You're Eddard, what do you do with Lyanna's Bastard

[kimim]

Like everyone else here, I'd do exactly what Ned did. I wouldn't send him out to be fostered, as I wouldn't want to deal with questions about his parentage, etc., and wouldn't want him to be any more public than he is. I wouldn't order him to take the black, but if he chose to do so, I'd be relieved. The point is to keep him as hidden as possible, without literally hiding him. 

[purple-eyes]

Like everyone else here, I'd do exactly what Ned did. I wouldn't send him out to be fostered, as I wouldn't want to deal with questions about his parentage, etc., and wouldn't want him to be any more public than he is. I wouldn't order him to take the black, but if he chose to do so, I'd be relieved. The point is to keep him as hidden as possible, without literally hiding him. 

hey, not everyone else here would do exactly as ned did. 

There are some good options people gave. 

1. Raise him as his own but tell catelyn.

2. Let benjen claimed him (ned can still raise him since benjen has no wife or castle)

 

[TRLR]

If the promise Lyanna extracted from him has anything to do with keeping Jon safe by any means necessary, then I'd do what Ned did. And no, I wouldn't tell Catelyn. The less people knew about it, the better. 

[thelittledragonthatcould]

 

2. Let benjen claimed him (ned can still raise him since benjen has no wife or castle)

 

How can Benjen raise him as his own? Ned was seen with the baby across the realm on his journey home.

[Good Guy Garlan]

How can Benjen raise him as his own? Ned was seen with the baby across the realm on his journey home.

Shit, that's a damn good point. It sort of throws a wrench into the Benjen option.

[Ser Frasier of House Crane]

Legitimizing Jon would be a bit...risky, I think, if the secret of his true parentage ever gets out.

True, but if he is legitimized as a Stark, that doesn't mean he's legitimized as a Targaryen. And who would leak out his parentage? Hell, no one's talked about it yet in-universe, and the legitimized bastard of a third son wouldn't raise a lot of eyebrows. The question would then be, how would Ned explain the baby he was carrying across the realm? Do we know what Ben was doing in the war? Did he remain in Winterfell (as a Stark must always be in Winterfell)?

[purple-eyes]

How can Benjen raise him as his own? Ned was seen with the baby across the realm on his journey home.

If Ned indeed planned this, he could have arranged everything. Benjen was in the north, sure, but his woman can go back to her southern hometown and deliver the baby there.  Ned could let benjen come to south somewhere to pick it up or just help pick up his nephew, what is the big deal? Not much extra lies. 

[The Wolves]

seriously? 

You think if all survived, rhaegar, lyanna, elia, jon, rhaenys and aegon would be a happy family? Why do you conveniently omit elia in your list of fmaily? You included aegon and rhaenys as jon and lyanna's family but where is the mother of them? So the significance of elia is to donate her two children to lyanna and jon as family? 

I would say second dance on the way. Somebody will have to die. Likely elia since it seems every RL shipper wanted her to disappear. 

back to op: 

i will do one of these two things: 

1. Raise him as my own bastard but tell the truth to catelyn. 

2. Let benjen raise him as his bastard. (Benjen used to say he wanted jon to be his son) 

I said nothing about Jon having some happy family with Rhaegar, Lyanna, Aegon and Rhaenys read my post again. I said that he was denied family when his parents and siblings died if R+L=J. Stop making things up. 

Second no Elia is not Jon's family just like Catelyn isn't that's why Elia wasn't named as part as Jon's family cause she's not. Rhaegar and Lyanna is Jon's parents and Aegon and Rhaenys are his siblings(if R+L=J is true)that's why they get a mention, Elia is none of those that's why she doesn't get a mention. 

[thelittledragonthatcould]

If Ned indeed planned this, he could have arranged everything. Benjen was in the north, sure, but his woman can go back to her southern hometown and deliver the baby there.  Ned could let benjen come to south somewhere to pick it up or just help pick up his nephew, what is the big deal? Not much extra lies. 

Doesn't there always have to be a Stark in Winterfell?

And do you not think Ned tried to sneak the baby back unnoticed? People still would have seen it, he has no way of knowing which Lords, or even Robert, would stop him on his travel. It is almost a 3,000 mile journey and he has a baby. He is going to be stopping in a lot of inns and occasionally needing help with the baby.

 

Nor can he send a raven to Winterfell explaining the situation to Benjen for fear of someone finding that message. He probably does not even know if he can trust Benjen, a brother he has barely seen as they grew up a thousand miles apart. Who is to say that Benjen even knows? He has kept it secret from Cat, a woman he loves and has spent almost every day with for the last 14 years.

 

[purple-eyes]

I said nothing about Jon having some happy family with Rhaegar, Lyanna, Aegon and Rhaenys read my post again. I said that he was denied family when his parents and siblings died if R+L=J. Stop making things up. 

Second no Elia is not Jon's family just like Catelyn isn't that's why Elia wasn't named as part as Jon's family cause she's not. Rhaegar and Lyanna is Jon's parents and Aegon and Rhaenys are his siblings(if R+L=J is true)that's why they get a mention, Elia is none of those that's why she doesn't get a mention. 

interesting, by your logic, all step mothers or fathers are not family. All foster parents and children are not family. This is a nice attitude towards family. 

You proabbly should ask aegon and rhaenys if they wanted to be listed as family of lyanna( in your list they surely are)

 

[TRLR]

interesting, by your logic, all step mothers or fathers are not family. All foster parents and children are not family. This is a nice attitude towards family. 

