"Game of Thrones": House Stark Quiz

Answer: Three

Ned was born the second eldest child. His older brother was Brandon, who was at first going to marry Catelyn Tully; however, he met his doom at the hands of Mad King Aerys Targaryen, so that wedding never happened and Ned became the heir of the Stark family.

His younger brother, Benjen, became a member of the Night's Watch. His sister, Lyanna, was betrothed to Ned's best friend, Robert Baratheon; however, she died as well.

Answer: No

The Wall is the defence erected between the Wilderness and the Seven Kingdoms. It is manned by the Night's Watch and the Starks keep the peace and safeguard the North, which lies just south of The Wall. The stronghold of the Starks is Winterfell. A time-honoured saying of the Stark family, much like the Lannisters say 'A Lannister always pays his debts', is 'There must always be a Stark in Winterfell'.

Answer: Rodrik and Jory Cassel

Rodrik and Jory both form part of Eddard Stark's bodyguard. He leaves Rodrik at Winterfell to safeguard his seat, whilst Jory accompanies Ned to King's Landing when he is made Hand of the King. Jory's death is violent and bloody as, while seeking the reason for Jon Arryn's assassination, Ned and Jory are outmanned and ambushed by Jaime Lannister and his men. Jaime stabs Jory through the eye with his dagger. Wylla is whom Ned claims is Jon's real mother, but Jon has never met her. Balon is Theon's father, but Theon as the ward of Ned has never lived with his father in Winterfell. Catelyn has lived at Winterfell, but Reese Stark simply doesn't exist, although Rickon Stark, her youngest son, does live at Winterfell with the rest of his family.

Answer: dwarves

As Jon is prohibited from attending the feast in the king's honour by Lady Catelyn, who hates him bitterly, he takes his anger out on a practice dummy outside the Great Hall. Tyrion meets him and sympathises with Jon's plight of being the perpetual unwanted and lowest of the family, and also offers him advice on how to guard himself from the taunts of others.

When Jon asks him what he knows about being a bastard, Tyrion makes the aforementioned reply.

Answer: "Winter is coming"

The Stark family motto is significant as at Winterfell, excepting the Wall, they are the first castle to see the winter come. It grows cold and dark first in Winterfell. It is also a reminder to them that the summer or happy times last only so long, there will always be gloom and a time of want after the brightness of summer. "As high as honour" is the motto of the Arryn family, who reside in The Eyrie. Jon Arryn and Ned Stark were married at the same time to the two Tully sisters, whose motto before they married was "Family, duty, honour".

Answer: Frey

The Freys of The Trident are known for generally being a difficult family in Westeros. Lady Catelyn remarks that the head of the family, Walder, has been married numerous times and also has fathered many extra-marital offspring. Hence, being allied to the Freys is not a rewarding prospect as he has so many children, which could ally every single house in Westeros to him. Robb, in his role as King in the North, accepts that he needs to cross the Trident and it is up to him to make that happen, so he pledges to sacrifice his happiness for the sake of the campaign to avenge his father's unjust execution.

Answer: Rhaego

Although Eddard is fiercely loyal to his sovereign and friend, he can not condone such an act of cruelty and what he deems unnecessary under his strict moral code. He says the Council has no business murdering children that do not pose any evident threat to the Seven Kingdoms or Robert.

The King and Eddard argue this point, but on Robert's deathbed he wishes the deed undone but Varys says it is too late. Daenerys does survive, as Ser Jorah realises the wine merchant is the assassin sent by Robert.

Answer: A direwolf

The sigil of the Stark family is a direwolf, which Jon Snow calls to the attention of his father when the execution party comes across some orphaned direwolf pups. They are seen throughout Westeros as the fierce creatures of the North, hence their affiliation with the Guardians of the North.

The Kraken is the sigil of House Greyjoy, the House of Ned's ward, Theon. The three-headed dragon is the sigil of the Targaryen dynasty, which is dying out.

Answer: Syrio Forel

It is generally thought that Arya is taking conventional dance lessons from Forel, which Sansa remarks on; however, Forel considers fighting with blades to be a kind of dance, a dance with death, so in his own way he does teach Arya to dance. His catchphrase is "Not today", which are the words he utters to Death during a duel.

He dies so that Arya can escape from the soldiers of the Lannister family after Robert dies. Mikken is the blacksmith of Winterfell, who makes Arya's sword, Needle, at Jon Snow's order as a gift to his favourite sister.

Answer: Ice

The sword is a two-handed sword with an extensive blade. It is not a sword intended for use in everyday battle, since it would be too heavy and ungainly to wield. Ned uses it for executions. Indeed he himself is executed with his own family's blade by Ilyn Payne, the executioner of the court.

The customs of Westeros dictate that normally, the body and sword of a nobleman whether executed or no, be returned to their family so that the body can be entombed in the family's own vault and the sword can be passed down to the next in line.