Among the characters in The Game of Thrones who were “killed” by the ruthless George Martin, the first serious victim was Eddard (Ned) Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean). And although 5 seasons have already passed, the consequences of the death of this hero are still being dismantled by the inhabitants of the 7 kingdoms of Westeros.
Game of Thrones World Series
For starters, it’s worth remembering what the TV series “Game of Thrones” is about.
Ned Stark and his childhood friend Robert Baratheon, with the support of several ancestral houses of Westeros, are rebelling against the ruling Targaryen dynasty.
The reason for this is that the son of King Ayeris II Reigar kidnapped and dishonored his sister Ned Lianna (Robert's bride). In addition, the king executed his elder brother and father Eddard, who tried to achieve fair punishment for the prince.
The rebels managed to win, and Robert Baratheon became the king of Westeros. After all that happened, Ned returned home to the Winterfell family castle, where he lived peacefully with his family for the next fifteen years as the guardian lord of the North.
All of the above events occurred before the start of the television series. In Game of Thrones, action begins fifteen years after the uprising.
Robert Baratheon appoints Eddard his right hand (chief adviser) after the mysterious death of John Arren, who previously held this position. Together with him in the capital, Ned takes two daughters: the obstinate Arya and the modest Sansa.
Having plunged into the swamp of metropolitan intrigues, Stark begins to suspect that the wife of King Cersei has been cheating on her husband for many years with his brother Jaime Lannister. Moreover, all three of Robert’s children are Jaime’s bastards.
Giving the queen time to leave with the children before reporting the incident to Bishop Westeros, Ned makes a mistake. Taking advantage of the delay, Cersei organizes the murder of her husband, and Stark declares a rebel and puts him in prison, and later executes.
After the death of Robert and Eddard, the eldest son of Baratheon Joffrey becomes the ruler of the seven kingdoms (in fact, a bastard). And the two younger brothers of the late ruler claim their rights to the throne. In addition, the uprising in the North raises the eldest son of Ned Robb. And in the free cities the army is gathered by the daughter of Ayeris II, deposed by Baratheon.
But while a civil war is taking place in the 7 kingdoms, an ancient evil has awakened behind a giant ice wall, planning to destroy all life. The only one who realizes the seriousness of the situation and tries to stop this evil is the bastard of Ned Stark named John Snow.
Game of Thrones TV Series: Ned Stark
This character is the embodiment of chivalrous valor and honor.
Despite the many troubles that fell on his lot, Ned Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean) remained a respectable person. However, the nobility destroyed him - taking advantage of Stark's honesty, Cersei and his accomplices caught him in a trap, after which the hero lost his life.
Ned Stark's spouse was Katylyn Tully. She was originally engaged to his older brother. But after his death, Ned married her to secure the support of her home. Despite the lack of love between them at the beginning of family life, later Eddard and Caitlin sincerely fell in love and carried these feelings through life.
Ned had six children. Four sons (three legal: Robb, Brandon, Rickon and one bastard - John), as well as two daughters (Sansa and Arya).
He raised all his offspring with worthy people. But when the civil war in Westeros began, the young Starks dispersed. Each of them had to choose whether to follow his father's covenants or not.
Despite the death of Eddard in the first season, his family and friends remember him in almost every season. It serves as a definite moral reference point for them.
Sean Bean - Ned Stark
On the screen, the role of the valiant Lord Guardian of the North was played by British actor Sean Mark Bean.
Unlike his hero, Sean came from an ordinary British hard worker family. As a child, he dreamed of becoming a football player, but because of an injury, this dream had to be abandoned.
After leaving school, Sean Bean went to study as a welder to work in the company of his father. Once he mixed up the audience and got into a drama class. He liked it there, and he signed up there. After some time, Bean won a scholarship at the most prestigious theater institution in the UK - Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Selected filmography of the actor
In parallel with his studies, the actor played in the theater, and also tried to act in films and on television. His first major achievement at home was the main role in the television series "Lorna Dun." And the actor earned worldwide fame by playing the Irish terrorist Sean Miller in the film adaptation of the novel of the American novelist Tom Clancy's “Games of the Patriots”.
The peak of Bean's popularity can be considered the nineties and the first decade of the two thousandth. At this time, he is filming a lot both at home and abroad.
In Britain, the actor became famous for playing the role of British shooter Richard Sharp in a series of television films based on books by the English writer Bernard Cornwell.
In addition, Sean Bean played in other well-known costumed British television series (Lady Chatterley, Scarlett, Canterbury Tales). Films with his participation, which have become classics, are The Golden Eye, Anna Karenina, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Treasure of the Nation, Troy, Island, Pixels and Martian.
The role of Ned Stark did not become any particularly outstanding in the filmography of the actor. However, he played it with dignity, and thanks to the popularity that the series gained in future years, Bean again received the status of a cult actor.
Actors who played Ned Stark in Season 6
After the execution in the first season, Eddard "returned" to the television series only in the sixth, and even then as a vision of his son Brandon.
Ned Stark in season 6 appears in the 2nd, 3rd, 5th, 6th, and 10th episodes. However, since these visions reflect the events of the past, in which Eddard was still young, he was played not by Bean, but by other actors.
So in the 5th and 6th episodes of “Game of Thrones” a teenager Ned Stark appears before the audience. The actor who played this role is the thirteen-year-old Sebastian Croft, known to viewers for his small role in "The Thunder Horrors."
But the more mature Eddard, who survived the uprising and became Lord of Winterfell, was played by beginner television actor Robert Aramayo.
Entertaining facts
- Ned is 35 years old in the book, although he looks somewhat older. In the series, his hero was "aged" for 5 years. This is due to the fact that at the time of filming, Sean Bean had already exceeded 50. And even with the efforts of the best make-up artists on the planet, he did not look 35.
- In the first season, Ned Stark (actor Sean Mark Bean) appeared in only 9 episodes, however, the name of the performer of this role is in the credits and the final, tenth series.
- In the sixth season, the truth about the origin of the bastard of Eddard - John Snow, is revealed . It turns out that he was the son of Ned's sister, Lianna, from Prince Reigar Targaryen. Fearing that the girl’s former bridegroom, wanting revenge on the rapist prince, will kill the baby, Stark passes him off as his bastard.
- In his youth, Sean Bean played a major role in the film adaptation of the controversial novel "Lady Chatterley's Lover." In 2015, another television series based on the same work was released. In it, the huntsman of Oliver Mellors, who conquered the heart of a single lady, was performed by Richard Madden, who had previously played the eldest son of Ned Stark in Game of Thrones.
When the first season of Game of Thrones was just starting to be filmed, the producers were worried about how the audience would react to the death of the protagonist. They turned out to be right: film fans around the world criticized this plot move, not only because they managed to fall in love with the noble Ned Stark in 9 episodes, but also because many of them started watching Game of Thrones for the sake of Sean Bean, who appeared on most posters. Fortunately, other artists of the project managed to attract the attention of the audience, but even today, after many seasons, Eddard Stark performed by Bean remains one of the project’s favorite characters.