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| Rickon Stark | |
|---|---|
| A Song of Ice and Firecharacter Game of Thrones character | |
 Art Parkinson as Rickon Stark | |
| First appearance |
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| Last appearance |
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| Created by | George R. R. Martin |
| Adapted by | D.B. Weiss &David Benioff (Game of Thrones) |
| Portrayed by | Art Parkinson |
| In-universe information | |
| Gender | Male |
| Title | Prince of Winterfell |
| Family | House Stark |
| Relatives |
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| Origin | Winterfell, The North |
Rickon Stark is a fictional character in theA Song of Ice and Fire series ofepic fantasy novels by American authorGeorge R. R. Martin, and its television adaptationGame of Thrones where he is portrayed by Irish actorArt Parkinson.[1] Introduced in 1996'sA Game of Thrones, Rickon subsequently appears in Martin'sA Clash of Kings (1998), and will appear in the upcomingThe Winds of Winter.
Rickon is the fifth and youngest child ofEddard "Ned" Stark and his wifeCatelyn, and has five siblings —Robb,Sansa,Arya,Bran, and his illegitimate half-brotherJon Snow. Like his brothers and sisters, Rickon is constantly accompanied by hisdirewolf, Shaggydog, with whom he shares a strong connection. Martin describes Rickon as favoring his mother in appearance.[2] He is naturally aggressive, bold, tough, strong-willed, and violent: traits reflected in his direwolf companion 'Shaggydog'.[3]
Rickon Stark is not apoint of view character in the novels and is mostly a background character.[4] His actions are witnessed and interpreted through the eyes of his older brother,Bran.
InA Game of Thrones (1996),Ned Stark departsWinterfell with his daughters to serve KingRobert Baratheon inKing's Landing, while his wifeCatelyn remains behind with their sons, grief-stricken over their comatose sonBran. An overwhelmed young Rickon can only follow around his oldest brotherRobb, crying.[5] Upset when Robb prepares to leave himself, Rickon hides in the crypts of Winterfell. Shortly after Ned's death in King's Landing, both Bran and Rickon share a vision of their father's spirit in the crypts.[2]
Following Ned's death, Rickon is largely unsupervised as Robb and Catelyn leave for war and his sisters are held captive at King's Landing in 1998'sA Clash of Kings. Alone with his crippled brother Bran, Rickon develops an unruly, often violent temper. His fear and rage are reflected in Shaggydog, who turns largely feral and attacks several people before being restrained. Several times, Bran's direwolf Summer is forced to fight Shaggydog into submission. Bran and Rickon becomeTheon Greyjoy's hostages when Theon takes Winterfell by force. He later manages to escape and hide in the crypts below the castle with Bran,Hodor, the Reed siblingsMeera andJojen, and thewildling womanOsha.[6] After Winterfell is sacked and burned byRamsay Bolton, the group emerges to find Winterfell in ruins, and a mortally wounded Maester Luwin tells them that Bran and Rickon need to be separated and taken into hiding.[7] Osha flees with Rickon in her care, and the others accompany Bran.
InA Dance with Dragons (2011), most ofWesteros believes Rickon is dead, but LordWyman Manderly hears from a survivor of the sack of Winterfell that Rickon is allegedly alive and has fled with a woman to the island of Skagos. Skagos is a large, northern island in the mouth of the Bay of Seals and is subject to the rule of House Stark. In return for pledging his loyalty to Stannis Baratheon instead of the Lannisters, Manderly tasks SerDavos Seaworth with retrieving Rickon from Skagos so that they may reveal him to the Northern lords and inspire them to rally against Roose Bolton, Ramsay Bolton, and Walder Frey for betraying the Starks.
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Rickon Stark is played byArt Parkinson in the television adaption of the book series.[8][9] During an interview with Flicks and the City in 2014, Parkinson mentioned that he was not allowed by his parents to watchGame of Thrones due to its adult content, apart from a few scenes that were related to him.[10] In a later interview published in theNew Zealand Herald on 7 April 2015, Parkinson admitted that he was put off watchingGame of Thrones after seeing a 3-year-old child getting his throat slit in one episode.[11] In a later interview withIGN, he admitted that he had begun watching the series.[12][13]
In an interview with IGN, Parkinson spoke about his return and death, saying: "Whenever I was told that I was coming back for Season 6, before they sent me through the scripts and stuff, they sent me through a ring just to say, 'Listen, so that you don't get a shock whenever you read the scripts, just know that you die this season.'"[12] He continued, "Whenever I came back, I was excited to come back, and the scenes all seemed pretty amazing. I was so happy to re-embrace the character."[12]
Parkinson has said that his fellow castmemberNatalia Tena, who played Rickon's travelling companionOsha, helped him with his acting.[14] He also shared what he believes Rickon went through after the death of his fatherNed Stark, saying "After the death of his father, I think he became very independent and very angry, I think Rickon is a little bit more mature now. He's been away for quite a long time at this point. I think he's a bit more independent and stronger-willed.[14]
Remarking on the character's exit and death:
It was sad at first, but once I realized how I was going to die in it, then it was cool. It was a cool death, and it was always going to be a good death, so at the same time, I was pretty happy.[12]
Rickon Stark is Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn's youngest child, naturally aggressive, and strong-willed. His black direwolf Shaggydog shares these qualities. WhenTheon Greyjoy captures Winterfell in Season 2, Rickon hides in the crypts with Bran, Hodor, and the Wildling woman Osha. After Theon can't seem to find where Rickon and Bran are, he has two farm boys killed and burned, to pass their charred bodies off as the Stark boys'. After Winterfell is sacked and burned, Rickon, Bran, Hodor, Osha, and the direwolves travel through the North.[15] In Season 3 before they reach the Wall, Rickon, Osha, and Shaggydog split up from the rest of the group and head to Last Hearth, the seat house of the Umbers.[16]
Following Lord Greatjon Umber's death, Rickon and Osha are betrayed by Greatjon's heir Smalljon and handed over to the new Warden of the North,Ramsay Bolton, in order to secure an alliance with the Boltons against the wildlingsJon Snow has let through the Wall. To prove Rickon's identity, Smalljon kills Shaggydog and presents his head to Ramsay. Ramsay kills Osha, locks Rickon in the dungeons, and sends a letter to Jon at Castle Black demanding the return ofSansa Stark (his wife) and threatening to kill Rickon if Jon does not comply. In retaliation, Jon gathers an army of Stark loyalists and marches on Winterfell, now occupied by House Bolton.[17]
As the armies prepare for battle outside Winterfell, Ramsay brings out Rickon and orders him to run to Jon in one of his sadistic "games", shooting arrows at Rickon in order to lure Jon into the open. Jon charges out to save Rickon, but Rickon is shot through the heart and dies almost instantly.[18] In the aftermath of the ensuing battle, Rickon's body is recovered, and Jon buries him in the crypt, alongside Ned's remains.[19]
Because many Northern noble houses were plotting against the Boltons in the books, the show's decision to have them betray Rickon led to fan theories that the direwolf head Smalljon Umber showed to Ramsay was fake and the Umbers would turn on the Boltons. Parkinson dispelled the rumours, confirming the direwolf head was intended to be real.[20][13][17] Rickon's death scene referenced his first appearance in the series pilot, where he laughs at Bran's poor archery shot before handing off arrows to the archer and running to stand by the target.[21]
