Mordane

Mordane
Biographical information
Died	298 AC in King's Landing Beheaded on the orders of Joffrey I Baratheon
Political information
Affiliation(s)	Faith of the Seven House Stark
Title(s)	Septa
Personal information
Culture	Andal
Religion	Faith of the Seven
World of Westeros
Series	Game of Thrones
Season(s)	1
Appeared in	7 episodes (see below)
First seen in	"Winter Is Coming"
Last seen in	"Fire and Blood" (severed head)
Portrayed by	Susan Brown

Sansa Stark: "Where are you from anyway? The North or the South?"

Septa Mordane: "I come from a very small village in a..."

Sansa Stark: "Oh, wait. I just realized... I don't care."

— Sansa Stark displaying her newly acquired rudeness.

Septa Mordane was the septa at Winterfell and tutor to the daughters of House Stark.

Biography

Background

Mordane tutoring a young Sansa.

Mordane is a septa, a woman taking holy vows of devotion and chastity, of the Faith of the Seven. She serves at the sept in Winterfell. Her secondary duties involve tutoring Sansa and Arya Stark in needlework, embroidery, singing, morals, and other ladylike duties.

Game of Thrones: Season 1

Septa Mordane complimenting Sansa's needlework.

Septa Mordane tutors Arya and Sansa in needlework. She compliments Sansa on the skill of her work, but doesn't remark on Arya's grudging efforts. Mordane accompanies Arya and Sansa to King's Landing and dines with them. She is present at the meal when Arya threatens to kill Joffrey Baratheon for his actions on the Kingsroad and reports this to her father. When Sansa is disdainful of the doll which Eddard Stark gives her and asks to be excused, it is to Septa Mordane that he says, "War was easier than daughters." Mordane shows Sansa the throne room as part of Sansa's tutoring on the history of the Seven Kingdoms. Sansa is concerned over what will happen if she has no sons, only daughters, a concern that Mordane dismisses as highly unlikely.

Mordane accompanies Arya and Sansa to the Hand's tournament and is present when Littlefinger explains the background of his nickname to Arya. Mordane chaperones Sansa when Joffrey meets her to apologize for his behavior on the Kingsroad. She appears to be less approving of Joffrey than she once was, but Sansa doesn't notice. Sansa is rude to Septa Mordane when she asked the septa of her origins (likely due to Cersei's example being a bad influence).

Mordane faces the Lannister soldiers.

After the failed attempt by Sansa's father to remove Joffrey from the Iron Throne following King Robert's death, Mordane hears combat in the courtyard at the Red Keep. Fearing the worst, she orders Sansa to run to her room and bar the door to anyone she does not know. After Sansa leaves, Mordane is confronted by several Lannister soldiers.

Mordane's head on Traitors' Walk.

After the North rises in rebellion, Joffrey takes Sansa to the Traitors' Walk and forces her to gaze at the head of her father and those of her household on spikes. He also reveals to Sansa's horror that he needlessly had Mordane beheaded, and her head placed on a spike next to that of her father.

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Septa Mordane is a loyal servant of House Stark, despite the fact that most of the family worships the old gods rather than the Seven. She finds Sansa to be a willing, able and promising student. She despairs at the tomboyish Arya, who'd rather be running around the castle and playing with swords. Arya hates to do needlework and when she runs off to watch sword practice, she returns to her room to find Septa Mordane and her mother waiting to have words with her. Despite this rebellion, she is fond and fiercely protective of both of her charges.

She travels to King's Landing with Eddard Stark and his daughters. Arya is angry when she hears Septa Mordane praising Princess Myrcella's needlework even though it's not much better than Arya's own, which is always found wanting.

Septa Mordane goes to the Hand's tourney with Sansa and Jeyne Poole and must leave when Jeyne gets distraught witnessing the death of Ser Hugh of the Vale, pierced in the neck by a splinter of a jousting lance directly in front of them. She leads Jeyne away. Later the Septa chaperones Sansa to the post tourney feast where Joffrey encourages them both to drink wine. When Sansa is ready to go she realizes that Septa Mordane is lying face down on the table asleep and accepts Joffrey's offer of an escort, but Joffrey then tells the Hound to do it and leaves them.

Sansa is not with Septa Mordane when the attack on Eddard Stark's people takes place in the book. Sansa went to Cersei to plead for her to talk to Eddard after he told Sansa that she and Arya were going to be taken out of the Keep by Stark men and taken to the docks to board a ship for Winterfell. Sansa is so distraught over leaving King's Landing and the breaking of her betrothal to Joffrey, she doesn't know she is betraying her father and putting them all in peril. Cersei promises to help, but then has Sansa escorted to a tower room and locked in under guard. Later Jeyne Poole is pushed into the room and they are both kept there for three days with no idea of what is occurring, other than the little that Jeyne saw of Stark men being killed.

Sansa is shown Septa Mordane's unrecognizable head on a spike by Joffrey, he takes her to see her father's head up on the walls, where Sansa asks why she was killed as she was god sworn. Joffrey then replies, claiming that she was executed because she was a traitor.

Gallery

Mordane with Sansa and Arya Stark as they are approached by Petyr Baelish at the Tourney of the Hand.

The spectators cheer for Ser Loras Tyrell at the Tourney of the Hand.

Sitting with Lord Stark and Sansa

Appearances

• – Pilot (unreleased) (non-canonical appearance)
• – "Winter Is Coming"
• – "Lord Snow"
• – "Cripples, Bastards, and Broken Things"
• – "The Wolf and the Lion"
• – "A Golden Crown"
• – "The Pointy End"
• – "Fire and Blood" (appeared as a corpse)
• – "Greyjoy Rebellion - Robb Stark" (illustrated)
• – "Beyond the Wall" (mentioned)

External links

• Mordane on A Wiki of Ice and Fire