Line #30 TearJerker/RobbReturns


1	----
2	!! Warning: '''Administrivia/SpoilersOff''' applies to these pages. Proceed at your own risk.
3	----
4
5	* The very first chapter, in Ned's point-of-view. Because the Lord Stark - the whole Stark family - just can't understand ''why'' Robb was so distressed and acted so strangely one morning after waking up, and now he's so different he's almost a stranger for them.
6	* Jon's entire ''life'' crashes around his ears when Ned tells him he's his ''nephew'', half a Targaryen and the ''Mad King's'' grandson.
7	* Theon's reaction when Robb tells him that he betrayed the North in the original timeline? [[StressVomit Puking his guts out]], and asking why Robb didn't kill him after waking up in the past.
8	** Before that, Theon is utterly baffled by Robb's hostile and cold demeanor towards him. Of course Robb is justified in his desire to avoid the man responsible for sacking Winterfell and murdering his younger brothers, but Theon hasn't done it ''yet''. Meaning his closest friend suddenly treats him as some diseased vermin and [[BewilderingPunishment he doesn't get why]].
9	* After saving Daenerys from discovery by the Company of the Rose, Jorah chews her out for showing herself to Northerners. When she expresses confusion about the reason why they would want to harm her, he realizes she doesn't know anything about Robert's Rebellion and [[AwfulTruth has to spell out]] for the poor girl why [[TheCaligula her father]] was called "the Mad King".
10	** In Chapter 70, [[BrokenPedestal she learns that it was all true.]]
11	* Lord Alster Dayne's death in Chapter 48.
12	* Maester Aemon's rant in Chapter 69 about how useless he feels because of his blindness and age.
13	* Rhaegar's second and last meeting with the Green Man, who he realises with horror is the former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Duncan the Tall. By this point, whatever pride and arrogance he swaggered in with is gone - [[MoralEventHorizon he's abducted and raped Lyanna,]] his father has killed two Starks and several of their bannermen and friends and set alight a civil war, [[AllForNothing and he's confronted with the fact that he's both a failure of a prince and king,]] and if he does nothing less than let Robert Baratheon kill him, all of Westeros will be in disarray, which is exactly what he ''didn't'' want. Deserved or not, Rhaegar's final fate is to march out, meet Robert on the battlefield, and FaceDeathWithDignity, [[DeathEqualsRedemption in an effort to salvage something from the mess he made,]] all for a prophecy he and many others before him had misunderstood.
14	* After reuniting with his nephew Tyrion in Chapter 102, Gerion confesses he disappeared because he fell in love with a lowborn Summer Islander woman, and he knew his brother would never have accepted it. Tyrion sadly concedes it was the safer option.
15	* After nearly five hundred years roaming the Lands Beyond The Wall, Coldhands a.k.a. Rickon Stark finally gets to cross the Black Gate and cast the spell that will fix the Wall's enchantments, thus fulfilling his mission and allowing him to die in peace, his last task done.
16	* After Gendry fixed his stirrup, Tommen is left wondering why the older boy couldn't be his brother instead of Joffrey. That's even more painful in light of Tommen not actually being Robert's child.
17	* TheReveal that Edric Dayne is actually the bastard son of Eddard and Ashara Dayne, on many levels: his conception was a moment of grief between a drugged, drunk, sorrowful Eddard right after the events in Tower of Joy, and a grieving Ashara who had just lost Elia Martell and her brother Arthur; just like Jon, all of Edric's life that he knew up to that point was a lie; and just when Ned and Cat seemed to have got over Eddard's suspected infidelity by telling her the truth, this fact pops up that shows he ''did'' have a bastard after all, and he never knew about it and can never acknowledge it in public.
18	* For all of his faults, his snarking, and his arrogance, there's something extremely sad about Jaime thinking about how little control he has over his life, trying to think of the last time he had truly been in control of his fate, or actually done something for himself, rather than due to the wishes of others. It helps that at the same time he's wondering what Tyrion thinks of what's going on, and thinking about [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments how it's been too long since he'd seen him]], and how [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments he doesn't understand why Tywin and Cersei blame him for their mother's death, making it clear that he knows it wasn't his fault]].
