In A Song of Ice and Fire and Game of Thrones,
the Stark family've ruled the north for thousands of years – as Kings of Winter , then as
Wardens of the North after Aegon came. Things change in the first book and season
of Thrones, when the Lord of Winterfell Ned Stark is imprisoned and executed by King Joffrey. Ned’s son Robb marches south with an army,
and the north secedes from the Seven Kingdoms, declaring Robb King in the North and the riverlands
– the first Stark King in three hundred years. But this doesn't last long. Winterfell is captured by Theon Greyjoy , then
burned by Ramsay Snow , and the Stark kids scatter. Robb's campaign falters, and he's killed at
the Red Wedding by the Boltons and the Freys – Roose Bolton is made Warden of the North
. So for the first time in thousands of years, the north is no longer ruled by a Stark. Is this the end for the Kings of Winter? Or does the north remember? In Season 6 of the Game of Thrones show, the
Starks make a quick comeback. Jon and Sansa take Winterfell from the Boltons,
Jon is named King, and the north is again ruled by a Stark – or a Snow. Or a Targaryen – or a Sand, depending on
who’s keeping score – but the point is, in the books, none of this has happened. By Dance’s end, Jon’s still dead, Sansa's
still in the Vale, Arya’s still in Braavos, Bran’s still a tree, Rickon’s apparently
on the island of Skagos, and Stannis Baratheon is still alive, with his army, marching against
the Boltons in Winterfell. While Stannis has some of the north on his
side, most houses officially support the Boltons and their allies the Freys . But unlike the
straightforward story of the show, the books lay out a massively complex political situation
in the north, with dozens of important players, each with their own motivations, ambitions,
loyalties, secrets, loves and hates and hopes. Fans have written hundreds of thousands of
words of analysis and theories and predictions on this, many claiming that that most of the
northern houses are secretly plotting to usurp the Boltons and restore a Stark to Winterfell
– this idea’s called the Grand Northern Conspiracy. The lords of the north have a lot of good
reasons to support the Starks over the Boltons. The Starks have ruled the north for thousands
of years, and people seem to think that they’ve done a good job . Historically they’ve defended
the north from raiders, slavers, Andals, wargs and wildlings, and it supposedly was a Stark
who built the Wall to protect the north from white walkers. More recently, Ned Stark in particular was
renowned for his sense of honour and justice, winning great respect and loyalty from many
people in the north . Barbrey Dustin says “the northmen … love the Starks”. But the Boltons – not so much . The Boltons
are infamous for flaying their enemies and wearing their skins as cloaks . Their Lord
Roose is cruel, cold and creepy, known for his habit of leeching , and his son Ramsay
is a straight-up psycho, a murderous “beast in human skin” who hunts and rapes women
for sport . The Boltons commit terrible crimes against the north in order to take control
– Ramsay betrays and kills northmen at Winterfell , and kills the Lady of Hornwood. Roose sends northern armies to a suicide mission
at Duskendale. And at the Red Wedding, the Boltons betray
King Robb, participating in the breaking of guest right, and the slaughter of hundreds
of northmen. “Every lord at Winterfell lost” family
at the Red Wedding – and “the north remembers”. So the northern lords have plenty of motivation
to oppose the Boltons and restore the Starks to power. What evidence is there of a conspiracy? We know for a fact that Lord Wyman of House
Manderly is plotting against the Boltons and Freys. He pretends to be on their side, but in Dance,
he secretly meets with Davos Seaworth and gives an awesome speech about “the debt”
the Manderlys owe to the Starks , and about the “murder” of Wyman’s son Wendel at
the Red Wedding . He says “The north remembers, and the mummer’s farce is almost done”. Wyman reveals that with the help of an ironborn
boy called Wex, Wyman’s learned the truth of the sack of Winterfell – that it wasn’t
Theon Greyjoy, but Ramsay Bolton who burned the castle and killed its people, and that
Bran and Rickon Stark weren’t killed by Theon, but are still alive. Apparently Rickon is on Skagos, an island
up near the Wall. Wyman tells Davos to go there and fetch Rickon,
so that the north can rally around the young Stark and oppose the Boltons. If Davos does this, Wyman says, he’ll accept
Stannis as his King – with Rickon Stark as Lord of Winterfell – that seems to be
the plan. So Manderly is plotting against the Boltons,
