Winterfell



Winterfell is the seat of House Bolton (formerly House Stark). It is a very large castle located at the center of the North, from where the head of House Stark rules over his people. A small Godswood is enclosed within the walls. It is the capital of the North under King Robb Stark. The castle is located alongside the Kingsroad as it makes its way from the Wall to the capital at King's Landing, more than a thousand miles to the south. It is situated atop hot springs which keep the castle warm even in the worst winters. Winding tombs below the castle contain the remains of Stark kings and lords and record the history of the ancient family. The castle has stood for millennia.

The castle is put to the torch by Ramsay Snow after Theon Greyjoy was betrayed by his own crew. This burned out the wood portions of the castle, though the core stone structures remained fundamentally intact, as did the enclosed godswood. After the fall of Moat Cailin, the Bolton army relocated to the ruined castle in order to restore it as the seat of the rulers of the North.

Background
According to legend, House Stark has held a castle at Winterfell for 8,000 years, though it has been considerably expanded over the centuries.

Eddard Stark rode south to fight in Robert's Rebellion after his father and older brother were killed by the Mad King. At the end of the war, he returned to Winterfell with his new wife Catelyn Tully, their infant son Robb Stark, and also Eddard's bastard son Jon Snow whom he had fathered during the war. After the Greyjoy Rebellion eight years later, Eddard took Theon Greyjoy back to Winterfell as his ward - partly as a political hostage, but perhaps partially to raise him to be an honorable man.

Season 1
After the death of Hand of the King Jon Arryn, King Robert Baratheon makes a formal visit to Winterfell along with much of the royal court, including his wife Queen Cersei Lannister, their three children Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, as well as Cersei's brother and Kingsguard member Jaime Lannister, and their brother Tyrion Lannister. A great feast is held in Robert's honor. Robert visits the tomb of Lyanna Stark and asks Lord Eddard to return with him to King's Landing as his new Hand, and to solidify the union between their two Houses by betrothing Eddard's elder daughter Sansa Stark to Crown Prince Joffrey.

Before they leave, however, while climbing a tower Bran Stark accidentally stumbles upon Queen Cersei having sex with her own twin brother Jaime, who then pushes Bran out of the tower window.

Bran survives the fall from the tower, though his legs are left crippled. Lord Eddard reluctantly departs down the Kingsroad with the royal party, along with Sansa and his younger daughter Arya Stark. Jon Snow also leaves Winterfell to join the Night's Watch at the Wall, accompanied by Tyrion. A Catspaw assassin sent by one of the Lannisters tries to kill Bran while he is still in a coma, but he is fought off by Catelyn and killed by Bran's direwolf Summer. Catelyn decides that Eddard must be warned so she leaves for King's Landing along with Ser Rodrik Cassel, leaving her eldest son Robb Stark in charge of Winterfell. After visiting the Wall, Tyrion stops at Winterfell on his return journey to the south, along with the Night's Watch recruiter Yoren. He gives Robb instructions for a special saddle which will allow Bran to ride without the use of his legs.

After word reaches Robb that his father has been arrested in King's Landing, he calls the armies of all the Northern bannermen. Robb departs Winterfell to lead his army to war in the south, and leaves Bran in charge as acting lord of Winterfell. His youngest brother Rickon Stark has a prophetic dream that Robb and his men will never return to Winterfell.

Season 2
After Eddard is executed by Joffrey and Robb wins the Battle of the Whispering Wood, his bannermen hail him as the new King in the North. The North and the Riverlands declare themselves an independent kingdom under Robb. Winterfell is the de jure capital, though Robb remains with his armies fighting in the south. Now-Prince Bran Stark continues to rule as acting lord of Winterfell, with the guidance of Maester Luwin.

