In honor of Ned
Jaylynn Williams
Dr, Schoppe
Game of Thrones
Ned Stark the warden of the north and a man who becomes one of the major catalysts for the events that occur within the world of game of thrones through his death is a character that would take the role of the hero and protagonist in your typical medieval fantasy story because of the traits he demonstrates but not within this one. Ned is a character who puts a big emphasis on the idea of honor and bases all his actions around it from the way he interacts with his family to the very way he sees the world as a whole which is a trait that would be held high regard in other works of fantasy like Lord of the rings but within the world of game of thrones its shown be a massive weakness and those who possess it are somewhat naive.
Ned is shown many times to be almost blind to the world around him at least when plucked out of the north and put into kings landing which might as well be a different planet to him because of the vast difference between it and his home where his ideas of honor are a big part of the culture and people tend to be to more direct in how they interact with each other unlike kings landing which is comprised of people who are just waiting for a chance to rip every sinew from each other's bodies. So ned is basically a fish out of water who flopped his way into a city of hungry bears seasoned and grilled to utter perfection for those who want to sink their teeth into him and with him also being named hand of the king by his close friend King Robert everybody is after in hopes of gaining power but all this stuff makes need seem like he's just downright stupid but all the stuff said has more layers to it then and everything has to be looked at closely before making any judgment about the character and the values that make him who he is as a person.
Let's look deeply at ned as character and the actions he takes to get a better understanding of how he sees the world one of the first thing to look at is his choice to journey to kings landing to become the hand of king after john arrons death even after learning that he did not die from natural causes he does this because he has sworn to serve Robert because he is the king and a very dear friend. I have mixed feeling about ned deciding to go to king landing because it is very admirable for a person to risk their life to keep a friend safe but ned has no understanding of whats going on in kings landing and when he gets there he seems to think that’s he's going to be safe there and the reason for him thinking he's going to be safe is because of his belief that the world is an honorable place even though there's plenty of evidence to show that that the vast majority of people do not share his belief of honor.
There's one scene that sticks out to me that just makes ned seem like he is willfully ignorant when it comes to rules that king landing operates on is when he starts to work with little finger a man who literally tells him that he should not trust him but ned still allows little finger to be vital part of his plans while in capital I don’t know why he thinks that a man like little finger would be honorable enough not to betray because the only reason little finger has for wanting to help ned is because he's in love with his wife.
I feel like kyle cup puts best in his post from the ordinary times “Have you no shred of honor?”Ned Stark asks this question to the ever-plotting Lord Petyr Baelish toward the end of A Game of Thrones. The question exposes the Lord of Winterfell’s two biggest failings: 1) he fails time and again to realize that those around him (deceitful schemers he inexplicably trusts) have less care for honor than the Wall has warmth,”https://ordinary-times.com/2011/08/02/eddard-starks-ethics-of-honor/
But even though ned going to kings landing and working with little finger are stupid to a degree I believe something he had to do not just because f his connection to Robert but because not doing it would shatter his world because think about his man who has based his entire life around the idea of honor being the most important thing in a a person and has based many of his decisions upon so if he didn't this thing that isn’t smart he would put himself into a situation that causes him to have to re-evaluate his whole entire world view. While I still can't get on board with his action I understand them because it common for to have a hard time changing things about themselves and in his situation I would have a hard time shaking off all the thing that have been put into my mind since birth even if I was in such tense situation because of the great mental toll it would take me and I feel like most people would have the same problem. Another thing to look at is the fact that ned is well known for his honor and puts great effort to always do his duty to the highest level possible everybody seems to know this that’s why Roberts trusted him to be the hand of king because he is a man he knew never betray him though I don’t want to assume too much but ned has a lot of weight on his shoulders.
Before ned, even journeys to kings landing he has the entirety of the north to deal with and when he gets to the capitol the amount problems and new situations he tackled with as the hand of the king are just massive because the sheer incompetence of Robert just stack up around him and he does all this while trying to figure out a murder and dealing with all the people scheming to take the iron throne for themselves. Under these circumstances it makes sense to me why ned seems to be so naïve because sure he is the warden of the north and has to deal with all the politics and problems in his part the kingdom but the thing he deals with on a daily basis in king landing are just so many magnitudes higher he would have very little chance of being able to compete with people who were raised in this environment and where very adept using all the tools at their disposal to get what they want.