and other houses are in on it too. Robett Glover is at the meeting with Davos,
and he may be in touch with his brother Lord Galbart – there are even hints Robett may
raise an army . Wyman says Houses Locke and Flint of Widow’s Watch follow his lead , and
we do see someone from House Locke speak up against Ramsay . So it seems Houses Locke,
Flint and Glover are – at least to some extent – a part of Manderly’s conspiracy. It’s also possible that House Umber is involved. The Umbers appear to be split down the middle
– half of them, under “Crowfood” Umber, side with Stannis, while the other half, under
“Whoresbane” Umber, side with the Boltons . But it’s made clear that Whoresbane isn’t
really loyal to Roose – he only joins the Boltons cause the Freys hold his nephew the
Greatjon captive . Roose says the Umbers are “cunning” and that he fears them and he
probably should – cause back in Clash, the Umbers are ordered to work with the Manderlys
to build a fleet of warships and in Dance, we see the fleet complete – “hidden”
up the White Knife river. So given that we know the Umbers have been
working on a secret fleet with the Manderlys, and that they’re not really loyal to the
Boltons, it seems very plausible that the Umbers are in on Wyman’s conspiracy. There’s further evidence for this in the
Dance chapters in Winterfell, where all the Boltons and Freys and their supposed northern
allies are cooped up together in the castle, with snowstorms and Stannis coming outside,
while tensions slowly rise. There’s this one bit where it’s mentioned
that someone makes snowmen shaped like four particular northern lords – Wyman Manderly,
Whoresbane Umber, Harwood Stout, and Barbrey Dustin . There’s pretty strong evidence
that these four snowmen represent a conspiracy in Winterfell. At one point we see Harwood Stout, who’s
the sworn man of Barbrey Dustin, talking quietly with Whoresbane Umber, who we know has been
working with Wyman. After this conversation, Barbrey becomes strangely
interested in the Winterfell crypts, and gets Theon to take her down there . The crypts
are the ancient resting place of dead Starks, each represented by a statue holding a sword. Barbrey notices that three of these swords
are missing . The significance of this is that these three missing swords are the swords
taken by Osha, Meera and Bran when they escape Winterfell . These three missing swords prove
Wex’s story that Bran and Rickon are alive, and that the Boltons lie about the sack of
Winterfell. The fact that Barbrey searches the crypts
in the first place suggests that she heard Wex’s story from Wyman – possibly through
the conversation that Harwood has with Whoresbane. Further, we know from White Harbor that Wyman
uses long visits to the privy to disguise secret meetings, and it’s hinted he continues
to do this at Winterfell. So the evidence is strong that Wyman, Harwood,
Barbrey and Whoresbane are conspiring in Winterfell – discussing Wex’s story about Bran and
Rickon, and Manderly’s plans to restore House Stark. After Barbrey visits the crypts, she speaks
out boldly to the Freys about the people killed at the Red Wedding. She parts her lips “in a thin, feral smile”
and says “The north remembers”. So that’s one part of the Grand Northern
Conspiracy – Wyman Manderly, Robett Glover, Whoresbane Umber, and Barbrey Dustin, along
with the Lockes and Flints, appear to be plotting to betray the Boltons and make Rickon Stark
Lord of Winterfell. But there’s whole other part to the conspiracy,
which takes place to the south, with its roots in events of the past. In the second book, Robb Stark says that if
he dies, he wants Jon Snow to follow him as King in the North . At this point, Sansa is
married to Tyrion Lannister, and Robb believes Arya, Bran and Rickon to be dead . So he decides
that the best course of action is to legitimise Jon as a Stark , and have him follow Robb
as King if he dies. Later that chapter, Robb meets with some of
his lords and gets them to sign a document to declare Jon his heir . Now that Robb is
dead, the question is – who knows about this will, and what plans might be underway
to carry it out and make Jon King? The people who were present at the signing
of the will include Catelyn Stark, Edmure Tully, Greatjon Umber, Jason Mallister, Maege
Mormont, and Galbart Glover. The Greatjon and Jason are both prisoners
, so they probably can’t do much, but Maege and Galbart are sent on a mission to Howland
Reed in the Neck – and it seems as though they do arrive, cause the crannogmen follow
up on some orders Robb gives about Moat Cailin . So Maege and Galbart seem to be with Howland
in the Neck, and this offers a lot of opportunities for scheming, cause not only are Maege and
