Do you think Ned confession was the right thing?

[ummester]

What bothers me with this confession is that Martin seemingly used it to prove, as Aemon said, that Eddard was after all not one man in ten thousand, as Jon loyally and proudly proclaimed him to be.

Well done, George, for showing Ned break at the very moment when he was tested most.

Basically declaring that everything Ned stood for in his life was a farce, breakable as soon as the stakes were high enough.

But that is the way ASoIaF/GoTs works. Every character reaps what they sow with irony. Ned stood for honor and was put in a position where honor would yield the worst result for his family.

I bet Stannis ends up in a position where justice fails him.

The text in ASoIaF spells it out in different ways, but it is a very old concept - the things we love destroy us - this also includes the ideals we love and hold dear.

[Cas Stark]

But that is the way ASoIaF/GoTs works. Every character reaps what they sow with irony. Ned stood for honor and was put in a position where honor would yield the worst result for his family.

I bet Stannis ends up in a position where justice fails him.

The text in ASoIaF spells it out in different ways, but it is a very old concept - the things we love destroy us - this also includes the ideals we love and hold dear.

And that makes Martin a nihilist, or the next closest thing to it, which he says he isn't....so, presumably, somewhere along the line, doing "right" is going to be rewarded with something beyond death, pain, loss and humiliation.

[ummester]

The only difference between nihilism, cynicism and realism is perspective.

[The Wolf Lord's Daughter]

I think it was the right decision considering what he knew. He didn't want to risk Sansa's life by hoping that the queen was bluffing and chose his daughter over his honour. In hindsight, Ned probably should have waited but then no one expected Robb to win against the kingslayer.

[Winterfell is Burning]

It was a mistake in hindsight.

I don't know why people keep insisting that Ned would go the Wall when we know for a fact that he would be traded for Jaime, that's just silly.

And even if he was killed, Sansa wouldn't have been treated any worse and Stannis would have much more legitimacy.

Of course, with the information he had he made the only decision he could.

[Ser Arthur Hightower]

I think it was the wrong thing, here's why:

He is aware of the cruelty of Joffrey, Cersei and Tywin, as long as his children are in Lannister hands they will never be safe, regardless of what he does. Maybe he can't have known this for sure, he realised Joffrey was unkind but perhaps he didn't quite realise the extent of his cruelty at that point, and he would have gone to any length to spare his daughters any suffering.

What he knows is that his words may well affect Stannis' legitimacy, if he admits to treason and that Joffrey is the true king, then none but his friends would be particularly suspicious, and he has weakened the claim of the rightful heir. If with his dying breath he was to declare Joffrey and Tommen bastards and proclaim Stannis as the true heir then many of the lords of the realm might grow very uncomfortable around Cersei's children.

I'm not claiming that suddenly all of the lords sworn to Casterly Rock and King's Landing would rush to Stannis, but some, especially the Tyrells, may be more reluctant to help the Lannisters.

Literally Varys' first words to him were informing him he was a dead man, did he really suppose that Cersei would let him live? To get to the wall he would have to pass Dragonstone or Winterfell, either way it is a risk that the Lannisters can't afford.

Regarding vows to take the black; being sent to the wall by a usurping bastard born of incest in the manner that he was supposed to, is akin to having your friends murdered by brigands, and then them threatening to rape and kill your daughters unless you agreed to join the Watch, neither have any legal or moral authenticity.

[Maid So Fair]

In hindsight, or even looking at the situation with cold detachment, it probably wasn't an 'honourable' choice. The Lannisters could not afford to kill Sansa as they would be giving up a valuable hostage. As the subsequent events show, the confession did not stop them from mistreating her. He might have hoped that Robb would not need to fight a war, but that was a false hope as well. But ultimately, his confession didn't make too much of a difference anyway since those close to him did not believe it and the war started anyway. I don't think it really affected anybody, except maybe Stannis - but why should Ned risk everything for a man who didn't even bother to respond to his Facebook friend request attempts to communicate?

If Ned didn't confess, he wouldn't have been a human being and a father, naturally concerned about his family's fate. It's the compassion and humanity as much as honour that made Ned the man he was and that inspired so much loyalty and respect. I would think less of him, not more, if he didn't try to save Sansa.

[Colonel Green]

Literally Varys' first words to him were informing him he was a dead man, did he really suppose that Cersei would let him live?

Er, except, Cersei did intend to let him live. Ned did not misjudge the Lannisters' offer; it was genuine. The thing he did not and could not know, because nobody else did either, was that Joffrey would be a complete moron and mess up the deal.

In hindsight, or even looking at the situation with cold detachment, it probably wasn't an 'honourable' choice. The Lannisters could not afford to kill Sansa as they would be giving up a valuable hostage. As the subsequent events show, the confession did not stop them from mistreating her. He might have hoped that Robb would not need to fight a war, but that was a false hope as well. But ultimately, his confession didn't make too much of a difference anyway since those close to him did not believe it and the war started anyway. I don't think it really affected anybody, except maybe Stannis - but why should Ned risk everything for a man who didn't even bother to respond to his Facebook friend request attempts to communicate?

Ned's confession didn't make much of a difference because Joffrey executed him.

Had Ned confessed and gone to the Wall, the apparent hope was that it would halt the war. Now, one should note that, in reality and unbeknownst to Cersei and Ned, at about the same time that Ned was confessing, Robb was smashing Jaime's army in the field and capturing Jaime, so a very likely outcome in this case would be that the "join the Watch" part of the plea would have been discarded in subsequent negotiations and Ned simply handed over in exchange for getting Jaime back and an end to the Riverlands war.

The Lannisters would most likely have kept Sansa in any scenario, though.