Ned Stark small council with carte blanche

[Mrstrategy]

If Robert Baratheon have given Ned Stark carte blanche in regards to choosing his own small council and gold cloaks leadership meaning he could remove/replace anyone from the small council except for Renly. Baratheon as master of laws and replace them with his own choice who should Ned stark have chosen for each position in small council and gold cloaks leadership assuming he decided to replace everyone in small council exept Renly Baratheon and possibly varys as well as the current gold cloak comander (Slynt)and his officers from the gold cloaks with his own chosen men and assume Ned is smart enough not to fill the small council and gold cloaks leadership with northerners 

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

Renly has to be the master of Laws or Renly has to be in the council?

[Nathan Stark]

27 minutes ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

Renly has to be the master of Laws or Renly has to be in the council?

Right. The only thing I am aware of Renly doing was appointing Slynt as Commander of the Gold Cloaks. He was pretty much as useful a Master of Laws as Robert was a King.

[Nathan Stark]

Keep Barristan as LC of the Kingsgaurd. Remove Littlefinger and Varys instantly, and replace them with Lord Gyles Rosby as Master of Coin and make Renly Master of Whisperers. Make Stannis Master of Laws and Paxter Redwyne Master of Ships. Grand Maester Pycelle should be convinced to resign and have him replaced with someone of Ned's own choosing.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

I would choose Stannis obviously as the master of laws. Oberyn as master of whisperers need to keep them happy and involved. Mace Tyrell, with his mom, as the masters of coins. If I could I would had change the Grand Maester for Cressen. Keep Renly as the master of ships and try to marry him with a Redwyne. Lord Commander of King’s Guard will continue being Barristan and make sure that Petyr is far away and Varys dead.

[sifth]

1 hour ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

I would choose Stannis obviously as the master of laws. Oberyn as master of whisperers need to keep them happy and involved. Mace Tyrell, with his mom, as the masters of coins. If I could I would had change the Grand Maester for Cressen. Keep Renly as the master of coins and try to marry him with a Redwyne. Lord Commander of King’s Guard will continue being Barristan and make sure that Petyr is far away and Varys dead.

Love your ideas, for all accept Cressen as Grand Maester. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but he was pretty up there in his years by the time the first book started; I remember him being hardly able to walk. I would give the honor to either Maester Luwin or if I wanted someone young, but still strong and trust worthy, Pylos.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

3 minutes ago, sifth said:

Love your ideas, for all accept Cressen as Grand Maester. Don't get me wrong, I love the guy, but he was pretty up there in his years by the time the first book started; I remember him being hardly able to walk. I would give the honor to either Maester Luwin or if I wanted someone young, but still strong and trust worthy, Pylos.

You are right. I mostly gave him the position as an honorific title for raising the Baratheons after their parents’ deaths. Sooner or later he will die and Pylos, who could be used as his second same as they did in Dragonstone, could take his place. Pylos is kind and gentle and we have seen by his treatment of Shireen that he cares about his pupils. Luwin is good and all but he is too connected with the Starks and Bran will need him.

[Orion2]

I would choose a Tyrell for master of coin, I don't know what to do abt master of whisperers, Tyrion for master of laws, bc that doesn't seem that impt, and the Lannisters would be insulted if I didn't choose a Lannister for something, but there's already to many Lannisters and I think maybe I could separate Tyrion from his father and sister. Paxter Redwyne, or one of his sons as master of ships, that way I have the south behind me, or I guess possibly one of the sons of Manderly, they are very likely to be loyal, and manderly is a cunning bastard, maybe one of his sons would be too. I would choose the Tully maester to be grand maester, bc he would maybe have known Catelyn growing up and be loyal, or I might choose a maester from the citadel, and I would hopefully figure out how to get rid of all the Lannister toadies in the kingsguard. hopefully then I would have the Lannisters cornered, with all those who knew abt the incest and where using it to there advantage gone, and I would have peytr and Varys gotten rid of. That seems hard but I could figure it out I think :me writing as Ned Stark:

