Character Analysis
(Avoiding Spoilers)
Living... with his wife and many children in Winterfell, the ancestral castle home of House Stark and the capital of the North. But his life changes drastically when his old friend King Robert Baratheon summons him to King’s Landing to take over as Hand of the King.
Profession... top advisor to the King. The previous Hand of the King (Jon Arryn) died mysteriously, and many in King’s Landing believe it was a case of foul play. King Robert calls on Ned – that’s what his friends call Lord Eddard – because he’s honorable, brave and fair-minded. But those qualities might not suit him well for the political mind games that run rampant in King’s Landing. The honest Ned is not used to scheming or trying to uncover malicious power plays.
Interests… raising strong children. He gives them direwolves – large beasts that they found as pups – to learn responsibility. He breaks convention of the day to arrange for his daughter, Arya, to take fencing lessons to learn to defend herself and because she loves it. And he tries to teach his other daughter, Sansa, to stand up to her husband-to-be, but Sansa is at an age where she has no intention to listen to her father.
Relationship Status... in a loving marriage with Catelyn Stark. The two were betrothed into an arranged marriage, but grew to truly love each other as they raised their children. But it’s not always easy for them. As Ned says, “War was easier than daughters…”
Challenge... keeping his family together after they are thrust into a high-profile life in King’s Landing. His son, Bran, is in a coma back in Winterfell after discovering a Lannister family secret, while his daughter Sansa becomes engaged to the evil Prince Joffrey. And when that Prince becomes a King, will he still want Stark’s advice? Becoming Hand of the King has tossed Ned into a viper’s pit of backstabbing and deadly double-dealing. Whether he will emerge alive and with his family intact remains to be seen.
Personality... trustworthy, caring, and brave. He was a soldier for many years, and learned about patience, honor, and respect. But in the battle for the Throne, he realizes such noble intentions might not be enough, and he’s wise enough to know when the tide is turning against his family. “Winter is coming,” is a Stark motto, and they’re not (just) talking about the weather. There promises to be many dark, cold days ahead for Ned, his family, and the kingdom as a whole.
Get to Know him in...
-
Game of Thrones follows a gritty clash of families as they struggle for power over the kingdoms of Westeros. Cersei was married to the King Robert Baratheon, and her children are poised to inherit the throne. But Cersei's children are the result of her incestuous affair with her twin brother Jaime. If the secret were to get out it, it would undoubtedly start a war for the Iron Throne.
-
Long ago, in a time forgotten, a preternatural event threw the seasons out of balance. In a land where summers can last decades and winters a lifetime, trouble is brewing. The cold is returning, and in the frozen wastes to the north of Winterfell, sinister forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. To the south, the king's powers are failing—his most trusted adviser dead under mysterious circumstances and his enemies emerging from the shadows of the throne. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the frozen land they were born to. Now Lord Eddard Stark is reluctantly summoned to serve as the king's new Hand, an appointment that threatens to sunder not only his family but the kingdom itself. Amid plots and counter-plots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, allies and enemies, the fate of the Starks hangs perilously in the balance, as each side endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
-
Published in celebration of the twentieth anniversary of George R. R. Martin's landmark series, this lavishly illustrated special edition of A Game of Thrones—featuring gorgeous full-page artwork as well as black-and-white illustrations in every chapter—revitalizes the fantasy masterpiece that became a cultural phenomenon. And now the mystery, intrigue, romance, and adventure of this magnificent saga come to life as never before. Winter is coming, and in the frozen wastes to the North, sinister and supernatural forces are massing beyond the kingdom's protective Wall. At the center of the conflict lie the Starks of Winterfell, a family as harsh and unyielding as the land they were born to. Sweeping from a region of brutal cold to a distant summertime kingdom of epicurean plenty, here is a tale rife with plots and counterplots, tragedy and betrayal, victory and terror, as each faction endeavors to win that deadliest of conflicts: the game of thrones.
-
A WORLD OF ICE AND FIRE is the first official app guide to George R. R. Martin's bestselling cycle. It includes hundreds of pages of information, making it the definitive guide to the series:- 540+ character profiles with detailed historical bios, family and house information, book appearances, and corresponding actor roles- 380+ place profiles with descriptions for castles, towns, regions, geographical features and more. Fully interactive versions of all the official maps from the A Song of Ice and Fire Cycle are also included.
-
The perfect gift for fans of HBO's Game of Thrones—a boxed set featuring the first four novels! George R. R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series has become, in many ways, the gold standard for modern epic fantasy. Martin—dubbed the "American Tolkien" by Time magazine—has created a world that is as rich and vital as any piece of historical fiction, set in an age of knights and chivalry and filled with a plethora of fascinating, multidimensional characters that you love, hate to love, or love to hate as they struggle for control of a divided kingdom. This bundle includes the following novels: A GAME OF THRONES A CLASH OF KINGS A STORM OF SWORDS A FEAST FOR CROWS
