[Eddard Stark — Characters]
Seventeen years before the War of the Five Kings , Rhaegar Targaryen allegedly abducted Lyanna Stark in a scandal that led to the outbreak of Robert's Rebellion . Rhaegar eventually returned to fight in the war, but not before leaving Lyanna behind at the Tower of Joy , guarded by Lord Commander Gerold Hightower and Ser Arthur Dayne of the Kingsguard . Eddard Stark rode to war along with her betrothed, Robert Baratheon , to rescue his sister and avenge the deaths of their father and brother at the orders of Aerys II , the Mad King.
The following morning, as Daario leaves, Jorah enters. Jorah observes that he is earlier than most, but later than others. Daenerys brushes off his disapproval and says that she is sending the Second Sons to retake Yunkai. To ensure that slavery is truly dead in that city, Daario is under orders to kill every Wise Master the Second Sons encounter. Jorah protests, warning her that good and evil exists on both sides of every conflict, and that he wouldn't be advising her today if Eddard Stark had done to him what she is about to go to the Wise Masters. After considering this, Daenerys instructs Jorah to tell Daario that she has changed her mind: his orders are now to accompany Hizdahr to Yunkai so that he can give the Wise Masters a choice: they can live in her new world, or die in their old one. As Jorah leaves, Daenerys says to tell Daario that it was Jorah who changed her mind.
Tyrion accompanies King Robert Baratheon to Winterfell , where he makes the acquaintance of a prostitute named Ros , and gives her a Lannister lion necklace. While lingering outside the feast hall, Tyrion meets Jon Snow , Eddard Stark 's bastard son and realizes he is something of a kindred spirit. "All dwarfs are bastards in their father's eyes," he explains. Despite time spent in brothels and taverns, Tyrion is well-read, cunning, and has a fondness for social misfits.
Cersei is present at the Sept of Baelor when Eddard Stark 'confesses' his crimes, in accordance with the arrangement brokered by Sansa and Varys . She is visibly horrified when Joffrey arrogantly flouts the arrangement and instead demands Eddard's decapitation . Knowing that this will only lead to another war, she frantically tries to persuade her son to reconsider, but the order is nonetheless carried out by Ser Ilyn Payne , the royal executioner.
Queen Sansa Stark is the eldest daughter of Lord Eddard Stark and his wife, Lady Catelyn , sister of Robb , Arya , Bran , and Rickon Stark , and "half-sister" of Jon Snow ; though truthfully he is her cousin.
At his trial, Eddard Stark acknowledges his "crimes" and swears loyalty to King Joffrey. To Sansa's utter shock and horror, Joffrey nevertheless orders to execute her father . Distraught, Sansa is screaming and forcibly restrained. Despite her increasingly hysterical pleas for mercy for her father, Ser Ilyn Payne nonetheless carries out the execution with the Starks' own family greatsword, Ice , prompting Sansa to faint in horror.
Sansa sits with Bran when Arya is brought into the Great Hall. Petyr watches as Sansa reads the charges of murder and treason, before Sansa addresses him directly, revealing that the trial is actually for him. She accuses Petyr of murdering Lysa Arryn, convincing her to poison her husband and sending a letter to the Starks blaming the Lannisters for the crime, and conspiring with Cersei and Joffrey to imprison and execute Eddard Stark.
In Westeros, only members of noble Houses typically have surnames (i.e. "Eddard Stark" is actually "Eddard of House Stark" in full). The nobility of the Seven Kingdoms is formed of roughly five tiers, which in descending order are: the royal family that controls the Iron Throne, the Great Houses who rule entire regions, the major noble Houses, the lesser noble Houses, and the knightly Houses. The Targaryens were the royal family though they were recently supplanted by the Baratheons. Great Houses rule each of the formerly independent "Seven Kingdoms" - such as the Starks who rule the North, the Lannisters who rule the Westerlands, and the Tyrells who rule the Reach. Major Houses are those under the Great Houses, such as House Umber which serves the Starks, or House Redwyne which serves the Tyrells. Underneath them are the lesser noble Houses (i.e. House Poole ), and below them are knightly Houses (i.e. House Clegane ): the difference between the two is that lesser Lords still have the right to dispense justice on their lands while knights do not.
