Isla Stark

Queen Isla Greyjoy (nee. Stark) is the eldest daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife, Lady Catelyn Stark, the twin sister of Robb Stark, the sister of Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Rickon Stark, the "half-sister of Jon Snow. She is also the mother of Elana Greyjoy and the widow of Theon Greyjoy.

After her sister, Sansa was betrothed to Prince Joffrey Baratheon, she traveled to King's Landing alongside her father and two sisters in preparation for her sister's wedding but becomes a hostage of House Lannister following the execution of her father on false treason charges.

Although the sisters escaped the capital and made it back to their home in Winterfell, they were met with hardship from House Bolton and needed to leave. Isla, Sansa, and Theon fled and reunited with Jon at Castle Black. With a little help, the Stark children take back Winterfell and Isla becomes Lady of Winterfell, whilst Jon is declared King of the North.

Following the Battle of King's Landing, Isla declares the North an independent kingdom and is later crowned Queen of the North.

Background
Isla Stark is the eldest daughter and the second child of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark, the Warden of the North. Isla was born and raised in Winterfell. She has a twin brother, Robb, two younger sister, Sansa and Arya, two younger brothers, Bran and Rickon, as well as a "bastard half-brother" Jon Snow, who she had a close relationship with despite her mother's influence.

Isla, like her youngest sister Arya, isn't interested in being a proper lady, this is shown when she goes with the rest of the male members of House Stark to watch the execution of Will instead of practicing how to sew and act like a respectable lady. In the earlier years of her life, her parents tried their hardest to get her to act like a future queen but after years of refusal, they agreed to let her act the way she wanted. Another thing she wasn't keen on growing up was the idea of having to get married, although when she falls in love with Theon, that all changes.

Season 1
Isla stands with her father and husband Theon, watching over her younger brother practice his archery, before joining the male members of the house to watch an execution. During this journey, she finds an orphaned litter of direwolf pups along with her brothers and father, she adopts the kindest one and names her Lady, juxtaposing with the way she acts.

King Robert Baratheon visits Winterfell and offers her father the position of Hand of the King. After he agrees, Isla is ordered to travel to the capital with her sisters and her father to get used to the family and to be respectful towards the Lannisters.

While walking Lady with Sansa, they are approached by Joffery who offers to walk them around the village so they can get used to their surroundings. On this walk, they find Arya practicing her swordsmanship with the butcher's son, Mycah. Things turn sour when Arya strikes Joffery and her wolf, Nymeria bites his arm. Arya and Isla flee the scene and get rid of Nymeria knowing she will be killed for what she had done.

They are both taken before King Robert and Queen Cersei where they tell the truth of what really happened. Due to Joffrey's lies, Sansa is called forward and lies about what happened, causing both Arya and Isla to get angry. Cersei orders for Arya's wolf to be executed for harming Joffrey, but when they can't find it, she settles for them to kill Lady as a substitute for Nymeria. Isla is horrified that Lady will be killed and tries to beg her father to stop them.

Arriving at King's Landing, Isla, Sansa, and Arya join Septa Mordane at the Hand's tournament where they witnessed Ser Hugh of the Vale get killed during a joust by Ser Gregor Clegane. During the joust, Littlefinger tells both her and Sansa how Gregor burned the face of his younger brother when they were young and advises neither of them to repeat the story.

Isla and her sisters are later told by their father that they are being sent back to Winterfell. Although her younger sisters have a hard time accepting this because of everything they have got involved with while in the capital, Isla listens to her father and tells them to do as they are told.

Before they are able to leave safely, their father is betrayed and arrested for his crimes, and later executed. During his execution, all three of his daughters are forced to watch, Isla screams for it to stop, and is physically restrained and faints after her father is killed.

