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| “ | Any man who stands between a father and his vengeance asks for death! | „ |
| ~ Rickard Karstark. |
| “ | Kill me and be cursed. You are no king of mine. | „ |
| ~ Rickard Karstark's last words before being decapitated by Robb Stark. |
Lord Rickard Karstark is a supporting antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. He is the Lord of Karhold and the head of House Karstark, a cadet branch of House Stark. He is a close ally and distant relative to the Starks in the War of the Five Kings. He has three sons, Harrion, Eddard, and Torrhen, and one daughter, Alys. He was named after Rickard Stark, and he fought for Eddard Stark against the Mad King during Robert's Rebellion. He is gaunt and large, and he was always known to be a brooding man.
In the TV series, Rickard also has another son, Harald, who was introduced in season 6 as the Lord of Karhold after Rickard's execution.
He is portrayed by Steven Blount in season 1 and by the late John Stahl in seasons 2 and 3.
Biography[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Lord Karstark.
Lord Karstark brings his men and his three sons to Winterfell and joins Robb in his march to the south. Later, the northern host splits at the Twins, with Roose Bolton commanding the host against Tywin Lannister the Green Fork. Rickard stays with Robb and takes part in the battle of the Whispering Wood, where Jaime Lannister is taken captive along with many other highborn hostages from the Westerlands. During this battle, two of his sons, Eddard and Torrhen, die in battle, both killed by Ser Jaime. His eldest son, Harrion, is captured at the Battle of the Green Fork, along with many other northmen. Right after these two battles, he fights again with Robb in the Battle of the Camps, where they smash the Lannister army, which was besieging Riverrun, and free Ser Edmure Tully and many hostages from the riverlands. Right after the battle, Ned Stark is executed by King Joffrey I At Riverrun, he is in the Great Hall, taking part in the debate between Robb Stark, Jonos Bracken, and Greatjon Umber with the northmen and the riverlords about whether they should join forces with Renly or Stannis Baratheon. When the Greatjon names Robb as the King in the North and lays his sword at his feet, Karstark is the second to join him, followed by Theon Greyjoy and Maege Mormont.
A Clash of Kings[]
Rickard Karstark storms out of the Great Hall of Riverrun when Robb Stark explains his terms for peace with the Iron Throne, wanting to avenge the deaths of the northmen who died during the war, his two sons included. Later, he goes into the westerlands among King Robb's host, which includes Brynden Tully, Greatjon Umber, Maege Mormont, Galbart Glover, Stevron Frey, and many other lords and knights from the North and the riverlands. Lord Karstark fights beside Robb at the Battle of Oxcross, in which he personally kills Ser Stafford Lannister. In the TV version, Karstark's youngest son, Torrhen Karstark, survives the early battles but is later killed by Jaime Lannister, like in the books, during an escape attempt. After Jaime's recapture, Lord Rickard demands Jaime's execution in revenge for the murder of his son, but Catelyn Stark speaks for his life. In the show, Lord Rickard also dismisses Talisa Maegyr as a "foreign bitch." Rickard the raids along the western coast while the Greatjon captures the gold mines at Castamere, Nunn's Deep, and the Pendric Hills, and Maege captures thousands of cattle in the westerlands to drive them towards the riverlands.
After receiving news of King Balon Greyjoy invading the North and the taking of Winterfell by Prince Theon, Catelyn is grieving over the "deaths" of his two youngest sons, Bran and Rickon (who are actually not truly dead). She frees Jaime and sends him to King's Landing with her sworn sword, Brienne of Tarth, to exchange him for her captive daughters. He is furious that she has denied him his vengeance, saying that he personally would happily exchange his life for those of his deceased children, even if it meant captivity for them. Robb Stark was overcome with grief as well, which led him to have a sexual intercourse with a girl from the Crag who was tending his battle wounds, Jeyne Westerling, daughter of Lord Gawen Westerling, who's captive in Riverrun. To preserve her honor, Robb weds her immediately thereafter. The Frey host that had accompanied Robb into the west is furious and withdraws their support.
A Storm of Swords[]
There's malcontent in the northern host: despite the fact they never lost a single battle and even liberated Harrenhal, there's no true positive outcome from their rebellion. The Lannisters won't give Sansa back, nor will they make peace with the North. Stannis Baratheon was defeated during the recent Battle of the Blackwater, removing any hope of Joffrey and the Lannisters being finally defeated (Stannis promised Catelyn that he would free Sansa and Arya, though he also said to her that he would have killed Robb after dealing with Renly and Joffrey). With the North invaded by the ironmen, the northern lords feel they don't have a true purpose anymore in fighting the Lannisters and only want to return to their homeland and free their lands from the ironborn. Rickard's faith in Robb continues to deteriorate as he sees the negative result of the war in the riverlands, which are mostly destroyed and still occupied by the Lannister army. He's disillusioned by the fact that Jaime is still being chased.
