Torrhen Stark - Tumblr Posts
Just a quick reminder since season two seems to not have understood this whatsoever, the King in the North, Torrhen Stark, did not bend the knee in peace to loyally unite the Kingdoms to someone he believed in.
He and his army arrived to fight the Targaryeans, only to arrive and realize that Harrenhal, one of the strongest structures ever built in Westeros, had been turned into this after being attacked with dragonfire:
Torrhen Stark bent the knee out of fear that the Targaryeans would do this to the North next should he choose to fight back against them as he originally intended to do.
The Starks bent the knee not out of any loyalty, but out of a great fear for a destructive power the devastating likes they had never seen in their lifetime. Knowing that were he to refuse, his entire countrymen's lives would be considered forfeit, and this too would become the ruins of the castles and lands in his Kingdom.
Fear does not spark loyalty. It only creates resentment in secret.
but no Northman left his burned bones behind the Trident, and the swords Aegon collected from Lord Stark and his vassals were not twisted or melted or bent.
I had a lot of people saying they wanted to see me do concepts of Torrhen Stark, and one person suggested Brandon Snow. I thought it would be cool to do some side-by-side busts of them, to show their similarities and subtle differences
King Torrhen did send Brandon Snow across the Trident. But he crossed with three maesters by his side, not to kill but to treat. All through the night messages went back and forth. The next morning, Torrhen Stark himself crossed the Trident. There upon the south bank of the Trident, he knelt, laid the ancient crown of the Kings of Winter at Aegon’s feet, and swore to be his man. He rose as Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, a king no more. From that day to this day, Torrhen Stark is remembered as the King Who Knelt…but no Northman left his burned bones beside the Trident, and the swords Aegon collected from Lord Stark and his vassals were not twisted or melted or bent.