A character in Game of Thrones
Played by Sean Bean
Game of Thrones · 356 quotes
In 18 of the 356 quotes from Game of Thrones
Most scenes with: Robert Baratheon (5), Cersei Lannister (4), Varys (3)
Lord Stark! My lady. A guardsman just rode in from the hills. They've captured a deserter from the Night's Watch.
Ned StarkGet the lads to saddle their horses.
Do you have to?
Ned StarkHe swore an oath, Cat.
Law is law, my lady.
Ned StarkTell Bran he's coming too. [Rodrik nods and heads off]
Ned. 10 is too young to see such things.
Ned StarkHe won't be a boy forever. And winter is coming.
[Ned Stark has beheaded Will as a deserter of the Night's Watch]
Ned StarkYou understand why I did it?
Jon said he was a deserter.
Ned StarkBut you understand why I had to kill him.
"Our way is the old way."
Ned StarkThe man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
Is it true he saw the White Walkers?
Ned StarkThe White Walkers have been gone for thousands of years.
So he was lying?
Ned StarkA madman sees what he sees.
[Walking down a path near the riverbank, they find the body of a full-grown female direwolf with five direwolf pups huddling close to her]
It's a freak!
Ned StarkIt's a direwolf. Tough old beast.
There are no direwolves south of the Wall.
Now there are five. You want to hold it?
[Bran takes the pup immediately and wraps it in his cloak.]
Where will they go?
They don't belong down here.
Ned StarkBetter a quick death. They won't last without their mother.
[Theon draws his dagger and grabs the pup from Bran.]
Right, give it here!
No!
Put away your blade!
I take orders from your father, not you.
Please, Father!
Ned StarkI'm sorry, Bran.
Lord Stark? There are five pups, one for each of the Stark children. The direwolf is the sigil of your House. They were meant to have them.
Ned StarkYou will train them yourselves, you will feed them yourselves, and if they die, you will bury them yourselves.
What about you?
I'm not a Stark. Get on.
[He notices something at the base of a tree and heads towards it.]
What is it?
[Jon straightens up, holding a sixth direwolf pup, an albino.]
Ah, the runt of the litter! That one's yours, Snow.
[King Robert Baratheon pays a visit to Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell]
Ned StarkYour Grace.
You got fat.
[Ned looks at him with a cocked eyebrow as if to say "Look who's talking", then they both burst out laughing and hug.]
Cat! [hugs and kisses Catelyn.]
Your Grace.
Nine years! Why have I not seen you? Where the hell have you been?
Ned StarkGuarding the North for you, Your Grace. Winterfell is yours.
[Queen Cersei steps out of the carriage after her children with a distasteful look on her face.]
Where's the Imp?
Will you shut up?
[to Robb] And who have we here? You must be Robb. [to Sansa] My, you're a pretty one. And your name is...
Arya.
[to Bran] Ohhh, show us your muscles. You'll be a soldier!
[Robert chuckles and moves back towards Ned. Behind him, Jaime Lanniser removes his helmet]
That's Jaime Lannister, the Queen's twin brother.
Would you please shut up?!
[Cersei walks up to Ned and offers her hand; after a moment, Eddard kisses it.]
Ned StarkMy Queen.
My Queen.
Take me to your crypt, I want to pay my respects.
We've been riding for a month, my love. Surely, the dead can wait.
Ned.
[Turns towards the crypts, followed hesitantly by Ned.]
Where's the Imp?
[Cersei overhears her and goes back over to Jaime]
Where is our brother? Go and find the little beast!
There was that one... oh, what was her name? That common girl of yours? Becca, with the great big tits you could bury your face in?
Ned StarkBessie. She was one of yours.
Bessie! Thank the gods for Bessie, and her tits! Yours was, uh... Aleena? No, you told me once. Uh... Meryl? Your bastard's mother?
Ned Stark[grimaces] Wylla.
That's it. She must have been a rare wench to make Lord Eddard Stark forget his honour. You never told me what she looked like.
Ned StarkNor will I.
We were at war. None of us knew if we were gonna go back home again. You're too hard on yourself. You always have been. I swear, if I weren't your king, you'd have hit me already.
Ned StarkThe worst thing about your coronation, I'll never get to hit you again.
