|
"Mature Content!" |
| “ | The blood of the First Men still flows in the veins of the Starks, and we hold to the belief that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. If you would take a man's life, you owe it to him to look into his eyes and hear his final words. And if you cannot bear to do that, then perhaps the man does not deserve to die. A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is. | „ |
| ~ Eddard Stark to his son Brandon. |
Lord Eddard "Ned" Stark is one of the overarching protagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, serving as the main protagonist of the first book, A Game of Thrones, and the first season of the TV show.
He was the patriarch of House Stark, serving as the head of the family, the Lord of Winterfell, and the Warden of the North. At the beginning of the story, Ned is named by his lifelong friend, King Robert Baratheon, as his Hand, to aid him in ruling the Seven Kingdoms. Following Robert Baratheon's death, he briefly served as the Protector of the Realm. He is then ultimately betrayed and then executed by King Joffrey Baratheon.
Despite his early death in the series, his legacy as a great, dutiful, honorable and just man is remembered and honored by other characters in the series, mainly his family and his loyal bannermen.
He was portrayed by Sean Bean.
His Good Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Good?[]
- He was the main protector of his family and does everything he can for them.
- Helped Robert Baratheon to fight against the Mad King Aerys II Targaryen.
- Took his men to contest Ser Arthur Dayne and Ser Gerold Hightower, to safely return his sister, Lyanna Stark.
- Agreed to fulfill his sister's final request to raise her son, Jon, and keeping his lineage a secret until his death, even if this offends his dignity. Even though he refused to tell Jon his true lineage, this was to protect him, and would have told him before they parted.
- He remained faithful to his wife even when she thought he had cheated on her.
- Despite his war against Aerys II Targaryen he shows clear standards in his war, as seen in his disdain for Jaime on his way to assassinate the king when his back is turned, as there is no honor in doing so.
- Advised King Robert to allow Ser Barristan Selmy to return to the Guard, even though he fought against them. He also complimented Selmy's talent.
- Prohibited flaying people and slavery, causing his son, Robb, to also prohibit the former.
- Helped Robert crush the Greyjoy rebellion.
- While Theon Greyjoy was held as a ward for the Starks, Ned treated him as fairly as he could with Maestar Luwin. In the TV series, it is shown that Ned went out of his way to make Winterfell Theon's home.
- He acted against deserters from the night watch and when a deserter was found he made sure that his family members saw his sentence.
- Condemned a deserter, called Will, to death and did the execution with his sword, taking no pleasure from it and doing what had to be done.
- He didn't listen to the deserter, but decided to check with his brother Benjen about the fear of the whites.
- When he found a deceased Direwolf with pups, although was going kill them out of mercy, he agreed with Jon to give them to his children and raise them.
- It was sad to hear of the death of Jon Arryn, who was considered a father figure to him.
- Agrees to his position as Hand of the King, continuing to serve Robert Baratheon even when the latter shows no interest in running his kingdom.
- During his stint as Hand of the King, he tried to discover the reason of the death of his friend, Jon Arryn.
- Tried to protect the dire wolf "Lady" of his daughter Sansa from execution and when failing do it herself.
- He was horrified after Arya's friend Mycah was murdered by Sandor Clegane.
- He comforted Arya when he started blaming herself for Mycah's death.
- After Petyr Baelish "helped" his wife to find his possible assassin he apologized for not trusting him (in actuality his distrust was justified).
- Respected Gendry after he refused to give him his helmet.
- He disagreed to take part on the competitions held in his honor, believing them to be a waste of the Crown's money since they were already with millions in debt and tried to prevent them himself.
- Pacified his daughters: Arya and Sansa after they got angry at each other.
- Gave his daughter, Arya a fighting teacher, Syrio Forel, to train her.
- Offers Yoren help in finding recruits for the night watch.
- Suggests Peter Baelish return to his brothel before the battle with Jaime.
- After his wife kidnaped Tyrion Lannister, he took the blame for him, to cover her from Jaime Lannister that attack him.
- When Gregor Clegane terrorized the Riverlands, he sent Lord Beric Dondarrion to kill him and strip all his ranks and titles.
- Opposed Robert Baratheon's suggestions to murder the pregnant Daenerys Targaryen and he refused this both at the cost of his position and even at the cost of his life. After Robert changed his mind, he asked Varys to stop the attempt.
- He orders the city guard to capture Joffrey and Cersei instead of killing him. He also told them to not hurt Ser Barristan Selmy, despite the latter being ordered to arrest him, due to knowing he was a good man who was only following the orders of his supposed king.
- Gives Cersei Lanister a chance to flee after he discovers her children's true parentage so that the kids may be spared.
- He arranged for one of the messengers to deliver a message to Stannis about the bastards of Cersei's children, causing both the saving of the messenger's life and the encouragement of a rebellion worthy of Joffrey.
- As Robert dies, Ned assures him that his fears he is as bad as Aerys Targaryen are unfounded and decides to spare him from the truth about his supposed children.
- After he was arrested, he makes a false confession to protect his son, Robb, from attempting to instigate a deadly war, as well as protecting his family altogether, although this fails due to Joffrey deciding to execute him.
- He asked for Yoren to take care Arya, which later saved her life.
- Overall, his honor, benevolence, and love for peace caused the North and many other regions to revere him as one of the few genuinely heroic people in all of Westeros, which plays a huge role into the story he is in. His family remembers him as a serious but kind, loving, and caring father. The majority of his bannermen remember him for his honor, kindness, integrity, honesty, duty, and devotion to justice, and are entirely devoted to him and his family.
What Prevents Him From Being Pure Good?[]
- He is very contemptuous and mocking to Jaime Lannister after killing king Aerys II Targaryen, what also gave him revenge on his father and his brother. This showed his reckless thinking towards his rivals and Jamie was shocked by Ned's reaction, especially when Ned is considered a "man of honor" (and rightly so).
- He occasionally has a wrathful side, such as threatening to kill Tyrion because Jaime's threat on him or trying to strangle Petyr Baelish because he thought he had lied about his wife being in King's Landing due to Petyr bringing him to a brothel. While the latter deserved it, this is still too corrupting for him to qualify as Pure Good.
External Links[]
- Eddard Stark on the Heroes Wiki
- Eddard Stark on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire
- Eddard Stark on the A Song of Ice and Fire Wiki
- Eddard Stark on the Wiki of Westeros
[]
 Near Pure Goods
| ||
|
Games of Thrones See Also | ||