In honour of the resurgence of my GoT obsession (brought to you by my housemates marathoning Game of Thrones) I felt the urge to do a little character design for every main player in a minor fic idea I had for GoT/asoiaf (as one does).
The premise is nothing groundbreaking: in the years shortly before Robert’s Rebellion, when Ned is off to the Eyrie to be fostered alongside Robert Baratheon, Lord Steffon Baratheon has his spare packaged and posted to Winterfell to be fostered by the Starks.
The eldest daughter of Lord Rickard—one Joanna Stark (named to honour Lord Tywin Lannister and his wife)—is a fast friend to the brooding Stannis (so they can suffer from eldest daughter syndrome together). The smallest of the Stark children, in the absence of their older brothers, designate Stannis the ‘honourary replacement’. (However, this still doesn’t stop Lyanna from cutting holes in the pockets of every set of trousers Stannis owns when he yells at her for trailing snow through his corner of Maester Walys’ turret… Joanna isn’t impressed with her little sister either, not when she’s the one who winds up stitching up every crudely cut pocket by the hearth that night).
When the direwolf corpse is found with a fresh litter of pups still trying to suckle, each of Lord Rickard Stark’s children receive a pup… and whilst Brandon ribs that it doesn’t bode well they’d found the direwolf impaled on the antlers of a mangled stag, the last remaining pup goes to Lord Stark’s ward, a stag of Storm’s End.
Honestly, I’m too lazy to write it, but I want to see how this scenario would affect events as they play out. Give Lyanna an older sister who’s her foil in many ways, give Ned another sister to love, and send the awkward and unloved Stannis Baratheon to Winterfell where its inevitable the Starks will envelop him into their own.
When the Knight of Flowers made his entrance, a murmur ran through the crowd, and he heard Sansa’s fervent whisper, “Oh, he’s so beautiful.” - - -
Sansa clutched at his arm. “Father, don’t let Ser Gregor hurt him,” she said. Ned saw she was wearing the rose that Ser Loras had given her yesterday. Jory had told him about that as well.
Robert had been jesting with Jon and old Lord Hunter as the prince circled the field after unhorsing Ser Barristan in the final tilt to claim the champion’s crown. Ned remembered the moment when all the smiles died, when Prince Rhaegar Targaryen urged his horse past his own wife, the Dornish princess Elia Martell, to lay the queen of beauty’s laurel in Lyanna’s lap. He could see it still: a crown of winter roses, blue as frost.
- Eddard XV, aGoT
Upper row: Horton Redfort, Jon Arryn, Robert Baratheon, Eon Hunter
Middle row: Brandon Stark, Lyanna Stark, Benjen Stark, Ned Stark
Lower row: Jon Connington, Arthur Dayne, Ashara Dayne, Elia Martell
When the Knight of Flowers made his entrance, a murmur ran through the crowd, and he heard Sansa’s fervent whisper, “Oh, he’s so beautiful.” - - -
Sansa clutched at his arm. “Father, don’t let Ser Gregor hurt him,” she said. Ned saw she was wearing the rose that Ser Loras had given her yesterday. Jory had told him about that as well.
Ned turned back. Robert took up his horn again, filled it with beer from a barrel in the corner, and thrust it at Ned. “Drink,” he said brusquely.
“I’ve no thirst—”
“Drink. Your king commands it.”
Ned took the horn and drank. The beer was black and thick, so strong it stung the eyes.
-A Game of Thrones - Eddard VII
The queen took a flagon of sweet plum wine from a passing serving girl and filled Sansa’s cup. “Drink,” she commanded coldly. “Perhaps it will give you the courage to deal with truth for a change.”
Sansa lifted the cup to her lips and took a sip. The wine was cloyingly sweet, but very strong.
Interpretation of this personal sigil: The supporters are a grey direwolf for House Stark, and the black crowned stag of House Baratheon (with blue eyes), symbolizing Ned’s friendship with King Robert. The white field (for House Stark) is slightly divided by a jagged line with blue above it, which gives it the appearance of mountains – which may symbolize the northern mountains of Ned’s maternal grandmother’s House Flint, or the Red Mountains of Dorne where the Tower of Joy was located. (Edit: or, as @purplefishies007 suggested, the Vale mountains where Ned was fostered with Jon Arryn and became friends with Robert.) The main section contains two direwolves facing each other, which may be a reference to the fact that both of Ned’s parents were of House Stark. Above them is a gold hand, probably symbolizing Ned’s appointment as Hand of the King. (See also these classic symbolic ASOIAF artworks, favorites of mine.) Between them is a blue rose, for Ned’s sister Lyanna and her son Jon Snow. The crest is a grey direwolf head for House Stark, atop a silver knight’s helm for members of the nobility. And the compartment is weirwood branches for House Stark, the same as all the artist’s designs for these Stark family personal sigils.
Nice analysis!
I add: The direwolf is tongueless in reference to his nickname “the quiet wolf”, and the secret he hides.
The direwolves are two because Ned is a second child and somehow feels he has usurped the role for which Brandon was born. The outline of the mountains looming over the rose reminds me of the phrase:
“Kings are a rare sight in the north”. Robert snorted “More likely they were hiding in the snow. Snow, Ned!”
