Tharvot Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I think revealing to Cersei that he knew her secret and what he planned to do about it was without a doubt his biggest blunder.A close 2nd would have to be trusting LF in a ploy to buy over the city watch to his cause.What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolves Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Going South, he should have stayed at Winterfell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morienthar Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Not going along with Renly's Plan was his biggest blunder.Telling Cersei of his plans was equally stupid though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luthien Targaryen Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Littlefinger was right, getting off his horse at Kings Landing, well actually agreeing to be Hand at all. What he should have said was something like,"Look Robert, i know you don't want to be King, but you are. Man up! Everyone will love you for it and if you really want someone who can help you as Hand, try your brother Stannis... It's about time you two learnt to get along."Unlikely, but that's life, the book would have been a lot less interesting though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sullen Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Not going for Renly.I mean, seriously Ned... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steely94 Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I think revealing to Cersei that he knew her secret and what he planned to do about it was without a doubt his biggest blunder.A close 2nd would have to be trusting LF in a ploy to buy over the city watch to his cause.What say you?Both of them, and add to that sending off most of his guard with the watch and Dondarrian. And not letting Septa Mordane catch Sansa when she ran off to Cersei. And not siding with Renly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mad Monkey Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Renly: "I'll give you one hundred men to help you take Cersei and her children into custody."Eddard: "What a terrible plan. Go away."[the next ****Ing day]Eddard: "Lord Baelish, I need some men to help me take Cersei and her children into custody."Petyr: "You actually trust me? Bwahahaha!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BarristonTheBAMF Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Trusting Littlefinger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Going south. He could have easily not w/ Bran in the state that he was. At the very least he could have delayed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tharvot Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 I see people saying not going with Renly.But that wouldn't have mattered at all if he hadn't made known to Cersei his intentions. All he had to do was keep quiet and leave once Robert passed.Avenge him later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groat Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Ok, so let me just vent my dislike for the sentiment that Ned made a mistake by telling Cersei what he know.1) Even if this is what legitimately caused his downfall, it was still an extremely honorable act of compassion and mercy that would allow Cersei and the kids to still live. While tactically, it could be viewed as a mistake, this act only bolsters my already high opinion of Ned2) During FFC Cersei reflects that she moved along her plans to kill Robert when Ned started snooping around. This tells us that she was already planning on assassinating Robert, because of Renly's plan with Margery, and that Ned snooping around was the catalyst. Ned's reveal to Cersei is not what caused her to assassinate Robert, she clearly expresses otherwise in her inner thoughts3) Cersei had already tried to assassinate Robert at the Hand's Tourney, so again she was trying to do this before the reveal.4) While there were some people going back and forth during Robert's hunting trip (the text actually only states people returning, no one actually going to find them), I find it hard to believe that Cersei had the plan ready to go and was just waiting for some event to enact it, especially when she has already tried to assassinate Robert once.5) Varys and his line to Ned in the Black Cells that "It was your mercy that killed Robert" was, once again, Varys using his powers of manipulation. That whole scene was a setup by Varys to manipulate Ned, so I think we need to take his comment with a grain of salt.The far more likely scenario is that Cersei's plan was already in motion when Ned made the reveal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tharvot Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 Ok, so let me just vent my dislike for the sentiment that Ned made a mistake by telling Cersei what he know.1) Even if this is what legitimately caused his downfall, it was still an extremely honorable act of compassion and mercy that would allow Cersei and the kids to still live. While tactically, it could be viewed as a mistake, this act only bolsters my already high opinion of Ned2) During FFC Cersei reflects that she moved along her plans to kill Robert when Ned started snooping around. This tells us that she was already planning on assassinating Robert, because of Renly's plan with Margery, and that Ned snooping around was the catalyst. Ned's reveal to Cersei is not what caused her to assassinate Robert, she clearly expresses otherwise in her inner thoughts3) Cersei had already tried to assassinate Robert at the Hand's Tourney, so again she was trying to do this before the reveal.4) While there were some people going back and forth during Robert's hunting trip (the text actually only states people returning, no one actually going to find them), I find it hard to believe that Cersei had the plan ready to go and was just waiting for some event to enact it, especially when she has already tried to assassinate Robert once.5) Varys and his line to Ned in the Black Cells that "It was your mercy that killed Robert" was, once again, Varys using his powers of manipulation. That whole scene was a setup by Varys to manipulate Ned, so I think we need to take his comment with a grain of salt.The far more likely scenario is