Assuming this is the beginning of season 1 BEFORE JON joined the night's watch and somehow Robert or Tywin found out about Jon's parentage. Would Ned go to war just to keep Jon safe.
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Robert: 'Bring me the boy.' Ned: loads the entire North."
Come and take him. *As he stands in Mout Calan*
I often wonder about this. How in the fuck would he have explained Jon’s hair if it was silver.
Didn’t Rob say Ned’s supposed mistress was blonde?
Silver hair is not a Targaryen exclusive feature. There are other nobles with that hair color, bastards, essosi Valyrians. Lys got entire brothels full of Valyrian looking people just off the shore of Dorne.
Ashara dayne.
"Easy. 'He gets it from his... uh... very distant Valyrian mailman.'"
Robert was dumb enough to not notice blonde hair
Without a second thought
He’d have done the noble, honorable thing then died. Kind of like how it happens, just a different route.
Yes. It would be his worse nightmare come to life, but he would defend Jon with all he had.
Oh without a doubt. Ned is a product of Arryn honor with Northern loyalty & justice. He would 1000% try to find a non-violent solution of course but if Robert absolutely insisted on Jon’s death then Ned would call the banners and protect him at all costs. With Jon expected to join the Night’s watch though I’m sure Robert would actually be fine with that as a compromise but BOY would he be pissed off with Ned for lying.
He would try to reason with Robert but if it fails most likely he either joins the nightswatch by disobeying the order and have Jon leave Westeros to go to Essos or any place out Roberts reach or both of them joining. Robert will never harm Eddard his the only brother he considers but the people around him might do something like Jon might have no ambition but what of his descendants like Robert wanted to kill Dany because he did not want any Dragon spawns trying to reclaim their birthright.
If his only options are Jon dies or fight the war, then yes, Ned fights. But realistically, I think Ned would have packed Jon to the Night’s Watch no matter how young he was, where he’s both ‘safe’ and not a threat to Robert, and talked Robert down. Robert rages, relations between the North and South get frosty, maybe Ned even offers to take the Black as well if Robert fixates on the ‘treason’ of his hiding Jon, but most of the realm would not expect Lord Stark to kinslay his nephew, even on the king’s orders. The chances of open war seem slim imo
i think if robert agreed for maester aemon surely he would agree for Jon to join The Night's Watch....i mean i know the circumstances are different for Aemon and Jon but Ned would eventually convince him
Would the Nights Watch have let, say, a two-year-old swear? They’re obviously okay with boys of 10-12, but they can at least begin to be trained. They can do chores in the meanwhile and they’ll be useful in a few years. I could kids as young as six or seven at least not requiring too much caretaking if you’re not fussed about their psychological well-being and the occasional accidental death. But much younger than that and they’d absolutely need minding and care if they’re to survive at all.
Depends on what they planned to do Jon. He did very little to protect him from Catelyn Bastardsbane
I mean, there's a difference between treating him shitty, which most nobles treat bastards by default, and Bobby B rolling up to cave his head in with his warhammer
I think Ned tries to Edric Storm him first. Find a loyal man, charge him to take Jon east and then keep going. If the plan fails, I don’t think it goes to war. But Ned makes Robert kill him before he lets him harm Jon. Robert probably orders him locked up and Ned resists but eventually the king gets his way. Ned never forgives Robert.
Absolutely. He was the MOST honorable man. He would have gone to war for that little bastard.
Likely. He protested the “purge” of the Targaryen children so much that it was a factor in the long distance/silence between he and Robert after the war. And he made the choice to save and protect Jon. Both for his oath to his sister and his clear code of ethics, that would be a bridge too far between he and Robert if Robert wanted to come for Jon. He would likely accept war as the unfortunate cost of doing the right thing.
Pretty sure it would have went down like this. Robert finds and and demands the head of Jon. Ned tries to explain to Robert that Lyanna was rapped and this was the result and he should not punish the child. That he would send Jon to the wall. If Robert refuses then Ned simply says no to giving him Jons head. At this point there is not a lot Robert can do. Robert could try and take the crown to war with the north but he would have to explain why and let everyone know that Jon was a Targaryen opening his rule up to others who might side with the last Targaryen. If Robert still refuses to see reason and marches North he would have found nothing but defeats and death. All Ned would need to do is turtle up and wait for his army to wither away in the north.
I agree with everything in your first two paragraphs, my only slight disagreement is that Robert could take a page from Tywin’s book, or maybe even have just appointed Tywin to do it himself, and set to raiding the Riverlands. Ned would need to either convince the Tullys to denounce their marriage alliance and join Robert’s forces against him, or defend them. The North and the Vale can turtle up and wait Robert out, the Riverlands not so much
Yes. Jon Arryn did the same for him and Robert during the Rebellion. I think he would go to war, even if all of his own lords won't support him.
Yes absolutely he would have if it came to it Him and Robert fell out for a year over the Targaryean babies who were killed, what would he have done for the son of his dead sister?
Yeah, probably. And the entire North (not you Boltons) would volunteer.
Jon is his nephew. He would have gone to war.
Usually the questions on here aren’t great but I like this. I’m not sure how that would have played out but considering the lengths he’d gone i know he would have done whatever was required to keep Jon safe.
I think he would’ve hated having to do it, but in the end would choose Jon over Robert. It wouldn’t be an instant decision since he’s insanely loyal to Robert for some odd reason but in the end I think his family means more to him than his oaths, albeit a close second.
Yes. Ned made a promise to Lyanna, and he was going to keep it at any cost.
Yes, he 100% would have
I want to see this alternate timeline play out
The story telling would’ve been strong. Depending if and when Robert died, im most curious who Stannis would’ve sided with since he puts duty above all else and Jon would’ve been the legitimate heir to the throne
It would've been bittersweet. Ned would finally remove the burden he's carried for over a decade. Same time, everything he feared would come true. His wife, Cat, would have an emotional breakthrough. Her husband has always remained true. The poor boy she tortured for over a decade was never Ned's bastard. Jon's uncle adopted him and raised him as his bastard to keep him safe. It would be emotional and yes Ned would go to war. [+]
Yes. He lied to \*everyone\* for 16 years to protect his nephew
Almost certainly. Even if his love for Jon wasn't a factor, which it 100% is, he was entrusted with the same duties and responsibilities towards Jon as Jon Arryn was with him and Robert. If Robert uncharacteristically was calm about it and insisted Jon would just be a hostage and taken care of like Theon then Ned might hand him over, but if anything happened to Jon after the fact that friendship is definitely dead, he'd never end up going to Kingslanding to be Hand.
"King in the north?" "Sure." "King in the south?" "Sure." "WONDER STARK TWINS POWER ACTIVATE!"
he absolutely would, family first for him no matter what