 

no damn Dournishmen cause they're gonna try to get Robert overthrown

[Canon Claude]

11 hours ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

I would choose Stannis obviously as the master of laws. Oberyn as master of whisperers need to keep them happy and involved. Mace Tyrell, with his mom, as the masters of coins. If I could I would had change the Grand Maester for Cressen. Keep Renly as the master of ships and try to marry him with a Redwyne. Lord Commander of King’s Guard will continue being Barristan and make sure that Petyr is far away and Varys dead.

Why would Ned have any say over who Renly marries? Would Robert even have that authority? 

[CamiloRP]

Ned would never kick the Grand Maester out, he respects tradition.

Otherwise he would likely chose original STAB allies, probably people he knows he can trust.

[Lord Lannister]

I guess the real question would be how much would Ned shake the tree if he could. As mentioned earlier I can't see him sacking Pycelle because he respects the tradition of the office. Sacking Robert's brothers? I doubt he'd even consider it. Both Varys and Littlefinger demonstrated they were able to manipulate Ned at will. Littlefinger certainly would be able to convince Ned to give him "a chance" though Varys might be summarily dismissed. With the contempt he holds for the office of master of whispers I could see him either appointing someone honorable who would be terrible or just abolishing the position entirely. 

Giving him a little more agency isn't going to save Ned from himself as a ruler.

[Nathan Stark]

5 hours ago, Lord Lannister said:

I guess the real question would be how much would Ned shake the tree if he could. As mentioned earlier I can't see him sacking Pycelle because he respects the tradition of the office. Sacking Robert's brothers? I doubt he'd even consider it. Both Varys and Littlefinger demonstrated they were able to manipulate Ned at will. Littlefinger certainly would be able to convince Ned to give him "a chance" though Varys might be summarily dismissed. With the contempt he holds for the office of master of whispers I could see him either appointing someone honorable who would be terrible or just abolishing the position entirely. 

Giving him a little more agency isn't going to save Ned from himself as a ruler.

Ned was willing to work with Varys, and it is explicitly stated in the text that Ned had made common cause with men he despised before, so he's not inflexible. He trusted Littlefinger because Catelyn vouched for him, not because Ned actually thought he was honorable or something. And how much did Varys actually manipulate Ned? Certainly not to the extent Littlefinger was. Varys seems to have been pretty truthful with Ned during their discussions in the Tower of the Hand and the Black cells.

Honestly, Ned's rep as a big dupe is vastly exxagerated. His biggest mistakes were not fully exercising his powers as Hand, and sending most of his own men out of the city.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

7 hours ago, Canon Claude said:

Why would Ned have any say over who Renly marries? Would Robert even have that authority? 

That is why I said try to marry him and not marry him. Just throw the suggestion on the table no pressure.

[Angel Eyes]

55 minutes ago, Nathan Stark said:

Ned was willing to work with Varys, and it is explicitly stated in the text that Ned had made common cause with men he despised before, so he's not inflexible. He trusted Littlefinger because Catelyn vouched for him, not because Ned actually thought he was honorable or something. And how much did Varys actually manipulate Ned? Certainly not to the extent Littlefinger was. Varys seems to have been pretty truthful with Ned during their discussions in the Tower of the Hand and the Black cells.

Honestly, Ned's rep as a big dupe is vastly exxagerated. His biggest mistakes were not fully exercising his powers as Hand, and sending most of his own men out of the city.

She shouldn't have trusted him; it's funny because she said that Ned shouldn't trust Robert just because they grew up together, while she vouches for Littlefinger because they grew up together. Hypocrite much?

