One of the biggest and most influential TV shows of all time, Game of Thrones redefined many things about television. From the size of the ensemble cast that viewers could (usually) keep track of to the incredible budget that the show managed to get from HBO, there have been very few shows that managed to shake up TV to this extent in history.
However, families like the Starks were numerous and difficult to keep track of at times. They suffered greatly and were reduced in number by the end of the show, despite coming out on top in the end out of all of the major families. Each member of the Stark family had their own fascinating journey or motivation throughout the show, ending in a wild variety of ways and places.
8 Eddard Stark
Lost At The Outset Of War
- Executed by Joffrey Baratheon in Season One, Episode Nine
- Appeared in nine episodes
- Played by Sean Bean
The Stark family were content with Eddard as Warden of the North and his various children having their own dreams of what their adult lives would look like. The death of Jon Arryn ended this remoteness the family had managed to maintain from the crown for years, as Eddard was called to serve as the new Hand of the King.
When Eddard arrived in King’s Landing, he only sought to do what was right. He was too honorable a man to survive Game of Thrones, and when he uncovered the truth about Cersei Lannister’s children, he was doomed and was executed by her son Joffrey after he took the throne. Eddard was essentially the main character of the show for the first season, so his death was a major shock to fans at the time. Fortunately, his children would pick up the slack as some of the new leading characters.
7 Catelyn Stark
A Red Wedding Victim
- Executed by Black Walder Frey in Season Three, Episode Nine
- Appeared in 25 episodes
- Played by Michelle Fairley
Catelyn Stark was desperate to protect her children while simultaneously seeking vengeance for the death of her husband as war broke out. She traveled alongside her son, Robb, as he was declared King in the North and took on the Lannister forces, achieving several early victories and making it seem like this was the major confrontation in Game of Thrones.
Unfortunately, despite Catelyn seeing through some of the scheming people around her and Robb, she didn’t see the real threat right in front of them. With the Stark bannermen all gathered together for a wedding, the Frey and Bolton families betrayed them and had Catelyn killed as well, though she managed to slit the throat of Walder Frey’s wife before one of the Frey clan cut hers. Catelyn took a lot on and was an honorable member of House Stark, but she seemed destined to fall alongside her husband eventually, leaving the battle ahead to the rest of their children, though she wasn’t quite finished in the books.
6 Robb Stark
Another Red Wedding Victim
- Betrayed and killed by Roose Bolton in Season Three, Episode Nine
- Appeared in 22 Episodes
- Played by Richard Madden
Robb Stark seemed to be the true hope of the North. His place as the oldest son of Eddard placed all the pressure of leading the North squarely on his shoulders out of nowhere. But he was equal to the task, truly his father’s son. He took on and defeated the Lannisters in several early skirmishes, even capturing Jaime Lannister.
Unfortunately, Robb was too like his father and was too honorable to imagine that those around him could be without honor. The death of Eddard was a grim day, but the most significant loss for House Stark was the Red Wedding. Robb, having spurned the idea of marrying one of Walder Frey’s daughters, and Frey along with Roose Bolton, betray him for this. Robb died with his new wife, unborn child and mother in a sweep that took the North away from the Stark family for years.
5 Sansa Stark
The Lady Of Winterfell
- Survived and leads Winterfell for the Starks
- Appeared in 59 Episodes
- Played by Sophie Turner
There aren’t a lot of characters who went through as much pain, grief and hardship as Sansa Stark and came out of it stronger on the other side. She was there when her father was killed, forced to stay with Joffrey as a prisoner and forcibly betrothed to him. Then she was forced to marry Tyrion Lannister, before finally getting away from King’s Landing, only to end up in the grip of the equally twisted Ramsay Bolton.
Despite all this, Sansa survived and led Winterfell alongside Jon and Arya, saving Jon during the Battle of the Bastards and advising him, before finishing the series as the Lady of Winterfell. After being a pawn in so many games, Sansa achieved her dream of being a great Lady, not needing a man by her side to rule one of the most powerful kingdoms in the land.
4 Arya Stark
Setting Her Own Sail
- Survived and journeyed beyond Westeros
- Appeared in 59 Episodes
- Played by Maisie Williams
Arya Stark went through as much pain as her sister and also managed to come out stronger on the other side of it all. She never wanted to be a lady, never wanted to be married, she simply wanted to learn to fight and to be able to make her own choices. After escaping King’s Landing after Eddard’s death, she journeyed on her own, then with the Hound, before eventually taking her destiny into her own hands by heading to Braavos and learning to be an assassin in The House of Black and White.
She used her newfound skills to take vengeance on the Frey family for her brother and mother, reunited with Sansa and Jon, killed Littlefinger herself, and then the Night King as well. Arya is arguably the main character of the entire show, and she manages to get what she wanted all along, ending the series with the question “What is west of Westeros?”
3 Bran Stark
The Winner Of The Game
- Survived and became King of Westeros
- Appeared in 40 Episodes
- Played by Isaac Hempstead Wright
The child pushed out of a window and crippled forever in the very first episode doesn’t seem a likely candidate for King of Westeros. However, Game of Thrones was all about subverting expectations. Bran Stark is a mystical, strange presence in the later seasons of the show, having gained powers that scare and confuse many other characters.
But he was, at least, trustworthy. A good man by the end of the show, Bran was a good choice to be King to a realm that had seen many reigns by strength, and few by compassion and intelligence. Bran’s abilities, advisers and support by all the major forces left in Westeros allow him to lead in the way his father or brother would have if they had lived to the end of the series. The crazy thing about Game of Thrones is that, despite all the external factors and other families involved, the real battle was almost always between the Starks and Lannisters, and Bran’s placement on the throne with Tyrion as his Hand was the perfect ending to that conflict.
2 Rickon Stark
The Forgotten Stark Child
- Killed by Ramsay Bolton in Season Six, Episode Nine
- Appeared in 14 Episodes
- Played by Art Parkinson
The youngest Stark child was a forgotten presence in the show. He was barely seen after Eddard’s death until he was revealed as a prisoner of Ramsay Bolton, and it was a minor role that he played in the overall events of Game of Thrones. Rickon was never given the focus that the other Stark children were in the series, but his death was still a tragic and shocking one.
After the Stark family had already lost so much, the idea that Ramsay might be about to kill Rickon was too much for Jon Snow to take. He charged Ramsay alone, forcing his army to attack and almost losing the Battle of the Bastards. It was all for nothing as well, since Rickon was shot and killed before reaching Jon. If not for Sansa and the Knights of the Vale, Jon might have lost this battle, and the North could have been lost for the Starks forever. Rickon’s death was sad but was mostly used for shock value. This was one Stark that was always just a pawn in a great game.
1 Jon Snow
The Once And Future Lord Commander
- Survived and went north beyond the wall
- Appeared in 62 Episodes
- Played by Kit Harrington
The man who remains a Stark even with the knowledge that he is not Eddard’s son, Jon is instead a cousin to the rest of the family seen in the series, as the son of Lyanna. This man went from a bastard child who was shipped off to the Night’s Watch to a friend of wildlings, Lord Commander, King in the North and consort to a Queen during his time on the show.
Jon was one of the most important characters in the series. He had his heart broken, lost many friends, and even lost his own life, only to be forced to kill the woman he loved and then exiled back to the Night’s Watch, where he would ultimately go north with the wildlings. Jon had a hard life, but he survived and was able to return to many of his friends, taking on the life he’d been destined to lead from the beginning. By the end, there was no question though, Jon had found who he truly was, and it was much more Stark than Targaryen.
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