Trust me, that's not the worst thing. [pulls out a folded slip of paper from his coat] There was a rider in the night.
Ned Stark[opens the note and reads it] Daenerys Targaryen has wed some Dothraki horselord. What of it? Should we send her a wedding gift?
A knife, perhaps. A good, sharp one, and a bold man to wield it.
Ned StarkShe's little more than a child.
Soon enough, that child will spread her legs and start breeding.
Ned StarkTell me we're not speaking of this.
Oh, it's unspeakable to you? What her father did to your family, that was unspeakable! What Rhaegar Targaryen did to your sister, the woman I loved! I'll kill every Targaryen I get my hands on!
Ned StarkBut you can't get your hands on this one, can you?
This Khal Drogo, it's said he has a hundred thousand men in his horde.
Ned StarkEven a million Dothraki are no threat to the realm, as long as they remain on the other side of the Narrow Sea. They have no ships, Robert!
There are still those in the Seven Kingdoms who call me 'Usurper'. If a Targaryen boy crosses with a Dothraki horde at his back, the scum will join him!
Ned StarkHe will not cross! And if by chance he does, we'll throw him back into the sea!
There's a war coming, Ned. I don't know when, I don't know who we'll be fighting... but it's coming.
Thank the gods you're here, Stark. About time we had some stern, Northern leadership.
Ned StarkGlad to see you're protecting the Throne.
Sturdy old thing. How many Kings' arses have polished it, I wonder? Um, what's the line? The King shits and the Hand wipes.
Ned StarkVery handsome armor. Not a scratch on it.
I know. People have been swinging at me for years, but they always seem to miss.
Ned StarkYou've chosen your opponents wisely then.
I have a knack for it. It must be strange for you, coming into this room. I was standing right here when it happened. He was very brave, your brother. Your father too. They didn't deserve to die like that. Nobody deserves to die like that.
Ned StarkBut you just stood there and watched.
Five hundred men just stood there and watched. All the great knights of the Seven Kingdoms, you think anyone said a word, lifted a finger? No, Lord Stark. Five hundred men and this room was silent as a crypt. Except for the screams, of course, and the Mad King laughing. And later, when I watched the Mad King die, I remembered him laughing, as your father burned. It felt like justice.
Ned StarkIs that what you tell yourself at night? You're a servant of justice? That you were avenging my father when you shoved your sword in Aerys Targaryen's back?
Tell me, if I'd stabbed the Mad King in the belly instead of the back, would you admire me more?
Ned StarkYou served him well. When serving was safe.
Ned StarkLord Baelish, perhaps I was wrong to distrust you.
Distrusting me was the wisest thing you've done since you climbed off your horse.
It's made too small, Your Grace, it won't go.
Your mother was a dumb whore with a fat arse, did you know that? Look at this idiot—one ball and no brains; he can't even put a man's armour on him properly!
Ned StarkYou're too fat for your armour.
Fat? Fat is it? Is that how you speak to your king?
[Robert, Ned, and Lancel laugh. Robert turns to Lancel.]
Oh, it's funny, is it?
No, Your Grace.
No? You don't like the Hand's joke?
Ned StarkYou're torturing the poor boy.
You heard the Hand, the king's too fat for his armour—go find the breastplate-stretcher, NOW!
[Lancel leaves hurriedly; Ned and Robert laugh.]
Ned StarkThe breastplate-stretcher?
How long before he figures it out?
[The Small Council meet after learning of Daenerys's pregnancy]
The whore is pregnant!
Ned StarkYou're speaking of murdering a child.
I warned you this would happen. Back in the North, I warned you, but you didn't care to hear. Well, hear it now! I want 'em dead. Mother and child both. And that fool Viserys as well, is that plain enough for you? I want them both dead!
Ned StarkYou will dishonour yourself forever if you do this.
Honour?! I've got Seven Kingdoms to rule! One King, Seven Kingdoms! Do you think honour keeps them in line?! Do you think it's honour that's keeping the peace?! It's fear! Fear and blood!
Ned StarkThen we're no better than the Mad King!
Careful, Ned! Careful now!
Ned StarkYou want to assassinate a girl because the Spider heard a rumor?
No rumor, My Lord. The princess is with child.
