5. Catelyn Stark - Game Of Thrones
I have a lot of issues with George R.R. Martin's series. I read the first book because it was recommended to me by friends. I am now nearing the end of the third book and have watched one and a half seasons of the show so far. I do know what happens at the Red Wedding because I stumbled across the ending of the third book while looking for a guide to the Greyjoy house at the end of the book. (That's not an excuse for "I read ahead." I legitimately flipped to the section where George usually puts the guide to the different houses and found a reference to what had happened.) So, here's my issue with the series. I am a huge
The Lord of the Rings fan and I feel as though Martin is LOTR rewritten for a
Jersey Shore generation. Yes, there is magic and power struggle and quests, but it's accompanied by lots of sex metaphors and people getting gang-raped for no good reason. As someone who swoons over the courtly love between Eowyn and Faramir and who thrills at Aragorn's transformation from Ranger to King of Gondor, I take issue with that. But let's talk about the women of Westeros. I flat-out hate Cersei. I can't stand Shae. My girls in
Game of Thrones are the ever-developing Danaerys and Catelyn Stark of House Tully. (I won't go into my opinions on Arya and Sansa, since that's a commentary that would probably double the length of this article.) Danaerys started out as a 14-year-old sex puppet who takes her cues and her wisdom from her pissy little brat of an older brother, but she becomes the Mother of Dragons who commands the respect of armies and leads her own
khalasar. It can't be denied that the girl has daddy issues that come out particularly well in her dealings with her brother and her friend-zoned champion Ser Jorah, but she grows up a lot in a very short amount of time and handles it with relative grace. Now that you know I don't hate
everyone and
everything about the series and the women involved, I'll tell you sincerely that Catelyn Stark is the character that kept me reading at first. I would tolerate the chapters between her appearances and perk up whenever we got back to her storyline. This is the woman who manages to stand out even in the shadow of Eddard Stark. You can tell that they take turns being told that they married up. They are both honorable, both loyal, both intelligent. They have children with strong values who sometimes disobey them, as happens to even the best of parents. When her second-youngest son is pushed from one of the towers of the castle, she keeps vigil at his side night and day. This extends to the moment when a fire breaks out and she stays to protect her son while everyone else is running to safety. As this action foils a second assassination attempt, she was wise to stay. The first book shows her unflagging need for justice. The next books show her as the woman behind the throne of the King of the North. She was not able to save her husband from murder, but when her son seeks justice from the Lannisters, she is there as a counselor and a mother. She gives him the respect that she would any king, but is able to change her demeanor when the 16-year-old king needs comfort. Catelyn Stark holds my love because she is a mother and a wife who stands as a moral and valiant equal to some and a moral superior to many others of her time. Her son's army captures the uncle/father of the adolescent king and rather than take an eye for an eye, she sends him to King's Landing to ransom her daughters. At the Red Wedding, she shows a little self-preservation, but desperately tries to save her son. Let's leave it at this: Catelyn Stark is the kind of ballsy, gutsy women who I would like to be.