Eddard "Ned" Stark - Lord of Winterfell

Yes, I have finally gotten to Ned Stark. Our sweet, naive Ned who is always full of honor. I have held off for awhile, but I really feel I must tell his story. So according to his wiki page, Ned is in his mid-thirties. The eff? Apparently I am just about his same age then! Ha ha, well his portrayer on the show is older, Sean Bean! Of Lord of the Rings fame. I just love him!

You have probably seen this iconic picture of our Ned in a Facebook meme

Here is what we already know: Ned is Lord of Winterfell and House Stark (basically the most important dude in the North). He is married to Catelyn of House Tully and has 5 kids with her (Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon). He also has one bastard son name Jon Snow who represents the ONLY time that Ned was ever dishonorable. But maybe not? Jon Snow Theories Ned is total besties with King Robert Baratheon and later Hand of the King (begrudgingly). Oh Ned! Why did you ever go to King's Landing in the first place?

Reasons to love Ned: So Ned is the character who is prepped as a hero and we love him from the very beginning. Yes, he cuts off that one Wall deserter's head....but that's his job and the guy had it coming! And he even does that honorably. He is a great dad and all his kids love him. As does his wife. Even though he was second choice after his brother Brandon, Catelyn and Ned are solid. Being best friends with the King also doesn't hurt Ned's status in the realm. King Robert wants to marry his son/heir Joffrey to Ned's daughter Sansa and he wants Ned to be the Hand of the King. Well, this is only after his current Hand, Jon Arryn, dies unexpectely. Ned is not planning to accept the offer, but does so after learning that Robert's wife and her family might have had something to do with the death. He worries about his friend's safety and goes to King's Landing with Sansa and Arya in tow. Bran was supposed to go as well, but we all know what happened there!

I love the Stark family!!

More reasons to love Ned:  I am extending the love section because there is so much more to talk about. Ned is a great advisor to King Robert and gives his opinion even if it is unpopular. Like when Robert wants to have Daenerys killed because she is pregnant and he is scared she will come back to fight for the Iron Throne (not an entirely misguided fear). Ned would rather quit being the Hand if it means killing children. Ned is also a super sleuth. He is determined to find out the secret that got Jon Arryn killed and this gets him into a heap of trouble. Turns out, Arryn knew a secret! A big one! Guess what Robert..In the case of Joffrey and your other two children:

It's true! Joffrey is totally not Robert's heir. I don't see how no one figured this out earlier. But they don't have DNA technology in Westeros. They have to rely on the fact that Joffrey is "yellow of hair" and Robert is "black of hair". But all this aside. Joffrey is the product of twincest! His father is his Uncle Jaime!! Now THAT is a good episode of Maury.

Reasons to hate Ned: So it didn't take long for Ned to find out Cersei's deep dark secret. It is what he DOES with this information that makes one wonder if Ned is right in the head. He should have held onto it until the right time came to expose her to Robert. But no, he decides the honorable thing to do is tell CERSEI he knows..and she readily admits everything!



So now does he REALLY think Cersei is going to run off with her kids and never look back? Nope, Cersei uses this time to orchestrate Robert's death and letting Joffrey take the Iron Throne with herself as Queen Regent. And she finds out Ned is planning on heading back to Winterfell (thank you, Sansa) so she has him arrested for treason (thank you, Littlefinger). Ned really isn't supposed to die. Cersei just wants him to confess that he is a traitor and send him to The Wall. Poor honorable Ned wants to refuse, but decides that he will do it for his children. And then. AND THEN! Stupid bat-shit, incest-for-brains Joffrey chops off his head anyway. Even after promising Sansa that he definitely would not chop off her dad's head! So that's that for Ned Stark. Very shocking scene to everyone. Ned was supposed to win everything. Instead, he gets bested by a 13 year old snot.

Everybody Hates Joffrey

High School: Ned would just be a cool guy that everyone loved. Probably on the football team, though not the star player. He would have a nice, steady girlfriend and people would always go to him for advice. His best friend would be the star football player who would be dating the hottest girl in school. Ned finds out she is cheating on him and decides to tell her that he knows rather than telling his friend. She turns against him and gets the entire school to think he is a liar. He would be banished from popular society and eat lunch alone until college.

Let's Mix in Some Sticks: Well, Saucer already covered this one! Ned would totally be Brian Campbell of the Florida Panthers! If you haven't read her post yet, be sure to do so. Brian is very Nedd-ish and full of honor. You have to love the good guy (even though George RR Martin clearly does not)! We need a hockey team called the Direwolves with Brian as captain!

Sigh, I suppose there's always a glimmer of hope that Ned will come back as a zombie or something (like a certain other character who I won't mention just yet..) But even a zombie would have a hard time without a damn head! Ugh, Joffrey!!

~Beddee