The next thing I want to touch on is ned interactions with Jamie Lannister the kingslayer because this is very interesting and give us deeper look into neds mind because ned looks down Jamie that’s made pretty evident just in the way he looks at him but this is strange because he has a negative opinion of Jamie because of him breaking oath as a king guard and taking the life of the mad king during Roberts rebellions a war ned played a big part being one of the people who fought alongside Robert to usurp a king that he had also sworn to protect. This something that makes neds honor seems even more strange and makes him seem like a hypocrite because ned is the one who came across Jamie after he killed the king while he and Robert where invading kings landing to most likely to do exactly what Jamie did which was to kill the king and also bring into question devotion to preserving Roberts legitimacy as king because Robert is a terrible king and if someone else was in power it would probably be a lot better for the kingdom as a whole. The biggest justification for ned having no problem with Robert who led the rebellion and Jamie who took the kings life for pretty good reason is the fact that the mad king tortured and murdered his brother and father that’s something which was personal to him getting revenge for their death could be looked at as honorable because of the king showing that he too dangerous to hold the amount power and the reason for him looking down on Jamie is because he betrayed the king who had sworn to protect over anyone else this why he harbors no ill will towards ser Barristan who fought for the mad king. I think this whole idea of contradiction are put very well in a post made by Yi Li on the site fansided “As Jaime eloquently points out, moral actors in the world of Game of Thrones are positively drowning in oaths that are sure to conflict. Herein lies what I think is the biggest schism in moral thinking among Game of Thrones characters. Characters are often pulled in opposite directions by the demands of honor and their moral intuition, and they deal with these conflicts in one of two ways: by doing what’s honorable anyways, nagging feeling be damned, or by tossing honor by the wayside and following their conscience.” https://winteriscoming.net/2015/01/29/ethics-game-of-thrones-honor-bullet-biters-and-intuition-chasers/
The last thing I want to say about ned as a character is though he has massive coming in the story of game of throne he is character that has good traits and I have to say he character I enjoy because of his devotion to his beliefs and those close to him and when you look at him you see a man who really just wants the world to be a better place for those who live in it. I think we need to look at his actions from his perspective because as readers and viewers we have this omniscient view of all the things happening within his world while he is just like us in our world nobody knows everything and a lot of the time we just have to go off our feeling and intuition which doesn't always end in the way we expect it too only difference between us and him for the most part the average person isn’t making decisions that lead to the death themselves and a massive number of people in an entire kingdom. But before I end this post I feel like need is best described in a post from what culture “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.It's a core message of the show, and one we learn in the harshest way possible through the eyes of Lord Eddard Stark. Ned is our entry point into this world; he is, as far as we know, the main hero of the entire series when we first begin back in Season 1. In a world of monsters and mayhem, he's a guiding light of honour and goodness. He's the protagonist, on a journey to protect his family, take down the wrongful rulers, and set about restoring order to the Seven Kingdoms.” http://whatculture.com/tv/how-ned-stark-won-game-of-thrones
Dr, Schoppe
Game of Thrones
Ned Stark the warden of the north and a man who becomes one of the major catalysts for the events that occur within the world of game of thrones through his death is a character that would take the role of the hero and protagonist in your typical medieval fantasy story because of the traits he demonstrates but not within this one. Ned is a character who puts a big emphasis on the idea of honor and bases all his actions around it from the way he interacts with his family to the very way he sees the world as a whole which is a trait that would be held high regard in other works of fantasy like Lord of the rings but within the world of game of thrones its shown be a massive weakness and those who possess it are somewhat naive.
Ned is shown many times to be almost blind to the world around him at least when plucked out of the north and put into kings landing which might as well be a different planet to him because of the vast difference between it and his home where his ideas of honor are a big part of the culture and people tend to be to more direct in how they interact with each other unlike kings landing which is comprised of people who are just waiting for a chance to rip every sinew from each other's bodies. So ned is basically a fish out of water who flopped his way into a city of hungry bears seasoned and grilled to utter perfection for those who want to sink their teeth into him and with him also being named hand of the king by his close friend King Robert everybody is after in hopes of gaining power but all this stuff makes need seem like he's just downright stupid but all the stuff said has more layers to it then and everything has to be looked at closely before making any judgment about the character and the values that make him who he is as a person.
