Told you so (spoilers start now): Rickon Stark was in a very sticky situation going into the Battle of Winterfell, and as the battle unfolded, “sticky” turned into “stuck.” Rickon Stark was killed in cold blood by his captor and despite the Stark victory in the battle, the event will have momentous consequences for their house. In the short term, it puts Jon and Sansa in an unusual situation. In the long term, it’s weirder indeed: With Rickon dead and Bran returning from beyond the Wall, the true Lord of Winterfell is now a crippled epileptic prophet—a true Fisher King.
Bran Stark Is The Lord Of Winterfell
The line of succession to Winterfell has been somewhat complicated for a long time, largely because Bran, Rickon and Arya were widely assumed to be dead, but actually were not. Rickon always seemed to have the best claim, and we widely discounted Bran—he was beyond the Wall and likely to stay there, after all. Turns out not so much.
On the ground, the situation is pretty clear: With Rickon dead and Bran still missing, Sansa is the new Lady of Winterfell. Jon Snow is not in the line of succession, of course; he’s a bastard. Sansa is a trueborn Stark with an ironclad claim. But she’s a woman, and has been engaged to the Stark’s greatest foe and married to two of their other greatest enemies: Tyrion Lannister and Ramsay Bolton. Ramsay is finally dead, her marriage to Tyrion is presumably annulled, but the northern lords don’t all trust Sansa.
Jon has no claim at all, and let’s hope he doesn’t try to press one despite his bastardy. That’s more likely to happen in the books, where Robb may have legitimized him as a Stark before he died. In the show, let’s keep things simple: Sansa is in charge until and unless Bran returns.
When Bran comes back, he’s the Lord of Winterfell; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. This isn’t the Iron Islands. He can’t just step aside like Theon Greyjoy did. And Winterfell is now probably one of the safest places for Bran, who has awoken as a greenseer. But he is no military commander. He will still need a regent, probably Sansa. The question is, how does Sansa feel about it? How does Jon Snow feel about giving the lordship to his crippled little brother? The succession to House Stark seems obvious, but in practice, it could become… complicated. Even for the goodhearted Starks.
