Regarding Neds choices, what proof did he have that Jon was a legitimate Targaryen? There’s not much for him to grasp on other than a dying feverish Lyanna naming her son a Targaryen.
That’s said he definitely could’ve handled the Catelyn & Jon situation much better. He should’ve told Cat the truth after a few years & he definitely should’ve told Jon different variants of the truth like telling him his mom is dead would ensure he stops yearning for her to come. Let him make peace with her being dead, and he definitely should’ve let Jon know before taking the Black.
And him taking the Hand wasn’t so much for Robert but also for him to seek justice for Jon Arryn & uncover his murder. And him exposing the Lannisters was because from his perspective the Lannisters had gone too far encroaching on the true royal authority, murdering Jon Arryn & now brazenly siring false heirs. Plus Ned must have had a grudge for that bad leg he got from Jaime. Keeping the peace is good but the Lannisters were throwing around their weight a bit too much in Kings Landing. Can’t blame Ned for being tempted to take them down, if only the fool hadn’t underestimated the influence they had.
Look, I appreciate the engagement, but some of these defenses of Ned don't hold up to even basic scrutiny.
First, on the "what proof did Ned have" question - are you serious? Ned found Lyanna dying in a bed of blood in Dorne, guarded by three Kingsguard including Arthur Dayne, the most famous knight in Westeros, after she'd been "missing" for over a year following her disappearance with Rhaegar Targaryen. She's holding a newborn infant. The timeline matches perfectly. Rhaegar's three best knights died protecting this location instead of protecting their king or the crown prince's actual wife and children.
You're telling me Ned couldn't figure out whose child this was? That he needed a marriage certificate and two witnesses to conclude that maybe, just maybe, this was Rhaegar's son? Come on. If you think you're dumber than Ned Stark, fine, but Ned understood exactly what he was looking at. That's why he kept Jon close. That's why he protected him. That's why he lied to his wife, his king, and everyone else for sixteen years. He knew.
The show made it explicit. The books are about as subtle as a brick through a window. Martin's given us everything short of a paternity test. And Ned's not an idiot - he understood immediately what he was holding, which is why his first instinct was to hide Jon's identity even from Jon himself.
On the Catelyn situation - yeah, he absolutely should have told her. But here's the thing: he didn't tell her because telling her the truth ("this is the legitimate son of Rhaegar Targaryen and my sister, which makes him the rightful heir to the throne that my best friend is currently sitting on") would have put her in an impossible position. It would have made her complicit in treason against Robert. It would have endangered her, endangered their children, endangered everyone. So instead he let her hate an innocent child for sixteen years and internalize that hatred as part of her marriage. That's not honor, that's just choosing which innocent person gets hurt, and he chose Jon.
You're right that he should have told Jon before he took the Black. At that point, what's the excuse? "Sorry son, I let you permanently foreswear all claims to land, title, family, and children, but actually you're the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne and I just forgot to mention it before you took irrevocable vows"? That's not protecting Jon, that's ensuring he can never be a threat to Robert. It's pragmatic. It's not honorable.
On Ned taking the Hand's position "to seek justice for Jon Arryn" - that's a very charitable reading of a man who spent fifteen years serving the king who smiled at murdered children, who rewarded Tywin Lannister for war crimes, who openly kept mistresses and fathered bastards while Ned said nothing. Ned was fine with all of that. He served through the Greyjoy Rebellion without complaint. He only rode south when Robert personally asked him to, and even then his stated reason wasn't "justice for Jon Arryn," it was that Robert needed him.
And yes, exposing Cersei's children was the right thing to do from a "these aren't legitimate heirs" perspective. But Ned's smart enough to know what happens next. You expose the queen's children as bastards in a society where that's the worst possible insult, where it delegitimizes the entire succession, where the queen is a Lannister and her father is Tywin Lannister? You know that ends in war. You know thousands die. Ned knew it too, he just thought he could manage it cleanly, which is staggeringly naive for a man who'd already lived through one civil war.
But here's the beautiful contradiction: Ned will expose Cersei's children as illegitimate, knowing it means war and thousands of deaths, because "the truth matters" and "innocent children shouldn't die for their parents' crimes." But he won't tell the truth about Jon, even though Jon's legitimacy actually matters more (he's the rightful heir), because telling that truth would cost Ned personally. He'll start a war to protect Robert's claim to a throne Robert took by conquest and has no legitimate right to. But he won't risk his own position to tell the truth about the kid he's raised as his bastard.
You can argue Ned was trying to protect Jon by keeping him hidden. Fine. But then you can't also argue Ned's entire moral framework is built on honor and truth. He chose pragmatism over principle, consistently, for sixteen years. He served a king who rewarded child-murder. He hid the legitimate heir. He let his wife hate an innocent kid. He participated in Robert's reign without protest. And then, when it was politically convenient and personally safe (or so he thought), he suddenly discovered his principles again.
That's not honor. That's selective enforcement of honor when it doesn't cost you anything. And it's definitely not the tragic figure of noble Ned Stark that the fandom likes to pretend he is. He made choices. Those choices were pragmatic, often cruel, and fundamentally dishonest. The fact that he told himself he was being honorable the whole time doesn't make it true. It just makes it sad.
Dorne bent the knee because they were already defeated and their princess was already dead. They had no choice. Ned bent the knee because it was easier than the alternative, then spent fifteen years pretending he'd done the honorable thing. Those aren't the same, and pretending they are just lets Ned off the hook for choices he made freely.
You missed the key word of my statement which is “legitimate”. How does Ned know that Jon is a legitimate Targaryen? I mean there’s plenty of evidence that Rhaegar held his child by Lyanna in high regard as he left 3 Kingsguard to protect her & the child.
But that alone isn’t solid proof that they married. So how can Ned know if Jon is a result of marriage or illegitimate Targaryen offspring?
Comment on (WILL NOT BE REWRITTEN/COMPLETED/BROKEN NARRATIVE/PROSE MOSTLY) The Prince and the She-Wolf
Sonata92 on Chapter 7 Thu 16 Oct 2025 10:07AM UTC
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MaxCh on Chapter 7 Thu 16 Oct 2025 04:54PM UTC
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Sonata92 on Chapter 7 Thu 16 Oct 2025 09:09PM UTC
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