House Greyjoy - insulted at the prospect of allying with the Starks against the Lannisters - then counter-intuitively chooses to both declare the independence of the Iron Islands from the Lannister-controlled Iron Throne, and to attack the North while most of its armies are in the south. To impress his father Balon Greyjoy, the conflicted Theon leads a daring assault that captures Winterfell with under 30 men. Theon's ironborn were few, but the castle only had a skeleton defensive garrison left, and Theon used his intimate knowledge of the castle to lead his men over the walls using climbing spikes. Bran surrenders the castle to Theon. Maester Luwin barely manages to get a messenger-raven out warning of what has happened, after which Theon kills all the ravens to stop any further messages from getting out.

Theon, however, has no way of easily holding Winterfell so far away from the sea, even with most of the North's armies away in the south. Bran and his brother Rickon escape Winterfell along with Hodor and Osha, making his position tenuous, so he passes off the burned bodies of two orphan boys so he won't look weak - though instead this angers the rest of the North. When word reaches Robb's army camp in the south, his commander Roose Bolton says that he can send a reserve garrison led by his bastard son Ramsay Snow to besiege Theon. Robb decides to offer the ironborn at Winterfell safe passage back to the Iron Islands - if they will hand over Theon, so he can be executed as a traitor to the Starks. Theon's sister Yara Greyjoy briefly stops in Winterfell but only to warn him that they have no way of reinforcing or holding the castle, and he must withdraw while he can. Theon, however, fears that he has come to far too turn back now in failure.

Maester Luwin pleads with Theon that this is now who he is, and he must surrender and join the Night's Watch while he still can. Theon admits the truth in this but says he has come too far. In a rousing speech to his men, Theon accepts that he will die, but they will all die bravely fighting sword in hand, so the other ironborn will remember their example. Instead, one of his men knocks him unconscious from behind, to hand him over as part of the deal for their lives. Bran and Rickon - who had actually doubled back to hide in Winterfell's crypts - emerge after the Sack of Winterfell to find that it has been put to the torch. All of the wooden parts of the castle are burned out, though the core stone structures remain intact. Bran and his companions flee north to the Wall.

When word reaches Robb Stark at Harrenhal of the sack of Winterfell, the report sent by Roose's son Ramsay says that the ironborn put the castle to the torch before fleeing, put the inhabitants to the sword, and killed Bran and Rickon. The loss of Winterfell makes Robb look weak, particularly after the Lannisters secured victory in the southern front of the war against the Baratheons at the Battle of the Blackwater. Rickard Karstark loses all faith in Robb and calls him "The King Who Lost the North"

Not long afterwards, Boltons and Freys betray the Starks at the Red Wedding, destroying the Northern army, and resulting in the deaths of Robb and Catelyn. Roose Bolton personally kills Robb by driving a dagger into his heart. Subsequently, Walder Frey and Roose muse on their future plans, and Walder asks if as the new ruler of the North, Roose will relocate to Winterfell. He says that he will in time, after it is rebuilt. Walder also asks what really happened at Winterfell, because after Theon took the castle no further news came out. Roose explains that he indeed sent his bastard son Ramsay Snow to besiege Winterfell with the Dreadfort's remaining garrison, and Theon's men betrayed him, handing him over to Ramsay in return for promise of safe passage. Ramsay, however, "has his own way of doing things" - he flayed all of the ironborn alive, even though they surrendered in good faith, and spent the next year slowly flaying and horrifically torturing Theon. As for Winterfell, it was Ramsay and his Bolton army who burned the castle, and who massacred all of the inhabitants - the Boltons simply lied to Robb Stark about what really happened, as they were planning to betray him for months before the Red Wedding occurred.

