Honesty is Always the Best Policy, Right Lord Stark?
Honesty is
Always the Best Policy, Right Lord Stark?
Eddard Stark
Ned
Stark, a noble and honest man, thought he was doing what was right. He wanted
to follow the line of succession, no matter what because that is how the world
works. Why and how did he get it so wrong? He became hand of the king and when
he did, he put his nose where it did not belong and found out what the previous
hand died for. Joffrey, Marcella, and Tommen are illegitimate children. They
are products of incest between the twin siblings, Cersei and Jamie Lannister,
not Cersei and the late King Robert Baratheon. Without knowing exactly who he
was dealing with and what his future consequences would be, he confronts
Cersei. Ned should have listened to Lord Varys when he had the chance.
Lord Varys
Lord
Varys, the eunuch, sat on the king’s small council as the Master of Whisperers,
he was also known as the Spider. He knows everything about everything because
he has his little birds throughout the realm. “Varys
would train other orphans on how to sneak around without getting caught. He
taught these kids how to read and would help them survive” (Serrano,
2017). Varys does what he does for the good of the realm, he says he serves no
one but the realm. He does this by knowing his audience and thinking outside
the box, never forgetting who will and will not be affected by decisions that
are made.
Do They Have the Same Goals in the
End?
When
comparing the two Lords, you can see that Ned Stark had the honor and did care
for the realm, but Varys was smart in his decisions. To break this down, we
have to start from the beginning and discuss Ned Stark’s beheading and the
events that led up to that particular moment in the series. It started when he
found out about the children being a result of incest between the Queen and her
brother and decided he would tell her he knew to uphold his honor.
“Jon
Arryn had been Hand for fourteen years. What was he doing that they had to kill
him?”
“Asking
questions,” Varys said, slipping out the door. (Martin, A Game of Thrones).
Where it all Began
From
the start of Ned Stark being the hand of the king, Varys tried to guide him in
the direction allowing him to keep his life and still serve the king, as well
as the realm. Varys warned Ned that asking questions is what got Jon Arryn
killed and then Ned proceeded to ask questions and figure out what Jon Arryn
was searching for. Following his discovery, he tells Cersei that he is going to
inform Robert of her adultery and she turns the tables on him. His reign as
Hand of the King was brief and ended with the betrayal by Littlefinger, the
death of his men, and was imprisoned (“The Spider's Greatest Intelligence
Failures or Something Else?”, 2014).
Varys
advised Ned and said, “If you will give her the peace she needs and the time to
deal with Stannis, and pledge to carry her secret to your grave, I believe she
will allow you to take the black and live out the rest of your days on the
Wall, with your brother and that baseborn son of yours” (Martin, A Game of
Thrones).
Varys
visited Ned in the jails and advised him to confess his “treason”, stating
Joffrey is the rightful heir to the Iron Throne. Ned, being the honorable man
he is, asked Varys if he really thought he would lie when Stannis Baratheon is
the rightful heir to the throne. To point Ned in the right direction, to try
and spare his life and the lives of his family, Varys brought up his daughter’s
lives being that they are also in Kings Landing with him. Ned Stark complied,
but he still lost his life because Joffrey ordered the execution even after
being begged not to.
Now
the following questions remain, was honesty the best policy? Should Ned Stark
have listened to Varys or remained honest? Did Varys fail in advising Ned? Would
his outcome have been the same either way?
Let’s see what Others Have to Say on
the Matter
Quotes
from other individuals can answer a couple of these questions in their opinion
on the matter:
“Ned’s
“ethics” of honor falls short because he doesn’t have a basis for judging what
is worthy of honor. He wishes to honor the law governing the transition of the
crown—at least now that Robert is king—but his honor gives him no cause to
consider how honoring the law may dishonor the people ruled by whoever sits on
the Iron Throne” (Eddard Stark's Ethics of Honor, 2011).
“When
Ned found out about the true lineage of the king's heirs, he made the mistake
of allowing mercy to Cersei Lannister, figuring it was the honorable thing to
do. Cersei answered this mercy by having him beaten and jailed” (The Tragic
Story of Ned Stark).
These
two individuals both say that Ned Starks honor got him killed because he
mistook what and who deserved honor and honesty and what and who did not. This
is what Varys did right, he thought about the people and not just the line of
succession or honor in the slightest. He made sure the people of the realm
would be taken care of, rather than sending the entire realm into war which is
what would have happened with Stannis on the throne and what does happen
because Ned Stark was beheaded.
Was Honesty the Best Policy?
Ned
did what he thought was right at the time and he realized that he should have
listened to the advice he was given in the first place when it was too late. At
the end of the day, his best option could have been to not confess his crimes
and tell the truth to the people of Kings Landing so the people would know the
truth even though he may have been beheaded anyway. Varys may have been right
in the beginning, but it was too late at the end when Varys advised him to
confess to a lie. Sansa and Arya could have escaped from Kings Landing, the
realm could have known the truth, and Ned would have upheld his honor.
References
times.com/2011/08/02/eddard-starks-ethics-of-honor/
Serrano, Z., Arogya, V., Sharma, A.,
& Nieva, J. (2017, July 13). The VIPeen Of Westeros: How
Varys'
Castration Set Off Important Events. Retrieved from
https://www.player.one/game-thrones-season-7-theories-spoilers-varys-castration-117598
The Spider's Greatest Intelligence
Failures or Something Else? (2014, February 8). Retrieved
from
https://warsandpoliticsoficeandfire.wordpress.com/2014/02/08/the-spiders-greatest-intelligence-failures-or-something-else/
The Tragic Story of Ned Stark.
Retrieved from https://dtc-wsuv.org/jculp17/sequential/
The deception the crown uses to cover up their incestual secret is the perfect cover up for their story. However, in the end it was too late of Eddard Stark. Whether or not he stood in the town to expose the thought to be Baratheon but Lannister children. The crown was still going to have his head. It was clever to compare Eddard Stark to Lord Varys. Lord Varys is very intelligent, and tactical while operating under the crown. Honesty seems to get you killed in this age. If you want to serve for the good of the realm you have to be alive. Being alive will require a lack of ethical morality. Overall, it was a very insightful piece. The subtitles helped connect your ideas. Perhaps, keeping some of the sentences simpler and more organized would help create a more detailed explanation.
ReplyDeleteI absolutely love the title because it shows your stand on the post from the start. I agree that Ned was very stubborn and didn’t take the advice that was given to him by Varyus. Something I don’t get….why tell someone you’re going to snitch on them anyway? Ned definitely challenges Cersie intelligence by doing so and it cost him his life, how crazy. By adding the quote from varyus also helped me see that Ned had more than one option and chance to help save his life. As to your question” did Varys fail to guide Ned?” I would say no just by the evidence you provided alone it seems as if Ned thought his own ways were better then listening to someone who’s been around to see this play out before. I love this post it makes you think of all the outcomes that could have happened while giving you a look as to what some of the options that were given where.
ReplyDeleteYes, honestly was the best policy. Go Ned for confronting Cersei about knowing the truth, but he definitely could have handled the whole situation in a better way. I agree with you in your last sentence about how everything could have played out differently. I understand that Neds integrity and honor means a lot to him but what about his family? He couldn't do or change anything once he was dead.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post and it made us ask questions and understand more about Games of Thrones.