"Aye, I can take the South and rule it. But why? For vain pride or ambition? It's too much work. The land is devastated by war, and winter has just begun. Not to mention all the quarrelsome kingdoms I would have to bind together while everyone would try to scheme all over the place. At least here in Winterfell, in the North, everyone has been bound by oaths of fealty to House Stark for thousands of years, and nobody bothers to play the bloody southern games. Sure, the Northern Lords are indeed nobles and still do the political maneuvring expected of them, but even so, they are far more direct. Winters are harsher and longer here, and people cannot afford to quarrel over silly things. Look at all those who sat upon the Iron Throne; scarcely a few met a good end, not to mention most of their siblings, spouses, or children. I don't want that for any of my children. The south is free to deal with its own mess; the Stark of Winterfell rules the North and only the North."