After thinking this issue over I think that claiming Benjen as son of Jon Snow would not be possible (despite fact that it would leave both Eddard and Catelyn in much better situation). After returning from Tower of Joy Eddard Stark made a brief stop in capital, where Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon reconciled over their shared grief over death of Lyanna Stark - Jon Snow was so far with Eddard Stark and I doubt he would be able to conceal fact that nursemaid was travelling with him nor that she had little babe with her who looks similarily to Eddard Stark (not to mention basic question why is nursemaid with little babe travelling with Eddard Stark after all). I don´t doubt that Robert Baratheon (and maybe Jon Arryn) asked whose son he is - he could not claim Benjen as father as Benjen aside from one travel to the Tourney of Harrenhal (one year before start of rebellion - 281 AC) never travelled south of the Neck. Neither Jon Arryn nor Robert Baratheon would believe that father of Jon Snow is Benjen Stark at this point and it would put too much suspicion on both Eddard Stark and Jon Snow - many would be rightly asking question why is Eddard Stark lying about parentage of Jon Snow.
Not to forget fact that even if Eddard Stark arrived from south directly to Winterfell without stopping in capital he would be unable to conceal fact that he brought Jon from southern parts of Westeros and since if we take everything into consideration (Benjen never leaving north aside from coming to tourney of Harrenhal in 281 AC) Jon would have to be at least one half year old and I doubt that anyone seeing little Jon would mistake him for babe of 1,5 years.
No matter how some may dislike this, claiming Jon as his son was the only possible thing Eddard Stark could have done (maybe aside from leaving him to some peasant in the south to raise him as his own) to protect little Jon, other options (aside from one I´ve mentioned) would be too risky and prone to revelation if right people would poke around (as I don´t doubt that both Petyr Baelish and Varys unsuccesfully tried to learn who is mother of Jon Snow so it could be used against Eddard Stark if neccessary).
In the end problem was not because Eddard Stark had brief relation with someone during war, that was not unexpected (his brother and father died, his sister disappeared, he is fighting brutal war for survival against ruling dynasty, he was forced to marry someone he never wanted to marry and of course he was raised with Robert Baratheon - his tendencies were not unknown and many would think that Eddard shared at least part of his tendencies towards women), problem was that Jon was acknowledged bastard (whose father was officially known) that was raised on the same standard as Robb (heir) - since Catelyn never bothered to know Jon better (and to learn that he never desired to rob his brothers/sisters of their inheritance or anything that rightfully belongs to them) he is threat to her children since he look most northern from all Stark children (aside from Arya) and could be potentially used by some disgruntled northern nobles in some putsch attempt if god forbid, Eddard Stark died while Robb was too young. Since this was age without paternality tests some could try and claim that neither Robb, Bran, or Rickon are sons of Eddard Stark, that they are bastards of Catelyn Stark/Tully whom she tried to pass as trueborn children of Eddard Stark - I don´t doubt that someone like Barbrey Dustin (damn she could have tried and claim that she and Brandon secretly married before he was forced to go to Riverrun and Jon is their son and he was stolen from her by Eddard Stark) together with house Ryswell and Bolton could have tried something like this in order to gain control over north indirectly by claiming north in the name of young Jon and then declaring themselves as his regents. If he was claimed as Brandons bastard it would be much worse - since in eyes of some nobles Jon could have much better claim than all her children if he somehow got legitimized (or even without it), with claiming him as Benjens bastard there would not be so great threat but it would still remain, Jon has claim on Winterfell, even if small and may be used against her children
Basically even if I think that Catelyn Stark/Tully as a good/kind woman she was no doubt influenced by society in which she was raised (and of course by faith of seven and Andal culture), which considers bastards to be creatures born from lust, lies, and weakness, and as such, they are said to be wanton and treacherous by nature and desiring more than they deserve.
I think any lie would have been better than what he did. He could have told her that Jon was his and some unknown whore who died in childbirth. She would have been ok with that. She didn't need the truth, just some reassurance. The way Ned kept Jon waiting ("I'll tell you one day") and the way he treated Catelyn (making her suffer, not allowing her to talk about it and even threatening and yelling at her the very few times she asked) was the worst thing he could have done. It only served to make Jon feel unsure of his place in the house and Catelyn fear Jon and his mysterious mother. He made two poeple he loved suffer in vain. This turns "honorable" Ned into "despicable lying jerk" Ned in my eyes. He didn't need to tell them the truth, just something to ease their hearts and minds. Instead, he did what made HIM feel better with no regards for how he ruined the lives of Jon and Cat. I love Ned and his loving relationships with Cat and all the children, but this is a stain that makes him one of the bad guys in my eyes. What he did was not honorable, but selfish and hurtful.
Well, I will not fully respond to this as I´ve responded to the most of them in comments under different story (you probably know where :) ).
Only thing I want to adress here is Eddard Stark being bad guy. As Game of Thrones universe is pretty much ambiguous about many characters and most of them do not belong to category of good or evil, but more to the grey area between. This means there is actually wery few characters that could be considered truly evil/bad without any redeeming traits - to this category belongs in my eyes only Aerys II Targaryen, Joffrey I Baratheon/Waters and Petyr Baelish. Eddard Stark even with making mistakes you have mentioned could hardly qualify into category of evil/bad characters - what he has done can hardly be clasiffied as an act of evil more like an misguided attempt to protect them both (Catelyn and Jon) and keep (sacred) promise to his dying sister and I can hardly harshly judge him for it - I can criticize for it, say that he should have done something better for both Jon and Catelyn but he does not deserve scorn for it in my eyes nor classification as bad character.
While I as well believe that Eddard Stark perhaps could have handled things in different way, he still remains in my eyes one of the few good characters of Westeros (together with the most of his family, which includes Catelyn - maybe aside from Lyanna, but that is left to be decided as we still have too few informations about her to say what really happened to her)
Agreed :) Most characters have done good and bad, but in the case of the Starks the good greatly outwheighs the bad... This site should have a feature where you can send messages to other users. I feel we are usurping other people's stories with our conversations....
Comment on An AU Where Ned Stark Is A Good Liar
Mattias88 on Chapter 1 Sun 14 Aug 2016 06:18AM UTC
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Mattias88 on Chapter 1 Sun 14 Aug 2016 06:45PM UTC
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