❦Brandon Stark (called "Bran") was born in 290 A.C. to Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn of Winterfell. A noble child brought up in a long and easy summer, Bran had a comfortable childhood spent trailing after his six siblings and being doted on by his parents - but everything changed the year he was seven. The King and Queen of the Seven Kingdoms visited the North in the wake of a mysterious death, and Bran stumbled upon a royal family secret. While climbing an old tower, he spotted Queen Cersei Lannister having sex with her twin brother, Jaime. Horrified at the thought of their secret being revealed, the two flung Bran from the tower in hopes of killing him.

Bran slept for weeks, hovering between life and death while his body tried to heal. His father and sisters left for King's Landing, where Eddard was to serve as Hand of the King, and Jon Snow, Bran's half-brother, was dispatched to serve on the Night's Watch in the far North. Robb was left in charge of the grieving household. Then, while Catelyn sat at Bran's bedside one night, a catspaw broke into the hold and made a second attempt on the boy's life. The man was killed by Bran's direwolf companion, Summer, but Catelyn was disturbed enough to set off for King's Landing, suspecting Lannister involvement. When Bran finally awoke, it was to find most of his family gone, and his body paralyzed from the waist down.