19	* When he realizes Joffrey, Myrcella and Tommen are not his children, Robert does not become angry: he becomes disappointed, because he had finally realized there was so much good in the latter two only to find out it's not because of him.
20	* Despite what he's done, it's still sad to see Jaime discover that he was wrong about wildfire degrading over time, which means that by not speaking up about one of the few things he was proud of, saving King's Landing from Aerys, out of pure stubbornness, he has actually put the city at greater risk.
21	* After so many earth-shattering revelations, Ser Barristan Selmy is very much in a funk, feeling he was nothing but a failed knight and not up to the task of rebuilding the Kingsguard.
22	** Only gets worse later when he learns that the Kingsguard, including the Lord Commander before him, held Lyanna down so Rhaegar could rape her. Selmy is utterly shaken that people he knew, his ''friends'', [[BrokenPedestal could do something so horrible]], and given how he dislikes the current Kingsguard and has been assigned to rebuild it, he is obviously greatly distressed to learn the order had been in shambles long before Cersei's influence.
23	* Jaime only did his Trial By Combat because he wants to be free of the title "Kingslayer" on the Wall. When Robert utterly defeats him and he lies on the ground begging Robert to just kill him the Demon of the Trident delivers what might be his worst blow:
24	-->'''Robert:''' No. Gods, you can't even defend yourself, and I'll not kill such a man, despite what you've done. No. You'll go to the Wall. You'll defend us all. And no more smirking. We need you, [[OnceDoneNeverForgotten Kingslayer]]. And I keep my word. You'll go to the Wall. Learn from my example.
25	* Mace Tyrell's death. [[KnowNothingKnowItAll For all his failings]], he was a good father to his four children, and in the end [[RedemptionEqualsDeath died after trying to save a Septon's life, accepting his folly of pride, and giving Willas critical information on how to deal with the entity behind the gate]].
26	** And later, Alerie and Olenna arrive to pay their respects to their husband and son.
27	* Robert finally learns that Lyanna bore a child by Rhaegar, and she was so afraid of Robert killing her baby she made Ned promise to hide him. Hearing that he scared the love of his life and his best friend so much is [[HeelRealization a heavy blow to Robert]].
28	* When discussing Robert knowing that Jon is Lyanna's son, Ned brings up the death of Elia's children. Robert admits that he had been terrified of being king and when Tywin showed him the bodies he knew he had to be strong... so he laughed. Only when he saw how mad Ned was and disappointed Jon was he knew he'd made a mistake. After Ned left Robert wanted to just sit down and sob and then tried to follow after to save Lyanna but Jon convinced him not to, as the realm needed their king more than ever.
29	* Myrcella's internal despair at how her life's been ruined by the reveal that she's a bastard.
30	** Made worse when Tywin [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech spells out to Cersei about how badly she's screwed up]]. He mentions that Myrcella is the only one of her children to escape the taint of madness/instability (Tommen, though nice, is a bit cat-crazy), and he talks about how promising she was, how intelligent and practical she is, how the heirs of the great houses would be clambering over each other for the honor of marrying her, how she had a good chance of marrying [[TheAce Robb Stark]]... and now, that promising future is gone, [[WiseBeyondTheirYears she's completely aware of it]], Tywin can ''tell'' she's aware of it, and the only good thing she has left is that Grandfather Tywin promised her future husband would be kind to her. Tywin even says that even he wanted to weep at that.
31	** During his rant, Tywin states that, for the first time in his life, he's almost grateful that his wife is dead, because knowing what her twins had been doing would have broken her heart.
32	** Tywin also makes it clear that pretty much the only reason he doesn't kill Cersei himself is because he doesn't want to disgrace the Lannister name any more than Cersei already has by becoming a kinslayer. He flatly tells her that she is an utter disgrace and washes his hands of her before leaving her in her cell.
33	* Daenerys hears of the wildfire plot and rocked to finally understand just how twisted and insane her father was. Also, how her brother must have known of this and had a hand in it.
34	* Ser Duncan relating the tragedy of Summerhall, and the sorrow he felt when his friend and liege Aegon the Unlikely ordered Duncan to leave him behind in the flames with his dead son.