Joffrey, knowing Isla is the most loyal daughter of Eddard Stark, takes her on a walk around the castle before taking her to the traitor's walkway where he forces her to look at the severed heads of her father and Septa Mordane, Isla remains strong and does not give Joffrey that satisfaction of seeing her upset. He tells her that he will mount her brother Robb's head on the wall after he defeats him, Isla snaps back that maybe Robb will take Joffrey's head instead. Joffrey, angered by what had been said, orders a kingsguard to strike her and tells her he is still to be married to her younger sister, Sansa. Isla walks towards Joffrey in an attempt to push him off the walkway but is stopped by Sandor. After Joffrey and his guard leaves, Sandor hands her a cloth to attend to her cut lip.

Season 2
Isla is present alongside her two sisters at the departure of Princess Myrcella Baratheon, and stands by her sister as Sansa stands up to him for mocking his crying younger brother. Joffrey causes a citywide riot and Isla is separated from the rest of the group, as she tries to flee to safety, she is chased by a group of men who nearly rape her. She is saved by Sandor and taken to the castle where her injuries are cared for.

During the Battle of the Blackwater, Isla and Sansa are taken to be watched by Cersei to ensure they don't do anything that will kill her family. When Cersei storms out and believes they have lost the war, Isla helps keep everyone's spirits up by singing and praying.

Season 3
Isla flees the capital days before Sansa's wedding to Tyrion Lannister and finds her way back to Winterfell where a shocked Robb and Catelyn welcome her back with open arms.

While back in Winterfell, she is invited to the wedding of her maternal uncle and Roslin Frey. During this event, she meets her sister-in-law, Talisa Maegyr and later witnesses the death of her mother, brother, and his wife. She is injured by a crossbow during this fight and is left in the room alone to help herself as her family is carried off and disposed of.

Season 4
Even though she was allowed to live as she was not involved in her brother's betrayal, Isla is kept locked up in her bedroom and is starved for a few days as punishment for her family name.

After two weeks of being locked up alone, she is allowed to leave and hears the news that her sister Sansa is returning to Winterfell.

Season 5
Once Sansa returns to Winterfell, Isla is reunited with her and told never to leave her side. The two girls meet Ramsay before both being taken back to Sansa's old room. While they are dragged through the courtyard, they unknowingly pass her husband, Theon, who conceals his face from her, knowing he betrayed her and her family.

Ramsay's mistress, Myranda decides to be nice towards Isla, although she is jealous of Sansa's planned marriage towards him. While talking about her late mother, she is guided to the kennels as a way to remember what her life was like before her family was killed. In the kennels, Isla sees her husband, Theon asleep in one of the cages. Awoken by her arrival, Theon shakes his head when she refers to him by his true name after being nicknamed Reek, he warns her that she shouldn't be down her, causing her to angrily storm away. She later persuades herself that she imagined it all.

During dinner, Isla joined her sister and her husband to be, and is shocked when she sees Reek walks into the room and serve food to everyone at the table. She tries to stand up to talk to him but Ramsay places his hand on her thigh and pushes her down onto the chair, stopping her from moving. While Reek is serving food, Ramsay forces him to apologise to Sansa and Isla for murdering Bran and Rickon, which breaks her heart.

On the night of Sansa's wedding to Ramsay, she is summoned to his bedroom and refuses to leave Theon's side. The guards escort both her and Theon to Ramsay's bedroom where he is sat on the edge of the bed looking up at them, looking angry. He explains the argument he and Sansa had, leading to her leaving the castle, before standing up from the bed and pulling her over to him.

After a moment of silence, Ramsay orders Isla to take her clothes off, knowing this will anger Theon. Theon tries to leave the bedroom but guards shut the door and lock him in the room. Ramsay tells Theon to watch as he rips the back of her dress and pushes her face-down over the side of the bed. As he unbuckles his clothes, Isla remains still but begins crying softly. Theon is visibly distraught that he has to watch his wife being raped and begins silently crying to himself.

