Eddard Stark



Eddard Stark, known as 'Ned' to his friends, is a major character in Game of Thrones. He is played by Sean Bean and appears in the first episode of the series.

Eddard Stark is the head of House Stark, one of the Great Houses of Westeros. He rules over the vast province known as the North from the castle of Winterfell. He is married to the Lady Catelyn of House Tully and has five legitimate children: Robb, Sansa, Arya, Bran and Rickon. He also has an illegitimate bastard son, Jon Snow, by a commoner named Wylla. Jon's presence at Winterfell is a source of friction between Eddard and his wife.

Eddard is a trusted, close friend and former counsellor of King Robert Baratheon, and supported Robert's play for the throne by acting as a general in several major battles. Eddard's sister Lyanna, who was betrothed to Robert, was kidnapped by Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, sparking the war. Lyanna died during the conflict, as did Eddard's father, Rickard, and brother, Brandon. Eddard's other younger sibling, Benjen, still lives and is a member of the Night's Watch, an institution of which Eddard is a keen supporter.

He wields a Valyrian greatsword named Ice (an heirloom of House Stark) which he uses on ceremonial occasions. This includes the execution of Will, a deserter of the Night's Watch.

Winter is Coming
Lord Eddard Stark decrees that as a deserter from the Watch, Will is an oathbreaker and must die. Will accepts his fate, but tells Eddard about the Walkers first. Eddard carries out the execution himself, using the ancestral Valyrian blade of their house, Ice. Eddard's two trueborn sons - 17-year-old Robb and 10-year-old Bran - accompany him to the execution, along with his bastard son Jon Snow. Young Bran witnesses the execution without flinching, earning praise from Jon. Eddard tells Bran that their way is the old way, and that the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword. The party sets out to return to Winterfell.

On the way back to the castle the party find a stag dead in the road, partially dismembered. Looking for what killed it, they find a dead female direwolf, killed by a stag antler to the throat. The female died after giving birth, and five pups huddle by the corpse for warmth. Eddard's ward, Theon Greyjoy, is all for killing the pups, but Jon Snow convinces his father that this is an omen: the direwolf is the symbol of House Stark and Eddard has five trueborn children. Eddard agrees that his children should have the pups, but only if they clean, raise and feed them themselves with no help from the servants.

A raven bears news of Jon's death to Winterfell, where Lady Catelyn Stark tells Eddard the bad news. Jon Arryn was like a father to him. She also tells him that King Robert Baratheon, and much of the royal court rides for Winterfell. Eddard realises that King Robert means to name him as the Hand to replace Jon Arryn. He ponders refusing, feeling his place is at Winterfell.

Following the death of the Hand of the King, Jon Arryn, King Robert asks Eddard to become the new Hand. Eddard is initially reluctant, especially after hearing rumours of wildling unrest beyond the Wall. However, when it is alleged by his sister-in-law LysathatJon Arryn was murdered by the Lannisters and that Robert's life is in danger, Eddard decides to accept the position and use it to investigate and expose the truth.

In the books
In the Song of Ice and Fire novels Eddard Stark is in his mid-thirties when the story begins. He has a reputation for chivalry, honour, honesty and command, but can also sometimes be remote. He has a frosty relationship with Ser Jaime Lannister, believing that the latter should have been, at the very least, stripped of his rank in the Kingsguard for his murder of the former king.