You proabbly should ask aegon and rhaenys if they wanted to be listed as family of lyanna( in your list they surely are)

 

He's talking about blood. This isn't the kind of family that we know in our modern world. This is Westerosi concept of family, which is about blood. 

[Dorian Martell]

I think the promise was more along the lines of "you must never tell anyone he's Rhaegar's son." Ned just enacted the promise in a way designed to maximize the strife in his household.

I Think the promise was more that just a secret. I am sure it involved protection on a personal level, hence the bastard bit and all the wife strife 

[purple-eyes]

He's talking about blood. This isn't the kind of family that we know in our modern world. This is Westerosi concept of family, which is about blood. 

really? House Frey seems to call all of them as family. Marriage oath bonded the couple as one body one soul one flesh certainly one family. That is why marriage is so important during war. They built something as good as blood tie (because usually no divorce) 

If rhaegar is Jon's family, then elia certainly is too. 

 

[LordPathera]

Same as Ned did only tell her that Ashara Dayne/Wylla is the mother so that she never resents me for not telling her who Jon's mother was.

I'd also try to encourage her to place her resentment on her husband rather than the boy whose only crime is being a bastard, but is otherwise a decent lad whose a good brother to her children.

Arrange for Jon to marry Mya Stone (Robert's bastard daughter) and squire for Yohn Royce so that he'll be able to have a decent future.

[kimim]

hey, not everyone else here would do exactly as ned did. 

There are some good options people gave. 

1. Raise him as his own but tell catelyn.

2. Let benjen claimed him (ned can still raise him since benjen has no wife or castle)

 

True, true. These other options involve other people in the secret, and create complications, though. I think the point is to hide Jon in the least suspicious way possible, so Ned keeps the number of people who know the truth to a minimum. That means Cat and Benjen can't be involved. Ned does the simplest thing, takes the blame, and raises the kid at Winterfell. It's the perfect solution.

[Gertrude]

Here's the thing - If Rheagar and Lyanna had lived, they would have built a family with Jon - maybe that includes Elia, maybe it doesn't. However, Jon only shares blood with those listed and not Elia, so without knowing how Rhaegar would have integrated Jon into his existing life, I don't think it's an insult or a stretch to exclude Elia from the list of Jon's family.

I think Ned did the right thing and the option I would have chosen. Aside from whatever he promised Lyanna, this was her son, and he loved her. He had already lost so much family and didn't know his wife or seen his own son at that point, I can't see Ned abandoning the child, the last bit of Lyanna and family to hold onto.

Now about telling Cat, well, that does depend a little more on the nature of Ned's promise. Assuming he was free to tell her, however, I can see why he might not. And by not telling her, this became a point of contention. When he did know her better, I can still see why he might not tell her because by letting it go so long, he couldn't predict entirely how she would react, especially since Ned let it become a 'thing'. It would probably have been just fine, but if even a 1% chance of an irrational or careless word in anger would reveal the secret to even a servant, then I can see him choosing not to, And since Cat already had a 'thing' about Jon ... well, it was a problem of his own making, but it wasn't something he could be entirely sure of fixing. Imagine the scene where Cat is out of her mind with grief and lashes out at Jon. If she knew the truth of him, what would she have said that could have been overheard by anyone? She wasn't rational or careful at this point in time and didn't care about anything but Bran.

 

[The Wolves]

How can Benjen raise him as his own? Ned was seen with the baby across the realm on his journey home.

Plus everybody seems to be forgetting that Benjen was probably 14yrs old or younger when Jon was born what is a child going to do with a baby. 

[purple-eyes]

Here's the thing - If Rheagar and Lyanna had lived, they would have built a family with Jon - maybe that includes Elia, maybe it doesn't. However, Jon only shares blood with those listed and not Elia, so without knowing how Rhaegar would have integrated Jon into his existing life, I don't think it's an insult or a stretch to exclude Elia from the list of Jon's family.

I think Ned did the right thing and the option I would have chosen. Aside from whatever he promised Lyanna, this was her son, and he loved her. He had already lost so much family and didn't know his wife or seen his own son at that point, I can't see Ned abandoning the child, the last bit of Lyanna and family to hold onto.

 

sure. First three heads all came from same mother. So Rhaegar likely would send elia and two children back to dorne, so that he would enjoy a happy family life with his wife lyanna and promised savior son jon. And make lyanna bore two more children to fulfil prophecy. 

Hold on, lyanna died of childbirth fever, not unnatural cause. So she can not survive even rhaegar win the war. 

Well, then rhaegar had to wed cersei to get three children: joff, myrcella and tommen. Three heads of dragon. 

 

[TRLR]

really? House Frey seems to call all of them as family. Marriage oath bonded the couple as one body one soul one flesh certainly one family. That is why marriage is so important during war. They built something as good as blood tie (because usually no divorce) 

If rhaegar is Jon's family, then elia certainly is too. 

Seems? You were talking about step and foster families. Elia could very well reject Lyanna and Jon even if Rhaegar married Lyanna and vice versa. Was Theon a Stark because he was fostered at Winterfell? Was Ned an Arryn because he was fostered by Jon? 

[purple-eyes]

Seems? You were talking about step and foster families. Elia could very well reject Lyanna and Jon even if Rhaegar married Lyanna and vice versa. Was Theon a Stark because he was fostered at Winterfell? Was Ned an Arryn because he was fostered by Jon? 

then why people call theon kinslayer? 

He did not have any blood tie with stark.