that Cersei's plan was already in motion when Ned made the reveal.That much is certain. Cersei wanted Robert to die in the melee at the Hand's Tourney. She had been trying to kill Robert for a while.Additionally, who cares about Robert. Ned revealing what he knew to Cersei didn't kill Robert. He was already on his fateful hunt. Ned revealing that info to Cersei killed Ned, the remainder of his household guard, and led to the downfall of his house.Sure he was noble, he was also an absolutely blind fool for doing that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aderyn the Sly Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Ok, so let me just vent my dislike for the sentiment that Ned made a mistake by telling Cersei what he know.1) Even if this is what legitimately caused his downfall, it was still an extremely honorable act of compassion and mercy that would allow Cersei and the kids to still live. While tactically, it could be viewed as a mistake, this act only bolsters my already high opinion of Ned2) During FFC Cersei reflects that she moved along her plans to kill Robert when Ned started snooping around. This tells us that she was already planning on assassinating Robert, because of Renly's plan with Margery, and that Ned snooping around was the catalyst. Ned's reveal to Cersei is not what caused her to assassinate Robert, she clearly expresses otherwise in her inner thoughts3) Cersei had already tried to assassinate Robert at the Hand's Tourney, so again she was trying to do this before the reveal.4) While there were some people going back and forth during Robert's hunting trip (the text actually only states people returning, no one actually going to find them), I find it hard to believe that Cersei had the plan ready to go and was just waiting for some event to enact it, especially when she has already tried to assassinate Robert once.5) Varys and his line to Ned in the Black Cells that "It was your mercy that killed Robert" was, once again, Varys using his powers of manipulation. That whole scene was a setup by Varys to manipulate Ned, so I think we need to take his comment with a grain of salt.The far more likely scenario is that Cersei's plan was already in motion when Ned made the reveal. :agree:What I do think was a blunder though is his inaction in the days that followed when she made no move to do anything such as fleeing the city with the children. He should have at least been suspicious that she was going to make a powerplay. Then Robert dies, and no one cares about his will that Ned went and worded oh-so-carefully on his deathbed because Cersei has already mustered her power to use against him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Prince of the North Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 I think Ned's biggest mistake was trusting Littlefinger (but I also think Martin did a good enough job of making it plausible that he would) to carry out his plan to buy the Gold Cloaks. If Ned had actually had the Gold Cloaks on his side then none of the other stuff would have mattered. It wouldn't have mattered that he gave Cercei a chance to run, it wouldn't have mattered that he didn't take Renly up on his plans, it wouldn't have mattered that he agreed to go the KL and become Robert's Hand, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tharvot Posted August 9, 2013 Author Share Posted August 9, 2013 I think Ned's biggest mistake was trusting Littlefinger (but I also think Martin did a good enough job of making it plausible that he would) to carry out his plan to buy the Gold Cloaks. If Ned had actually had the Gold Cloaks on his side then none of the other stuff would have mattered. It wouldn't have mattered that he gave Cercei a chance to run, it wouldn't have mattered that he didn't take Renly up on his plans, it wouldn't have mattered that he agreed to go the KL and become Robert's Hand, etc.I agree. Looking back at it you just yell at him for being stupid, but the first time through it seems plausible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Groat Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Ned revealing that info to Cersei killed Ned, the remainder of his household guard, and led to the downfall of his house.Sure he was noble, he was also an absolutely blind fool for doing that.Could you please provide textual evidence for this statement, because it is 100% wrong.Furthermore, Ned doing the honorable thing is what makes him such a great person, and such a great dad. Doing the decent, honorable thing is why his kids are so awesome, it's why his kids will carry on the Stark tradition. This event could be seen as ensuring the survival of his house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingInTheCave Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Not taking the throne for himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Answer Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Promising Lyanna Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juanml82 Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 Could you please provide textual evidence for this statement, because it is 100% wrong.Furthermore, Ned doing the honorable thing is what makes him such a great person, and such a great dad. Doing the decent, honorable thing is why his kids are so awesome, it's why his kids will carry on the Stark tradition. This event could be seen as ensuring the survival of his house.And a terrible military commander. Cersei was planning a battle, Ned wasn't. And in war, well, you really, really need to win those things.Ned made too many mistakes, it's hard to think which was the worst. I think it boils down to refuse to think people's motivations, which is specially true regarding Littlefinger, Sansa and his refusal to allow Loras to go hunting the Mountain. He just expected to order and people to obey just because. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Tam Stark Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 not sending more ravens was a pretty big mistake it may not have saved Robert but it would have seen the North plus Renly and Stannis marching on KL or acting in some way to remove the pesky Lannisters and ensuring his head stayed where it was and got him released Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.