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Why didn’t Ned have a sworn shield for Sansa or Arya?


Angel Eyes

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So how come Ned didn’t have one of his men serve as a sworn shield or bodyguard to his daughters? It would be nice to have someone to keep an eye on the girls, make sure they don’t do anything too stupid, and keep peace between them. 

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1 minute ago, Angel Eyes said:

So how come Ned didn’t have one of his men serve as a sworn shield or bodyguard to his daughters? It would be nice to have someone to keep an eye on the girls, make sure they don’t do anything too stupid, and keep peace between them. 

Is that normal for a run of the mill girl of noble birth?  Neither Sansa nor Arya are princesses.  The Stark household guards are sufficient for them.  

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12 minutes ago, Angel Eyes said:

So how come Ned didn’t have one of his men serve as a sworn shield or bodyguard to his daughters? It would be nice to have someone to keep an eye on the girls, make sure they don’t do anything too stupid, and keep peace between them. 

I suppose Ned didn't really feel like they needed one. Due to his naivety he probably felt like they were both safe at all times in the Red Keep. Sansa spent most of her time in her room or in the gardens with Jeyne Poole or Septa Mordane, and Arya spent most of her time training with Syrio Forel, at least as far as Ned knew. 

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Ned should have shipped them both home after he was forced to kill Lady, Robert be damned. He definitely should have sent them home once he got a whiff of what Cersei and LF were all about in KL. He absolutely and positively should have sent them home at all costs after Robert was killed, Joff and Cersei be damned.

Ned never really had his head on straight down in KL, which is why it probably fell off so easy. Both of his daughters could have been "cultured" in Riverrun or the Vale (at least until that freak show became apparent).

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17 minutes ago, Trefayne said:

Ned should have shipped them both home after he was forced to kill Lady, Robert be damned. He definitely should have sent them home once he got a whiff of what Cersei and LF were all about in KL. He absolutely and positively should have sent them home at all costs after Robert was killed, Joff and Cersei be damned.

Ned never really had his head on straight down in KL, which is why it probably fell off so easy. Both of his daughters could have been "cultured" in Riverrun or the Vale (at least until that freak show became apparent).

Absolutely!

And when Cat shows up and says someone attempted to murder Bran in a coma...should have been a real wake-up call. 'Your children are in danger, asshole!'

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I think Septa Mordane was regarded as sufficient.  Actually, as far as I know, Joffrey and Myrcella are the only children to have a sworn shield.  I certainly don't recall anyone else having one.  And it's not as if there is any likelihood of danger.  When Ned did perceive the possibility of danger, he arranged for their return to Winterfell.  Unfortunately, events moved faster than he had anticipated.

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15 hours ago, Nevets said:

I think Septa Mordane was regarded as sufficient.  Actually, as far as I know, Joffrey and Myrcella are the only children to have a sworn shield.  I certainly don't recall anyone else having one.  And it's not as if there is any likelihood of danger.  When Ned did perceive the possibility of danger, he arranged for their return to Winterfell.  Unfortunately, events moved faster than he had anticipated.

Arianne has one.

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Sworn shields only seem to be a thing for members of the Royal Family (Sandor for Joffrey, Duncan for Egg), or for when someone has to travel in a small company, away from their regular Household guard, into foreign or hostile territory (Aerys for Myrcella, Gerris Drinkwater and Archibald Yronwood for Quentyn, Daemon Sand for Arianne). There are exceptions, but they seem to be very rare (Trystane has a sworn shield, Ser Gascoyne of the Greenblood), but that could be down to Doran wanting his children well guarded. 

If Ned had sent his daughters South by themselves, without a large household, he would almost certainly have given them a dedicated bodyguard. But Ned wasn't sending them alone, they were travelling with him and his whole household and contingent of guards, and not into a warzone or foreign land.

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10 hours ago, Kandrax said:

Who? Arys? I don't remember him beign called as such.

He's referred to as her sworn shield twice... 

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I had in mind to send Ser Arys Oakheart with her. With a knight of the Kingsguard as her sworn shield, no one is like to forget who or what she is."

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Once Myrcella reached Braavos, she ought to be safe. He was sending Ser Arys Oakheart as her sworn shield, and had engaged the Braavosi to bring her the rest of the way to Sunspear.

 

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Naivety and willful denial on Ned's part. His own honor when it comes to harming children prevents him from recognizing that others do not hold the same values, even after, as @dmfn notes, an attempt has already been made on his child's life.

Even when his own life is on the line, Ned is incredulous when Viserys says in the Black Cells:

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"Pity. And your daughter's life, my lord? How precious is that?"

A chill pierced Ned's heart. "My daughter..."

"Surely you did not think I'd forgotten about your sweet innocent, my lord? The queen most certainly has not."

"No," Ned pleaded, his voice cracking. "Varys, gods have mercy, do as you like with me, but leave my daughter out of your schemes. Sansa's no more than a child."

"Rhaenys was a child too..."

 

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5 hours ago, John Suburbs said:

Naivety and willful denial on Ned's part. His own honor when it comes to harming children prevents him from recognizing that others do not hold the same values

To me that is part of the story martin wrote. Fifteen, was it fifteen years since the end Roberts Rebellion that King Robert showed up at WF?

