10 Dumbest Decisions Made By Game Of Thrones Characters
5. Ned Trusting Littlefinger
The honourable Ned Stark had a reputation for naivety and stubbornness that lead him to make some choices that in later seasons of the show would be laughable. But in Season One, audiences didn't realise that 'doing the right thing', no matter how dangerous or inadvisable, would often result in dire consequences.
The worst of Ned's offences was trusting the clearly deceptive and slimy Littlefinger as a point of contact for his investigation into the death of Jon Arryn. After Robert Baratheon dies, Littlefinger makes Ned an offer that would help position him as regent and puppet master over a young Joffrey.
Ned, knowing that Robert has no legitimate heirs, sticks to his principles and insists that it should be Stannis that takes the throne. This leads Bealish to recalculate and bet on a different horse as he betrays Ned in the throne room helping to imprison the Stark patriarch.
Who knows how different the story would have turned out if he had gone over Littlefinger's head and found a way to crown Stannis on his own.
What makes things worse is Baelish explicitly told Ned not to trust him, and he did so anyway, a point he chooses to remind him of as he presses his blade to his throat.