Dude , there are troll posts and then there are troll posts . <| sep |> Same here . I can ' t stand their gooey mushy madness . <| sep |> There have been 32 amendments in just 16 daysWhich shows how agile how our rulers are . Tughlaq <| sep |> More like a blow out <| sep |> I don ' t believe Benjen was sent to the wall as punishment although apparently GRRM has stated he left for the wall a few months after Ned returned somewhere around 284 so he was at most 16 years old probably 13 or 14 . We can also deduce that since Benjen was the youngest of the four Stark siblings , he was at most , 15 years old when Lyanna died 283 , at most , 14 years old 282 when Brandon and Rickard died and , at most , 13 years old at the Tourney at Harrenhall 281 , which if we believe Meera ' s story , he attended and was still young . Even if Lyanna did convince Benjen to help her elope with Rhaegar , I cannot imagine a child being forced to take the black . My guess is that Benjen took the black for a combination of three reasons 1 He felt responsible for the war , death of his sister , brother and father and felt he could no longer stay at Winterfell after what he did . 2 He believed the Night ' s Watch was an honorable path and became convinced to join not dissimilar to Jon and 3 Robb would have been nearing this second name day , Jon would also be in Winterfell and Catelyn , perhaps pregnant with Sansa , or at least proving to being young and fertile created enough assurance the line was secured , so there was no need for him to remain .