[Boaz]

Egg, well said. Corrct on most of my points? If I'm batting over .500 I'm thrilled.

Of course Robb would not let Ed in on his counsel and plans for almost the same reasons that Doran kept Arianne in the dark. The bottom line is that Edmure may not watch his tongue.

When Robb says "Hold Riverrun" Robb meant "Stay inside the castle and let Tywin pass unmolested as he burns your fields and murders your people, but look for him quickly returning in a rout... When this happens, leave the castle and kill every Lannister you can find".

When Robb said "Hold Riverrun" Ed heard "Hold all of your father's lands. In fact their my lands now and I don't want them spoiled. So defend all of the Riverlands to the last man."

Of course the Dothraki Leadership Conference (DLC) had not arrived in the Seven Kingdoms... so Robb is really blameless for his poor communication to Edmure. If Drogo had not cancelled his speaking engagements in Westeros, Robb would have learned proper leadership skills from the DLC and would still be alive. Therefore we can safely blame Khal Drogo for Robb's inability to defeat Lord Tywin.

Edit: I just want to be clear that I'm not condoning murdering prisoners of war. Neither do I condone torrture... or exacting oaths from drunken prisoners chained to a wall and standing in their own fillth while their gaoler holds a sword to the prisoner's throat. Sure Robb executed Karstark for treason, but I don't expect the Lannisters would have been satisfied with that. Robb could have shipped Karstark and his men to KL to Joffrey's justice and the Lannisters might have been slightly mollified, but that's not right either. Losing two young men was worth getting Jaime back to the Lannisters. In the long run, Catelyn's treason hurt the North more, imo.

Second Edit: In Glory, Denzel Washington's and Matthew Broderick's characters have a conversation near the end. Washington says the war stinks bad... that they have all covered themselves in shame, not glory. I think this is true of ASOIAF. The good guys, i.e. Ned, Jon, Robb, Sam, Catelyn, etc. have all done things they are ashamed of. They broke oaths and vows. They told lies. They used coercion. They did not protect those they swore to protect. But compared to Viserys, Theon, Gregor, Sandor, Joffrey, Cersei, etc. we judge the Starks to be good-er. No matter who wins the Iron Throne or defeats tje Other, he/she will have dishonored themselves in some shape or form along the way.