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Harald Karstark is a recurring character in the sixth season. He is played by Paul Rattray.[1] After the deaths of his brothers in battle and the execution of his father, Lord Rickard Karstark, by Robb Stark, Harald is the new head of House Karstark and Lord of Karhold. He is described as ruthless and calculating.

Biography

Background

Harald is the son of Rickard Karstark and younger brother of Harrion and Torrhen Karstark. Following the deaths of his brothers in battle and his father's execution at the hands of Robb Stark for treason, Harald becomes the new head of House Karstark and forsakes his allegiance to Robb, leading the Karstarks back to Karhold.

Season 6

Harald appears before Lord Roose Bolton and Roose's son Ramsay Bolton at Winterfell, reporting that his men had found the remains of the Bolton hunting party that was sent to track down Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy. Harald counsels Roose that, despite being a bastard, Jon Snow, as Ned Stark's last surviving son, presents a threat to the Boltons' rule of The North but reiterates his house's loyalty to House Bolton, saying that he will not follow a Stark due to Robb Stark's execution of Lord Rickard Karstark. When Ramsay murders his own father, Harald shows no surprise, makes no attempt to intervene, and even chastises the Bolton's Maester, Wolkan, for failing to address Ramsay as "Lord." [2]

Appearances

Template:Season Six Appearances

Family tree

Template:House Karstark family tree

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, there is no "Harald Karstark" - the TV character is apparently a condensation of different Karstark characters from the books.

In the novels, Lord Rickard Karstark had three sons: his eldest son and heir Harrion was captured after the Battle of Duskendale, while his other two sons Torrhen and Eddard were killed in the war. Rickard also has a daughter named Alys. The TV series changed this around somewhat: instead of Torrhen and Eddard dying, it is stated - by name - that "Harrion" and "Torrhen" died, and no mention is made of Eddard Karstark - possibly to avoid the confusion of introducing another character named "Eddard" after Eddard Stark (Martin intentionally re-used first names for several characters because he thought it would be contrived if no one had the same name in an entire continent).

After Robb Stark executes Lord Rickard in the novels, the Karstark forces abandon him and return back to the North - and because Harrion is still a Lannister prisoner, Rickard's uncle Arnolf becomes acting head of House Karstark. Because the Karstark army did not remain in the south, it was not present at the Red Wedding to be destroyed along with the rest of the Northern army. This makes the Karstarks politically important in the post-Red Wedding North, as they are the only major Northern House (other than the Boltons) with their standing army still relatively intact - thus the Lannisters want to ensure that they maintain political leverage over them. Even after the Red Wedding, therefore, Rickard's surviving son and heir Harrion continues to be kept prisoner by the Lannisters - a tacit arrangement with Arnolf, who is much more willing to have House Karstark tolerate Bolton rule over the North when his new status as leader of his family is dependent on the Lannisters not releasing his great-nephew from captivity.

Arnolf is introduced in the fifth novel. He is not a lord but the castellan of Karhold, though he's referred to as "Lord Arnolf" as a courtesy - similarly to how Varys or Tyrion Lannister are addressed as "Lord" despite not holding any lordships. He is described as thin and twisted, one of his shoulders is much higher than the other. His eyes are grey and greedy, his teeth yellow, his forked beard a tangle of snow and silver. Only a few wisps of white hair still cling to his spotted skull. He wears a cloak of grey wool trimmed with black sable and fastened at the shoulder with a starburst wrought in beaten silver. According to Jon, Arnolf has never been, even in his youth, the fighter Rickard was. Theon, who saw Arnolf briefly at Dreadfort, considers him as "a poor excuse for a man".

Due to the actor's young age, "Harald Karstark" in the TV version seems to be a condensation of Arnolf and Harrion from the books: Arnolf's status as the new ruler of House Karstark who is more willing to tolerate Bolton rule, and Harrion's status as Rickard's surviving son.

In the books, Harrion was taken captive by the Lannisters in the Battle of Duskendale. He was imprisoned in Maidenpool, but it has been almost a year since his surviving kin received news about it, and it is uncertain if he is still alive. It is unknown if in the books he was still loyal to the Starks after his father's execution: Robb was certain that would turn Harrion against him, because "the North remembers", even though the execution would make Harrion the lord of Karhold. Indeed, the show character Harald reacts the way Robb predicted Harrion woild.

The books reveal how Harrion's sister Alys, also disinherited by Arnolf's new rule, feels about Robb for killing her father: she resents him, stating "I thought the whole reason they marched south was to kill some Lannisters". She knows for what crime her father was executed, but it does not make a difference for her. But, since Jon belongs to the Night's Watch, there is no blood feud between them, and she asks his help to save her from her great-uncle, who plots to force her to marry his son so that he can claim Karhold legally.

The TV version may be the only one of Rickard's three sons still alive (like Harrion in the novels). Like book-Alys and particularly book-Arnolf, he might be unwilling to forgive the Starks for his father's death - explaining why trailers show him riding with the Boltons (thus saving the screentime it would have taken to introduce the internal politics of House Karstark from the book version).

See also

References

  1. Watchers on the Wall - A new Karstark cast for Game of Thrones season 6
  2. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named E52

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