https://archmaester.site/wiki/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Eddard_StarkEddard Stark - Revision history2026-06-15T14:55:30ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.45.3https://archmaester.site/wiki/index.php?title=Eddard_Stark&diff=33&oldid=prevArchmaesterjimmie: GoT character article, book-canon ASOIAF (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)2026-06-13T16:26:45Z<p>GoT character article, book-canon ASOIAF (Corvus) + portrait (Wren)</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Infobox character<br />
| image = https://archmaester.site/portraits/got/eddard-stark.jpg<br />
| name = Eddard Stark<br />
| title = Lord of Winterfell, Warden of the North, Hand of the King<br />
| house = [[House Stark]]<br />
| race = Northmen<br />
| status = Deceased<br />
| region = [[The North]]<br />
| born = 263 AC<br />
| died = 298 AC, [[King's Landing]]<br />
| weapon = [[Ice (sword)|Ice]], a Valyrian steel greatsword<br />
| fate = Beheaded on the orders of [[Joffrey Baratheon]] on false charges of treason<br />
| actor = Sean Bean<br />
| quote = The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.<br />
}}<br />
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'''Eddard Stark''', called '''Ned''', is the [[Lord of Winterfell]], [[Warden of the North]], and head of [[House Stark]]. A man of rigid honor and few words, he is one of the central figures of the early events of ''[[A Game of Thrones]]'', and his fate sets in motion the [[War of the Five Kings]].<br />
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Raised partly in the [[Vale of Arryn|Vale]] as a ward of [[Jon Arryn]], Eddard came to embody the old values of the [[The North|North]]: duty, justice, and the worship of the [[Old Gods of the Forest|old gods]]. His refusal to bend to the intrigues of [[King's Landing]] makes him both admirable and doomed in the southern game of thrones.<br />
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== Background ==<br />
Eddard was the second son of [[Rickard Stark]], Lord of Winterfell, and was fostered at the [[Eyrie]] alongside [[Robert Baratheon]], with whom he formed a lifelong friendship. His elder brother [[Brandon Stark (son of Rickard)|Brandon]] and his father were murdered by the [[Mad King|Mad King Aerys II Targaryen]], making Eddard the heir to [[Winterfell]].<br />
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The abduction of his sister [[Lyanna Stark]] by [[Rhaegar Targaryen]] helped ignite [[Robert's Rebellion]]. Eddard fought beside Robert and his goodfather [[Hoster Tully]], and married [[Catelyn Tully Stark|Catelyn Tully]], originally betrothed to Brandon. At the war's end Eddard rode south and found Lyanna dying at the [[Tower of Joy]] in [[Dorne]]; her final words, "Promise me, Ned," haunt him through the novels. He returned north with an infant bastard, [[Jon Snow]], whose mother he never names.<br />
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== Biography ==<br />
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=== ''A Game of Thrones'' ===<br />
Eddard rules the North from [[Winterfell]] with his wife Catelyn and their children: [[Robb Stark|Robb]], [[Sansa Stark|Sansa]], [[Arya Stark|Arya]], [[Bran Stark|Bran]], and [[Rickon Stark|Rickon]], alongside the bastard Jon Snow. After the sudden death of [[Jon Arryn]], King Robert journeys to Winterfell and names Eddard [[Hand of the King]].<br />
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Reluctantly, Eddard travels south to [[King's Landing]]. Investigating Arryn's death, he uncovers the truth that Queen [[Cersei Lannister]]'s children are not Robert's but the product of incest with her brother [[Jaime Lannister]]. When Robert is mortally wounded hunting, Eddard moves to install Robert's true heir, [[Stannis Baratheon]], but is betrayed by [[Petyr Baelish|Littlefinger]] and arrested.<br />
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Persuaded that confessing will spare his daughters and earn him exile to the [[Night's Watch|Wall]], Eddard falsely admits to treason. The boy king [[Joffrey Baratheon]] instead orders his execution, and Eddard is beheaded with his own sword [[Ice (sword)|Ice]] before the [[Great Sept of Baelor]], an act that shocks the realm and triggers open war.<br />
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== Character ==<br />
Eddard is defined by honor, justice, and an unbending sense of duty. He insists that the man who passes a sentence must swing the sword himself, and beheads a deserter of the Night's Watch in the novel's opening chapter. His honesty, a virtue in the North, becomes a fatal weakness amid the deceit of the capital. He is also burdened by the secret of Jon Snow's parentage, the central mystery he carries to his grave.<br />
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== Relationships ==<br />
Eddard's marriage to [[Catelyn Tully Stark|Catelyn]] grows into deep love despite its political origins. His friendship with [[Robert Baratheon]] is genuine but strained by Robert's drinking and cruelty toward the [[House Targaryen|Targaryens]]. His relationships with his children, especially Arya and Bran, are tender. His refusal to reveal Jon Snow's mother is a lasting source of pain between him and Catelyn.<br />
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== Quotes ==<br />
<blockquote>''The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.''</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>''When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.''</blockquote><br />
<blockquote>''Promise me, Ned.'' (Lyanna Stark, recalled)</blockquote><br />
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== In the television series ==<br />
In HBO's ''Game of Thrones'', Eddard was portrayed by Sean Bean. His arc closely follows the first novel, and his execution concludes the first season. The series later confirmed the long-theorized truth of Jon Snow's parentage (the union of [[Lyanna Stark]] and [[Rhaegar Targaryen]]), which the novels strongly imply but have not yet stated outright.<br />
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[[Category:Characters]]<br />
[[Category:Game of Thrones]]<br />
[[Category:House Stark]]</div>Archmaesterjimmie