Season 4
After Ramsay manages to retake the fortress Moat Cailin from the ironborn, the path is cleared for the main Bolton army to return to the North, and enforce Bolton/Lannister rule. Roose, Ramsay, and Reek (the tortured, broken wreck once known as Theon) lead the Bolton army back to Winterfell

Season 5
The Boltons settle in at Winterfell, and bring in work crews and timber to start rebuilding the burned-out parts of the castle. The rest of the Bolton household has arrived as well, including Roose's new wife Fat Walda Frey. Following the death of Tywin Lannister, however, their already difficult hold over the North is even more tenuous: the armies of the Northern lords may have been destroyed, but the Lannisters left it to Bolton's army to rein them in, and will send no reinforcements so far out of the way. With Tywin dead, the Lannisters themselves are in a weakened position, and cannot aid the Boltons. Worse, Stannis Baratheon took his small remaining forces to the Wall, where they won a rousing victory in the Battle of Castle Black. Afterwards, Stannis intends to raise the North against the Boltons as a new sprinboard against Lannister rule.

As part of a political plot, Petyr "Littlefinger" Baelish arrives at Winterfell from the Vale - bringing none other than Sansa Stark, to make a marriage-alliance between her and Ramsay Bolton. Littlefinger, however, informs Sansa that he truly plans for her to undermine the Boltons from within, hopefully to aid Stannis's probable victory, and if Stannis dies, to at least still be in a position to subvert the Boltons in the future.

Stark rule

 * Lord {Rickard Stark}, the Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and Lord Paramount of the North. Burned to death by wildfire at the order of the Mad King {Aerys Targaryen}.
 * {Brandon Stark}, his eldest son. Strangled to death in attempts to save his father, by the order of the Mad King in King's Landing.
 * Lord {Eddard Stark}, his second son, the Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and Lord Paramount of the North. He briefly served as the Hand of the King and Protector of the Realm. Executed under false charges of treason, at the order of the False King {Joffrey Baratheon}.
 * His wife, Lady {Catelyn Stark}, betrayed and murdered at the Red Wedding.
 * King {Robb Stark}, their eldest son and the new Lord of Winterfell and King in the North, betrayed and murdered at the Red Wedding.
 * His direwolf, {Greywind}, shot to death at the Red Wedding.
 * His wife, Queen {Talisa Stark}, stabbed to death at the Red Wedding.
 * Their unborn child, to be named Eddard Stark, killed at the Red Wedding.
 * Princess Sansa Stark, their eldest daughter, last seen leaving the Eyrie under the guise of Alayne Stone.
 * Her direwolf, {Lady}, executed on the Kingsroad.
 * Princess Arya Stark, their second daughter, on a ship to Braavos. Publicly believed dead.
 * Her direwolf, Nymeria, lost in the Riverlands.
 * Prince Bran Stark, their second son, the rightful Heir to Winterfell, currently at the cave of the three-eyed raven. Publicly believed dead.
 * His direwolf, Summer, with Bran at the cave.
 * Prince Rickon Stark, their youngest son, last seen traveling to Last Hearth. Publicly believed dead.
 * His direwolf, Shaggydog, accompanying Rickon.
 * Jon Snow, Eddard Stark's bastard son. Serving in the Night's Watch at Castle Black.
 * His direwolf, Ghost, with Jon at the Wall.
 * Lady {Lyanna Stark}, his only daughter, abducted by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen. Died at a tower in Dorne.
 * Benjen Stark, his youngest son, First Ranger to the Night's watch at Castle Black. Lost beyond the Wall.


 * Theon Greyjoy, raised at Winterfell as Eddard Stark's ward and hostage for his father's good behavior. Abandoned the Stark cause and joined his father Balon in the War of the Five Kings. He took over Winterfell and installed himself as Prince of Winterfell until he was betrayed by his own crew shortly after. Now a captive of Ramsay Bolton, at Winterfell.
 * Ser {Rodrik Cassel}, the master-of-arms at Winterfell, in charge of training fresh recruits with weapons. Executed by Theon Greyjoy.
 * {Jory Cassel}, captain of the castle guard and nephew of Rodrik Cassel. Killed in King's Landing by Ser Jaime Lannister.
 * {Luwin}, the castle's Maester. Stabbed fatally by Dagmer and later mercy-killed at his own request by Osha.
 * {Mordane}, a septa and governess for Sansa and Arya Stark. Executed in King's Landing during the purge of the Stark household.
 * {Old Nan}, a former retainer and servant who retired. She told the Stark children stories about life in times gone by. She died of old age.
 * Hodor, Old Nan's grandson or great-grandson, a simpleton stableboy. With Bran at the cave.
 * Osha, a captive wildling working as a servant. Last seen accompanying Rickon to Last Hearth.