Let's look deeply at ned as character and the actions he takes to get a better understanding of how he sees the world one of the first thing to look at is his choice to journey to kings landing to become the hand of king after john arrons death even after learning that he did not die from natural causes he does this because he has sworn to serve Robert because he is the king and a very dear friend. I have mixed feeling about ned deciding to go to king landing because it is very admirable for a person to risk their life to keep a friend safe but ned has no understanding of whats going on in kings landing and when he gets there he seems to think that’s he's going to be safe there and the reason for him thinking he's going to be safe is because of his belief that the world is an honorable place even though there's plenty of evidence to show that that the vast majority of people do not share his belief of honor.
There's one scene that sticks out to me that just makes ned seem like he is willfully ignorant when it comes to rules that king landing operates on is when he starts to work with little finger a man who literally tells him that he should not trust him but ned still allows little finger to be vital part of his plans while in capital I don’t know why he thinks that a man like little finger would be honorable enough not to betray because the only reason little finger has for wanting to help ned is because he's in love with his wife.
I feel like kyle cup puts best in his post from the ordinary times “Have you no shred of honor?”Ned Stark asks this question to the ever-plotting Lord Petyr Baelish toward the end of A Game of Thrones. The question exposes the Lord of Winterfell’s two biggest failings: 1) he fails time and again to realize that those around him (deceitful schemers he inexplicably trusts) have less care for honor than the Wall has warmth,”https://ordinary-times.com/2011/08/02/eddard-starks-ethics-of-honor/
But even though ned going to kings landing and working with little finger are stupid to a degree I believe something he had to do not just because f his connection to Robert but because not doing it would shatter his world because think about his man who has based his entire life around the idea of honor being the most important thing in a a person and has based many of his decisions upon so if he didn't this thing that isn’t smart he would put himself into a situation that causes him to have to re-evaluate his whole entire world view. While I still can't get on board with his action I understand them because it common for to have a hard time changing things about themselves and in his situation I would have a hard time shaking off all the thing that have been put into my mind since birth even if I was in such tense situation because of the great mental toll it would take me and I feel like most people would have the same problem. Another thing to look at is the fact that ned is well known for his honor and puts great effort to always do his duty to the highest level possible everybody seems to know this that’s why Roberts trusted him to be the hand of king because he is a man he knew never betray him though I don’t want to assume too much but ned has a lot of weight on his shoulders.
Before ned, even journeys to kings landing he has the entirety of the north to deal with and when he gets to the capitol the amount problems and new situations he tackled with as the hand of the king are just massive because the sheer incompetence of Robert just stack up around him and he does all this while trying to figure out a murder and dealing with all the people scheming to take the iron throne for themselves. Under these circumstances it makes sense to me why ned seems to be so naïve because sure he is the warden of the north and has to deal with all the politics and problems in his part the kingdom but the thing he deals with on a daily basis in king landing are just so many magnitudes higher he would have very little chance of being able to compete with people who were raised in this environment and where very adept using all the tools at their disposal to get what they want.
