another hater take is that ned is a better politician than tywin bc tywin broke ~the social contract~ so badly that now no one trusts the social contract anymore and it means his family’s allies are gonna jump ship the moment they find someone less cartoonishly evil, and the lannisters will be left with no one but the most hated, shitty ass people in westeros as allies by the time the war over westeros part 2 starts. also can u call someone a good politician if they’re so hated their own kid mercs them.
meanwhile ned managed to keep AN ENTIRE TREASONOUS CONSPIRACY so under the radar that no one even SUSPECTS jon is lyanna’s son AND most of the north is still fairly willing to crown a stark any stark based off of “well ned was a solid guy and we need the boltons the fuck out of here” alone! it turns out when you spend all your time letting your kids know you hate them for who they are and commit war crimes at the slightest provocation, it makes people think you’re kind of a dickhead! everyone knows the lannisters are fucking but no one knows about jon and that’s ned’s power!
