An Honorable Fool
Univ 375 400
09/21/2020
An Honorable Fool
Ali Hartsell
The jester of his own kingdom, we find Ned stark with a chopped off head and a kingdom held hostage. See that one coming? Yeah me either and to be completely fair he had all the signs thrown at him that things, unfortunately, are not the way they should be. Let’s take it back for a second. Why someone as honorable as Ned Stark had no escape from his self or the corruption of Kings Landing. Ned was more than just a popular character; he was the character everyone depended on when things went downhill. Viewers had a comfort zone when it came to Ned Stark and played the “perfect leader” to Winterfell. In all honesty Ned Stark made more mistakes than he should have that left viewers confused and shocked towards his pointless decisions. Ned was a genuine character but just dug himself too deep in a hole that was just big enough to fit his chopped off head. YOLOS right, you only live one season man.
First of all, Ned had Sansa’s Dierwolf killed when Arya’s wolf was the one that attacked Joffrey; and what does he do? He just let it happen. This was a small turning point in the beginning because Dierwolf play a very important role in the raising of stark children. Each stark child is given one to raise and keep by their side. He knew how import those animals were to the girls and didn’t hesitate to fight for them. Ned let Cersei’s cruel punishment get way out of hand and in he’s own home. Um HELLO! You’re the Lord of the North! Where’s your head at? Oh right, gone. There’s a scene where Arya’s friend Mycah is viciously thrown down a hill and became a victim of the ruthless Hound. Ned just stands there and says nothing, watching this poor innocent boy lose his life within their own dynasty. During the show you can see the desperate confusion of Ned as he tries to unravel what has been placed upon him and how he should react. Ok so it's not that big of a deal but to me this was a small part in the start of Ned’s brainless decision making.
Yes, I have no argument when it comes to Ned’s honorable characteristics. He has proven himself a man of his word and fight for what he knows is right. After all of the events that happened at Winterfell Ned takes his two daughters to Kings Landing. By doing this he had hopes for the bonding of Starks and Baratheon’s houses into one. Red flag right here. You mean to tell me that after everything blew up at Winterfell, he’s going to walk his happy ass to Kings Landing to do what is so called the “honorable way”. By taking the role of being the hand of the King, Ned has all the signs thrown at him that the “honorable way” doesn’t exist in King’s Landing. Arya and Sansa are unfortunately stuck in the middle of their fathers’ gullible mistakes. Yes, Sansa is betrothed to Joffrey and I understand that but as a father he should have taken this journey alone and maybe things could have turned out different. Ned drags Arya to help her get a better understanding of being a lady and get rid of her “boyish” ways. Sansa is bestrode to Joffrey and the girls have never been outside of Winterfell their whole lives so I completely understand Ned’s intentions, but he had all the signs that maybe things aren’t as they were.
There’s a particular time during Ned’s era on GOT where he goes through a book of the royal family and sees all of the Baratheon kids have black hair and the Children on the Lannister’s have blonde hair. This was very crucial information for Ned and how he used it. The way he confronts the information to me seemed very naive and stupid. This was a HUGE mistake on Ned to confront Cersei on her incest behavior because she knew then, he had to be killed. At first Ned tells her to leave the city, take the children and never come back. Cersei acts very smog about it with an attitude of “you can’t do shit”. Reddit quoted “Everyone knows the Lannisters are just as ambitious as they are evil.” (www.reddit.com) Ned should know this by now and shouldn’t have confronted cerise the way he did. When it comes to her children, she is ruthless with no signs of mercy. In my opinion the whole scene of Ned Stark beheaded, and she begs her son not to do the unthinkable.
This scene really brings out the “cluelessness” of Ned’s thoughts on the situation he just discovered. Confronting Cersei gave her the power to make sure that her nasty secret wouldn’t hit kings landing and end Ned starks role as hand of the king. In my opinion he was trying to protect her kids from her faults which was really not his place to do. If the kids left the city with her, they would come back bastards and Robert very easily would have had them killed. Ned’s caring ways went too far in resulting of him making things worse for himself. He thought the most honorable thing to do was the total opposite of his intentions and gave Cersie more of a reason to make him disappear. The naïve part was him actually tell Cerise before Robert. He had no idea she would stoop to a level that would result in his death but obviously he doesn’t know the Lannister to well. Detailed in a blog post Chivi97 stated that “Yes, he's no doubt a very honorable character, but there is no honor is King's Landing. I'm reading the book, and I can't believe how much of a fool Eddard is.” (www.riddit.com). I couldn’t agree more. Maybe if Ned would have thought more of himself and his family than the “honorable” thing he might still have his head.
