Viserys I and Eddard Stark: fathers of fire and ice.

Ned Stark

 The first father I met in a Song of Ice and Fire was Eddard Stark, head of House Stark of Winterfell and Lord Protector of the North. He comes from a long a line of Kings in the North, until Torhen Stark went down the neck to meet the armies under Targaryen banners, seeking to unite Westeros under one House, and he saw three massive dragons flying above those armies. The creatures had already wreaked havoc down south, on the Stormland, on the Riverlands, on the Reach, their riders were three foreigners from Essos, for no matter that the Targaryens have settled on Dragonstone for some time already, these three youths were still Valyrian to their bones, in appearance, spirit and costumes. 

Torhen saw the following centuries on the wings of Balerion, Meraxes and Vhagar, and thus he knelt to Aegon I. The violet, almost purple eyes, that gave the concqueror an almost otherwordly gaze met his and their pact was supposed to stand forever. And so it was that Dragons and Wolves lived peacefully with each other, seldom interfering with each other´s affairs, united, but mindful of each other´s traditions.

When we first meet Ned, he is unwillingly taking the post of Hand of the King, the King being his best friend, Robert Baratheon, who deposed House Targaryen, in a violent rebellion, over the supposed kidnapping of his bride to be, Lyanna Stark, Ned´s sister, by the Crown Prince, Rhaegar. But was it all that was to the story? By the fifth book, we start to understand that things might have unfolded very differently, that Robert might not have been such a hero after all, that Rhaegar might not have been the bad guy, that the mad king was indeed mad, but that things could have taken a different turn, and so on.

The North Remembers, though, House Stark´s pillar is honor and loyalty, even when it is not to its own advantage. You must to what´s right, and the ethical dilemmas are constant, but for Eddard, family, his house, his friends, his word, have always been his compass.

He was a father mindful of his duties to his House, so he raised fine sons, and intended to raise fine daughters too, men and women who could lead houses, lead troops, and also serve as warriors, and knights. He was ready to give anything for his children but his honour, cause there is no House Stark without it.

Lots of people say that bringing Jon Snow home, after a war campaign, was a taint on his honour, but that hardly counts, for a man in a patriarchal world. That actually meant that he was an able man, healthy enough to produce heirs and spares, and that he was responsible to not let his bastard starve, and rather gave him home and education. He was still a good and honourable man, and as such he kept his duties to his wife and lawful children.

A good father, good provider, with strict values and ethics, not close to anyone particularly. Ned lived keeping a lot of what he thought to himself, he kept quite a lot even from his wife and from close friends. He was a loner, and someone who was easy to please, in the sense that he did not ask for much in terms of luxurious goods or pleasantries, while very hard to connect, cause he had high moral standards, that one could hardly achieve, even himself. He would often come off as cold. 

Because of his rigidity, strict mindset, inflexibility, and a lot of naivety, he got himself and most of his house on the path of extinction.

Viserys Targaryen I

Viserys I is a completely different animal, literally. He was not forged in battle, neither in the hardships of winter. He might not have been his mother´s favourite, but he was a beloved child. He married young to a first cousin, and was lucky enough that they fell deeply for each other, and were very happy together. He doted on his wife, and he doted on his only daughter, as if she was a gift from the gods themselves. He needed a male heir, but in the absence of it, he staunchly defended his daugther as his lawful heir, preparing her to rule. He loved history, and did not truly care for traditions. 

Often torn between being a king and an ordinary man, eager to keep the peace, loth to hearing of conflicts, often undecisive, his main redeeming quality was his love of his first wife and of his older daughter. He was affectionate, close, loyal, protective of her. 

Viserys had a warmth about him, that he did not extend that intensely to his younger children, the hald Hightower kids. Rhaenyra shared more Targaryen blood, indeed, but above all, she shared his losses, which is the burden of the elder children. As an older child myself, I know that the older child has the parents still unexperienced, often immature, unable to balance their duties, they throw highter expectations on us, we ought to be better, more responsible, more hardworking, and so on. As Viserys knew firsthand the burden of ruling, he empathized with his daughter, since he lost his wife at childbirth, he understood that he lost a wife, but she had lost her mother, they had so much in common!

Viserys could be blind to a lot of practical things, but not to her daughter´s needs. 

He was also a dragon dreamer, meaning that he had dreams of past or future, of other realms, of prophecies, and strong mystical inclinations, the dragon blood being magical in its own right.

Not a roaring dragon, that father was, but rather a resting dragon, his body emanating warmth to those he loves, snoring softly and lazily, like old Balerion probably did before he died. The same beast that eats blood and charred meat, pours out fire, can also bring warmth and life.

The Hightowers built a moat between Viserys and his own children from the second marriage. Rather than abiding by his wishes, and accepting his love, they desired to rule over his heart, and crush his beloved daughter, so he naturally stood by the motherless one, by the one he had most in common. He never disliked his other children, he only felt closer to his oldest.

He also simply did not care about the fatherhood issue of his daughter´s firstborns. They were her daughter´s so it was fine by him, cause they were his blood, and he personally liked the kids. His way of thinking was more Valyrian that Westerosi, even though the Targaryen had been in Westeros for quite some time already. He had never opposed his cousin Rhaenys on the throne, the westerosi lords did, he was not mysogynistic, he simply saw no dishonor.

His indecisiveness, however, paved the way to the Dance. His second marriage and inability to abdicate to Rhaenyra while still alive, led to the Dance. 

Both failed their Houses in a hundred different ways. As a father, Viserys was warmer, closer, more lovingly. Both were protective of their children, and loved them in different ways. Ned was more conservative and that had an impact on Jon, who was raised with the taint of bastardy. Viserys would not let bastardy keep him from being close to a child if he felt connected somehow, cause blood was important to him. Fire and Ice, I like the warmth rather than the cold.