A Song of Ice and Fire is a new limited diary series to discuss the books by George R. R. Martin. It appears every Monday morning, 8 Pacific, 9 Mountain, 10 Central, and 11 Eastern.
Mostly mild spoilers below. If you don't like any spoilers and are still reading the books, bookmark the diary for later reading.
THE STARKS - BACKSTORY
The Starks are older than most of the other families or houses we meet in the series. They claim to be descended from the First Men, who were themselves invaders of Westeros, but made peace with the native peoples and adopted their gods. The Stark's earliest ancestor was Brandon the Builder, who built the Wall, Storm's End, and their seat at Winterfell. The Starks took as their sigil a direwolf, and their words are "Winter is Coming."
Eddard Stark (Ned) is the son of Rickard Stark and a woman that GRRM has not seen fit to name. He had an older brother named Brandon and younger siblings named Lyanna and Benjen. Lyanna was a headstrong woman, it is said that Ned's daughter Arya resembles her in many ways. At a famous tourney at Harrenhall, heir to the Iron Throne Prince Rhaegar saw her, and when he won the tourney, named her Queen of Love and Beauty. This was shocking at the time because he was a married man. At a later point in the story, Rhaegar and Lyanna disappeared together. There has been no clear evidence that she was either abducted or went willingly, but the Starks, and her betrothed, Robert Baratheon, believed she was taken against her will.
Rickard and Brandon went to King's Landing and demanded that Rhaegar answer for his crimes, but mad King Aerys gave them both a horrific death instead, and then demanded that the Vale, where Robert and Ned were both fostered by Jon Arryn, give up Ned to meet a similar fate. Arryn refused and instead they took up arms against Aerys. This was called Robert's Rebellion, since Robert was the primary instigator.
In the end, the rebellion was a success. Robert killed Rhaegar in battle, Aerys was killed by Jaime Lannister, and Robert ended up on the Iron Throne.
Ned found Lyanna at a place in Dorne called the Tower of Joy. He and his companion, Howland Reed, killed the defenders there, including Arthur Dayne, brother of Ashara, who Ned had been romantically linked to in the past. Lyanna was inside the Tower, dying in her own blood. We know that she made Ned swear to something, but have not been told what that was. Ned returned to Winterfell, carrying with him a baby boy, who he claimed was his blood. Catelyn Tully, who had been married to Ned after her betrothed Brandon was murdered by Aerys, was very unhappy about the child, since she had given birth to their first son nearly nine months after Ned had left her for the war, and it was clear the baby must have been conceived in that time. To add insult to injury, the child grows up looking more like Ned than her sons by him do.
THE PRESENT DAY STARK FAMILY
Ned Stark is a very upright man, and holds honor higher than almost anything. We can tell that the subject of the child, Jon Snow, is a touchy one, because it goes against his honor. He insists that a man who is willing to pass a sentence should also carry out that sentence, which is seen when he beheads the man from the Night's Watch (first seen in the prologue) who deserted. He displays his sense of honor later in King's Landing, where he gives Cersei a chance to leave with her children rather than face Robert's wrath. He displays it when he refuses to have anything to do with assassination attempts on the life of Daenerys Targaryen. He displays it when he absolutely has to tell Robert Cersei and Jaime's little secret. It is his honor that betrays him in the end.
Ned Stark is also a family man, a good husband and father who is loved by his wife and his children and admired by other members of his household and his bannermen.
Catelyn Tully was raised in the South, in the Riverlands, at a place called Riverrun. Her father is Hoster Tully, of House Tully. She has a brother, Edmure, and a younger sister named Lysa, who was married to Jon Arryn. Though Ned was not her original betrothed, Catelyn was not disappointed in her marriage to him. She finds the North to be a starkly (no pun intended) inhospitable place. She finds their gods unfriendly (she is of the Faith, and worships the Seven). It is always too cold, and she is glad of the walls of Winterfell, which are heated by the hot springs that run beneath it. She is somewhat disturbed by House Stark's words, "Winter is Coming", which are unlike the words of any other house. House Tully's words are "Family, Duty, Honor." Though Winterfell is an alien place, Catelyn settles in and finds herself very happy there. She is very devoted to her five children, but nevertheless feels she is the only one who can go to Ned at King's Landing to give him tidings of the attempt on Bran's life. In doing so she sets off a chain of events that are ultimately harmful to her family.
Robb Stark is never a POV character in the books, so we only see him through the eyes of others. For one so young he proves to be a natural leader. He is decisive, yet always listens to counsel. He seems incapable of making mistakes as he goes from one victory to another. His honor is as strong as his father's, and like his father before him, his honor comes back to bite him.
