Scene Breakdown: A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin 

I feel like Catelyn has her own 5-Commandments woven in here as well. You have her status quo at the beginning, where she's thinking about her current life and her imagined future, and Ned's declaration that he will refuse Robert is her inciting incident because it puts her current life in jeopardy. There are several complications as he digs in his heels and she has to convince him. Eventually, she convinces Ned to go, but cannot go with him and must see her children leave with Ned.

I agree with the various posters who state that Catelyn is the protagonist in this scene. When I read this scene, one of my first thoughts was, “wow, this is complex.” I agree that there are multiple storylines interwoven here and that Catelyn is actually the protagonist. We get direct access to her thoughts whereas Ned’s motivations are communicated via Catelyn’s interpretation of his actions. While Ned’s storyline reaches its climax when he decides to take the appointment, this event seems to be just a component (a mini-climax?) of Catelyn’s broader storyline, which continues until it’s decided what’s happening with Jon, the bastard son that she absolutely does not want to keep. There are two telling sentences that provide direct access to Catelyn’s thoughts and reveal her motivations. One comes when she’s trying to convince Ned to go: “First the victory must be won, for her children’s sake.“ The second one comes when she’s trying to convince Ned to take Jon. “He would father no sons who might someday contest with Catelyn’s own grandchildren for Winterfell.” I believe that Catelyn’s object of desire is to preserve her family’s long-term claim on Winterfell while not giving up her children. I identified the turning point as the revelation that Jon wants to serve the Night’s Watch, as this changes Ned’s mind about taking Jon. The climax is when Ned actually agrees to take Jon. In the end, Catelyn gets what she wants: Ned agrees to go and to take Jon with him, both of which will strengthen her family’s long-term claim on Winterfell, but in order to get this, she must part with some of her other beloved children.

Another clarifying breakdown. This is so revealing how good writing keeps the drama with PCs and turning points, all based on varying OOds and external pressures. Ok, that sounds weird, but I know what I mean. Thanks!

Beautiful! Not only did this scene give me ideas for my own protagonists core object of desire and complications, yet as well as other important characters who are also along the same path. Thanks Tim. These are great!

i don't think you should be analyzing this scene from ned's perspective at all. catelyn is our POV character here; it's _her_ OOD that ends up getting achieved at a cost she didn't want to pay; _she_ gets the moment where she has to confront, emotionally and psychologically, the fact she can't get over her husband's "natural" infidelity and unnatural regard for the bastard son produced by that infidelity; she's the one whose crisis in this moment connects directly to the only time she ever feared her husband; she's the one who lights the fire to burn the note; she's the one who ends up pushing ned to go to king's landing and solve the murder. if you look at this as a ned scene (we have no access to his interiority in it!) you still get a useable result, but you miss the bulk of what's going on there.

Another well done Scene Breakdown, Tim. Thank you for the clarification about the crisis decision being, despite it’s relative predictability in the scene, being a key character revealing moment and thus important to the storytelling. I so appreciate you clarifying all the Story Commandments in the scene breakdowns, in particular all of the progressive complications.

Thanks, Tim. I like seeing this analysis applied to various scene types. The world building in this one is impressive, too.

I am just writing a scene like that (only of siblings) and had to go back and rewrite it because of the problems you mentioned. Long story short, this video was very helpful and right on time. Thank you.

thanks man. I enjoyed watching your video well. I am excited for your next video about game of thornes as well.

Could you please make a scene breakdown about a short story (not about a novel chapter)? Please and thank you.

I would flesh out your description of Ned's choice a bit more [as follows], which demonstrates how difficult the choice is for him to make and that what he will decide is not a foregone conclusion: Will Ned refuse the King's offer and put his entire family in danger and lose honor (but get to remain with his family in Winterfell and avoid unwanted responsibilities) OR Will Ned accept the King's offer, gain honor and protect his family (while loosing connection with his family and the life he loves at Winterfell and becoming burdened with unwanted responsibilities, while also, perhaps, putting his own life in danger in King's Landing)?

I have a question, @Story Grid. Structurally speaking, how do you correlate that "Learning about the alleged murder of Arryn by the Lannisters" adds to the OOD part of "putting loved ones in danger", and that's what pushes Ned to be the King's Hand? Because I don't clearly see the correlation. could be that its all the reasons together (all the Progressive complications, not just the letter) what pushes him to go to King's Landing and be the King's Hand?

Awesome 😎 breakdown !

Its well written for the most part, but I still take issue with it. Numerous times, we are being told how the character feels about the situation. There's also some unnatural dialogue, calling Brandon his brother....

Very interesting and helpful to hear a line by line breakdown. But I don't think it's a real choice between the family and his own wishes, that's just how Caitlin presents it. So the impact is that we learn more about the world of g of t, rather than more about the character of Ned. Do you think this would play differently in a different genre like psychological realism?

Does Ned have a family worth protecting?

Honestly his books are dry AF, convoluted and will never be finished

Catelyn is a bad wife here. She cares more about fame than her husband. He said his dad went south and didn’t come home, yet she still urged him to go.