ned and karstark

[TheNorth's1stKnight]

what do you think ned would have done with rickard karstark in that situation? do you think he would have beheaded him like robb did or find another way to punish him?

[JLE]

Depends. Ned would never have gotten into that situation because Catelyn would never have dared release Jaime while Ned lived, pretty much no matter what the rest of the situation.

That being said, if Karstark had murdered prisoners, Ned would have either executed him or sent him to the Wall. Unfortunately, thanks to the ironborn invasion of the North, the road to the Wall was no longer open, so there was no choice but execution. Ned would not only have done it, but might just have managed to get away with keeping the rest of the Karstark support.

That being said, Ned would never have sent Theon to treat with Balon, so even with the rest of the ironborn invasion, Winterfell would have remained intact, and thus (a) Ramsay Snow would be either in prison, as hostage against Roose's good behaviour, and (b) the Winterfell reserves could have easily retaken Moat Cailin and Torrhen's Square, thus reopening the road to the Wall, so Ned would have been able to send Karstark to the Wall.