He manifests his disapproval of the march back to Riverrun. He lost faith in the northern cause and believes Robb lost the war the day he married another woman who was not meant to marry, a slight that Lord Walder Frey is unlikely to forgive or ignore. While Hoster Tully is now dying, Edmure Tully is acting as Lord Paramount of the Trident. At Riverrun, Robb and the Blackfish scold him for his tactical failure in battle. Edmure met Tywin Lannister's army as they attempted to cross the Red Fork at a ford near Riverrun and threw them back. While this prevented Tywin's force from approaching Robb's from the rear, Robb's plan had been to entangle the army in a chase while Stannis Baratheon marched on King's Landing. Being thrown back at Riverrun allowed Tywin's force to turn around and arrive at King's Landing in time for the Battle of the Blackwater, which turned the tide of the battle, and indeed the war, in the Lannister's favor. This false victory in battle makes Lord Edmure responsible for the escape of the Mountain, and indirectly responsible for the defeat of King Stannis and the victory of the war of House Lannister. At this point, Robb and Catelyn earn the enmity of Lord Karstark, who's not loyal to the King in the North anymore.
Overcome with grief and anger, Rickard Karstark and his men murder Willem Lannister, son of Kevan, and Tion Frey, son of Tywin's sister Genna Lannister (in the TV series, replaced by Kevan's son Martyn, while he's been released in the books), at Riverrun. In order to reach the boys, Rickard's group kills two Tully guards, Delp and Elwood, as well. He has all his forces at Riverrun abandon Robb to track down the Kingslayer in the riverlands, promising his daughter Alys to anyone who recovers Jaime for him. He orders all the Karstark forces to spread the offer everywhere (which will reach the Brave Companions as well).
After Rickard is arrested by Riverrun's guards, along with other Karstark soldiers, he openly insults the King in the North and mocks him for his blunders and mistakes, as well as for losing the North to the ironborn. Robb then declares Rickard a traitor and sentences him to die, carrying out the sentence himself, ignoring the advice of Edmure and Catelyn to hold Karstark hostage and send him to the Night's Watch after the war, on the basis that the Karstarks form a significant portion of Robb's army, and they will abandon Robb if he executes their lord. With his last breath, Rickard curses Robb, denounces him as his king, and calls him a kinslayer due to the blood ties between Stark and Karstark. Following the northern old customs, Robb personally beheads Rickard with a heavy axe. While the first blow instantly kills Rickard, it takes Robb three more blows to completely sever the head from the rest of the body, drenching himself in Rickard's blood by the end.
Rickard is succeeded by his sole surviving son, Harrion, who's still captive to the Iron Throne. As a result, the hopes to regain support from the Karstarks lie with Harrion, who is a captive, while Robb successfully negotiates a ransom with the Iron Throne, freeing Martyn Lannister in exchange for Robett Glover.
After Rickard's death, his uncle and castellan Arnolf Karstark plots with his sons to gain control of Karhold and usurp Rickard's heir, Harrion, who remains a captive at Maidenpool under the custody of Lord Randyll Tarly.
Notable Victims[]
- Willem Lannister - Either ordered or carried out in the novels, ordered in the TV show; killed, while possibly asleep, to avenge Eddard and Torrhen Karstark in the novels; killed by Karstark men-at-arms to avenge Harrion and Torrhen Karstark in the TV show.
Books only[]
- Ser Stafford Lannister - Lanced while trying to reach his horse during the Battle of Oxcross.
- Delp - Killed by Rickard and/or his men while trying to defend Willem Lannister and Tion Frey.
- Elwood - Ordered; killed by Karstark men-at-arms while trying to defend Willem Lannister and Tion Frey.
- Tion Frey - Either ordered or carried out; killed while fighting for his life to avenge Eddard and Torrhen Karstark, as Tion was Genna Lannister's son.
TV series only[]
- Martyn Lannister - Stabbed in the belly to avenge Harrion and Torrhen Karstark.
Trivia[]
- In the novels, Rickard gets punched by Jon "Greatjon" Umber for insulting Robb. In the TV series, this was changed by having Bryden "Blackfish" Tully punch him. This change was made due to Greatjon's character being omitted from the TV series after season 1. Thus, some thuggish and short-tempered traits of the Greatjon were given to the Blackfish, who is neither violent nor hot-headed in the novels.
