Julie (9:42:54 PM): my housemate KEEPS HINTING that grrm has a sadistic tendency to KEEP UNEXPECTEDLY KILLING OFF CHARACTERS which will make us, yes, thrash around like gollum
IT'S TRUE.
Julie (9:49:55 PM): i think one of the worst (and thus best-done) parts about ned's death is that like ... i have difficulty pinpointing blame for it, it's one of those inevitable trainwrecks where a whole ton of factors combined together in one catastrophic, almost-accidental-yet-unavoidable way
This is a really good point. A lot of people place the blame solely on Sansa, but Ned has to take the brunt of it himself, I think. And then, I mean, there's also Joffrey, Cersei, and Littlefinger, of course.
And lol something said in here is going to prove prophetic. :|