Game Of Thrones: 10 Small Moments That Will Come Back In Big Ways

5. The Northerners Will Never Forget

Early on in the saga, the families of the North were generally acknowledged to be on the more virtuous end of the spectrum. Sure, there were a few human-flaying bad apples in the bunch, but the political corruption and backstabbing of much of the rest of Westeros (save perhaps Dorne) seemed almost entirely absent in the North. The Starks were the good guys, and the North was loyal. Honor reigned. As such, no region or family has as fundamentally suffered as the North. Winterfell was taken, besieged, sacked, and burned. The army was slaughtered at a wedding. The lord, lady, heir, and (seemingly) both spares were murdered. The girls are lost. The Boltons have arisen as the new power. All in all, it's not a great time to be from the North. As Tywin Lannister boasts to Tyrion of his role in the Red Wedding, for the Northerners to continue the resistance would be hopeless to the extreme. Tyrion, having spent more time among the Starks and their subjects than his father, has a more ominous outlook. "The Northerners will never forget," he warns, and chills run down the spines of viewers everywhere. Why It Matters: The Northerners are so loyal to the Starks that they marched to war upon Ned's arrest, and then crowned Robb upon Ned's execution. They followed their untested young king against great odds and would not abandon him even after the ultimately catastrophic breaking of the marriage pact. With the exceptions of the opportunistic Boltons and the grieving Karstarks, the Northerners would have followed the Starks anywhere. Ned is not forgotten, and even the deranged Ramsay Bolton understands that his father's control over the region will never be secure so long as either of the Stark boys survives. The Northerners live in a different climate, worship different gods, adhere to different principles, subscribe to different philosophies toward loyalty...and the Northerners will never forget. Basically? Despite the losses at the Red Wedding and the scattering of the surviving Starks, the loyalists of the North aren't done resisting by a long shot. Winter is coming.