Ned StarkBased on whose information?
Ser Jorah Mormont. He is serving as adviser to the Targaryens.
Ned StarkMormont? You bring us the whispers of a traitor half a world away and call it fact?
Jorah Mormont's a slaver, not a traitor. Small difference, I know, to an honourable man.
Ned StarkHe broke the law. Betrayed his family, fled our land. We commit murder on the word of this man?
And if he's right?! If she has a son?! A Targaryen at the head of a Dothraki army! What then?!
Ned StarkThe Narrow Sea still lies between us. I'll fear the Dothraki the day they teach their horses to run on water.
Do nothing?! That's your wise advice?! Do nothing till our enemies are on our shores?! You're my Council, counsel! Speak sense to this honourable fool!
I understand your misgivings, my lord. Truly, I do. It is a terrible thing we must consider, a vile thing. Yet we who presume to rule must sometimes do vile things for the good of the realm. Should the gods grant Daenerys a son, the realm will bleed.
I bear this girl no ill will, but should the Dothraki invade, how many innocents will die? How many towns will burn? Is it not wiser, kinder even, that she should die now, so that tens of thousands might live?
We should have had them both killed years ago!
When you find yourselves in bed with an ugly woman, best close your eyes and get it over with. Cut her throat and be done with it!
Ned StarkI followed you into war. Twice. Without doubts, without second thoughts. But I will not follow you now. The Robert I grew up with didn't tremble at the shadow of an unborn child.
She dies.
Ned StarkI will have no part in it.
You're the King's Hand, Lord Stark. You'll do as I command, or I'll find me a Hand who will!
[Ned takes off his badge of office and tosses it onto the table in front of Robert]
Ned StarkAnd good luck to him. I thought you were a better man.
Out! Out, damn you! I'm done with you! Go, run back to Winterfell! I'll have your head on a spike! I'll put it there myself, you fool! You think you're too good for this, too proud and honourable?! This is a war!
Ned StarkYour pardon, Your Grace. I would rise, but...
Do you know what your wife has done?
Ned StarkShe did nothing I did not command.
Who'd have thought she had it in her?
By what right dare you lay hands on my blood?
Ned StarkI am the King's Hand, I was keeping the peace.
You were the King's Hand! You will be held accountable.
All right, will both of you shut your mouths? Catelyn will release Tyrion, and you'll make your peace with Jaime!
Ned StarkHe butchered my men.
Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel when his men attacked Jaime.
Quiet, woman.
Ned StarkJaime has fled the city. Give me leave to bring him back to justice.
I took you for a King!
Hold your tongue!
He's attacked one of my brothers, and abducted the other! I should wear the armor, and you the gown!
[Robert turns and strikes her across the face.]
I shall wear this bruise like a badge of honour.
Wear it in silence, or I'll honour you again.
[Cersei stares at Robert for a moment and leaves in disgust]
See what she does to me? My loving wife. [pours on some wine] I should not have hit her. [sits at the Bed's head] That was not... That was not kingly.
Ned StarkIf we don't act, there will be a war.
So tell your wife to return that little shit of an Imp to King's Landing. She's had her fun, now put an end to it. (beat) You hear me? Send a raven and put an end to it!
Ned StarkAnd what about Jaime Lannister? What about Jaime?
I'm half a Kingdom in debt to his bloody father! I don't know what happened between you and those yellow haired shits, I don't want to know, this is what matters: I can't rule the Kingdoms if the Starks and the Lannisters are at each other's throats, so, enough!
Ned StarkAs you command, Your Grace. With your leave, I will return to Winterfell and set matters straight.
Piss on that, send a raven, I want you to stay. I'm the King, I get what I want. (beat) I never loved my brothers. A sad thing for a man to admit, but it's true. You were the brother I chose.
Ned StarkI'm sending you both back to Winterfell.
What?
Ned StarkListen...
What about Joffrey?
Are you dying because of your leg? Is that why you're sending us home?
Ned StarkWhat? No.
Please father, please! Please don't!
You can't! I've got my lessons with Syrio! I'm finally getting good!
Ned StarkThis isn't a punishment. I want you back in Winterfell for your own safety.
Can't we take Syrio back with us.
