Ned Stark, Noble or Idiotic?

Ned Stark, Noble or Idiotic?

            Ned Stark, the beloved fan favorite character in Game of Thrones, is dead. Ned’s death has raised a lot of questions in the Game of Thrones community: is it smarter to be noble and a man of honor or to fight for your life by any means necessary? Should we teach our kids about honor and fairytales or about how the Game of Thrones world really works?

            I personally believe that Ned Stark is an idiot. Ned is an honorable man, no one can take that away from him, but that didn’t save his head. I believe that Ned’s actions from beginning to end got him killed.  I believe that the way he thinks has been implemented into Sansa. Sansa’s poor decision making comes from being raised by Ned and learning the ways from him.  

Sansa and her father Ned share many similarities that I believe are looked over because they are on different sides of the fandom. Ned is fan favorite and Sansa is easily one of the most hated characters. Is Sansa’s hatred right when Ned is doing the same thing but is loved? I think not, the people that hate on Sansa need to look a little closer at the decisions that both have made and realize the similarities between the two. On goodreads is it discussed how poor of a decision it was for Ned to go and tell Cerci about his knowledge of what happened between herself and Jamie. This is the definition of foolish. Ned had all the cards and choose to just tell everything to the person it was about.

            This decision is oddly like a decision that Sansa made shortly before. Ned told his daughters of his plan to send them back to Winterfell and Sansa being stuck in her fantasy world of marrying Joffery, she goes and tells Cersei of his plan and that decision is the beginning of the end for Ned. ASOIAF University discusses some similarities between these two characters, but the one that stuck out to me is discussing how both Ned and Sansa share a common trait of being naïve. Sansa’s come off as being a stupid teenager whereas Ned’s is looked at as being an honorable man and believing in the times of truth and honor. Ned and Sansa are one in the same.

            Ned was big fish at Winterfell, he could be honorable and teach honor and the fairy tales of how the world is supposed to work to his kids. Unfortunately, what was being taught was not how the world works. People don’t care about honor in Kings Landing. They care about power and being in control. They will kill or turn their backs on whoever they must. They will protect what they have or to get more than what they have.

            On Quora, Sansa is said to have been a story or in a fairytale. This is a true statement when you look at how she lived in Winterfell. Everything was a dream for her. She was under the impression that she would grow up and marry the prince and son of King Robert and one day be the queen. This idea quickly changed when she moved to King’s Landing and realized that Joffery isn’t who she thought. The point here is that Ned raised her to believe that her life would be perfect, and everything would workout the way that it was supposed to. He had her believing in all these “fairytales”, which shaped how she made her decisions once moving.

            Why would Ned teach Sansa all these false things if he is such an honorable man? That question is answered by understanding the fact that Ned is an idiot. Ned was under the impression that what he was teaching Sansa was correct. Ned was also living in his own fairytale. Ned believing the world would run the way its “supposed” to just because there are laws is ridiculous. He believed that Cersei would just leave King’s Landing after telling her that he knew about her and Jamie. This an example of Ned being a complete idiot. Ned was living by how the world is supposed to work. His failure to realize that the world is changing and being honest all the time isn’t how it works anymore is a reason that his head got chopped off.

            People’s hatred for Sansa comes from how they group her. People naturally place her in the same boat as Cat because of her lady like tendencies and they place Arya with Ned because of her warrior attitude. These are both wrong groupings as discussed on Thunks of Ice and Fire.

            Sansa is much more like her father. She shares his naive ways. She shares the foolishness to believe that you can trust anyone, espically Little Finger. She isn’t a great warrior like her father, but she shares more human characteristics than Arya does.

            Arya is a warrior inside and out. She has learned quickly how to kill and doesn’t mind having to do it if it means protecting herself. She is like Cat in the fact that she is smart and can see through people’s crap. She doesn’t take crap from anyone either including the Hound.

            Ned’s death was a tragic event for his family, his daughters that were there, and to the Game of Throne community. Ned’s death did have some good come out of it. Sansa has since learned from her foolish start. She no longer believes in fairytales or in happy endings. Sansa has learned how to “play the game”. I mean that she has learned how to lie and not let her true feelings or intentions leave her thoughts. One example of this is when she is eating dinner with Cersei and her other children and is asked about the dress that the daughter will wear at her wedding and she replies with that she will look beautiful instead of letting her true feelings out. Another example is when she is talking to Tyrian and he asks her if she still wanted to be with Joffery and she just replies with that she is loyal to her King. Sansa has learned when to be honest and who she can trust and cannot trust. Sansa has learned how to live.

            Sansa and Ned are the epidemy of similar. The two have managed to make the same mistakes and not learn from each other. If that doesn’t tell you that Ned is a damn fool and Sansa is apple that didn’t fall from the tree, then I don’t know what will.