Post by stdaga on Mar 30, 2019 15:45:52 GMT
No I think he met her for the first time at Harrenhal, it seems improbable that he could have met her before this point.
As why headed North and not Gulltown I think the answer is simple... Time. There was no way to know that Bobby B and Johnny A would take Gulltown so quicky. Ned needed to head North to call his banners. I am sure Jon could lend him some gold and a small escort.
This could be but if Ned had some type of escort, doesn't it seem like they would travel with him all the way to at least White Harbor? There is no mention of anyone but a dead fisherman and his daughter in the story we get from Sisterton. And honestly, the trip over mountains with no apparent road was probably not easy, so is the time and risk of that worth any delay in taking a much easier route to Gulltown. It seems like if Jon Arryn and Robert failed at Gulltown, the whole rebellion would have died at that time, so there is no reason for Ned to be separate from them, as far as I can see. Could the north alone rebel and win against the Iron Throne? Anything is possible, I guess. I suppose the riverlands could still have been a possibility to join the north, even without the vale and stormlands.
I think Ned had sex with her after they both almost drowned. Then when he reached White Harbor he married her in the Northern tradition in front of a heart tree. This allows Bran to see it for the reveal and parallels Robb marrying Jeyne. Sacrificing his personal honor for a woman.
Oh, Lord of Light, it's not boat sex, the early version, is it? JK This is possible. Whom ever the Neddard was with at Sisterton left the impression they had carnal knowledge of each other, or she was already noticeably pregnant.
Of course, if Ned married a woman he was not supposed to while messing up another marriage for himself, that would be a nice parallel, but that is not what Ned does. Unless he was supposed to marry Ashara and married Catelyn instead - but that won Ned the riverlands while it lost Robb the north. If Ned doesn't mess anything up (like Robb did) then what risk was it to his personal honor? Perhaps that could be seen if he was already married and then he married Catelyn.
However, we do have the quote from Tywin about Robb, "Jeyne Westerling is her mother's daughter," said Lord Tywin, "and Robb Stark is his father's son." which has always hinted at something that Tywin knows about Robb's father, although this line always seemed to work better (in my head canon) if Brandon is Robb's "father".
Southron Ambitions? I am not convienced on it yet. I mean he marries some Arryn then the alliance pact between the North, Vale, Riverlands, and Stormlands is basically unbreakable. The West would have been in if Jaime had married Lysa.
Well, what if the "southron ambitions" started with Ned as a hostage of the crown, held in the vale, and from that relationship between the north and the vale, an alliance was born? That is completely me thinking super quickly but I can't shake the feeling that Aerys felt like he had the right to demand Ned's head.
Or I am completely wrong! Hahaha!