Post by Leo of Red Keep on Jul 7, 2017 7:04:15 GMT
Ned Stark chose war, and not just once. For the "good, honourable" Eddard Stark, war was the standard answer to problems.
When Robert worried about Viserys crossing the Narrow Sea with a Dothraki horde, Ned's answer was "we'll throw him back into the sea". Robert the Warrior might have been worrying too easily but he preferred to avoid war altogether.
Robert said he couldn't rule the kingdoms if Starks and Lannisters were at each other's throats. Ned's next move was to make things worse.
When the Mountain was brutalising villages in the Riverlands, Ned's answer was immediate, steep escalation. His summoning of Tywin under threat of branding him a traitor was just short of a declaration of war.
When he guessed about Joffrey's parentage, Ned told Cersei to run away, knowing he was ruining any chance of conciliation. He was singlehandedly breaking the alliance he knew had kept the realm at peace for 17 years. "A war is coming" Robert had said. Ned Stark was making sure of it.
Finally, when presented with a peaceful alternative to control Joffrey by Littlefinger, Ned chose war, saying there was no other way. He knew his plan to seize the royal family would lead to it.
After his capture, told his son was marching south with an army, he still refused to make any attempt at resolving the conflict. Only the thought of his daughters, once brought to him, appeared to change his mind.
Ned Stark was a man of war.
When Robert worried about Viserys crossing the Narrow Sea with a Dothraki horde, Ned's answer was "we'll throw him back into the sea". Robert the Warrior might have been worrying too easily but he preferred to avoid war altogether.
Robert said he couldn't rule the kingdoms if Starks and Lannisters were at each other's throats. Ned's next move was to make things worse.
When the Mountain was brutalising villages in the Riverlands, Ned's answer was immediate, steep escalation. His summoning of Tywin under threat of branding him a traitor was just short of a declaration of war.
When he guessed about Joffrey's parentage, Ned told Cersei to run away, knowing he was ruining any chance of conciliation. He was singlehandedly breaking the alliance he knew had kept the realm at peace for 17 years. "A war is coming" Robert had said. Ned Stark was making sure of it.
Finally, when presented with a peaceful alternative to control Joffrey by Littlefinger, Ned chose war, saying there was no other way. He knew his plan to seize the royal family would lead to it.
After his capture, told his son was marching south with an army, he still refused to make any attempt at resolving the conflict. Only the thought of his daughters, once brought to him, appeared to change his mind.
Ned Stark was a man of war.