Lord Eddard Stark , also known as Ned Stark , was the head of House Stark , the Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North , and later Hand of the King to King Robert I Baratheon . He was the son of Lord Rickard Stark , older brother of Benjen and Lyanna Stark , and the younger brother of Brandon Stark . He is the father of Robb , Sansa , Arya , Bran , and Rickon by his wife, Catelyn Tully , and uncle of Jon Snow , whom he raised as his bastard son. He was a dedicated husband and father, a loyal friend, and an honorable lord.
Eddard Stark was a man of principle, being patient, cautious, intelligent, noble and possessing an immense sense of duty. He was remembered profusely for being extremely honorable and a firmly moral character at heart. He always reacted to situations calmly and reasonably, even if the situations endangered him or the people he loved. He was a skilled and fierce warrior but certainly preferred the diplomatic and peaceful solution to situations, even if that solution was martial law. He, himself, remarked that he didn't fear death, and recollected that he grew up with soldiers - Cersei elaborated that Eddard's older brother Brandon was born to lead, whilst he was born to follow. In his own words, Ned explained that he "learned how to die a long time ago." Ned viewed situations and individuals by the scope of their moral compass, and judged almost everything on that perspective. He also speculated the concept that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword, showing that he can be pragmatic in his sense of honor. In spite of that, he was not narrow-minded and did not appear prejudiced, arrogant or self-serving.
In A Song of Ice and Fire , Eddard Stark is in his mid-thirties when the story begins. He has a reputation for chivalry, honor, honesty, and command, but can also sometimes be remote. He has a frosty relationship with Jaime, believing that the latter should have been, at the very least, stripped of his rank in the Kingsguard for his murder of the former king. A stoic yet fair and caring man, Eddard puts a great deal of importance on his family.
Daenerys, who has not been told yet the whole ugly truth about her father and the atrocities he committed during his reign (among them the execution of Rickard and Brandon Stark), loathes and resents Ned; in her eyes, the "cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart" was one the "Usurper's dogs" alongside the Lannisters, and that he was a traitor who met a traitor's end. Jorah Mormont assures Daenerys that Ned was not a traitor, although he rebelled against her father, and Selmy tells her that Ned objected to Robert's decision to assassinate her - but she does not change her mind about Ned.
Robb was the eldest child of Lady Catelyn and Lord Eddard Stark. Robb was born at Riverrun and raised at Winterfell. His father left his mother the morning after their wedding to fight in Robert's Rebellion and did not return until after Robb was born. He had two younger trueborn brothers, Bran and Rickon , and two sisters, Sansa and Arya .
On their way back from the Crag, Robb and Talisa discuss Robb's engagement, making fun of the fact he knows nothing about her with the exception that she is from House Frey. They later discuss Robb's father Eddard Stark and the lessons he taught Robb about caring for his subjects and who will sit on the Iron Throne. Robb surmises to say that he was to win the war first, after which his first action will be killing Joffrey.
Theon was born at Pyke. He is Balon and Alannys's fourth child after Rodrik , Maron , and Yara . Eight years before the start of the series Balon rose in rebellion against the Iron Throne . The Ironborn were crushed in a war led by King Robert Baratheon and Lord Eddard Stark . Theon's brothers were both killed in the fighting. Balon surrendered and was allowed to remain Lord of the Iron Islands on the condition that Theon remains a hostage and ward of Eddard Stark. Theon's sister Yara remained on the Iron Islands. Despite his status as a hostage at Winterfell , Theon was treated well by the Starks, and he came to see Eddard as a surrogate father while becoming best friends with Robb Stark and forming a friendly rivalry with Jon Snow . Theon is a skilled archer. His cocky arrogance and cavalier actions contrast with the staid ways of the North .
