when did ned stark die in game of thrones
Ned Stark In season 1, King Robert Baratheon asks his old friend Eddard "Ned" Stark, Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North, to assume the position of Hand of the King after the sudden death of their mentor, Jon Arryn. Not interested in politics or the intrigues of the court, Ned accepts out of duty, as well as to discover how Arryn died. Robert is killed just as Ned discovers that his three children by Cersei were actually fathered by the queen's twin, Jaime. Before Ned is able to neutralize Cersei and place Robert's brother Stannis on the throne, he is betrayed by Littlefinger, and the queen has him imprisoned for treason. Ned makes a public confession to save his daughters from Cersei's wrath, but Joffrey has Ned beheaded anyway.[23]
Winter Is Coming Ned is informed that a deserter of the Night's Watch has been captured. He takes his sons to witness Will's execution. Will reports that he saw White Walkers, but nobody believes him and Ned beheads him. When Bran asks his father about the White Walkers, Ned dismisses it as a madman's ravings, insisting that the Walkers have been extinct for thousands of years. Upon their return, the Starks find a dead stag, sigil (seal) of House Baratheon. A bit farther they find a dead dire wolf and her surviving pups. Noting that the dire wolf is the sigil of the Stark family and there are as many pups as the Stark children, they take the pups in as companions.