[Orion2]

2 hours ago, Nathan Stark said:

7 hours ago, Lord Lannister said:

I guess the real question would be how much would Ned shake the tree if he could. As mentioned earlier I can't see him sacking Pycelle because he respects the tradition of the office. Sacking Robert's brothers? I doubt he'd even consider it. Both Varys and Littlefinger demonstrated they were able to manipulate Ned at will. Littlefinger certainly would be able to convince Ned to give him "a chance" though Varys might be summarily dismissed. With the contempt he holds for the office of master of whispers I could see him either appointing someone honorable who would be terrible or just abolishing the position entirely. 

Giving him a little more agency isn't going to save Ned from himself as a ruler.

Ned was willing to work with Varys, and it is explicitly stated in the text that Ned had made common cause with men he despised before, so he's not inflexible. He trusted Littlefinger because Catelyn vouched for him, not because Ned actually thought he was honorable or something. And how much did Varys actually manipulate Ned? Certainly not to the extent Littlefinger was. Varys seems to have been pretty truthful with Ned during their discussions in the Tower of the Hand and the Black cells.

Honestly, Ned's rep as a big dupe is vastly exxagerated. His biggest mistakes were not fully exercising his powers as Hand, and sending most of his own men out of the city.

Neds a tragic character, not an idiot. It's his kindness that kills him not his intelligence. He's unwilling to do horrible things, which causes more horrible things, which is tragic. He's fuckin Shakespearean dawg, he's awesome and he makes me wanna cry. He's one of the best characters in the book

 

 

[Nathan Stark]

2 hours ago, Angel Eyes said:

She shouldn't have trusted him; it's funny because she said that Ned shouldn't trust Robert just because they grew up together, while she vouches for Littlefinger because they grew up together. Hypocrite much?

Hypocrisy? Perhaps. I think its easier to advise caution when it isn't someone you see as family. Ned could never really bring himself to dislike Robert, and Catelyn could never imagine Littlefinger and Lysa betraying her. Though there were times where she got close. Its tragic more than hypocritical.

[Buried Treasure]

12 hours ago, Angel Eyes said:

She shouldn't have trusted him; it's funny because she said that Ned shouldn't trust Robert just because they grew up together, while she vouches for Littlefinger because they grew up together. Hypocrite much?

It's a good point. Though I think she doesn't realise the hypocrisy because Robert is king. What's her line 'You knew the man, how well do you know the king'?

 

Also, Littlefinger of the Milo Milobender of this situation, nobody wants to dismiss him because they are all really impressed by his financial wizardry that they don't understand but think is helping them.

[CamiloRP]

4 hours ago, Buried Treasure said:

It's a good point. Though I think she doesn't realise the hypocrisy because Robert is king. What's her line 'You knew the man, how well do you know the king'?

 

Also, Littlefinger of the Milo Milobender of this situation, nobody wants to dismiss him because they are all really impressed by his financial wizardry that they don't understand but think is helping them.

From the top of my head: 'You knew the man, the king is a stranger to you.' I should fucking get a life.

[sifth]

On 3/6/2021 at 9:10 AM, CamiloRP said:

Ned would never kick the Grand Maester out, he respects tradition.

Otherwise he would likely chose original STAB allies, probably people he knows he can trust.

After he found out that Pycelle was a spy for Cercie he might. Ned made a lot of mistakes as Hand, but even he was able to pick that up. If Ned were to uncover Pycelle's role in Jon Arryn's death, Ned would have taken his head off for all to see.

[CamiloRP]

Just now, sifth said:

After he found out that Pycelle was a spy for Cercie he might. Ned made a lot of mistakes as Hand, but even he was able to pick that up. If Ned were to uncover Pycelle's role in Jon Arryn's death, Ned would have taken his head off for all to see.

Being Cersei's stooge wouldn't be enough, IMHO, the Grand Maester's position is chosen by the Archmaesters at the Citadel, Ned won't go over that. Finding out he was partially responsible for JA's death would rid him of the problem tho, he can be executed and then the Citadel chooses a new Grand Maester.