Before marrying Eddard Stark, Catelyn Stark’s maiden name was Catelyn Tully. Her surname sounds more like Tarly, which is why many Game of Thrones fans wonder if she is related to Sam Tarly.
However, despite the uncanny resemblance in their surnames, the characters of Game of Thrones aren’t related by blood.
Key Takeaways
- Sam Tarly and Catelyn Stark aren’t related to one another despite having surnames that sound similar.
- Catelyn was born in House Tully, and she married in House Stark.
- Sam was discarded from House Tarly, and due to his Night Watch’s vow, he never married.
To uncover this mystery, let’s examine the known marriage of House Tully.
First up, we have Catelyn Stark. Catelyn, the eldest daughter of House Stark, was initially supposed to marry the then-heir of House Stark, Brandon Stark.
However, the mad king, Aerys Targaryen, sadistically executed Brandon Stark during his visit to the capital.
Due to this incident, she married Eddard Stark, who later became the Lord of Winterfell. We all know that she was the mother of Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon Stark.
The other daughter of House Tully, Lysa, was married to Jon Arryn of House Arryn.
Like Brandon, her husband was also brutally killed by the mad king.
Besides them, House Tully also had a son named Edmure Tully, the heir of House Tully.
The future heir married a little later than her sisters, and her marriage was supposed to play a significant role for the House Stark.
With the aim of mending the relationship between House Stark and House Frey, Edmure married one of the daughters of the disgraceful Lord Walder Frey.
However, we all know what happened at his wedding.
Getting back to the topic, while House Tully married many of the reputed houses, there was no mention of House Tarly.
But just looking at the marriages of House Tully isn’t enough, so we looked at all the marriages of House Tarly as well.
Looking Into Marriage Of House Tarly
House Taryl is located at the foothills of the Red Mountains.
In the Game of Thrones timeline, the head of the House Tarly was Lord Randyll Tarly.
Lord Tarly had married the daughter of Lord Florent, Melessa Florent.
Sam was the oldest son of Lord Randyll and Lady Melessa.
From his early childhood, Sam was more interested in history, stories, and poems. He never showed any real interest in any kind of war.
Due to his lack of interest in war, Sam was disowned by Randyll. Furthermore, he sent Sam to the night watch.
Furthermore, he made his youngest son, Dickon, his heir.
House Tarly wasn’t the richest house in the GOT franchise, which is why Randyll fixed his youngest son’s marriage with House Mooton, which was one of the economically sound houses.
Dickon married Eleanor from House Mooton.
Randyll fixed her daughter Talla’s marriage with Symun from the House of Fossoway.
As for Sam, his vow to be a night watchman meant that he could never be married.
But he did have a soft corner for one of the Craster’s daughters, Gilly.
The brave Sam vows to rescue and protect her despite never getting married.
Now, even after knowing all the details about the marriage in House Tarly, we found no mention of House Tully.
Thus, this proves that Sam Tarly and Catelyn Stark are unrelated in any way, shape, or form.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Catelyn Stark is still alive in the Books of Ice and Fire as the Lady Stoneheart, and she vows to take revenge on House Frey while unaware of their demise.
- Sam Tarly is Jon Snow’s closest friend, and as the series progresses, he becomes the Grand Maester.