Eddard and family have been living in relative peace settling minor squabbles. Occasionally Eddard had to lope off a head or two.

Eddard was totally unprepared to be the Hand of the King. Eddard tried to play the game unfortunately he lost his head.

Intregity is irrelevant in today's modern culture ---- remember martin grew up in the 50's, 60's and 70's ---- there was a time when a hand shake and a persons word actually meant something truthful.

Why didn't Eddard have a sworn shield for his daughters? My answer is that Eddard was merely a lord not royalty.

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5 hours ago, Clegane'sPup said:

To me that is part of the story martin wrote. Fifteen, was it fifteen years since the end Roberts Rebellion that King Robert showed up at WF?

Eddard and family have been living in relative peace settling minor squabbles. Occasionally Eddard had to lope off a head or two.

Eddard was totally unprepared to be the Hand of the King. Eddard tried to play the game unfortunately he lost his head.

Intregity is irrelevant in today's modern culture ---- remember martin grew up in the 50's, 60's and 70's ---- there was a time when a hand shake and a persons word actually meant something truthful.

Why didn't Eddard have a sworn shield for his daughters? My answer is that Eddard was merely a lord not royalty.

Maester Lewin found the hidden letter in the Myrish lense box.

Catelyn read that letter (written in a secret language only she could read) and burned it. 

Those two characters were still able to play the game after so many years.

And Ned for his part did eventually stumble upon the mystery Jon Aryn died for.  He sent Cat on her way and told her to prepare the North for war (which she didn't do), and he took the step of attempting to bribe the Goldcloaks.

I don't think Ned did too, too bad. I don't even think he trusted Littlefinger. His wife insisted LF was trustworthy. 

But still, his worst mistakes were warninh Cersei, and not listening to Renly. He had enough insight to re-word Robert's will. If he had taken custody of the princes and princess and lauched a fullscale investigation, without Cersei having any prep time, laid out the will at the small council meeting, and proceed from there. 

If he had given Sansa a sworn sheild, that man would have 100% certainly prevented Sansa from blabbing to Cersei about Ned's plan to ship the girls back home.

Ned was playing solitare with no 'undo' button. I guess we all are.

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They spent the majority of their time in the Tower of the Hand and they were supposed to have a chaperone when out of it. Often they accompanied Ned when they did that. There were lapses, most notably Arya chasing cats and Sansa at the feast. Even so when they were packing to leave Tommard was specifically assigned to look after them.

A sworn shield would indicate that the person in question is out in public a lot of the time, so it is necessary to have a dedicated bodyguard following them around, for instance like Joffrey. Myrcela didn't have one until she went to Dorne. This brings me to the other part. It is largely an affectation to indicate that the person guarded is a VVIP. It is not like Arys could have kept Myrcela safe all on his own in Dorne. She is still a princess though and needs her own retinue.

It could also be a sign of favor to the guard. This could be the case with Trystane's shield and/or that Doran does not feel entirely secure. 

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19 hours ago, Clegane'sPup said:

To me that is part of the story martin wrote. Fifteen, was it fifteen years since the end Roberts Rebellion that King Robert showed up at WF?

Eddard and family have been living in relative peace settling minor squabbles. Occasionally Eddard had to lope off a head or two.

Eddard was totally unprepared to be the Hand of the King. Eddard tried to play the game unfortunately he lost his head.

Intregity is irrelevant in today's modern culture ---- remember martin grew up in the 50's, 60's and 70's ---- there was a time when a hand shake and a persons word actually meant something truthful.

Why didn't Eddard have a sworn shield for his daughters? My answer is that Eddard was merely a lord not royalty.

Yeah, basically Ned was in over his head.

But I contest the notion that the 50s, 60s and 70s were a time when a hand shake and a person's word meant something truthful. Nobody at the time thought that was true, and you can say the same for pretty much every decade back to the dawn of civilization. It was always so much nicer back in the old days. And the kids -- the kids today are just awful, unlike when we were kids...

 

9 hours ago, The Sleeper said:

They spent the majority of their time in the Tower of the Hand and they were supposed to have a chaperone when out of it. Often they accompanied Ned when they did that. There were lapses, most notably Arya chasing cats and Sansa at the feast. Even so when they were packing to leave Tommard was specifically assigned to look after them.

A sworn shield would indicate that the person in question is out in public a lot of the time, so it is necessary to have a dedicated bodyguard following them around, for instance like Joffrey. Myrcela didn't have one until she went to Dorne. This brings me to the other part. It is largely an affectation to indicate that the person guarded is a VVIP. It is not like Arys could have kept Myrcela safe all on his own in Dorne. She is still a princess though and needs her own retinue.

It could also be a sign of favor to the guard. This could be the case with Trystane's shield and/or that Doran does not feel entirely secure. 

Odd, don't you think, that Joffrey's sworn shield just took the day off when Joff and Sansa went riding off on their own along the Trident. Why, anything could have happened, quite possibly scotching the betrothal. And who would want that to happen...?

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46 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

But I contest the notion that the 50s, 60s and 70s were a time when a hand shake and a person's word meant something truthful. Nobody at the time thought that was true, and you can say the same for pretty much every decade back to the dawn of civilization. It was always so much nicer back in the old days. And the kids -- the kids today are just awful, unlike when we were kids...

I could have worded my post better. 

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