Worst Decisions Made By Ned Stark In Game Of Thrones

Highlights

Eddard Stark's biggest mistake was leaving Winterfell against the advice of his wife and getting involved in the political affairs of King's Landing.
Ned's disagreement with Robert over sending an assassin to kill Daenerys Targaryen showed his honorable nature but ultimately led to his downfall.
Confronting Cersei about Joffrey's true parentage and refusing to bend the knee to her resulted in Ned's imprisonment and ultimately his execution.

Despite hailing from the ruling family of the North, Eddard Stark remained a politically naive Lord until his last. He started his Game of Thrones journey as the Lord of Winterfell and the Warden of the North and ended as a supposed traitor to the realm. He wasn't meant to rule, but circumstances forced him to take the reins.

Robb Stark wanders amongst his people in full armor

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Eddard, more commonly known as Ned, was an honest, righteous, and loyal person. All of these character traits cost him his life and led to political instability in the North. Though he wanted to place the rightful king (Stannis Baratheon) on the Iron Throne, he started wars due to his terrible decisions in Game of Thrones.

1 Left Winterfell For King's Landing

Season 1, Episode 1 "Winter Is Coming"

Catelyn Stark walks toward Ned as he cleans Ice in Game of Thrones.

Catelyn Stark visited Ned in the Godswood and informed him of Jon Arryn's passing and the upcoming royal visit. King Robert remained without a Hand and thus traveled up to Winterfell to ask Ned to fill in as his second Hand.

The couple talked things through, and in the end, Ned decided to leave for King's Landing with a few men and his daughters. He left his wife, and the eldest boy, Robb, in charge of the North while he traveled far to serve a king who couldn't care any less about the throne he sat on. Leaving Winterfell against the advice of Catelyn was Ned's biggest mistake. He should have graciously refused Robert's offer, especially after learning Jon's wife, Lysa, fled the capital and accused the Lannisters of murdering her husband.

2 Squabbled With The King

Season 1, Episode 5 "The Wolf and the Lion"

Ned Resigns as the Hand of the King in Game of Thrones.

Ned didn't see eye to eye with Robert about the affairs of the realm. He was shocked to learn that the king had beggared the realm and rarely sat at small council meetings. He quarreled with Robert over his decision to send an assassin to have a pregnant Daenerys Targaryen murdered in Essos. Grand Maester Pycelle tried explaining:

I bear this girl no ill will, how many innocents will die? How many towns will burn? Is it not wiser, kinder even, that she should die now so that tens of thousands might live?

While Ned believed it was dishonorable to have a child murdered, Robert maintained the dirty work had to be done because Daenerys had married Khal Drogo and therefore the Dothraki army was at her disposal. Robert called Ned an "honorable fool" for his disapproval, and for resigning from his position. Ned failed to get his point across, and the small council just wasn't the place for him, overall. His job wasn't to dispense justice, as all Daenerys wanted to do was to return home and take back the Iron Throne.

3 Didn't Bring The Catspaw Dagger To Robert

Season 1, Episode 3 "Lord Snow"

Catelyn and Ned in King's Landing in Game of Thrones.

When Catelyn concluded the Lannisters had tried to murder her boy of ten - Bran, she decided to travel to King's Landing to deliver the news to Ned. She took with her the Valyrian steel dagger that the catspaw had tried to kill Bran with. While Petyr Baelish made her believe he lost the dagger to Tyrion Lannister, Catelyn was right in suggesting Ned take some action. As he bid his wife goodbye, he maintained he needed some proof to bring the news to his friend - the king.

Daenerys Targaryen spending time in the lavish hals of Meereen

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Ned could have walked up to Robert with the Valyrian steel dagger. This would have opened room for investigation and avoided the ill will that he bore against the Lannisters from that time on. Moreover, Catelyn would have stayed in the capital, and the whole fiasco of Tyrion's imprisonment at the Vale would have been avoided.

4 Confronted Cersei

Season 1, Episode 7 "You Win or You Die"

Cersei and Eddard Stark in Game of Thrones.

Confronting Cersei with the truth about Joffrey's birth and threatening her was the biggest mistake Ned made. In doing so, he started a war between the two Great Houses and risked his daughters' lives. Cersei was in an illicit relationship with her brother, Jaime, and she bore him three children, one of whom was the heir to the throne.

Knowing he was surrounded by enemies and cutthroat Lannisters, Ned should have either buried the secret or waited until Robert was back. He chose to go to Cersei because he was driven by "mercy." He wanted her to flee from the capital with her three illegitimate children, knowing full well she was in it for the long haul.

Go as far away as you can with as many men as you can, because wherever you go, Robert's wrath will follow you.

Cersei was backed by men-at-arms, Pycelle, Gregor Clegane, and others at the capital, while Ned was accompanied by a few men of his household.

5 Refused To Bend The Knee

Season 1, Episode 7 "You Win or You Die"

Cersei returned Ned's courtesy and had him summoned to the Throne Room within hours of Robert's passing (in reality, she ordered her cousin, Lancel, to get Robert inebriated during the royal hunt). Cersei asked Ned to bend the knee, while he foolishly thought he had secured the support of the Gold Cloaks without so much as consulting with them on the matter.

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Robert wanted his friend to rule as Regent until Joffrey came of age. Ned tried rewording Robert's Will but to no avail. Cersei tore the paper and offered Ned a choice. He refused and was imprisoned on charges of treason. Ned failed to navigate the dangerous place of King's Landing and risked everything in trying to place Stannis on the Throne.

6 Confessed To Treason At The Wrong Time

Season 1, Episode 9 "Baelor"

Ned Stark's execution in Game of Thrones.

Finally, Ned confessed to false charges of treason at the wrong time and place. His son, Robb, was on the march, and his daughter, Sansa, was a captive. Varys had informed him in the Black Cells that Arya had escaped the castle.

The confession that Ned made when brought before the angry masses of King's Landing made it easier for the Lannisters to pass a harsh sentence. Joffrey ordered his beheading, while Sansa and Cersei made the mercy plea. Ned confessed under duress to save Sansa's life in exchange for being sentenced to the Wall.

The fact that he had made a public confession made it easier for the masses to go with Joffrey's decision:

So long as I am your king, treason shall never go unpunished. Sir Ilyn, bring me his head!

Ned signed his death sentence the second he cornered Cersei, refused to bend the knee, and walked before the crowd to make a false confession. What's worse is that Sansa was now in a perilous situation, and the angry son, Robb, had raised an army to avenge his father's death.