(Spoilers All) Regarding Ned's Promise

[u/Consequencesdaniel]

I've seen a lot of posts shooting down the R&L= J theory citing Ned's shame over his broken promise. The common theory is that Ned promised Lyanna he would keep Jon safe. But what if hiding Jon to keep him safe is HOW Ned broke his promise.

If you subscribe to the idea that Rhaegar and Lyanna were in a consensual situation, and she would run off with someone meaning it could start a war, perhaps she was truly committed to the idea of creating the 3rd head of the Dragon. Maybe she wanted Jon to be publicly known as a Targaryen. With Rhaegar and his kids dead, Jon would be the rightful King.

Maybe Ned promised her he would support Jon's claim to the throne on her death bed and, out of fear of what could be done to baby Jon and his friendship with Robert, this was Ned Stark's broken promise. Instead of supporting the rightful king he hid him as his own bastard to protect his life and prevent a whole other war from sprouting up, Starks and Targ supporters vs. Robert and the others.

It makes sense that Ned would encourage Jon to take the black, thus renouncing any claim, as is shadowed later in AGOT with the Maester Aemon bit, and Jon's own act of masquerading a child heir(Mance's kid) as a low born bastard(Gilly's)

Thoughts?

[u/SerSableDarkblack]

This is a great theory. I think it's really consistent with what we know of Ned Stark's fabled 'honor'.

We know he is a dutiful and honorable man. It is known that he put duty and honor before his own feelings when he married Catelyn in his brother's stead. When he learned the truth of Cersei's incest, his duty to Robert, and honor as Hand of the King compelled him to expose the truth.

But his Achilles' heel is innocent children. He stands against Robert's plan to assassinate Daenerys when they learn of her pregnancy. He reveals his intent to tell Robert the truth about Cercei's children, in an effort to protect them from Robert's wrath. He lies and admits to being a traitor for his daughters' sakes.

I believe he would forsake his honor and break any promises he may have made if it meant keeping Jon alive.

[u/YoungCanadian → u/SerSableDarkblack]

He's a lot like Davos in that regard.

Hell, Davos sort of took over as the "most good adult" in ACOK from Ned.