35	** Worse still is the cause of the tragedy: not a plot or a conspiracy, just a single, overeager pyromancer wanting so badly to help his king succeed, who brewed a batch of wildfire that was hotter than the rest, causing the mix to go horribly out of control.
36	* Varys having to kill Jon Connington and Aegon, because they would have been too obstinate and unwilling to face the reality of the Call. It is also revealed that both Connington and Varys knew that Aegon was not a Targaryen, which means that both men lied to a kid who probably barely even realized everything that was tied down to that name.
37	* When Ned travels to Barrowton, he finds out that Barbrey Dustin told the Company of the Rose's Dustins to leave the keep, stating that she believes they are trying to steal the keep from her. However, when Ned gets some time alone with her, she reveals that the true reason is that Brandon Dustin looks so alike to her deceased husband Willam that she feels attracted to him, but she has been living in grief and bitterness for so long that she does not know how to deal with that.
38	** At Ygritte's request, Barbrey sings "Jenny of Oldstones" one of the saddest songs in Westeros. Made sadder by the fact that Barbrey herself is haunted by the ghosts of those that she loved.
39	* Jon Arryn's reaction to Bronn arriving in King's Landing with the captive Lysa is to sadly reflect on all the things she did without him managing to notice it.
40	* Tyrion completely tearing apart Maggy the Frog's prophecy to Cersei counts as this when you think about it. After all, her entire antagonistic relationship towards him has been based on her belief he's destined to kill her, and now he's making it clear that the "prophecy" was probably a load of shit by a fraud, so everything she's done has been for nothing.
41	** Even more, it got an innocent bystander killed. The Hetherspoons never did find their daughter.
42	* Jon Arryn somberly reminiscing about the misfortunes he endured every time he got married, before going to interrogate Lysa and realizing she's far too mad for him to not execute her. Leaving him with the prospect of telling his son he had to kill the boy's mother and why.
43	* Rodrik Harlaw's grief at watching his nephew Harras be killed by an Other.
44	* Jaime forcing Joffrey to finally accept that he's not a prince and really is a bastard.
45	* Despite the fact that he was an utter asshole, Asha is still torn by her father's death.
46	* Edmure sadly reflecting on the fact that while his father rallied after the Call, his days are still clearly numbered.
47	** Also, even though she's been disowned and he admits that she brought it on herself, Edmure still mourns Lysa, remembering happier times.
48	* Tywin's anger against Jaime vanishing when he lays eyes on the Wall and suddenly understands this is where his eldest son is going to die.
49	** Jaime admitting that, for all the trouble it cost and will cost their family, Cersei was literally the only friendly face around after the Rebellion. With Tywin being constantly busy and his fellows understandably angry with him, he clung to his twin.
50	* Mors Umber being reunited with his daughter Rowan, crying because he believed she was dead after running after her, trying to save his little girl from her Wildling rapists. Then she confesses he actually was ''that close'' to rescuing her, only to fail when she was near.
51	** Rowan would also never see her brothers again, their deaths at the Trident having happened after her abduction.
52	* Ser Duncan grants Robert and Barristan a vision of Rhaegar on the night before the Battle of the Ruby Ford, and we see just how ''broken'' the prince was after the Green Men made him realize all his mistakes and how they've destroyed his family. Especially notable is him recounting to a younger Barristan the letter that Rhaenys sent him asking him to "beat the bad men" and then come home so that she can show off her cat; he knows that he'll never see his daughter again, and it's tearing him apart.
53	** Present day Barristan is stricken by the mention of Rhaenys, remembering the young girl and her horrific death.
54	** Duncan then allows Robert to appear in front of Rhaegar and lets them talk to each other. Robert explains how Rhaegar doomed Lyanna by leaving her at the Tower of Joy, and how he's now preparing Westeros to fight the Others. A thoroughly broken Rhaegar then ends the conversation by weakly asking Robert to save the realm; after the vision is over, Robert can't help but weep for his old foe.
55	* Renly reluctantly burning all his love letters from Loras, knowing that he has to end their secret relationship and take a wife and get her pregnant for the sake of maintaining succession in light of the impending Long Night.

Context TearJerker / RobbReturns