Editing Arrest of Eddard Stark

{{Conjecture}}
{{Template:Battlebox
| image      = [[File:King's Landing CoupLukasz Jaskolski.jpg|450px]]
| caption    = King's Landing Coup, by Lukasz Jaskolski © Fantasy Flight Games
| battle_name= Arrest of Eddard Stark
| conflict   = [[War of the Five Kings]]
| date       = late {{Date|298}} or early {{Date|299}}<ref>''See the [[Years after Aegon's Conquest/Calculations Events#The War of the Five Kings|War of the Five Kings]] calculations.''</ref>
| place      = [[Red Keep]], [[King's Landing]]
| result     = [[House Lannister]] victory
Coronation of [[Joffrey Baratheon]]
| colour_scheme =
| combatant1 = [[File:House Lannister.svg|30px]] '''[[House Lannister]]'''
*[[File:Kingsguard.svg|20px]] [[Kingsguard]]
*[[File:City Watch.svg|20px]] [[City Watch of King's Landing|City Watch of King's Landing]] (switches sides)
*[[File:House Baelish (Harrenhal).svg|20px]] [[House Baelish]] (switches sides)
*[[File:House Clegane.svg|20px]] [[House Clegane]]
| combatant2 = [[File:House Baratheon.svg|30px]] '''[[Iron Throne]]/[[House Baratheon of King's Landing]]:'''
*[[File:House Stark.svg|20px]] [[House Stark]]
| commander1 = [[File:House Baratheon (King's Landing).svg|20px]] King [[Joffrey Baratheon|Joffrey I Baratheon]]<br>[[File:House Lannister.svg|20px]] Queen [[Cersei Lannister]]<br>[[File:House Baelish (Harrenhal).svg|20px]] Lord [[Petyr Baelish]] (switches sides)<br>[[File:City Watch.svg|20px]] [[Commander of the City Watch|Commander]] [[Janos Slynt]] (switches sides)<br>[[File:Kingsguard.svg|20px]]Ser [[Meryn Trant]]
| commander2 = [[File:House Stark.svg|20px]] Lord [[Eddard Stark]]
| strength1  = 20 [[House Lannister guards]]<br>5 [[Kingsguard]]<br>100 gold cloaks<br>[[Sandor Clegane]]
| strength2  = 23 [[House Stark guards]]<ref group="N">[[Eddard Stark]] leaves [[Winterfell]] with fifty guards. He sends four home with the corpse of the direwolf, [[Lady]]. He gives [[Beric Dondarrion]] twenty of his own guards to help him bring [[Gregor Clegane]] to justice. Moreover, three of Eddard's guards ([[Jory Cassel]], [[Heward]] and [[Wyl (guard)|Wyl]]) die when [[Jaime Lannister]] confronts him about [[Tyrion Lannister]]'s capture by Eddard's wife, [[Catelyn Stark]]. This means Eddard has only twenty-three guards in his household at the time of his arrest.</ref>
| casualties1= [[Stableboy at King's Landing|Stableboy]]†<br>1 Lannister guard†
| casualties2= [[Cayn]]†<br>[[Desmond]]†<br>Septa [[Mordane]]†<br>[[Porther]]†<br>[[Syrio Forel]]†<br>[[Tomard]]†<br>[[Varly]]†<br>[[Vayon Poole]]†<br>[[Eddard Stark]] (POW)<br>[[Jacks]] (POW)<br>[[Jeyne Poole]] (POW)<br>[[Sansa Stark]] (POW)
}}

The '''arrest of Eddard Stark''' is an event which occurs in [[King's Landing]] at the start of the [[War of the Five Kings]].

