massawar asked you:I haven’t read the books so i dont know and ive always wondered this, can you explain if/how girls have birthrights to the throne? Meaning, could Joffrey’s younger sister ever take the Iron throne or could Arya/Sansa ever become Lord of Winterfell? Same with Khaleesi, does she even have a birthright to the throne, since shes a girl?
The inheritance laws of Westeros seem to be flexible, and people tend to do whatever their own region or family’s custom is. The standard in everywhere but Dorne is that all legitimate sons come first, by age, and then legitimate daughters. Myrcella would come after Joffrey and Tommen in the line of succession, even though she’s older than Tommen. She could inherit in her own right, should that opportunity arise. Dany could too- after Rhaegar and his family died, Viserys was next in line and then her. Sansa could inherit Winterfell as the Lady in her own right if Robb, Bran and Rickon all died without heirs.
People do have the right to choose their heirs as they want to though, without interference from the crown. For example, Tywin does not name Tyrion his heir even though he would be the heir by typical Westerosi custom.
Anonymous asked you:If Ned wanted Jon or any one of his sons besides Robb to become the next Lord of Winterfell, then he had the right to choose. Cat’s opinions dont matter at all, because she is not a true Stark. Ned could have chosen to overlook Robb and made any one of HIS children the next lord, because hes is the head of house stark.
Cat’s opinions matter in the sense that she is Ned’s wife and he respects her. I won’t even get into the true Stark business. Ned is the head and can choose his own heir, but custom does dictate a certain way of doing things in Winterfell. Ned is very into honor, so he wouldn’t go against the custom and expectation of his eldest son inheriting unless he had a huge reason for it, like Robb being a monstrous person.
newwavepolly asked you:I just wanted to add to your response about legitimized bastards and the line of succession: I think the close relationship between Robb and Jon added to Catelyn’s fears as well. Though she never tried to discourage the relationship, Jon being so close with the heir of Winterfell does put him in a position of power when Robb inherits it (ie [redacted]. The Stark children’s good relationship with Jon makes Jon a bigger threat.
Yes, that may be part of her concern as well. Jon growing up in the household created an unusual degree of closeness between legitimate and illegitimate offspring. Without spoiling, I think the good regard between Robb and Jon does affect Robb’s decision about something later on, so Cat would be right to factor that in.
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