Highlights
- Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1 "Winter Is Coming" introduces Ice, the ancestral greatsword of House Stark, symbolizing Ned Stark's authority and honor as Lord of Winterfell.
- Ice is taken from Ned's possession after his arrest in season 1, episode 7 "You Win or You Die," and is later reforged into two swords by Tywin Lannister.
- The history of Ice includes its origin in Valyria, previous uses by Stark ancestors for executions and battles, and its eventual possession by Payne and later Jaime Lannister and Joffrey Baratheon.
Game of Thrones season 1, episode 1 "Winter Is Coming" provides the first look at House Stark's ancestral greatsword, Ice. In possession of the head of the premier Northern House, Warden of the North, and the Lord of Winterfell - Lord Eddard, the weapon is much larger than Longclaw.
Ice is a symbol of Lord Stark's authority over the North, and on HBO's show, it signifies his transition from a family man and a father to an honorable lord who honors the pledge his ancestors made to the monarch who sits the throne in the South. The exquisite Stark regalia remains in Ned's possession until his arrest and imprisonment in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 7 "You Win or You Die," but the question remains of what the crafty Lannisters do with it.
Game of Thrones: House Stark, Explained
The Starks go through a lot in Game of Thrones, but in the end, they band together during the harsh winter to protect their family and the North.
Ned's Ice In Game Of Thrones
As Ned's men bring Will the Night's Watch deserter to him, he removes Ice from the scabbard that's fashioned out of a wolf's pelt. His ward, Theon Greyjoy holds the scabbard on one end, and Ned draws the greatsword out. Hesitant, he sentences Will to die and slices his head off in one swift motion. While still holding onto his sword, he explains to his boy of ten, "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword." Later, Ned is seen cleaning Ice with a swatch at the Godswood of Winterfell. When called upon to serve as King Robert's Hand, Ned brings Ice to King's Landing, and after the outbreak of the so-called War of the Five Kings, the greatsword never returns to Winterfell in its original form. After the Red Wedding, it is reforged into two swords by Tywin Lannister.
The last time Ice is seen in possession of Ned is in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 7 "You Win or You Die," in the throne room of the Red Keep. It is when Ned demands that Joffrey step aside to make way for the rightful king, Robert's heir, and brother, Stannis Baratheon. However, men of the City Watch turn on him and his men, and he is subsequently imprisoned in the dungeons under the Red Keep, and his greatsword is also snatched from him. By the twist of fate, in Game of Thrones season 1, episode 9 "Baelor," the royal executioner, Ilyn Payne uses Ice to execute Ned for "treason" at the boy king, Joffrey's orders. As Ned looks at the charged-up crowd of King's Landing, Ilyn beheads him with his own Valyrian steel sword.
Two Swords Forged From Ice
Game of Thrones season 1, episode 10 "Fire and Blood" opens with the said greatsword covered in the blood of the man (Ned) who had inherited it from his father, Lord Rickard Stark. True to its name, the cold opening of Game of Thrones season 4, episode 1 "Two Swords," features Tywin Lannister removing Ice from its wolf pelt scabbard and handing it over to a smith. This scene underscores the big Lannister win against the North, in that, Tywin quelled the Northern uprising with betrayal and with House Frey's help. He knows he is free to do with the House Stark greatsword what he may, and thus, hands it over to the smith who removes the hilt and melts it down. Tywin burns the scabbard as a mark of the decimation of House Stark (for now). Little does he know, the Starks of Winterfell shall rerise and reclaim their kingdom in the wars to come.
The History Of Ice
As seen in Game of Thrones, the Valyrian steel Ice is "dark and smoky" and rippled. Since it is a greatsword, it's nearly as big as the knight who wields it immediately after Ned, Ilyn Payne. Its origin is steeped in history and Game of Thrones lore says that it was spell-forged in Valyria, and came into possession of House Stark nearly four hundred years before King Robert I Baratheon assumed the throne. Being a Stark regalia, Ice was used for ceremonial as well as battle purposes. Lord Walton Stark used it to behead Ser Olyver Bracken who rebelled against the Night's Watch. Lord Cregan Stark (seen in House of the Dragon) made use of the greatsword during the Hour of the Wolf in King's Landing. He used Ice to behead Ser Gyles Belgrave and Lord Larys Strong. The Hour of the Wolf refers to the six days at the end of the Dance of the Dragons when Warden of the North, Lord Cregan Stark governed in King's Landing.
After Ned Stark's death, Ice came into the possession of the King's Justice/ the royal headsman - Payne. Tywin however found him unworthy of the greatsword and took it from him. He invited the finest of the three smiths to King's Landing who knew how to rework Valyrian steel. Tywin long wanted a Valyrian steel sword in the family and now he had forged two. He presented one to his son, Jaime in Game of Thrones' "Two Swords," who then regifted it to Brienne of Tarth with the purpose of finding and protecting Ned's daughter, Sansa Stark. Tywin gave the second sword to Joffrey as a wedding gift, and the boy king named it Widow's Wail at a guest's suggestion.