TimJames Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Gared is a Night's Watch Deserter, the lowest of the low in Westrosi culture. Surely Eddard made the right call executing him, right?Actually, Eddard had no right to preform the execution himself. By all rights, he should have extradited Gared to Castle Black to face judgement there. If Gared ran away to escape white walkers, than The Lord Commander will want to know that. If Gared was just a craven who thought the wall sucked, The Lord Commander should still be the one who executes him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheYellowAppleFossoway Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Justifiable homicide in the line of duty Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStoneheart Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Lords execute deserters on their lands. Extradition isn't applicable here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFDanny Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The law of all of Westeros, not just that of the Night's Watch, is that deserters from the Watch should be executed. Ned did what he thought was right in carrying out the law of the land, but, yes, he was wrong in not believing Gared's story. At the start of the books, no one outside of the wildlings believes the Others exists. Most don't believe they ever existed. Ned thinks the man mad with fear of dying and doesn't consider the possibility of his tale being true. If he had the series would have been a lot shorter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LordStoneheart Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 The law of all of Westeros, not just that of the Night's Watch, is that deserters from the Watch should be executed. Ned did what he thought was right in carrying out the law of the land, but, yes, he was wrong in not believing Gared's story. At the start of the books, no one outside of the wildlings believes the Others exists. Most don't believe they ever existed. Ned thinks the man mad with fear of dying and doesn't consider the possibility of his tale being true. If he had the series would have been a lot shorter. Him and 99% of Westeros. You can't fault him for that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Joe the Unknighted Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Ethically no, but legally, he was honor bound to uphold the law and execute him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TerrorVoid Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Actually, it's not that bad. While Ned was ignorant, Benjen had taken it seriously. And he mentioned that Gared is not the first to desert. And he and Mormont at least suspected that info about WW was true. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TimJames Posted May 11, 2015 Author Share Posted May 11, 2015 Lords execute deserters on their lands. Extradition isn't applicable here.The Night's Watch is it's own political entity. Jeor Mormont should have been the one to make the final call. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Others Take Them Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 It doesn't seem unlikely that a policy of 'if you catch our deserters, go ahead and kill them' would have been common. Why waste resources sending a single prisoner back to the walk from as far off as Dorne when you can just give them a very close shave? For that mattet, why dont NW deserters just steal some new threads off a farmers clothesline and then just avoid the hell out of wherever they were drafted from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bright Blue Eyes Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 It doesn't seem unlikely that a policy of 'if you catch our deserters, go ahead and kill them' would have been common. Why waste resources sending a single prisoner back to the walk from as far off as Dorne when you can just give them a very close shave? For that mattet, why dont NW deserters just steal some new threads off a farmers clothesline and then just avoid the hell out of wherever they were drafted from? Oh, they would try. As in, kicking in the doors, murdering the farmer and his family and walk away with new clothes. And the local Lord on their heels. A farmer would have a clothesline out maybe once or twice per year. And watched. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bb1180 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 From what we're told, it seems likely that Ned Stark was well within his rights to execute deserters from the Night's Watch when caught on his lands, and given that we're told something to the effect that a NW deserter is a fugitive anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, its likely that any of the lords of the realm can legally have them summarily executed if they wish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Obviously Ned was well within his rights to perform the execution himself. From other characters (Bran, Jon and Catelyn at least) we know it's not the first time he does it, either. Ned even rattles off the whole "in the name of Robert..." thing before he does it, which would be doubly weird if it was somehow wrong for him to do so. Yes, for the reader it's obvious that Ned makes the wrong judgment in not believing Gared's story, as we know it's true, but it's not something you can fault him for. The story was pretty unbelievable, and in the event it was true, Gared should have gone to Jeor Mormont rather than flee south. So Ned's impression that the story doesn't make sense is accurate enough - Gared was obviously making some weird choices somewhere along the line. Not that you can particularly blame him for that, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Storm Reborn Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 It's the law, like when you're a protector of the realm and, with your council's majority approval, you sentence key figures of a 100,000 army of savages who are going to conquer, rape and pillage your realm, to die...In the name of King Robert, always... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dolorous22 Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 A NW deserter is a liability. As for his story, we know he's being sincere but no responsible Lord would take him at his word. Any man will sing you a beautiful song when his head is on a block. Ned couldn't risk letting a convicted felon loose in his lands. It's understandable that Gared ran, but straight past Castle black and into the North? Nah. If he valued his life he would of reported to the LC and kept his head.I find it very difficult to blame Ned for taking a little off the top. Who knows what crimes brought him to the Wall? Little Arya or Rickon could be out playing one afternoon and before they know it they're being ransomed off.... or worse. What the scene illustrates for me is just how easy it is to sneak past this flipping massive but poorly guarded wall. Gared wasn't the first but he may be one of the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mikkel Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 edit: double-post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drekinn Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Yeah, he should have been questioned by the Watch first, and then Ned should have executed him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawn Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 I thought it was odd that he deserted when he could have easily gone back to the wall to warn his brothers. Execution seemed a bit harsh. It seems like it was a tool used by George so Bran could see a man die. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Selig Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Wasn't Gared mad at this point and rambling incoherently? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Reaper oOo Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 What if he had told Ned that white walkers had over ran Castle Black and he was the last remaining brother of the Nights Watch? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bawn Posted May 11, 2015 Share Posted May 11, 2015 Wasn't Gared mad at this point and rambling incoherently? Possibly but regardless of his condition, he possessed extremely valuable information. Eddard robbed the watch and Westeros of that information. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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