Brandon Stark (son of Rickard)


 * This article is about Eddard Stark's elder brother, for other uses see Brandon Stark (disambiguation).

"Your Uncle Brandon. Your handsome, arrogant, cruel Uncle Brandon."

- Lysa Arryn to Sansa Stark

Brandon Stark is an unseen character mentioned in the first season. He is deceased when the events of the series begin. He was scheduled to appear in the first season in flashback in a scene that was filmed, but later dropped for time reasons. Brandon Stark was the heir of Rickard Stark, the Lord of Winterfell, and the older brother of Eddard, Lyanna and Benjen Stark. He was killed by the Mad King when he protested the kidnapping of Lyanna by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen.

Background
Brandon Stark was the eldest son and heir of Lord Rickard Stark. Rickard was the head of House Stark and Lord Paramount of the North. The North is one of the constituent regions of the Seven Kingdoms and House Stark is one of the Great Houses of the realm. House Stark rule the region from their seat of Winterfell and Rickard also held the title Lord of Winterfell.

Brandon's father arranged for his betrothal to Catelyn Tully. Brandon defended Catelyn's honor in a duel with Petyr 'Littlefinger' Baelish. He defeated Baelish and left him with a scar that ran from neck to stomach.

Brandon was killed on the order of the Aerys Targaryen, along with his father, after they protested the kidnapping of Lyanna by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Lord Rickard was burned alive inside his armor with wildfire, while Brandon was tied to a strangulation device, with a sword mere inches from his hands and strangled himself by trying to reach the sword. This brutal act triggered Robert's Rebellion, the civil war that led to the removal of House Targaryen from the Iron Throne.

Eddard named his son Bran in his elder brother's memory.

Season 1
Reaching King's Landing, Lord Eddard Stark is greeted by Ser Jaime Lannister in the throne room, who recalls listening to Eddard's father and brother scream as hundreds watched them die at the whim of the Mad King. He suggests his assassination of the Mad King was an act of justice, but Eddard dismisses that as a paltry self-justification for breaking his solemn vows. Shortly afterwards, Littlefinger recounts how Brandon wounded him in a duel. Eddard is unsympathetic to Littlefinger's predicament.

​Season 4
Lysa mentions Brandon while speaking to Sansa at the Eyrie. She clearly resents him for being arrogant and cruel. Lysa hates how Brandon nearly killed Petyr in a duel, but Catelyn still loved him anyway.

Behind the scenes
An unidentified actor was cast to play Brandon in a flashback scene. Footage of the scene appeared in the "Fear and Blood" first season trailer but has not appeared in any aired episode of the series. The scene was cut for time reasons.

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Brandon was rather hot-blooded, something his younger brother described as coming from the wolfblood. He shared this trait with his sister. Eddard believes this led them both to an early death. Brandon was tall and handsome, and was an excellent swordsman and jouster.

In his youth, Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with Lord Dustin, father of Willam Dustin, but he spent most his time riding in the Rills. Brandon and his sister Lyanna both loved to ride; Lady Dustin compares them to "a couple of centaurs". Brandon also enjoyed practicing sword-play, and loved his sword. In his youth, he took the maidenhead of Barbrey Ryswell, who was infatuated with him. When he was fifteen, he was promised to Catelyn Tully of Riverrun, who was twelve at the time. Barbrey claims that Brandon never wanted to marry Catelyn and that the match was made when Lord Rickard's maester, Walys Flowers, put the idea in Rickard's head.

Shortly after the confrontation between Brandon and Littlefinger mentioned above, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen kidnapped Lyanna Stark. Brandon and a group of close friends, all sons of powerful lords, rode to King's Landing to seek redress from King Aerys II Targaryen. The Mad King, furious that anyone would question his son's actions, took Brandon prisoner and summoned Lord Rickard to answer for his impertinence. He had both Starks executed: Rickard was cooked alive in his armor by pyromancers led by Wisdom Rossart, while Brandon watched, bound with a leather cord around his neck and a longsword just out of reach, strangling himself trying to get to the sword to save his father.

Brandon's brother Eddard became Lord of Winterfell, married Catelyn Tully in his stead, and raised the banners of rebellion, beginning a bloody civil war that ended with deaths of both Prince Rhaegar and the Mad King.

In the books, Brandon was described as a larger and more handsome man than his younger brother Ned. The TV series makes a departure from this, with Petyr Baelish stating that Eddard is an 'even more impressive specimen' than his older brother.