Sansa Stark Who cares about your stupid dancing teacher? I can't go! I'm supposed to marry Prince Joffrey! I love him! And I'm meant to be his queen and have his babies!
Seven hells!
Ned StarkWhen you're old enough, I'll make you a match with someone who is worthy of you. Someone who is brave and gentle and strong.
I don't want someone brave and gentle and strong. I want him. [Arya and Ned exchange an amused look at Sansa’s inadvertent characterization of Joffrey] He'll be the greatest king there ever was, a golden lion, and I'll give him sons with beautiful blond hair.
[A look of realization spreads across Ned's face after listening to the last part of Sansa's statement.]
The lion's not his sigil, idiot. He's a stag like his father.
He is not! He is nothing like that old, drunk king.
Ned StarkGo on, girls. Get your septas and start packing your things.
Wait!
Come on!
But it's not fair!
[The girls leave the room and Ned reopens the book of lineages to the page of the Baratheon family.]
Ned StarkLord Orys Baratheon, black of hair...Axel Baratheon, black of hair...Lyonel Baratheon, black of hair...Steffon Baratheon, black of hair...Robert Baratheon, black of hair...Joffrey Baratheon, goldenhead.
[Ned's eyes widen as he puts the pieces together. He closes the book.]
Ned StarkI know the truth Jon Arryn died for.
Do you, Lord Stark? Is that why you call me here, to pose me riddles?
Ned Stark[gesturing to the bruise on Cersei's cheek] Has he done this before?
Jaime would have killed him. My brother is worth a thousand of your friend.
Ned StarkYour brother? Or your lover?
The Targaryens wed brothers and sisters for three hundred years to keep bloodlines pure. Jaime and I are more than brother and sister. We shared a womb, came into this world together. We belong together.
Ned StarkMy son saw you with him.
Do you love your children?
Ned StarkWith all my heart.
No more than I love mine.
Ned StarkAnd they're all Jaime's.
Thank the gods. In the rare event Robert leaves his whores long enough to stumble drunken into my bed, I finish him off in other ways. In the morning, he doesn't remember.
Ned StarkYou've always hated him!
Hated him? I worshipped him! Every girl in the Seven Kingdoms dreamed of him, but he was mine by oath. And when I finally saw him on our wedding day in the Sept of Baelor, lean and fierce and black-bearded, it was the happiest moment of my life. And that night, he crawled on top of me, stinking of wine, and did what he did, what little he could do, and whispered in my ear, "Lyanna". Your sister was a corpse. I was a living girl, and he loved her more than me!
Ned StarkWhen the king returns from his hunt, I will tell him the truth. You must be gone by then, you and your children. I won't have their blood on my hands. Go as far away as you can with as many men as you can, because wherever you go, Robert's wrath will follow you.
And what of my wrath, Lord Stark? You should have taken the realm for yourself. Jaime told me about the day King's Landing fell. He was sitting on the Iron Throne, and you made him give it up. All you needed to do was climb the steps yourself. Such a sad mistake.
Ned StarkI've made many mistakes in my life, but that wasn't one of them.
Oh, but it was. When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground.
Lord Stark, a moment... Alone, if you will? [Eddard dismisses his guards] He [Robert] named you Protector of the Realm?
Ned StarkHe did.
She won't care. Give me an hour, and I can put a hundred swords at your command.
Ned StarkAnd what should I do with a hundred swords?
Strike! Tonight, while the castle sleeps! We must get Joffrey away from his mother and into our custody; Protector of the Realm or no, he who holds the king holds the kingdom. Every moment you delay gives Cersei another moment to prepare; by the time Robert dies, it will be too late for the both of us!
Ned StarkAnd what about Stannis?
[incredulous] Saving the Seven Kingdoms from Cersei and delivering them to Stannis?! You have odd notions about protecting the realm!
Ned StarkStannis is your older brother-
This isn't about the bloody line of succession! That didn't matter when you rebelled against the Mad King, it shouldn't matter now! What's best for the Kingdoms? What's best for the people we rule? We all know what Stannis is; he inspires no love or loyalty. He's not a king... I am.
Ned StarkStannis is a commander. He's led men into war twice, he destroyed the Greyjoy fleet.