Galbart some of the only people in Westeros who know that Jon Snow is the rightful King
in the North, but Howland Reed is the only living survivor of the fight at the Tower
of Joy years ago, where it was discovered that Jon is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar
Targaryen – potentially giving Jon a claim on the Iron Throne of all Westeros. That is a lot of super-important information
in one place, and there’re some hints that this information is being put into action. This involves another witness to Robb’s
will – Catelyn Stark. Catelyn dies at the Red Wedding, but in the
books, she’s resurrected by Beric Dondarrion and becomes Lady Stoneheart , a terrible vengeful
spirit who leads the brotherhood without banners down a dark and murderous path , killing everyone
even remotely connected to the Red Wedding. But Stoneheart’s not just a brutal killer,
there’s definite method to her murder. During the siege of Riverrun, a singer called
Tom of Sevenstreams spies for the brotherhood in the Lannister-Frey camp – he lets the
brotherhood know when certain Freys are travelling the riverlands, so that Lady Stoneheart can
capture and kill them. Tom may also hear about the transport of Lannister
prisoners, and an upcoming Lannister wedding – some fans speculate that the brotherhood
and some riverlords will free the prisoners, and crash the wedding, to massacre Freys and
Lannisters in a Red Wedding 2.0. But Stoneheart’s activities also connect
back to Robb’s will. Cause in Feast, Stoneheart travels in or near
Hag’s Mire, the place where Robb’s will is signed, then heads up into the Neck – the
same place Howland, Maege and Galbart seem to be. It seems likely that Stoneheart is involved
in a plot with these guys over Robb’s will, cause she’s not only a witness to the will,
like Maege and Galbart, but Stoneheart also has Robb’s old crown . So the power to crown
the next King in the North is in her hands. Which does raise an issue – Stoneheart might
not want to crown Jon King, because at least in life, Catelyn really doesn’t like Jon
– as a bastard son of Ned, Jon represents Ned’s infidelity to Cat . But it just so
happens that Howland Reed is the one person in the world who can tell Catelyn that Jon
isn’t really Ned’s bastard – that he’s Lyanna’s son, by Rhaegar Targaryen. Ned claimed Jon was his in order to protect
him . So Stoneheart is a bit of an angry murder zombie at the moment, and might not listen. But if Howland can change Stoneheart’s mind
about Jon, she may be happy to join in on a conspiracy to crown Jon King in the North. Lem says that Stoneheart doesn’t speak,
because her throat is cut too deep – but, he says, “she remembers” .
Another witness to Robb’s will is Edmure Tully. He’s a prisoner of the Freys at Riverrun,
but he meets with some important people. In one chapter, Jaime leaves him alone with
Tom o’ Sevens , the brotherhood spy – so it’s possible Ed shares information with
the brotherhood and Stoneheart. Later, Jaime lets Edmure enter Riverrun to
end the siege, which presents a golden opportunity to conspire with the Tully men, including
his uncle Brynden Blackfish. Brynden is loyal to House Stark , and Jaime
says he doesn’t doubt he’ll continue the fight . In the show, Brynden dies in Riverrun,
but in the books, Edmure helps him escape – so now, Brynden’s out there, somewhere,
determined to fight for House Stark – and since he speaks with his nephew Ed, he may
know about Robb’s will, and the possible plot to crown Jon Snow. Another couple of men who leave Riverrun include
Desmond Grell and Robin Ryger, the Tully master-at-arms and captain of guard . These guys choose to
join the Night’s Watch at the Wall – where Jon happens to be. Fans speculate that these trusted Tully men
may have been sent by Edmure in order to contact Jon – maybe to tell him about the conspiracy
to crown him as the heir to Robb. So this riverlands stuff is less certain than
the Manderly conspiracy. There’s no direct evidence that any of these
guys are plotting over Robb Stark’s will. But it is at least very suspicious that Maege
and Galbart – witnesses to Robb’s will – and Stoneheart – who has Robb’s crown
– go to the Neck, where Howland lives, the one guy who knows the truth of Jon’s birth. The stuff with Edmure, Brynden, Desmond and
Robin might not be related – but it is plausible that these guys are also somehow involved
in a conspiracy to crown Jon Snow. Okay, so we got the Manderly conspiracy around
Winterfell to betray the Boltons and support Rickon Stark, and a possible conspiracy in
the Neck to crown Jon Snow as Robb’s heir to the north. There’s also possibly some plotting going