Over the next few days, Ramsay continues to rape Isla, leaving bruises on her arms and body. Isla is locked in her bedchambers and Theon serves her breakfast every morning through a small hole in the door. Once she realises he is on the other side of the door, she manages to persuade him to come in and talk to her. The two of them have a long conversation about why he wasn't doing anything to stop this happening to her and Theon informs her that things could get a lot worse and because Sansa was married to Ramsay, there was nothing that could be done without incriminating herself.

During the battle between the Boltons and Stannis Baratheon, Sansa and Isla escape from their bedchambers and beginning running around the castle trying to find a way out while everyone is distracted. The two of them run into Myranda and Theon who are stunned that they escaped, Myranda raises her bow at the two girls and prepares to fire when Theon grabs her, making her fire and miss, and throws her off the battlement, killing her instantly. Theon and Isla escape Winterfell by jumping off the side of Winterfell's walls, hoping to land in the deep snow and survive.

Season 6
After escaping from Winterfell, Isla and Theon flee into Wolfswood, with the Bolton forces in hot pursuit. They cross a stream and briefly take shelter under a tree, where Theon hugs Isla to keep her warm. Shortly, after this, they are found by the Bolton men and hounds. Theon urges Isla to flee to the safety of her half-brother, Jon Snow, but she refuses to leave him behind with the Boltons. Brienne and Podrick appear just in time and kill everyone, saving the two of them.

On the way to find her brother, Brienne reveals to Isla how she met both Sansa and Arya near the Bloody Gate. Isla is delighted to hear that both her sisters are alive and hopes they are safe from any harm. During their journey, Theon decides to part from the group and head to the Iron Islands. Heartbroke, Isla tries to persuade her husband to join them and promises Jon will protect them from Ramsay but Theon refuses, scared that Jon will have him executed for betraying Robb, and killing the two boys. Isla, desperate to stay with the man she loves, tells Theon she will tell Jon the truth about Bran and Rickon being alive and that Theon didn't kill them. Theon reminds her of all the crimes he has committed against House Stark and how Jon will never forgive him. When she realizes his mind cannot be changed, the two of them share a long, tender hug before parting.

Isla, Brienne, and Podrick arrive at Castle Black, where they find Jon. At first, the "siblings" are in shock from seeing one another that they can barely talk but quickly share a loving embrace after their long and tragic separation. As Jon offers Isla food, they talk about their happy childhood and how they both regret leaving Winterfell. When the siblings agree to stick together and never leave one another, Isla says the only place they can go now is home. She then asks him to help her reclaim their home from the Boltons. However, Jon tells her that he is tired of fighting, that he had done nothing but fight since he left home, and that he was killed for it. Although Isla appears to accept his choice, she tells him that she will reclaim Winterfell and the North, with or without his help.

As Isla enjoys a meal with Jon, a messenger from Winterfell arrives with a letter from Ramsay. In the letter, Ramsay states that he has their brother captive, causing Isla and Jon to make their way back to Winterfell to fight and get their brother back.

Back in Winterfell, Jon and Isla meet with Ramsay the day before the battle and demanded proof that he has their brother captive, Ramsay throws the decapitated head of Rickon's direwolf in front of them. After this, Isla stays out of the way of the battle until a distant horn is sounded and she joins the rest of the army to help them reclaim Winterfell after learning Ramsay killed Rickon.

After Winterfell is breached, Isla enters the Winterfell courtyard and witnesses Jon defeat Ramsay in single combat, though Jon momentarily goes into a wild frenzy and begins to pummel Ramsay, he spares Ramsay out of respect for Isla. With the Stark banners hanging in Winterfell once more, Isla sees Rickon's dead body, concluding to ask Jon where Ramsay is. Isla confronts a bloodied and bound Ramsay in the kennels, she tells him that his house is about to become extinct and that all memory of Ramsay to the rest of the world will soon disappear, just before an ominous growl from one of his hounds reveals his impending doom. Ramsay responds that his dogs are loyal to him, but she reminds him that he had been starving his dogs for seven days. The dogs approach Ramsay and he desperately attempts to order them to heel but after a brief moment of hesitation, one of the hounds bites him. As they begin to tear Ramsay apart while he screams, Isla walks away with a small smile.