Yes, he's a good soldier, everyone knows that; so was Robert! Tell me something, do you still believe good soldiers make good kings?
Ned StarkI will not dishonour Robert's last hours by shedding blood in his halls and dragging frightened children from their beds.
I command the council to make all necessary arrangements for my coronation. I wish to be crowned within the fortnight. Today I shall accept oaths of fealty from my loyal councilors.
Ned StarkSer Barristan, I believe no man here could ever question your honour.
[Ser Barristan takes the scroll from Ned]
King Robert's seal. Unbroken. [breaks the seal and unrolls the scroll] "Lord Eddard Stark is herein named Protector of the Realm, to rule as Regent until the heir come of age".
May I see that letter, Ser Barristan? "Protector of the Realm." [to Ned] Is this meant to be your shield, Lord Stark? A piece of paper? [rips the scroll to shreds]
Those were the King's words.
We have a new King now. Lord Eddard, when we last spoke you offered me some counsel. Allow me to return the courtesy. Bend the knee, my Lord. Bend the knee and swear loyalty to my son and we shall allow you to live out your days in the gray waste you call home.
Ned StarkYour son has no claim to the throne.
Liar!
You condemn yourself with your own mouth, Lord Stark. Ser Barristan, seize this traitor.
Ned StarkSer Barristan is a good man, a loyal man. Do him no harm.
You think he stands alone?
[Gregor Clegane slowly approaches Ned while drawing his sword]
Kill him! Kill all of them, I command it!!
Ned Stark[to Janos] Commander! Take the Queen and her children into custody. Escort them back to the royal apartments and keep them there, under guard.
Men of the Watch!
[The Gold Cloaks all draw their swords]
Ned StarkI want no bloodshed. Tell your men to lay down their swords. No one needs to die.
[beat] Now!
[The Stark men are suddenly slaughtered by the Gold Cloaks. Before Ned can retaliate, Littlefinger approaches him from behind and holds a knife to his throat]
I did warn you not to trust me.
[in a cell] Lord Stark, you must be thirsty.
Ned StarkVarys?
I promise you, it isn't poisoned. Why is it no one ever trusts the eunuch? [pulls the stopper out with his teeth, takes a sip and offers it to Eddard, who finally takes it and drinks deeply] Not so much, my Lord, I would save the rest, if I were you. Hide it. Men have been known to die of thirst in these cells.
Ned StarkWhat of my daughters?
The younger one seems to have escaped the castle. Even my little birds cannot find her.
Ned StarkAnd Sansa?
Still engaged to Joffrey. Cersei will keep her close. The rest of your household though, all dead, it grieves me to say. I do so hate the sight of blood.
Ned StarkYou watched my men being slaughtered, and did nothing.
And would again, my Lord. I was unarmed, unarmored, and surrounded by Lannister swords. When you look at me, do you see a hero? What madness led you to tell the Queen you had learnt the truth about Joffrey's birth?
Ned StarkThe madness of mercy. That she might save her children.
Ahh, the children. It's always the innocents who suffer. It wasn't the wine that killed Robert, nor the boar. Oh the wine slowed him down, and the boar ripped him open, yes, but it was your mercy that killed the King. I trust you know you're a dead man, Lord Eddard.
Ned StarkThe Queen can't kill me. Cat holds her brother.
The wrong brother, sadly, and lost to her. Your wife has let the Imp slip through her fingers.
Ned StarkIf that's true, then slit my throat and be done with it.
Not today, my Lord.
Ned StarkTell me something, Varys Who do you truly serve?
The Realm, my Lord. Someone must.
Tyrion LannisterPeter Dinklage · 80 quotes
Jon SnowKit Harington · 50 quotes
Daenerys TargaryenEmilia Clarke · 48 quotes
Cersei LannisterLena Headey · 43 quotes
Jaime LannisterNikolaj Coster-Waldau · 43 quotes
Sansa StarkSophie Turner · 40 quotes
Arya StarkMaisie Williams · 29 quotes
VarysConleth Hill · 27 quotes
Theon GreyjoyAlfie Allen · 22 quotes
Tywin LannisterCharles Dance · 21 quotes
Davos SeaworthLiam Cunningham · 20 quotes
Petyr BaelishAidan Gillen · 20 quotes
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