==Prelude==
After the unexpected death of the [[Hand of the King]], Lord [[Jon Arryn]], King [[Robert I Baratheon]] journeys north to [[Winterfell]] with the royal family and half his court, to ask his boyhood friend, Lord [[Eddard Stark]], to be his new Hand.{{ref|AGOT|4}} Eddard agrees and journeys south to [[King's Landing]].{{ref|AGOT|12}}

Once in the capital, Lord Eddard investigates the death of his predecessor.{{ref|AGOT|27}}{{ref|AGOT|35}} He finds out that the king's three children, Prince [[Joffrey Baratheon|Joffrey]], Princess [[Myrcella Baratheon|Myrcella]], and Prince [[Tommen Baratheon]], are in fact [[bastard]]s from Queen [[Cersei Lannister]]'s affair with her twin brother, Ser [[Jaime Lannister]] of the [[Kingsguard]].{{ref|AGOT|45}}

Lord Stark decides to tell the truth to his friend, but he is too late as Robert is dying due to an hunting accident in the [[kingswood]] with a [[boar]].{{ref|AGOT|47}} On his deathbed, Robert names Eddard [[Protector of the Realm]] and [[Regent|Lord Regent]]. Eddard alters Robert's will, changing Joffrey's name for "the heir".{{ref|AGOT|47}}

Eddard intends for his daughters, [[Sansa Stark|Sansa]] and [[Arya Stark|Arya]], to escape King's Landing on ''[[Wind Witch]]'', and he instructs [[Tomard]] with personally delivering a letter to [[Stannis Baratheon]], [[Lord of Dragonstone]], during the ship's voyage to the [[north]].{{ref|AGOT|47}} Sansa, who is betrothed to Prince Joffrey, informs Cersei that she is going to be sent away.{{ref|AGOT|51}} 

While Robert lies dying, Lord [[Renly Baratheon]] approaches Eddard and suggests they seize control of the royal children before Queen Cersei can strike.{{Ref|AGOT|47}} Eddard refuses the offer, however, and instead meets with Lord [[Petyr Baelish]], [[master of coin]]. Littlefinger agrees to bribe the [[City Watch of King's Landing]] so that [[Janos Slynt]] and his gold cloaks will support Eddard against Cersei.{{ref|AGOT|47}}

==Arrest==
The day ''Wind Witch'' is to set sail, King Robert passes away from his wounds in the morning. Eddard calls the [[small council]] to the [[Tower of the Hand]], but Renly has fled King's Landing along with Ser [[Loras Tyrell]] and fifty retainers. [[Joffrey Baratheon]], as [[King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men]], [[Lord of the Seven Kingdoms]] and [[Protector of the Realm]], demands the presence of the council.{{Ref|AGOT|49}}

[[File:Paper shield.jpg|thumb|left|A paper shield, by Michael Dixon © Fantasy Flight Games]]

Tomard's men escort Lord Stark to the [[throne room]], where the Hand is reassured that the gold cloaks outnumber Cersei's [[red cloaks]] five to one. Cersei tears up Robert's will, shocking Ser [[Barristan Selmy]], [[Lord Commander of the Kingsguard]]. Eddard refuses Cersei's offer that he submit to Joffrey, insisting instead that Joffrey has no claim to the [[Iron Throne]] and that Stannis is Robert's true heir.{{Ref|AGOT|49}}

When Eddard calls upon the gold cloaks to take Cersei and her children into custody, the City Watch instead begin attacking Ned's grey cloaks. Tomard is stabbed in the back with a spear, and Janos cuts open [[Varly]]'s throat. [[Cayn]] tries to escape, but he is struck down by Joffrey's [[sworn shield]], [[Sandor Clegane]]. Petyr claims the [[Valyrian steel dagger]] from Ned and takes him into custody.{{ref|AGOT|49}}

Meanwhile, Cersei sends her supporters to kill or apprehend the rest of unsuspecting Eddard's retinue in the Red Keep. Sansa, already taken to confinement in [[Maegor's Holdfast]] by Ser [[Arys Oakheart]], hears the fighting from afar. Sandor breaks down [[Jeyne Poole]]'s door in the Tower of the Hand with a warhammer, and the girl sees bodies on the tower's steps. Jeyne is taken to Sansa's chamber in Maegor's.{{ref|AGOT|51}}

