This beautiful and, in a way, breathtaking (at least in my opinion) artwork has been in my mind in concept for at least a year, and has been beautifully brought to life by Liesl. I have always felt that there was an almost biblical element to Robb Starkβs arc and his betrayal, by Roose Bolton, Walder Frey, and most pointedly, Theon Greyjoy (though the latter was done with less malice, but then again, that is not a prerequisite to betrayal). Robb Stark is a young king with good intentions, wanting the best for his people, but whether from greed, a want for revenge, or a wish for belonging, he was killed. His murder in of itself was at the hands of Roose Bolton and Walder Freyβs men, but being that those men were not particularly close to Robb nor was the king fond of them, the impact of their betrayal comes mostly from the shock and gore of it all, as well as the disregard for the revered tradition of guest right. Roose Bolton and Walder Frey have a direct hand in Robb Starkβs death, but Theon Greyjoyβs betrayal of his self-proclaimed βbrotherβ has an indirect part in it too (it is to be noted, when I say betrayal, I do not mean to imply that Theon owes loyalty to the Starks, the family that took him from his home as a boy; I am not of the opinion he does, but Theon describes his own actions as betrayal, for personal loyalty to Robb). It is a matter of debate if Theon would have been able to return to Robb without being intercepted by his father if he had chosen to try and warn his friend that the Ironborn were preparing to launch an attack instead of allying with the North. What is not up for debate is that Theonβs capture of Winterfell weakened the North and its morale, bringing into question how they should move forward. On a more personal level, Theonβs claim of having murdered Robbβs younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, was devastating to the young king. The grief was what inadvertently led Robb to sleep with and ultimately marry Jeyne Westerling. While the Freys likely would have tried to betray Robb at some point, if Robb had followed their plan to marry a Frey girl, he would have probably lived for some time, at least to ensure a Frey/Stark heir. Theon does not have full responsibility for all these acts, but his betrayal certainly weakened Robb. Robb and Theon were close as Jesus and Judas were, despite the βkingsβ being warned or otherwise knowing better. Judas betraying Jesus is more impactful than if it had been another other apostle, just as, in my opinion, Theon betraying Robb is more impactful than Roose and Walder doing the same. On a more general note, while Robb did not die on a literal cross, I do not find it to be a coincidence that he died at a dinner. Robbβs story likely is purposefully inspired by biblical elements, along with being informed by various other historical figures, which I will elaborate on below.
With the iconography in my commission, my intention was for the piece to contain symbols that could pass as something you could find either in a Bible from times past or a Westerosi history book. Lieslβs art is beautiful and too polished, given modern methods, to pass for something found in a medieval manuscript, but it does look like it could be a descendent of such a thing. Medieval art is too archaic for my liking so I had purposefully set out with this compromise in mind, and Lieslβs art style was the closest to my vision. The weirwood is specific to Westeros and the in-world religion of Robb, but the halo is more biblical in nature. My intention was not to portray Robb as perfect or pure-intentioned, certainly not as selfless as the Christian depiction of Jesus. The iconography is meant to be more saintly in nature. Saint is not synonymous with perfect, anyone who knows an extensive amount about saints knows that there are saints canonized that werenβt particularly good people in their lifetime. My particular inspiration was Edward the Martyr, king of England (before Williamβs conquest). Edward died at the age of 16 under guest right. He was killed by a group of guards, his own people, on his stepmotherβs estate. His death, too, was described as Christ-like. Here is a quote from a recount of his death:
βThose magnates had agreed among themselves a wicked plot: they were possessed of so damnable an intention and so murky and diabolical a blindness, that they did not fear to lay hands on God's anointed. Armed men surrounded him on all sidesβ¦ The venerable king had with him very few soldiers, since he did not suspect anyone, trusting "in the Lord and in the might of His powerβ β it was just as the Jews once surrounded our Lordβ¦ They were seized by a single madness, an equal insanity ... The soldiers laid hold of him: one on his right-hand side drew him towards him, as if he wished to give him a kiss; another grabbed his left side firmly and gave him the death blow.β
Who does that sound like???
