Do you think Ned confession was the right thing?

[cgf]

His confession to the public was the right thing, as this was one of the key moments showing us just how shortsighted Joffrey's obsession with proving his manhood made him. He had every reason to believe that the lannisters would want to keep him alive to keep the north in check; even though I'm not sure they would've sent him to the Wall until Robb and his men went home, I don't think Joffrey taking Ned's head was something that should've been obvious to everyone.

In hindsight we can see Joffrey's struggles with his manliness as well as how that's fueled by his disappoint of his super-macho father; and put together how that would play into seeing his ultra-manly father dying in such an embarrassing manner pushing Joffrey to obsess on proving his own manliness, to the point of all foresight/realism eluding the boy. But at the time it wasn't yet established that that's the way he'd go and that he was already beyond Cersei's control.

I think the Ned made plenty of bad decisions to get himself into that position, but the confession to protect Sansa isn't one I hold against him. In fact seeing the Ned compromise his honor for his family made me like him more and made him seem much more human and interesting. I actually finally started rooting for him to go live with his other shame when that happened. Which I guess is why it was the perfect time for him GRRM to take his head.

[Pod The Impaler]

Ned took a gamble on what Cersei / Joffrey were offering, but he was prepared to die, regardless. The real point was that if it saved his daughter's life, it was worth it. He could not know that the rest would shake out as it did.

[Cas Stark]

in hindsight, no.

[Tynned Lannistark]

It was the right decision at the time. There was not reason for him to think the promise would be broken and in any case it is what he needed to do to save his daughters.

However, even in hindsight I think it is STILL the right decision. His daughters were indeed saved and both will have an important impact on the plot later I suppose, so it was not such a bad choice after all.

His honor as well may be restored yet.

[Red Tiger]

“ I would sooner entrust a child to a pit viper than to Lord Tywin.^[35] ”

– Eddard Stark's thoughts

And yet you would trust your daughter with his family? Really Ned?

No, his confession was not the right thing.

[Colonel Green]

“ I would sooner entrust a child to a pit viper than to Lord Tywin.^[35] ”

– Eddard Stark's thoughts

And yet you would trust your daughter with his family? Really Ned?

No, his confession was not the right thing.

They've already got her. His confession is about trying to deal with that.

[mb2518]

He should have abandoned KL with his men and family when Renly did.

[Victor227]

He should have abandoned KL with his men and family when Renly did.

That was the smartest thing he could have done. He even had a ship ready and everything to take back Sansa and Arya, yet it's not the question being asked.

In the case of his confession, I think it was a terrible idea. Up to this point, he had held true to a narrow, stupid definition of honor that involved throwing himself into danger and trusting the wrong people. When he both antagonized and chose to rely on Littlefinger and then chose to instigate a confrontation with Cersei, and then Joffrey, he was already taking the lives of his daughters and throwing them into fate's hands.

That at the very last second he would compromise for Sansa may show that he had human weakness, and wasn't simply a 'do-the-right-thing-at-any-cost robot', but at the same time with his confession he pissed on everything he had ever held dear about himself. He wasn't willing to face the consequences for his own terrible planning, even after damning himself as a fool along with the rest of them.

In the end though, that's what I liked about it. Ned was a human being, and like human beings he was capable of love, compassion, stubbornness, and self-delusion. He isolated all the consequences of his actions around himself, and crumbled when he realized that it wasn't just his life to lose.

[Warrewal Halfaxe]

Right, but not smart

[bloodofwinterfell]

It was pointless in the end since he was killed anyway, but given what he was told, he made the right decision. I wouldn't have respect for him if he chose his pride over his family.

[Lord Lannister]

Ned was in a bad place and was trying to save his family. You can't blame him for that, even in hindsight it may have been better if he hadn't confessed.

[Crow's eye in the sky]

I started a thread not too long ago, asking people what they would have done in the shoes of controversial characters, and this was the second question on the list I wrote up (which also includes my answer to the OP)

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/119111-what-would-you-have-done/

[Roose on the Loose]

I would have confessed. It's a calculated risk either way. Ned might assume that Sansa is worth more as a hostage than a corpse. But there's no telling for sure. That's not why confessing makes sense.

If Ned takes the black, he's removed from the board and is no longer a hostage. Being executed has the same effect. The calculated risk here is that they'll let you confess and then drag you back to the black cells.

[Lord Damian]

It was not the first time Ned gave up his honor to help save a loved family member. Jon would have been hunted down and murdered if Ned confessed he is Rheagar's son by Lyanna, so Ned claimed him as his own bastard. Ned was a better man and father than just about anyone in this series then and since.

[Red Tiger]

They've already got her. His confession is about trying to deal with that.

I know this, but his confession was not gonna make things better, they still would have treated her poorly and abused her.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I know this, but his confession was not gonna make things better, they still would have treated her poorly and abused her.

Robb still had an army in the field with the Kingslayer in chains. A deescalation with exchange of prisoners was likely.

[Red Tiger]

Robb still had an army in the field with the Kingslayer in chains. A deescalation with exchange of prisoners was likely.

And then what? A dishonored Northern overlord being sent to a life of hard labor at the Night's Watch, while at least one of your daughters is still held as a hostage (we all know this is what the Lannisters would do to keep the Starks in check).

[Lost Melnibonean]

And then what? A dishonored Northern overlord being sent to a life of hard labor at the Night's Watch, while at least one of your daughters is still held as a hostage (we all know this is what the Lannisters would do to keep the Starks in check).

Jaime was way more valuable than Sansa. Put yourself in Tywin's shoes. Wouldn't you trade a pawn for queen?

[Free Northman Reborn]

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.

[Lost Melnibonean]

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.

Wow, I didn't read it that way at all. Ned swallowed his pride to save his daughter's life. There was some additional negotiation we can only speculate at. I suspect he also arranged to have Gendry join him.