Jon Snow, who Ned claims as his own son, has many of the same qualities found in Robb, but he is less confident. Being raised as a bastard has left a mark on him. He loves Winterfell dearly, and loves his siblings, but feels his place in the world is uncertain.
Jon's parentage is left uncertain. Ned always says, "he is of my blood," but never directly says he is his son. Theories abound across the internet, some plausible, some absurd. Most theories have Lyanna as his mother, which would explain why he looks like a Stark. It would also help explain why Ned will never tell anyone who Jon's mother is: "Promise me, Ned!" Jon himself, like everyone else in the books, accepts that Ned is his father. He has no reason not to.
When Jon goes to the Wall, he is at first disappointed, having had a romanticized idea of what the place was like, what the men of the Night's Watch were like. He imagines heroes; what he gets are accused thieves, murderers and rapists. His behavior when he first arrives there has prompted some readers to call him "emo." His successes have prompted others to label him a "Gary Stu" character. What he does show is a willingness to learn from his mistakes, and a willingness to admit to them. Eventually he does make friends, and eventually comes to believe again that the Night's Watch can be a noble calling. The mistakes (if they are mistakes) that he makes as a leader are of a different variety than those of Ned or Robb.
Sansa Stark is initially the ultimate "girly girl." She sees life through a romantic lens, having absorbed and taken to heart every story about knights and fair ladies and chivalry that she was ever told. She is beautiful, and she excels in all the maidenly arts. She is both puzzled and embarrassed by her younger sister, Arya, who is her opposite in every way. Sansa is a younger, even prettier version of her mother, and in many ways is more of a Southerner than a Northerner. Her naivete and her stubborn refusal to see the realities of her situation lead her to make some bad decisions. As a character there are few in the novels that have shown as much growth in their story arc. While she is not (yet) turning into a devious plotter like her "mentor", Littlefinger, she is taking in everything he teaches her. In online forums, readers see her either being an Elizabeth of York character or an Elizabeth I character. The former seems more likely. With the growth her character has seen, she would make a good consort to any ruler. It remains to be seen if she can develop the ruthlessness necessary to be a ruler herself.
Arya Stark begins as the typical storybook tomboy, preferring to play with her brothers rather than sit in a tower with her sister and the Septa doing needlework. In King's Landing she is constantly an embarrassment to Sansa, but her father indulges her, even getting her a "dancing master" to teach her swordplay. Once the shit hits the fan, however, her story arc swings wide of the expected direction, taking her places unimagined, getting her into situations that no child should have to experience. She becomes bent on revenge against those who she perceives as having wronged her and her loved ones. She can be quite cold blooded at times. She cannot always reveal who she is, and she becomes closer to what she was pretending to be, a little ragged boy of no particular worth. When she reaches her present (as of Book 5)location she is told to forget who she originally was, but her lust for vengeance and her connection to her direwolf seem to prevent the total loss of identity required.
Bran Stark is the middle son, still a child, filled with dreams of knighthood and glory - until he encounters Jaime and Cersei in action. A he recovers from his injuries he is bitter, and thinks of himself as Bran the Broken. It takes Meera and Jojen Reed to help him out of his funk, and help guide him to what appears to be his destiny - but is that destiny worth the price? He can fly, in sense, but he also stands to lose any sense of who he is or who he used to be.
Rickon Stark is the youngest of the Stark children, and being only 3 at the start of the tale, does not provide a lot of material for discussion. He was last seen heading out with Osha and Shaggydog, and last heard of on the island of Skagos, rumored to be the home of cannibals and unicorns.
The Direwolves are an important part of the Stark story. Why the direwolf is the sigil of House Stark is never explained, and is perhaps not remembered. All of the Stark children whose wolves still live have shown some warging ability, and perhaps that was a trait also possessed by long dead Starks. Robb had Grey Wind, who fought beside him in battle and became part of his legend. Jon has Ghost, the mute albino wolf. Sansa is the only one of the children whose wolf is dead, thanks to Joffrey and Cersei, and speculation about the symbolism behind that is rife (remember the dead direwolf mother had been killed by a stag - the Baratheon sigil). Arya chased Nymeria away at the Trident, knowing she would be killed if she hadn't done so, and since then readers have been expecting a dramatic reunion. Bran is accompanied by Summer, who saved him from attempted murder and has been his protector ever since. Rickon has Shaggydog, who perhaps is partly to blame for why Rickon often seems to be a bit feral. Though we haven't seen the POVs for Robb or Rickon, we can assume that they have or had the same connections that the others do, being able to inhabit the consciousness of their wolves (and in Arya and Bran's case, other animals as well). Reader speculation assumes the warging ability will be of use in the future books, perhaps as a way to control the dragons.
I will pose questions in the comment section. Please feel free to speculate away!