‘Ours is the Fury’ if this was planned.
While we wait for Season 8 of Game of Thrones to air – seriously, our patience is being worn thin – fans can find some comfort in rewatching the previous seasons to ease the Westeros-sized hole in their life. This being said, you could also watch another show but hey, there’s nothing quite like Game of Thrones.
One way of filling the time until the new episodes air is to read up on all the fan theories that are online but be warned, the Internet is dark and full of terrors.
Also, it’s worth knowing that about 90% of the theories about Game of Thrones never really stand up and they’re usually utterly bonkers, but that can’t be said about this very curious coincidence that occurred during the very first episode.
As fans will know, the whole saga kicked-off when Jon Arryn, the Hand of King Robert Baratheon, was murdered in a secret plot orchestrated by Petyr Baelish in an attempt to throw the Seven Kingdoms into a state of chaos.
Ultimately, King Robert travelled to Winterfell where he asked Ned Stark to become his new right-hand man.
During that particular scene, Robert hugs Ned, embraces Catelyn, shakes hands with Robb and rubs Rickon’s hair.
Ultimately, they all died.
He didn’t touch Sansa, Jon, or Arya – the Stark’s that are still alive. FYI, we know that Jon is a Targareyan but at that time, he was Ned Stark’s bastard.
A few months ago, a Reddit user put forward his observation that in that particular moment, the writers were foreshadowing the deaths that were to come.
“I’m not sure if all of this has been pointed out before, but it is worth bringing up. When Robert greets the Starks, he touches Ned, Cat, Robb, and Rickon. All of them die. He calls Sansa a pretty one, and she is later kept on and tormented by Joffrey as a trophy. Robert has Bran show him his muscles, and Bran becomes a cripple. He asks Arya’s name, and later on she becomes No-One. Jon is behind a wall of Starks…” he said.
During a recent visit to Winterfell Festival in Castle Ward, Down, Mark Addy (King Robert Baratheon) was asked about this theory and he settled the issue once and for all.
“Well, erm, ha! I don’t think that was a conscious decision. That’s just the way it fell. That’s an interesting conspiracy theory though!” Addy said jokingly.
He adds: “You’ll have people thinking that King Robert was responsible. Oh blimey! I think that’s just the way it worked out though.”
After thinking that Robert had rubbed Bran’s head in the Winterfell courtyard, Addy then had to be reminded that it was in fact Rickon whose hair he touched.
Addy then said jokingly, “you could be right!” but in all honesty, that scene – and the theory that Robert appeared to ‘mark’ people for death – just happened by coincidence.
There you have it, another Game of Thrones theory debunked at the source, but there’s no denying that it did hold some weight.
In case you need reminding of that scene, here it is again.
JOE would like to thank Tourism Northern Ireland,  the Slieve Donard Hotel, and Winterfell Festival for their hospitality.Â
Video via Darth Kenobi
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