The characters from the medieval fantasy television series Game of Thrones are based on their respective counterparts from author George R. Martin 's A Song of Ice and Fire series of novels. Set in a fictional universe that has been referred to so far as "The Known World", the series follows a civil war for the Iron Throne of the continent of Westeros , fought between the rival royal and noble families and their respective supporters. He is known for his sense of honor and justice. When Ned's father and brother went south to reclaim her, the "Mad King" Aerys Targaryen burned both of them alive.
Ned and Robert Baratheon led the rebellion to unseat him from the throne. As the show opens, Ned has been content to remain in the north, but after the death of Lord Jon Arryn, he is convinced that it is his duty to accept the position of Hand of the King.
Ned is not interested in politics, and prefers to rule with honor and follow the law. While investigating the reason for the death of Jon Arryn, he discovers that all three of Robert's children with Queen Cersei were fathered by Cersei's twin brother Jaime. When Ned confronts Cersei about the truth, she has him imprisoned for treason after he publicly denounces Joffrey. Ned is convinced by Varys that if he goes to his death honorably, as he is prepared to do, his daughters will [not] suffer for it.
To protect them, he sacrifices his honor and publicly declares that he was plotting to steal the throne and that Joffrey is the true king. Despite Cersei's promise that Ned would be allowed to join the Night's Watch in exile, Joffrey orders Ned's execution for his own amusement and later torments Sansa by forcing her to look at her father's head. His bones are later returned to Catelyn in the Stormlands by Petyr Baelish, who laments Ned's downfall and that he was too honorable to seize power through force, rather insisting the throne pass to Lord Stannis Baratheon, Robert's younger brother.
Baelish's preferred course of action, revealed only to Ned, had been to seize Cersei and her children first and rule in Joffrey's name as Regent and Lord Protector. Ned's sacrifice is not in vain, since his notifying Stannis of the truth of Joffrey's parentage sets in motion Stannis' claim to the throne, and ensuring the illegitimacy being made known to all of Westeros.