With Winterfell back under Stark control, Jon tells her that he is having the Lord's chambers made for her, she protests and tries to get him to take it but he refuses, telling her he's not a real Stark. Isla tells him that he has always been a real Stark to him, but he still refuses. He kisses her forehead and turns to leave when she smiles and tells Jon the news of winter's arrival just like their father had been predicting.

After the Stark victory, Isla persuades everyone that although Jon is a bastard son, he still has Eddard Stark's blood in his veins, after this Jon is acclaimed as King of the North.

Season 7

Season 8
Later, Daenerys speaks privately with Isla, when Isla notes Jon's love for Daenerys and is worried she is manipulating him, Daenerys openly confesses her love for Jon and insists she has no ulterior motives. Although an understanding appears between the two women, Isla tells her that the Northerners will never accept an outsider as their ruler again, and bluntly asks her what her plans for the North are once the dead have been defeated.

The awkward moment is interrupted by Maester Wolkan announcing the arrival of Theon Greyjoy and his men. In the great hall, Theon kneels to Daenerys before asking Isla's permission to fight alongside the Stark House, at which Isla runs towards him, jumping into his arms, kissing and embracing him. The two are later seen having a meal together in the courtyard while awaiting the call to arms.

Before the battle, Isla and Theon engage in sexual intercourse on last time, knowing there is a chance neither of them will survive the battle. When the army of the dead and the army of Winterfell finally face each other, Isla and her sisters observe from the castle walls before going down to the crypts. As the army of the dead breach the walls, the Night King reanimates all the bodies of fallen soldiers and his spells reach the many Stark bodies found in the crypt, causing Isla and Sansa to hide while Arya runs out to fight.

Before either of the sisters can fight, Arya kills the Night King and all his soldiers collapse and shatter. Isla and the other survivors make their way out of the crypt to see what remains.

The survivors of the battle gather in front of Winterfell's walls to light the funeral pyres of all those who gave their lives for the living. Isla distraughtly collapses to the floor after seeing Theon's lifeless body being placed down before her. She tearfully places a pin bearing the House Stark direwolf onto Theon's body before lighting his pyre herself. During the celebration feast, she is sat with her siblings, Arya and Bran, refusing to eat anything after finding out her husband was murdered.

Isla later attends a war council which results in a tense moment with Daenerys, as they have different ideas on how to defeat Cersei. After the meeting, Isla, along with Sansa and Arya meet Jon in Godswood, where he is angry at the way his sisters have been treating Daenerys, explaining they'd all be dead without her. Isla protests that Arya is the one who killed the Night King and Jon points out that Daenerys gave them an army that helped protect them from the Army of the Dead. Both sisters acknowledge this but explain that they want Jon to stay with them as they are family, Jon insists he is not a Stark, but Isla tells him he is the son of Eddard Stark and their brother. Pained, Jon asks Bran to reveal his true parentage: the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, the heir to the Iron Throne.

Just before the Battle of King's Landing, Isla discovers that she is pregnant and is told she cannot fight in fears that her and her unborn child will be murdered if Cersei or any of the surviving Lannisters discovered the truth.

Several weeks following the Battle of King's Landing, after which Daenerys lays waste to the surrendered populace and is assassinated by Jon, Isla travels to King's Landing. She takes command of the northern forces and stations them outside the city to protect all the lords and ladies inside the city. During the meeting to decide the future of Westeros, Bran is elected King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, Isla requests that the North becomes an independent realm once more, which Bran agrees to. Jon is sentenced to rejoin the Night's Watch, and both Sansa and Arya intend to sail west of the Sunset Sea. After saying her goodbyes to her siblings, she returns to Winterfell and is crowned Queen of the North, later giving birth to her only daughter, Elana Greyjoy.