The next thing I want to touch on is ned interactions with Jamie Lannister the kingslayer because this is very interesting and give us deeper look into neds mind because ned looks down Jamie that’s made pretty evident just in the way he looks at him but this is strange because he has a negative opinion of Jamie because of him breaking oath as a king guard and taking the life of the mad king during Roberts rebellions a war ned played a big part being one of the people who fought alongside Robert to usurp a king that he had also sworn to protect. This something that makes neds honor seems even more strange and makes him seem like a hypocrite because ned is the one who came across Jamie after he killed the king while he and Robert where invading kings landing to most likely to do exactly what Jamie did which was to kill the king and also bring into question devotion to preserving Roberts legitimacy as king because Robert is a terrible king and if someone else was in power it would probably be a lot better for the kingdom as a whole. The biggest justification for ned having no problem with Robert who led the rebellion and Jamie who took the kings life for pretty good reason is the fact that the mad king tortured and murdered his brother and father that’s something which was personal to him getting revenge for their death could be looked at as honorable because of the king showing that he too dangerous to hold the amount power and the reason for him looking down on Jamie is because he betrayed the king who had sworn to protect over anyone else this why he harbors no ill will towards ser Barristan who fought for the mad king. I think this whole idea of contradiction are put very well in a post made by Yi Li on the site fansided “As Jaime eloquently points out, moral actors in the world of Game of Thrones are positively drowning in oaths that are sure to conflict. Herein lies what I think is the biggest schism in moral thinking among Game of Thrones characters. Characters are often pulled in opposite directions by the demands of honor and their moral intuition, and they deal with these conflicts in one of two ways: by doing what’s honorable anyways, nagging feeling be damned, or by tossing honor by the wayside and following their conscience.” https://winteriscoming.net/2015/01/29/ethics-game-of-thrones-honor-bullet-biters-and-intuition-chasers/
The last thing I want to say about ned as a character is though he has massive coming in the story of game of throne he is character that has good traits and I have to say he character I enjoy because of his devotion to his beliefs and those close to him and when you look at him you see a man who really just wants the world to be a better place for those who live in it. I think we need to look at his actions from his perspective because as readers and viewers we have this omniscient view of all the things happening within his world while he is just like us in our world nobody knows everything and a lot of the time we just have to go off our feeling and intuition which doesn't always end in the way we expect it too only difference between us and him for the most part the average person isn’t making decisions that lead to the death themselves and a massive number of people in an entire kingdom. But before I end this post I feel like need is best described in a post from what culture “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.It's a core message of the show, and one we learn in the harshest way possible through the eyes of Lord Eddard Stark. Ned is our entry point into this world; he is, as far as we know, the main hero of the entire series when we first begin back in Season 1. In a world of monsters and mayhem, he's a guiding light of honour and goodness. He's the protagonist, on a journey to protect his family, take down the wrongful rulers, and set about restoring order to the Seven Kingdoms.” http://whatculture.com/tv/how-ned-stark-won-game-of-thrones
At one point in your post you say that you believe going to Kings Landing is something that Ned had to do because if he didn’t it would shatter his world, and I don’t agree. Ned going to Kings Landing is the actual reason that he died. He could have stayed home in Winterfell and been alive, but no because of honor he just had to meddle in other people’s problems. He knew the King wasn’t the same man he had once known and by going he put his whole family in danger. He should have let his honor be shattered and his family wouldn’t be dead. You were right to say that he was ignorant when he trusted Littlefinger because that man just had it out for him. Yeah, I agree Ned had some redeeming qualities, but overall, he was a fool.
ReplyDeleteNed Stark wad definitely has some good intentions but the ways he thought about life in this time was for sure not a good tactic, and what obviously got him killed. If someone vividly says “you should not trust me” you would think a grown man would be like HUH I guess I shouldn’t, but here we are. He was so naïve yet so supposedly so looked up upon. Yes, he was for sure the protagonist with some qualifying red flags about judgement. But he did think what he did for his family was right in mindset so I guess he just took one for the team, even though this lead to nothing but destruction for his family afterwards but he didn’t know, ya know? so I guess that makes it okay¿
ReplyDeleteYeah, he was really dumb to still trust Littlefinger after he was blatantly told not to.
DeleteI was so, so SO shocked at Littlefinger's betrayal because I assumed he would be loyal to Ned because of his "love" for Catelyn. The rejected lover who is true to the beloved even while he is in the wings is such a trope, I was shocked when he betrayed Ned and didn't act to protect Cat's family.
DeleteI still haven't quite figured out his character and his motivations, even now that the show has ended. The show did such a terrible job with his character and it's unclear in the book. I hope Martin finishes so I can wrap my head around Littlefinger more!
Thank you for looking into how Ned looks at Jamie. As I read that part of the blog, I had to stop and think to myself, "That is so true!" Ned did not like Jamie because he was the "king slayer" and because Jamie broke the honor code. However, Ned did the same thing when he put Robert on the throne! I mean, I knew it but I just thought he didn't like Jamie because Jamie was a, "know-it-all." But OMG. You got me there! This even makes my theory of Ned Stark being a lawful stupid even stronger!
ReplyDeleteIt really bothered me when he trusted LittleFinger. I just wanted to shake Ned and say, "DUDE! This man is crazy about your wife...he hates you and your family." I have heard the saying, "Keep your enemy closer than your friends." But Ned Stark did not think of Little Finger that way at all. Ned just trusted completely. He overlooked or did not even think that Little Finger could be a threat. UGH!