He was raised in House Stark of Winterfell. He rode with Robert. He carried the secret that changed everything. Set during Robert's Rebellion (282-283 AC) — the war that overthrew the Mad King Aerys and placed Robert Baratheon on the Iron Throne — Robert's Song follows Aldric Stark, 24, a Black man raised within House Stark as a ward and sworn companion to young Eddard Stark since childhood. He is entirely Northern: he speaks the North's blunt Common Tongue, knows the Old Gods, participates in the Stark household's specific culture of honor and direwolf-keeping, and was raised as a brother-in-arms to Ned in Lord Rickard's household. When the rebellion begins — Lyanna's disappearance, Brandon's death, Rickard's burning — Aldric rides south with Ned as one of his household's most trusted men. His marriage to Mira of the Mormonts — the daughter of Bear Island — is the series' central romance: a Northern man and a Northern woman forged by the same rebellion.
S1E1 — Winterfell Before the War
Aldric in Winterfell's full life. The ravens arriving with news of Lyanna. Ned's face. Aldric already saddling his horse.
S1E8 — The Trident
The Battle of the Trident. Robert and Rhaegar. Aldric in the specific part of the battle that history records only as 'many died.'
S2E12 — The Tower's Secret
Series finale: Aldric at the Tower of Joy. What he saw. What he swore to Ned. What he takes to his grave. The finale's most significant scene is entirely silent.