In a blog post by Chivi97 he quotes “Lord Eddard Stark had to choose the honorable way in a snake pit.” (www.riddit.com). Meaning he has found himself surrounded by lies and corruption. As we can see Ned was one of the most loved characters in the series with no sign of his time coming to an end. His death was unfair and a complete turn of events for us GOT peers but after the death we reflect on his time in the series as the Honorable fool of Winterfell. Ned let his old ways get in the way of what was right in-front of him. There’s even a scene where little finger betrays Stark, and don’t even get me started with that obvious upcoming. To being locked up with no contact to the outside or what is even going on at this point, Ned allowed himself to be put in the situation he was in. He had the chance to make things better for himself, but he was to naïve when it came to Cersei and what her intentions were once she heard of Ned’s findings. Cersei shows no mercy throughout time, down to the littlest thing. Hats off to you Ned.
Works Cited
Peers, Meah, (374 Articles Published) I am a university student studying Criminology & Psychology at St. Thomas University. “Game of Thrones: 10 Things That Make No Sense About Ned Stark.” ScreenRant, 8 July 2020, screenrant.com/game-of-thrones-things-make-no-sense-about-ned-stark/.
Reddict. “r/Asoiaf - (Spoilers Extended) I Think Eddard Stark Is a Damn Fool.” Reddit, www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/5jvld8/spoilers_extended_i_think_eddard_stark_is_a_damn/.
Damn this makes me think Ned is even more of a fool then before, I wrote my post on a very similar topic. It hurt to watch Ned in that first season act the way he did, and it didn't hurt because he was acting wrong in a sense, it hurt because he just could not see the world was different in King's Landing. Something I really like that you said was that Ned was like the backbone to many things, he was who people depended on. And this worked like we all saw in Winterfell but when it came to King's Landing, you could have had him flip a coin for whether to do or say things and he would have lasted longer. Honestly, if he did last longer, I wonder where he would have ended up.
ReplyDeleteI'm curious to where he would have ended up also. I can not think of any good outcomes in a world like GoT and it's very hard, or just simply impossible to image a scenario where he walks away with his life intact. Like I have said many times Ned was not meant for the world he was born in. Ned was doomed from the start and I feel bad for him because from the time he entered Kings Landing he was being used as a chess piece in a game of grand strategy as you mentioned in your post Kyle.
DeleteI think there is no way that anything should of ended up the right way. I think he could of been the best kings there was if he was given the chance. He was right for the world he was born in but he was not raised for Kings Landing because he does not play the games everyone does there. He knows that they play them but he does not do it himself and that is what got him killed.
DeleteMadison
Your blog was very interesting to read. I agree, Ned confronting Cersei before Robert was very foolish and was a result of his honor, but as you said there is no honor in Kings Landing. In my post I said he simply underestimated her because she was a woman, and he did not know the extent of Lannister power or he blindly believed even a female Lannister could do nothing. I also like how you pointed out Ned’s cluelessness when he was about to lose his head. I believe he was very confused as to why his honorable choices led him to that point. Ned was so delusional with his honor that he could not understand a world where it did not exist.
ReplyDelete~ Caelan LP
The thing that was bad about his telling Cersei before Robert was so stupid. It was stupid because he should of let Robert handle his wife. But he also wanted to make sure that it was true so he did not ruin his Kings life but he should of. I think that the hole thing is just so stupid because he should of never took his kids with him and also just said no to him. His wife did not want him to go so he should of told him that this is the reason why he should of gone.
DeleteMadison
This is such a great blog post. You made everything seem right. He only did the thing that he thought was right but the way he thinks is not the way people in kings landing thinks so he needed up being wrong. You said that he just dug himself in to a hole that was big enough for him head to fit in. I love this because he really did that. He did not know how to play the games in Kings Landing hut he was doing what he thought was right. If he was in the North would he have been killed?
ReplyDeleteMadison