on within the army that Stannis is marching on Winterfell. Part of Stannis’ army is made up of the
men he brought up from the south, but most of them are northmen – including the mountain
clansmen, some Mormonts, Glovers , and others . And the northmen don’t like Stannis – he’s
a stranger to the north, and worships a foreign god . The real reason they march in his army
is to kill Boltons and rescue Arya Stark – in the books, Ramsay marries a girl who the Boltons
say is Arya Stark, but is actually a girl called Jeyne Poole. The real Arya is still over in Braavos, but
the north doesn’t know that. Far as they’re concerned, Ned Stark’s
little girl is the clutches of Bolton’s bastard, and they’re willing to die to rescue
her. These guys are passionately loyal to House
Stark. So is it possible that they’re involved
in these conspiracies to install Rickon, or crown Jon? The best hint we’ve got is that two leaders
of the mountain clansmen, the Norrey and the Flint, come and visit Jon at the Wall, and
Jon himself thinks they must have some special reason to be there . Fans suggest that these
clansmen know about Robb’s will, and come to the Wall to judge if Jon could be a worthy
King in the North. Jon discusses his plans for the wildlings
with the clansmen, and tells them he may seem a green boy in their eyes, but he is still
a son of Eddard Stark – which may be exactly what the clansmen wanna hear. But if the clansmen are in on the plot to
crown Jon, how are they in contact with the folks in the Neck who know about the will? One possibility is that they’re in touch
with Maege Mormont through her daughter Alysane, who’s on the march with Stannis. Maege’s other daughter Lyanna is the kid
who writes that that awesome letter , and that speech in the show. Alternatively, the clansmen might be in touch
with Galbart Glover, maybe through his sister-in-law Sybelle, who’s been spending a suspiciously
large amount of time praying in the godswood – which is something Sansa does in Clash
to receive secret messages . So the clansmen might possibly know about Robb’s will. But there is another complication in that
the clansmen know Bran Stark is alive – they see him travelling north to the Wall , and
a clansman from House Liddle even meets Bran . This is important information because Bran
is King Robb’s oldest living brother – his heir if it weren’t for the will, which only
skips Bran for Jon cause Robb thought Bran is dead. It’s very telling that the clansmen don’t
tell Stannis about Bran – whatever their intentions, they’re clearly keeping secrets. So while there’s no clear evidence of any
conspiracy among the northmen in Stannis’ army, there are some possible connections,
and at the least, the northmen are clearly more loyal to Stark than they are to Stannis. There are a few other northern houses to talk
about – House Karstark is an interesting one. Arnolf Karstark joins with Stannis, but secretly
plans to betray him for the Boltons. Part of his scheme is to forcibly marry the
heir to Karhold, Alys Karstark, to his son Cregan, so he can be Lord of Karhold. But Alys escapes, and the person she turns
to for protection and justice is none other than Jon Snow – she comes all the way north
to the Wall, and begs him for help, Leias him as her “only hope” as “the last
son of Eddard Stark”. There’s no evidence Alys knows about any
conspiracy, but her attitude to Jon does support the idea that the people of the north see
Jon as the inheritor of Ned Stark’s legacy, and a legitimate leader in the north. Anyway, in a sample chapter of Winds, Stannis
finds out about Arnolf’s deception, and locks up his men – so the Karstarks are
out of action for now. There’s also House Hornwood. After the deaths of Lord Halys and Daryn,
Donella becomes Lady of the Hornwood, but Ramsay forcibly marries and kills her, starving
her in a dungeon til she chews her own fingers off . Ramsay now calls himself Lord of the
Hornwood , and some Hornwood men have submitted to him, joining the Bolton army . But as Barbrey
Dustin points out, the Hornwoods haven’t forgotten what Ramsay did to Donella . There’s
no evidence of Hornwoods involved in any conspiracy, but it’s fair to say they’re not real
loyal to the Boltons. The Cerwyns and Tallharts are similar. We don’t know all that much about them,
but we do know that Roose sends Cerwyn and Tallhart men into a suicide mission to Duskendale,
and that at the sack of Winterfell, Ramsay betrays and kills Lord Cley Cerwyn and Leobald
Tallhart . Some survivors of this battle end up joining Stannis’ army , which could be
a really big deal – these men could spread the word of Ramsay’s crimes and betrayal
at Winterfell, which most of the north still believes were committed by Theon. So while we don’t know of any Cerwyn or
