histories & Lore
Category:Lords of Winterfell
Rickard Stark
Category:Northmen
Category:Wardens
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