George RR Martin on Ned Stark's Biggest Mistake
Ned Stark was a good guy in a world of bad guys – and that ultimately led to his death.
According to George RR Martin, Ned's biggest mistake was doing the honourable thing and urging Cersei to take her children and flee King's Landing. Ironically, of course, it was one of those rescued children, Joffrey, who ultimately sentenced Ned to death.
But Ned was not just a 'goodie' in the traditional sense of filmmaking, He was a nuanced and complex character whose actions were guided by past experiences – and in this case past trauma.
Martin described how an incident during the fall of King' Landing stayed with Ned and compelled him to save the lives of Cersei and her illegitimate children – as well as the life of Cersei's incestuous lover Jaime.
During Robert's rebellion, the Lannister men took the lives of Prince Rhaegar's children before presenting them to Robert wrapped in a cloak.
The image of two young lives so brutally cut short was one that stayed with Ned and tortured him.
So, when he discovered the incest and realised that the children were not fathered by King Robert, Ned saw that the only honourable option open to him was to inform Cersei and advise her to leave. Because he knew King Robert would order the deaths of all three children as his rage, in the words of George RR Martin would be "unbounded".
Although the author of A Song of Ice and Fire recognises that Ned's actions were, "in terms of sheer power politics and guile…foolish".
He put his honour, and the lives of the children, before politics and his duty to the king. And he paid the ultimate price.
It was a huge decision. And in many ways, Martin is right, it was a mistake. But we shouldn't lament his decision too much. After all, it was also the spark that lit the touchpaper and set in motion a chain of events that became the epic story of Game of Thrones.
And yet there is a delicious irony at the centre of the decision. And it's not that his decision/mistake saved Joffrey who later came to be the death knell for Ned. It's that the key decision which led to a huge power struggle and a war fought with minimal respect for morals and decency, was itself an act of honour and compassion.
And Westeros is no place for honour and compassion.