[[Syrio Forel]] defends Arya from Ser [[Meryn Trant]] and red cloaks in the [[Small Hall]], allowing the girl to evade capture. She sees a dead grey cloak at the Tower of the Hand. When she reaches the stable, Arya finds [[Hullen]] dying near a groom and three more grey cloaks, including [[Desmond]]. After using [[Needle]] to kill a [[Stableboy at King's Landing|stableboy]] who tries to apprehend her, Arya escapes into the depths of the Red Keep, traveling through the cellar of the [[skulls of the Targaryen dragons]] to a [[secret passage]] leading outside the castle.{{ref|AGOT|50}}

==Aftermath==
Lord Stark is imprisoned in the [[black cells]] of the Red Keep.{{ref|AGOT|58}} Sansa is brought before Cersei in the small council chambers on the third day. The queen informs Sansa that her father was a traitor who tried to steal Joffrey's throne, showing her Eddard's letter to Stannis. The council has Sansa, who still desires to wed Joffrey, write letters urging her family to remain peaceful. Lord Baelish takes custody of Jeyne.{{Ref|AGOT|51}}

Eddard's eldest son and heir, [[Robb Stark]], calls the [[Bannerman|banners]] of the [[north]] to [[Winterfell]],{{ref|AGOT|53}} and he marches south to rescue his father.{{ref|AGOT|55}} Joffrey's grandfather, Lord [[Tywin Lannister]], invades the [[riverlands]] from the [[westerlands]].{{ref|AGOT|56}}

In Joffrey's first court session, Tywin is appointed Hand of the King.{{Ref|AGOT|57}} Janos is named [[Lord of Harrenhal]], creating [[House Slynt]], and he is given an advisory seat on the small council.{{ref|AGOT|57}} Barristan is dismissed from the Kingsguard, with Cersei's brother Jaime promoted to Lord Commander in his place. Though not a [[knight]], Sandor Clegane is sworn in as member of Joffrey's Kingsguard, taking Barristan's slot.{{ref|AGOT|57}}

==Quotes==
{{Quote|I did warn you not to trust me, you know.{{ref|AGOT|49}}|[[Petyr Baelish]] to [[Eddard Stark]]}}

{{Quote|Even within the stout walls of [[Maegor's Holdfast]], with her door closed and barred, it was hard not to be terrified when the killing began. She had grown up to the sound of steel in the yard, and scarcely a day of her life had passed without hearing the clash of sword on sword, yet somehow knowing that the fighting was real made all the difference in the world. She heard it as she had never heard it before, and there were other sounds as well, grunts of pain, angry curses, shouts for help, and the moans of wounded and dying men. In the songs, the knights never screamed nor begged for mercy.{{ref|AGOT|51}}|thoughts of [[Sansa Stark]]}}

{{Quote|They're killing everyone.{{ref|AGOT|51}}|[[Jeyne Poole]] to [[Sansa Stark]]}}

{{Quote|A great many people died that day.{{ref|ACOK|3}}|[[Cersei Lannister]] to [[Tyrion Lannister]]}}

{{Quote|''' Tyrion''': Tell me, my lord, did you drive the spear into the man's back yourself, or did you only give the command?<br>
'''Janos''': I gave the command, and I'd give it again. [[Eddard Stark|Lord Stark]] was a traitor. The man tried to buy me.<br>
'''Tyrion''': Little dreaming that you had already been sold.<br>
'''Janos''': Are you drunk? If you think I will sit here and have my honor questioned ...<br>
'''Tyrion''': What honor is that? I do admit, you made a better bargain than Ser [[Jacelyn Bywater|Jacelyn]]. [[Lord of Harrenhal|A lordship]] and [[Harrenhal|a castle]] for a spear thrust in the back, and you didn't even need to thrust the spear.{{ref|ACOK|8}}|[[Tyrion Lannister]] and [[Janos Slynt]]}}

==Notes==
{{Notes}}

==References==
{{References}}

{{War of the Five Kings}}

[[Category:Events]]
[[Category:City Watch (King's Landing)]]
[[Category:House Stark]]
[[Category:House Lannister]]
[[Category:Red Keep]]
[[Category:War of the Five Kings]]