Bolton rule

 * Lord Roose Bolton, Lord of the Dreadfort, Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North and Lord Paramount of the North.
 * Lady Walda Bolton, Roose's latest wife. Granddaughter of Lord Walder Frey.
 * Ramsay Bolton, his legitimized natural son, heir to the Dreadfort.
 * Sansa Stark, Ramsay's betrothed, arranged by Petyr Baelish.
 * Reek, formerly Theon Greyjoy, manservant and hostage of Ramsay.
 * Myranda, one of Ramsay's bedwarmers and his secret lover.
 * Wolkan, the castle's new Maester.

Behind the scenes
For the television series, a variety of locations were used to create Winterfell as it appears on screen. For the pilot episode, Doune Castle in Scotland was used for some exterior shots and the great feast held when King Robert Baratheon and his party arrive. Castle Ward in County Down, Northern Ireland was used for the scenes of sparring in Winterfell's castle yard and the arrival of Robert's party at Winterfell's gates. The rest of the castle, including the other interiors and the scenes involving Bran climbing the walls, were filmed as interiors at the Paint Hall studio facility in Belfast.

For the first season itself, Castle Ward was the principal filming location for the Winterfell scenes. Doune Castle was not revisited.

As of the start of Season 5, Winterfell is one of three locations (the others being King's Landing and Castle Black/The Wall) to be featured in every opening credits sequence, regardless as to whether the location is actually visited in the episode (this includes Season 3 and virtually all of Season 4 during which Winterfell is never visited nor seen at all).

In the books
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Winterfell is a huge castle complex spanning several acres, consisting of two massive walls with a ditch between them and a village located just outside. The complex consists of many buildings and keeps, some ancient and decrepit, some in good repair. According to legend, Winterfell was built by Bran the Builder eight thousand years ago.

The full castle as it appears at the start of the narrative has not been standing for eight thousand years: it was gradually expanded over many centuries like a tree growing new branches, giving it a less organized appearance than large castles which were planned out all at once such as the Red Keep in King's Landing. Parts have also had to be rebuilt over time, either due to natural degeneration or damage in sieges (Winterfell was burned out several times in ancient wars with the Boltons and other enemies, but the Starks always rallied and rebuilt it). The eldest surviving part of the castle is the First Keep, and old tower no longer actively used, which some maesters think dates back to some point after the Andal Invasion began six thousand years ago.

The crypts underneath Winterfell are massive - larger than the entire castle complex above ground. This is a testament to just how long the Starks have held Winterfell: according to tradition, there should be eight thousand years' worth of tombs in the crypts. According to tradition, while all Stark family members are buried in the crypts, statues are only made for those who were head of House Stark (either as kings or later as lords). There have been some exceptions over the generations, and Eddard himself had statues made at the tombs of his older brother Brandon and his sister Lyanna. The most ancient tombs are in the lower levels, and the more current ones closer to the surface. Many of the lower levels are half-collapsed and unexplored. With their vast size and lack of active use, it is quite easy for someone to hide in the crypts for weeks or even months at a time, as Bran, Rickon, and their followers did during the Sack of Winterfell, provided that they bring sufficient supplies with them. According to legend, when the infamous wildling rogue Bael the Bard seduced the daughter of a Stark lord, they hid out in the crypts for nearly a year undetected, long enough that when the daughter one day reappeared in her chambers she had with her the infant son that she had with Bael.