Tallhart involvement in any conspiracy, but the houses are, in Roose Bolton’s words,
“not to be relied on” . Really the only big northern house that probably is loyal
to House Bolton is House Ryswell. The Ryswells are tied to the Boltons by marriage,
and we see Ryswell leaders working closely with Boltons and Freys . The Ryswells did
lose men at the Red Wedding – but there are no particular hints that they’re disloyal
to the Boltons. So in the words of Roose Bolton, northern
politics in Dance is a “world of treachery and deceit” . People siding with the Boltons
aren’t really loyal to the Boltons, people siding with Stannis aren’t really loyal
to Stannis – most folks seem to want a Stark in Winterfell. But is there a Grand Northern Conspiracy? We do know Wyman Manderly is plotting to install
Rickon Stark – Robett Glover, the Flints and Lockes are in on it, and probably so are
the snow-men in Winterfell, Whoresbane and Barbrey. To the south, there’s a probable plot over
Robb’s will to crown Jon, involving Maege and Galbart and Howland, who’re connected
to Stoneheart, and Tom, and Edmure, and Brynden and the Riverrun guys. It’s also kinda possible that the mountain
clans, Alysane Mormont or Sybelle Glover are involved, themselves connected to Jon. Are all these people working together in unison,
secretly scheming to play Stannis and Roose against each other, to get vengeance on the
Boltons and Freys, and finally, to return a Stark to Winterfell, in a truly Grand Northern
Conspiracy? Are all these people connected? …Maybe. But probably not. Few reasons why – firstly, they don’t
have phones in Westeros. So it’s really hard to communicate secretly. There are messenger ravens, but we’re told
a bunch of times that it’s a bad idea to trust a secret to a bird – they can be intercepted,
or lost, and besides, letters are generally read and written by maesters, who themselves
aren’t trusted – Barbrey and Wyman specifically both question maesters. So communication’s hard. And secondly, the bigger a conspiracy is,
the less likely it is to stay secret – that’s true in the real world and in Westeros, and
we got a Westerosi example in the Karstark treachery. As far as we know, only a few Karstark men
know about Arnolf’s plan to betray Stannis, and yet, thanks to Alys, the truth gets out. Stannis himself makes a point that you can’t
keep secrets among lots and lots of people . Big grand conspiracies just aren’t that
plausible. It really looks like there are multiple different
separate plans at work here. Manderly wants to make Rickon Lord of Winterfell,
recognising Stannis as King, while Maege and Galbart presumably want to make Jon Snow King. People like Stoneheart and the mountain clansmen
have their own priorities – these seem like separate plots. So the evidence doesn’t support the idea
of one big cohesive Grand Northern Conspiracy. What it does support are several medium-sized
loosely overlapping plots in the north and riverlands. Which doesn’t have as much of a ring to
it – but still, ultimately, conclusively, yes – there are conspiracies at work in
the north. The north remembers millennia of just Stark
rule. The north remembers Bolton crimes at the Red
Wedding, and Winterfell and Hornwood. The Manderlys remember. The riverlands remember. The Neck remembers. Winterfell remembers. The clansmen remember. And by one plot or another, the Starks will
rule the north again. Thanks for watching. There are lots more complications that we
didn’t cover here – like the role of Sansa and Littlefinger , the Skagosi , Mance Rayder
and the wildlings, the pink letter and the hooded man, the location of the document signed
as Robb’s will, and of course, the white walkers and the army of the dead – will
there even be a north left to rule? We’ll talk about some of this stuff in future
videos. Thank you to the Game of Thrones fan experts
who helped with this video script, including Lady Gwyn and yolkboy of Radio Westeros, and
Nina Friel of the Good Queen Alysanne Tumblr – links are below. The Grand Northern Conspiracy is an idea that
hundreds of fans have contributed to over the years – in particular you might like
to check out the essays by Yeade and Bran Vras and cantuse. Thanks also to artists Amok and Zippo514 and
Ertaç Altınöz for permission to use their work – lots of links in the description. Finally, thank you to the Patrons supporting
Alt Shift X. This video truly would not exist without your
support, thank you for your patience on this one, it was a long time coming. We’ll be holding a vote soon on the topic
of the next big video, so make sure to make your voice heard. Again, thank you all – and cya next time.
