Khal Drogo and Daenerys Targaryen- Love Story or Stockholm Syndrome?

Kyle Kamm

2/12/20

Dr. Schoppe

Blog Post

Ned Stark: When is too much Honor Enough

            Ned Stark was a very important character in this book and before he was killed was the King of House Stark. In Season 1 of Game of Thrones, Robert Baratheon asked Ned to be the Hand to the King after a sudden death which lead to an opening in the position. He and Robert grew up together in a Foster home, raised by John Arryn, so these two men had been very close for many years. They considered themselves to be brothers and John Arryn to be their father during their time of growing up Ned Stark is portrayed in the show to be very angry and always had a very serious look on his face, however he is described by his wife Catelyn to be very kind-hearted under the seriousness seen in his actions. He is also very protective of his wife and their children (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran, Rickon, and his bastard son, Jon), he would put himself through great harm to ensure the safety of his family. Ned Stark is a very honorable man and although his honor lead to him being killed for attempted to spill the truth about Joffery, his honor should not be downed or disrespected. He knew that he had to try and tell Robert about his wife’s incest sex with her brother and he would not let anything stop him from doing so. I believe that Cersei took the cowardly way out by having him put to death because she knew her secret would be revealed if he was alive any longer.

After Robert’s death, Ned is taken prisoner by the new King Joffery and his mother, Cersei Lannister, after Ned threatens to tell about how Joffery is the illegitimate Aire to the throne because he is the product of inbred sex between Cersei and her brother. After Ned’s Death, his honor began to come in question, this being that he got himself and Robert killed when he just needed to keep his mouth shut. Ned Stark is given the opportunity to save himself by joining the Night watch, but when he makes a false public statement he was ordered to be executed. He only agreed to join to ensure the safety of his daughters, he was only making a move that any father would make if put in that situation. Although he would have been put into a situation he did not want to be in, he knew that he had to accept the consequences or his daughters would have been harmed and he did not want that While looking at other people’s opinions online I found that people are not questioning whether or not he is honorable or not, people are saying that he is just playing the game the wrong way.

 “Ned Stark died because he played the game poorly.  It's not because he was too honorable.  He was already in over his head before he told Cersei of his plans to reveal her secret to Robert.  It was just a matter of time.  Even if he made it back to Winterfell and wrote a letter to Robert to tell him about Jaime and Cersei.  Robert would call on him to raise an army and help him against Tywin soon after Cersei and Jaime gets executed.  If Tywin went to war for Tyrion, think what he would do to Robert if Cersei and Jaime gets executed.”

I really like this quote because it brings up a very good point about Ned Stark, if he had not revealed his whole plan to Cersei, he would have never been in that situation. He let his own honor get his way and that is how he played the game poorly. If he had just went to find Robert himself this scenario could have went a completely different way than it did. When I look at the situation that Ned was put in, I am unsure what I would, because I do not want to die but again honor comes into question. He gave Cersei the chance to flee before Robert came back and she was killed for her actions, but she had Robert killed instead. His plan was completely flawed but because he is a good man, he had to give Cersei the chance to flee with Jamie and all their illegitimate inbred children. This decision he makes also comes from the father side of him because he knows that all the inbred children will also be killed, and he does not want to see any of that happen.

            Another thing that has come into question is whether or not Varys is honorable, when reading about Varys, he is a very intelligent man who knows how to get exactly what he wants. He is sometimes blamed for the death of Ned Stark, but I believe that only person who should be blamed is Little Finger.

“Ned was set up by Littlefinger and Lysa. She sent that deliberately misleading letter. Littlefinger did everything he could to lead Ned down the path of destruction, and into the Lannister soup. (Let's not get into Lady Stark's misadventures.) I believe Varys tried to warn Ned off. I do not think he did anything overt to hurry Ned's demise. Littlefinger was had Ned by the nose and pulled him along. But Varys did nothing to help Ned, because Ned was not useful, had no power and (worse) could not be manipulated -- it was so easy to "let" Tyrion have his revenge.”

I really like this quote because I believe that Varys is not directly to blame for the death of Ned Stark, he just didn’t do anything to stop it because it could have meant his own head. Littlefinger pretended to back Ned but only led him to the point to where he could no longer defend himself and put him in a very vulnerable place. Varys was just doing what was best for himself, he couldn’t use Ned to help himself at all, he was doing something that Ned could not do and that was play the game. The thing he needed to do to survive and make it during this very grueling time period. This quote from Varys is just more proof that he just knew how to play the game and how he knew what he needed to do to be successful: "Power Resides Where Men Believe It Resides. It's A Trick. A Shadow On The Wall. And A Very Small Man Can Cast A Very Large Shadow." This was a statement made to Tyrion Lannister trying to persuade him into working together because Varys knew they both wanted the same thing.

            Ned Stark was a loving father and he would do anything to protect his children. Another thing I have seen talked about his how his downfall had something to do with not wanting the children to be harmed.

            “I've always had this idea that Ned's downfall all comes down to his driving instinct to protect children. He was more concerned about the well-being of Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen that he handled the situation too meekly & everyone stepped all over him. The significance of this motivation, of course, is that it is rooted in the whole R+L=J / "Promise me, Ned" thing. Both during Ned's warning to Cersei and Renly's offer, he makes a really big deal about not wanting any harm to come to the kids. It's kind of like he's taken his sister's last words, which affected him so much, and applied them not just literally to that specific situation, but also metaphorically to a larger context in life.”

Ned Stark did not want to see anymore children get hurt so he gave Cersei the chance to flea with the children and it all backfired in his face and eventually led to his death.

            In conclusion, Ned Stark should be seen as an honorable man although his actions would eventually lead to his downfall and his execution. Ned Stark is a very honorable man and although his honor lead to him being killed for attempted to spill the truth about Joffery, his honor should not be downed or disrespected. He knew that he had to try and tell Robert about his wife’s incest sex with her brother and he would not let anything stop him from doing so. Although he had been questioned for things for the decisions he made, his honor should have never been questioned because he gave them the opportunity to flea but it was not going to end well for him after he revealed his whole plan and after Robert was ordered to be killed by Cersei.