I love the idea of Robb as a figure similar to Edward the Martyr. He is a boy-king, and not particularly religious or impressive in feats (though Robb, having bested Tywin thus far in the story, is significantly ahead of Edward in terms of his military). Their death is tragic and they are exceptional, not for being great men, but for being innocent children thrust into a role and then martyred. Thus their stories turn to legends and they are seen as holy or saint-like in nature. Though Robb worshipped the Old Gods, due to his maternal familyβs legacy and beliefs, it is not all that far fetched he could have a cult dedicated to him or be revered by the Faith of the Seven later on in Westerosi history.
Concerning other symbolism, I will acknowledge that Robbβs youth is exaggerated here to drive home the point of him being little more than an innocent child. He has not grown his beard yet and he is dwarfed by his furs. His clothes are meant to intimidate, make him look regal and intimidating. But really, it makes him look like a kid. Theon is portrayed as an adult, five years Robbβs senior. He is not meant to be malicious and his love for Robb is not false. He still betrays him all the same, thatβs the tragedy of it. Robb knows he is king, knows he should keep a distance from Theon, many have told him. But yet he is informal here, having removed his glove so Theon can hold him. Robb is not relaxed, but that is not due to a lack of affection or some sort of stiffness around Theon, but rather to create an effect of a dead boy walking, rigor-mortis. Theonβs clothes arenβt meant to have any symbolism about him. I looked at all sorts of biblical art and depictions of the Kiss of Judas to decide what colors I wanted Theon to wear. I saw a lot of reds and whites, but I didnβt like that for Theon. I saw gold as well, but we didnβt want to default to House colors as that is overdone. The result was giving Theon the most luxurious clothes possible. Black was an expensive color and velvet an expensive fabric. His garb is more expensive and showy than the Kingβs himself. That is because Theon is exceptionally vain and Robb is not. Theon has all sorts of jewelry and even has pearls on his boots. Who does that???? Itβs so gaudy and impractical, I love it for Theon. The pearls will eventually fall off and he will have wasted a fortune, but Theon does not think about practicality like that. He is a guarded person decorating himself with bits and baubles to give himself some sort of purpose or comfort that is not there. He subconsciously wishes to trick people into thinking he is secure and has value, when he feels no sense of belonging anywhere. No wonder his father bullied him.
My endless thanks and gratitude to Liesl @shripscapi. I love your work and appreciate you. Everyone should follow her account and check out more of her art because it is beautiful. She is a joy to work with and very thorough and dedicated. She has been very flexible and patient with me in the months making this and my past commissions. I have had nothing but wonderful experiences with her, she is one of my favorite and most respected artists in this community. And thank you for anyone who has stuck here and read this, I obviously a passion for this sort of stuff. I love to ramble and this is my hyper-fixation so Iβm very excited about this.
girl who is desperately trying to suppress her illicit feelings: incest is bad and wrong
her younger sister: how could you say that??? *runs away crying*
big sister lying up in bed that night: does she, also like incest? l-like me? does that mean, im allowed to, love her like this?
little sister: *clutching bee plushie given by big sis, crying* how could she say that about bees and ants and flies and beetles and aphids and termites and mantises and moths and butterflies and dragonflies and-
Noel is always like βyeah I have no idea what I wrote that song about my head was completely empty in the writing room I just threw in whatever rhymed actually the song is about nothing at all itβs basically the absence of meaning if you think about itβ and you go to listen to the song and the lyrics are βI miss being in a council house and jerking off my 15 year old brother whoβs also my soulmate and is named Liam Gallagherβ
SAM: I donβt understand the blind faith you have in the man. I mean, itβs like you donβt even question him.
DEAN: Yeah, itβs called being a good son!Β
as a first time viewer i still can't recover with sam transformation of season 5 and later. he is so different for omg 10 fucking seasonssss so deeply traumatized he was tortured for a century he doesn't think he know better anymore he is almost a different person and it's NEVER NEVER EVER ACKNOWLEDGED PROPERLY NOT BY THE SHOW NOT EVEN BY THE FANDOM. aaaaaa it hurts so much sammy baby you WERE better then everyone in another universe you won it all
