Post by danl on Nov 10, 2017 18:02:46 GMT
If Ned had stayed in KL, it seems likely that he would have died an earlier death. His options would be to allow himself to be corrupted or to fight the forces of corruption. Maybe he would have left in time to survive, but his sense of duty might have prevented that.
This may be because Ned did not know Jaime. Or because Ned doesn't seem to despise a lot of people who seem to deserve it (i.e. most of the KG). Not sure when Ned's despite of Tywin began, but it runs deep and his reaction to Jaime seem separate from that.
Even after Jaime's POV and a lot of revelations about his history, I still feel like we don't know what he was like before RR. Tyrion's memories of him are positive, which means he wasn't a Cersei clone, or a Tywin clone. My impression is that he was a decent fellow, prone to hero worship, who was probably easily manipulated. If he had returned to Casterly Rock, he may have beome whatever sort of creature his father needed.
Jon's reaction to Jaime when he first sees him is interesting. I would think that a son of Ned Stark would have been repulsed by the Kingslayer, but Kingslayer wasn't really in his thoughts.
The murder of children is an image that I've tried to figure out in this story. Ned says they fought a war to stop the murder of children, but what is he talking about? Surely something more than Lyanna? Could Summerhall have figured into this somehow?
It eats at me that we have two main characters who are known for their concern for children. Varys, who is complicit in the mutilation and (probably not entirely intentional) killing of children. And Ned -- who has a dark past that we know only in glimpses.
Maybe he'd become Stannis' older twin who lacks his humor? While there is a possibility that he'd get killed early on, I have my doubts. My money would be on him getting really dark, bitter and truly Stark. Hard to say, or maybe it's just because I'm tired. I'll get back to this if I come up with something!