HBO’s Game of Thrones show doesn’t portray Robb Stark as the smartest character, but Ned and Catelyn’s eldest son is more nuanced in the books.
After the final season of Game of Thrones, fans were skeptical about how good House of the Dragon, the prequel spinoff series, would be. Fortunately, it was the perfect adaptation of the Fire and Blood book.
Game of Thrones, on the other hand, was not an entirely faithful adaptation of the characters. Cersei, Arya, and Tyrion all had very different personalities between the books and the show. Yet Robb Stark clearly had the most significant changes that the show made from the books.
His Age
In the show, Robb is practically an adult by the time Ned became one of the saddest deaths in Game of Thrones. In the books, however, Robb is a 14-year-old boy. Having Robb be a teenager is still shocking, but it adds some level of believability for his rise to the throne.
Of course, it is still incredibly jarring to see a teenager wearing a crown. Yet his extreme youth helped to contrast him with Joffrey in the books, showing that it was more than just Joffrey’s age that made him a monster. It helped to make the two foils.
His Experience
Robb Stark may not have had much experience in the show, but the books make it clear that Ned was always working to prepare Robb as his successor. While Ned did trust him in the show, there were precious few moments that showed why Robb deserved the Iron Throne.
Robb spent his entire life preparing to ascend to the seat of his father. In the show, it felt like he was completely unprepared for anything besides strategy. Yet the books revealed just how intelligent, political, and cautious Robb could be in the right situation.
His Death Was Not His Fault
In the show, Robb was a fool who failed to consider that Walder Frey could turn against him, despite stabbing him in the back. Yet the books made it clear that Robb was more than a boy in over his head and making poor decisions. He was wrongfully killed against the laws of Westeros.
After all, Walder provided bread and salt to Robb and his men. By all the laws and customs of Westeros, that meant that Robb ought to have had the freedom to remain secure. Walder committed a severe taboo and should have been shunned by the entire Seven Kingdoms, just as he was in the books.
His Relationship With Bran
In the books, Robb is much younger, which helped him connect with little Bran. When Robb and Bran were left alone and Ned was captured, Robb buried his face into Bran’s shoulder and burst into tears. It was a touching scene that showed that Robb was more than just a stern king; he was also a scared boy.
The Got show version of Robb can be summed up as a brutal and noble king when in the books he was a much richer character who felt the pressure of his responsibilities and struggled to bear it. He and Bran were able to bond over that, and it really helped to show just how much the two loved each other.
His Relationship With Jon
Jon Snow was the bastard of Ned Stark, and Robb was Ned’s trueborn son. By all rights, they should have been rivals, but despite it all, the two of them were close. While the show never gives them much of a chance to interact outside of one or two scenes, they grew up together and loved each other.
One of the saddest things about Jon Snow was that he always tried to live up to his brother’s memory. He often thought of him, tried to honor him, and reminisced about their childhood together, where Jon and Robb would play different Targaryen legends. It was a sweet relationship that made the loss of Robb more painful.
How His Siblings Felt About Him
While Robb was clearly important to his family, the book version of the character was a symbol for them. After all, he was the force that kept his siblings moving when he was still at war. Bran was able to look up to him and anticipate rescue; Arya was always confident that he would kill Joffrey; even Sansa thought he would save her someday.
However, the show diminished that importance. Arya was convinced that Robb could still be killed while Bran had no plan to return to Robb. And Sansa was looking for escape options that had nothing to do with her brother. It made him less significant, which was disappointing.
His Wife
In the show, Robb fell for a woman named Talisa and wed her in a love marriage. It was a foolish move that showed that Robb was not the most honorable Game of Thrones character. But in the books, he married a very different character in order to preserve her honor.
A vassal of the Lannisters, Jeyne Westerling was not anyone that Robb should have been interacting with. After all, Jeyne was not just a foreigner to the North, but she was also the daughter of a minor and pointless House. It was a horrible match for a king and betrayed Robb’s inexperience.
His Motivation For Getting Married
Unlike in the show, where he married Talisa for love, Robb married Jeyne in case she bore a bastard. He didn’t want to leave a child to grow up the way that Jon Snow did. Changing his wife’s character severely changed his motivations and ignored that Robb was trying to make up for Ned’s mistakes.
Robb died because he was trying to avoid being like his father, despite the fact that Ned never had a bastard. It is incredibly ironic and makes it all the more tragic that Ned’s decisions led to his son’s death. Robb was trying to do better, and he died by being as honorable as Ned.
His Plans For The North
The Starks varied in terms of political ability, but Robb was fairly politically competent. After all, he was able to predict that there was a possibility of an untimely death that would leave the North without a rightful ruler. It gave him the opportunity to put together a will, which he never did in the show.
Robb immediately decided to disinherit Sansa, as she was already married to Tyrion and would be a liability. With Arya, Bran, and Rickon presumed dead, Robb elected to offer a crown to Jon Snow. While Jon currently isn’t aware that he’s in line for the throne, it was an important detail that will have huge implications on the plot, yet the show completely ignored it.
The North Remembering
In Game of Thrones, the phrase “The North remembers” means practically nothing. After all, the only House that was a reliable Stark ally was House Mormont. Yet, after spending so much time alongside his bannermen, the North was loyal to Robb.
Even after his death, the North is rallying to save his sister in the books and continues to plot against the Freys as vengeance for the Red Wedding. Robb might have taken many of the North’s sons with him when he died, but the survivors are still loyal all the same.
