Book Ned has a lot more intel than TV Ned. Varys informs him that the tournament melee was going to have an assassin for Robert. Cersei openly forbade him from fighting, a devious way to get the king to insist. Only Ned being his brutally honest self diverted Robert. Ned’s consciousness of the swirling danger is much higher in this form and Ned seems smarter, more active. TV Ned seems like a well-meaning fool in comparison.
He has a duty to Robert, the realm, and the dead Hand Arryn to tell the king his children are not his offspring. The girls are booked on a ship home, and Ned will now speak. However, when the moment strikes, when Robert is deathly injured, Ned refuses to act. He’s offended at the suggestion. His sense of the flow of time and proper order for actions is completely out of sync with the reality of The Game. To be fair to Ned, grief plays a part in this. His best friend is dying.
Make your peace with the Lannisters, Littlefinger counsels. It’s really good advice, better than Renly’s more aggressive answer. Be the Protector of the Realm that Robert appointed you, basically. Guard and train the boy, build allies, position yourself. All the peace that Ned thinks he wants can be his. It’s reasonable and fair to all. But it’s treason. And wrongs have been done. Ned genuinely thinks he has no choice but Stannis and war. He never considers the kingdom, though, or the people in the streets. His choice will be the hardest on them.
Cersei, when the confrontation comes, offers him a deal similar to Littlefinger’s. Bend the knee, step down as Hand, and go home in peace. Does she mean it? She’s already ripped up the paper, removed his chance at Protector and shown how much power she believes she wields. She offers the deal in front of everyone. It might be an honest offer. Again, Ned underestimates her, but mostly he will refuse because of honor. He also completely misunderstands Littlefinger, who turns on him. And the letter he wrote to Stannis, committing his intentions to paper, is captured with his seal on it. What a blithering idiot.
Why does Ned confess? In the show we’re denied the chance to see his decision moment. Here it is, though, in the prison scene with Varys. Of course he refuses at first. The thought of serving Cersei offends him deeply. Varys reminds him (he really needs reminding?) that Sansa’s under the queen’s control. The threat to his daughter compels him to concede.
It’s all for naught. Joffrey behaves as he likes, regardless of even his mother’s counsel. Ned loses his head to his own family sword, with lies on his lips. All of that honor was more than a waste. His daughter has a close-up look at him dying, his feet jerking in death spasms. The entire kingdom is about to fall apart, and his own family is to suffer. And a monster with no reins sits on the throne. What Enneagram number could be this wrong about reality?
Not a Heart Type. He’s too clueless about how others will behave. Like TV Ned he might be a Six. Head Types can fool themselves, acting too smart for their own good. I’m leaning towards One, though. That same stubbornness, that inability to see reality when your vision is too strong, can be One-ish. Ned is a warrior, of course. That doesn’t necessarily mean Body Type, but he is certainly competent. It’s actually Winterfell and how it’s managed that is the strongest argument for a One. He’s really great with his people, with the contained estate. He stewards his hold well. Intrigue of court is too much for him, though. All of his morals and strengths fall apart at the larger scale. He should’ve stayed at home.