Technically Robb went to war because Tywin went to war against him after Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion, and then Joffrey and Cersei threw Ned in a dungeon for treason. He had already called his banners before Ned was executed.

Pop quiz - Whose butts have we seen?

I missed one (and would argue that this character's nude scene did not show them from the back, so no, we did not see his/her butt).

Real-life Eyrie!

Real-life Eyrie!

Must. Build. Castle. There.

Technically Robb went to war because Tywin went to war against him after Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion, and then Joffrey and Cersei threw Ned in a dungeon for treason. He had already called his banners before Ned was executed.

Yeah, Catelyn kidnaps Tyrion and makes for the Eyrie. In response, Tywin orders the Mountain to sack and burn the Riverlands, hoping to draw Ned Stark into the field to ambush and capture him, and ransom him for Tyrion's return. Jaime mucks all that up by attacking Ned and his men in the streets of King's landing. That forces Ned to send Beric Dondarrian into the field in his stead.

And during all of that, Ned does all that stupid shit that gets Robert assassinated and his own head cut off.

If only Catelyn had left well enough alone.... Cersei would likely still have tried to assassinate both Ned and Robert, I imagine.

If only Catelyn had left well enough alone.... Cersei would likely still have tried to assassinate both Ned and Robert, I imagine.

Cersei was always planning to kill off Robert. Ned forced her to move up the timeline, but that's not what started the war.

Cersei was always planning to kill off Robert. Ned forced her to move up the timeline, but that's not what started the war.

Between Catelyn and Tywin, who do you think earns that honor more? I mean, sure Catelyn kidnaps Tyrion, but then Tywin's idea of diplomacy is to send the Mountain out do his thing.

And of course, it's all kittens batting at shiny things compared to the real threat coming down from north of the Wall.

Between Catelyn and Tywin, who do you think earns that honor more?

Well Tywin was the one who actually told his bannermen to go out and start killing people, so he wins that round. Cat should have known better than to kidnap Tyrion, but she wasn't really aware of the bigger picture (which was also naive of her).

Cat should have known better than to kidnap Tyrion, but she wasn't really aware of the bigger picture

That seems to be a recurring theme for Martin in this story. To the point of it becoming almost anvilicious. Pretty much all characters in this story wind up making decisions based on a sense of compulsion or lack of options, when often times if they'd just taken one step back they would have seen that they could do just about anything else and get a better result. Often times characters are even presented with better options, only to dismiss them for reasons.

Varys in particular is continually offering people eminently sensible ways out of their problems, only to have his advice dismissed because everyone knows you can't trust Varys.

The butt quiz is hilarious :) When did we see Talisa in the nude? I totally don't remember that.