How did Ned figure out that Jaime is the father?

[corbon]

4 hours ago, rotting sea cow said:

It was Sansa who made him grasp the truth: Cersei's children do not look like Roberts, unlike his many bastards! They look like Jaime!

Its not just looks. Joffrey is "not the least bit like that old drunken king" - in any way. Looks, build, character, personality etc, not any way at all, not even a little bit.

[Ser Leftwich]

Ned did not exist in a vacuum. Remember when his wife came all the way to KL. And before she left WF she said, ""My sister Lysa believes the Lannisters murdered her husband, Lord Arryn, the Hand of the King," Catelyn told them. "It comes to me that Jaime Lannister did not join the hunt the day Bran fell. He remained here in the castle." The room was deathly quiet. "I do not think Bran fell from that tower," she said into the stillness. "I think he was thrown.""

Ned and Catelyn had conversations off page. Ned had thoughts off page.

[CamiloRP]

2 hours ago, corbon said:

Its not just looks. Joffrey is "not the least bit like that old drunken king" - in any way. Looks, build, character, personality etc, not any way at all, not even a little bit.

The OP's point wasn't how Ned find out Joff was illegitimate, but how he find out Jaime was the father, it's a big leap to go from infidelity to incest.

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

Who else could get close enough to have sex with the queen but a KG.

[TheLastWolf]

5 hours ago, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

Who else could get close enough to have sex with the queen but a KG.

The Fool. Jaime was right. Tyrion was right. Cersei's fucking Moonboy. 

[corbon]

10 hours ago, CamiloRP said:

The OP's point wasn't how Ned find out Joff was illegitimate, but how he find out Jaime was the father, it's a big leap to go from infidelity to incest.

And @talvikorppi nailed the answer in post 8.

Ned didn't know until Cersei told him. He threw out a guess, as a question, when she was telling him about how much better Jaime was than Robert and that Jaime would have killed Robert to defend her if Robert had ever bruised her face when Jaime was around.

Quote

"If you truly believed that, you would never have come." Ned touched her cheek gently. "Has he done this before?"

"Once or twice." She shied away from his hand. "Never on the face before. Jaime would have killed him, even if it meant his own life." Cersei looked at him defiantly. "My brother is worth a hundred of your friend."

"Your brother?" Ned said. "Or your lover?"

 Before that, I'm sure he was unsure, probably not really mentally willing to make that leap, but lacking an alternative answer. Then when she's extolling Jaime, the possibility obviously breaks through to him, but he's perhaps still barely able to believe it, or maybe just still not certain, and he straight up asks her as a question.

Cersei is the one who confirms it for him.

[Thunder Bunny-3000]

Eddard Stark suspects their bastardy and questions Cercie  in the godswood. he finds out it is Jaimie through this conversation.

Quote

“Do you?” The queen watched his face, wary as a cat. “Is that why you called me here, Lord Stark? To pose me riddles? Or is it your intent to seize me, as your wife seized my brother?”
“If you truly believed that, you would never have come.” Ned touched her cheek gently.“Has he done this before?”
“Once or twice.” She shied away from his hand. “Never on the face before. Jaime would have killed him, even if it meant his own life.” Cersei looked at him defiantly. “My brother is worth a hundred of your friend.”
“Your brother?” Ned said. “Or your lover?”
“Both.” She did not flinch from the truth. “Since we were children together. And why not? The Targaryens wed brother to sister for three hundred years, to keep the bloodlines pure. And Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We are one person in two bodies. We shared a womb together. He came into this world holding my foot, our old maester said. When he is in me, I feel . . . whole.” The ghost of a smile flitted over her lips.

it isn't till after she admits she is lovers with Jaimie that Ned deduces that none of the children are Roberts but Jaimie's

Quote

“All three are Jaime’s,” he said. It was not a question.
“Thank the gods.”

she again confirms it.

[CamiloRP]

6 hours ago, corbon said:

And @talvikorppi nailed the answer in post 8.

Ned didn't know until Cersei told him. He threw out a guess, as a question, when she was telling him about how much better Jaime was than Robert and that Jaime would have killed Robert to defend her if Robert had ever bruised her face when Jaime was around.

 Before that, I'm sure he was unsure, probably not really mentally willing to make that leap, but lacking an alternative answer. Then when she's extolling Jaime, the possibility obviously breaks through to him, but he's perhaps still barely able to believe it, or maybe just still not certain, and he straight up asks her as a question.

Cersei is the one who confirms it for him.

Yep, I agree

[Ibbison from Ibben]

It seems as though Ned made an inspired guess that Cersei confirmed (due to her natural arrogance and the fact that she was already plotting Ned's removal.)

But another factor may have influenced Ned. Joffery had not only demonstrated a tendency for cruelty in his encounter with Arya on the Trident, but had shown a near sociopathic disregard for life in his treatment of the pregnant cat. Robert told Ned that he thought there was something mentally wrong with Joffery. Given Ned's history with the incestuous, sometimes mad Targaryens (whose incest many thought caused the madness), Ned might have linked Joffery's mental state to being a product of incest.

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

On 11/8/2020 at 4:43 AM, Alyn Oakenfist said:

So we know that Jaime is Joffrey's, Myrcella's and Tommen's dad, but how did Ned know? His only real pieces of evidence are the kids's looks and the fact that "the seed is strong" in all the Baratheons and all of Robert's bastards. However all this proves is that Robert is not the father. So how did Ned make the logical leap of Jaime being the father. Was it just his hatred for Jaime that made him reach that conclusion or was there something more behind it?

Sansa . Cercei confessed .