After rescuing him the boy promises Theon to take him to Deepwood Motte to see Yara. When Theon questions his savior, Ramsay lies that he is Ironborn as well, growing up on Saltcliffe , and he witnessed Theon being shipped off to Winterfell. Some time later the men reach a holdfast, and Theon questions why they have to sneak inside when surely Yara's men are loyal to her. Ramsay warns Theon that some of the men belong to his father Balon, who wants him dead. As Ramsay struggles to open a locked gate Theon confesses his sins. He wanted desperately to impress his father but he knows now that Eddard Stark was his true father. After opening the gate Theon and Ramsay enter a darkened room. The youth lights a torch and much to Theon's horror he's back in the same torture chamber in the Dreadfort. Armed men enter and Ramsay claims that Theon killed their comrades and escaped but he has brought their captive back. Kicking and screaming, Theon is refastened to the rack.
During the first novel A Game of Thrones , Theon announces that " Lord Eddard is a second father to me, " but that statement is far from the truth. His true feelings toward Eddard Stark are revealed in his first POV chapter in the second novel, A Clash of Kings : he muses that Eddard had tried to play the father from time to time, but to Theon, Eddard had always remained the man who'd brought blood and fire to Pyke and taken him from his home. As a boy, Theon had lived in fear of Eddard's stern face and great dark sword . In A Dance with Dragons , Theon recalls that as a boy, he once hoped that he would be betrothed to Sansa so Ned could claim him as a legal son, but that was just a child's fancy.
Stannis respects Eddard Stark, but strongly resents him for being Robert's best friend and for his appointment to the King's Hand - an office Stannis believed that he should have been granted. Stannis's grudge did not decrease even after Eddard's death. Although Catelyn reminded Stannis that it was Eddard who broke the siege of Storm's End, and assured him that Eddard never wanted to be Robert's Hand, it did not appease Stannis at all. Stannis replied that Eddard did so on Robert's orders, and privately, Stannis was angry that Robert was more grateful to Eddard for breaking the siege than to him for actually holding Storm's End. Nevertheless, Stannis told Catelyn that he was sorry for Eddard's death, and promised her justice for his murder. Stannis respected Eddard as an honorable man, and privately understood that it was beyond Ned's control that Robert liked him more than his own brother.
After marrying Lady Lysa Arryn , widow of Lord Jon Arryn of the Vale , and her subsequent death at his hand, he became the Lord Protector of the Vale. Because of his relationship with her, Baelish was able to heavily influence Lysa's son Robin Arryn , the new Defender of the Vale . To further his goal of sitting on the Iron Throne , Baelish took Sansa Stark under his wing in order to gain some influence within House Stark , but his role in the deaths of Eddard Stark , Jon Arryn, and Lysa Arryn was finally exposed, and he was executed for his crimes.
Varys meets with Eddard Stark and frankly tells him that King Robert is a fool and likely doomed unless Eddard can save him. He confirms that Jon Arryn was murdered with a poison called the Tears of Lys and implicates the deceased Ser Hugh of the Vale in the murder, though he is unable to pinpoint who ordered the killing. He claims to be a man of honor, like Eddard, who only wants to keep the realm stable and at peace.
Sandor is part of King Robert Baratheon 's retinue when he visits Winterfell in order to offer Eddard Stark the role of Hand of the King . He acts as the bodyguard of Prince Joffrey and is present at the feast held in the King's honor. Robert offers a betrothal between Joffrey and Sansa Stark and Eddard accepts both engagements.
Sandor guards Joffrey during the execution of Eddard Stark on the steps of the Great Sept of Baelor . After Lord Stark is beheaded by Ser Ilyn, Sandor picks up his head and shows it off to the crowd. Later, Sandor accompanies Joffrey when he takes Sansa to see the heads of her father, Septa Mordane, and the rest of the Stark household, whilst cruelly mocking her, even having Ser Meryn Trant beat her when she suggests that Robb might win the war. When the Hound alone notices that Sansa plans to throw Joffrey from the battlements, he offers Sansa a handkerchief for her bloodied mouth, rescuing Sansa from Joffrey's rage as well as Joffrey from a quick death.