Some time later, the royal party crosses into the region of the Riverlands, and reach the Crossroads Inn, a waystop on the way south. An incident involving Prince Joffrey and Arya’s direwolf, Nymeria, has resulted in Arya’s disappearance. After several hours searching for Arya in the nearby woods, Eddard enters the inn to find that Arya has been found and taken before King Robert, who is angered that this has become a major incident, with his wife and new Hand  blaming one another's children. Prince Joffrey offers a false account of the incident, and asks Sansa to confirm it. Put in an impossible position, Sansa refuses to contradict him, enraging Arya. The king decides to let Eddard discipline Arya while he will do the same to Joffrey, however, a dissatisfied Cersei demands that the direwolf be executed. When it is noted that Nymeria has not been found, Cersei spitefully requests that Sansa's direwolf Lady should be killed instead. King Robert acquiesces to Cersei’s demand, growing impatient of the situation, which upsets a distraught Sansa further as she and her angered sister protest. Out of his hands, a furious Eddard attends to the matter himself outside as he passes by Sandor Clegane, Joffrey’s bodyguard. He has the butcher’s boy Mycah’s bloodied corpse flung over his shoulder, despite his innocent involvement in Joffrey’s injury. Eddard is disgusted, and asks if Sandor ran the boy down, “the Hound” responds: "He ran, but not very fast." Eddard then regretfully kills Sansa’s direwolf with his dagger. Meanwhile at Winterfell, a now-crippled Bran Stark awakens, however, fortunately for Cersei and Jaime, he retains no memory of the incident at the tower.

After returning to the capital, King Robert sits in his chambers, drinking and reminiscing about battles with Ser Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. Barristan recalls his first kill was a Tyroshi soldier whose name he never knew. He killed him with a lance to the heart. Robert recalls his first kill was a soldier serving House Tarly at the Battle of Summerhall. The soldier thought he could end the war with a single swing of his sword but Robert killed him instead. Robert recalls how the man begged for mercy before Robert dealt the death blow and gets melancholy, thinking that the boy could have stayed in the back ranks of the enemy army, survived the battle and would now be unhappily married with ingrates for children of his own. Robert demands wine from his squire, Lancel Lannister, a cousin of Cersei’s. Lancel is only able to pour a little, as the jug has run out. Robert angrily sends him for more and orders Ser Jaime – standing guard outside the chamber – to come in. He asks him about his first kill and Jaime replies that it was one of the Kingswood Brotherhood, an outlaw band. He was only a sixteen year old squire and cut the other man’s head off, meaning he had no last pithy words. Robert then asks Jaime what the Mad King said when he died, if he called Jaime a traitor or begged for mercy. Jaime replies that he only said what he’d been saying all day, "Burn them all." Having silenced Robert, Jaime takes his leave.

Some time later in the Red Keep, King Robert is amusing himself inside his chambers with several whores while Ser Jaime stands guard outside. Eddard’s guard captain, Jory Cassel, arrives with a message for the king and as he waits outside the door for Robert to finish, Jaime vents his frustration with the king for making the queen’s brother stand guard while he insults Cersei with his adultery. Jory then informs Jaime they have fought alongside one another before at the Siege of Pyke. Jaime, realizing that Jory is a fellow soldier, becomes slightly friendlier. They both recall Thoros of Myr storming the breach in the walls of Pyke with his flaming sword, and the Greyjoys being good fighters but honorless dogs. Jaime then remembers seeing one of them at Winterfell, like a “shark on a mountaintop.” Jory replies that it is Theon Greyjoy and, despite everything, he is a good lad. Jaime is doubtful. When Jory asks again if he can leave the message from Eddard, Jaime becomes annoyed and insists that he doesn't serve Lord Stark.

Later on, King Robert attends the first day of the Hand’s tournament. A drunken Robert annoys Cersei to the point of her exiting the tourney before it’s even began. Sitting in the stands, Sansa Stark tries to catch Prince Joffrey's eye, but he avoids looking at her. Noting the exchange, Lord Petyr Baelish, one of Robert’s advisors, asks if she is having a lover’s quarrel with Joffrey, as he then introduces himself as an old friend of her mother Catelyn. A curious Arya Stark then asks why is he called Littlefinger, as Septa Mordane admonishes her for being rude. However, Littlefinger doesn’t mind the enquiry and explains that he was born on the smallest of the Fingers, which are the peninsulas that extend into the Narrow Sea on the east coast of the Vale of Arryn. The first tilt is then held. The first of the combatants is Ser Gregor Clegane, a gigantic man over seven feet in height. He is the elder brother of Sandor Clegane, Prince Joffrey's bodyguard. His opponent is Ser Hugh of the Vale. On their second pass, Gregor's lance takes Ser Hugh in the throat, killing him. Littlefinger notes this was an unfortunate accident and then informs Sansa that when the Clegane brothers were children, Gregor found Sandor playing with one of Gregor’s toys. Gregor never said a word; he just took Sandor by the neck and held his face in the fire until his skin burned. That is how Sandor got his scarred appearance. Littlefinger suggests not repeating this story to the Hound.

The following day, as the tourney continues, King Robert is preparing himself to joust, though his squire Lancel Lannister is unable to fit his armor onto him. Lord Eddard arrives and tells Robert that he is too fat for his armor. Robert laughs, then tells Lancel to go and get the "breastplate-stretcher." After he leaves, Robert wonders how long it'll take Lancel to realize there’s no such thing as a breastplate-stretcher. Ned then tells Robert he has no business being on a horse, but the king insists on hitting something. Eddard argues that it's a waste of time because no-one would risk harming the king. Robert, incredulous, asks if he means that his opponents would let him win and Eddard replies yes. Deflated, Robert admits that he is too fat for his armor. Eddard asks about Lancel and Robert tells him that Queen Cersei insisted on foisting her young cousin Lancel onto him as a squire. Robert had Jon Arryn to thank for the marriage, with his advice that a match between himself and House Lannister would be important after the rebellion. Robert gloomily notes that he thought as king he’d be able to do what he wanted. He and Eddard go out to watch the day’s jousting.

After King Robert announces the next joust, Lord Eddard sits next to his daughter Sansa Stark as the competitors arrive: Ser Gregor Clegane and Ser Loras Tyrell, the youngest son of the powerful House Tyrell and already a famed tournament knight. Ser Loras gives Sansa a red rose and exchanges a look with Lord Renly Baratheon in the stands, younger brother to the king. Renly has then takes a bet against Lord Baelish, who favors Clegane. The joust begins and Ser Loras quickly unseats Ser Gregor, whose horse falls to the ground. Renly cackles in delight while Baelish then puts his hand on Sansa's shoulder, then removing it after a look from Eddard, and tells her it was clever of Loras to ride a mare in heat, as it threw Gregor’s stallion into confusion. Sansa insists that the honorable Loras would never do that. Baelish agrees there’s no honor in it, but “quite a lot of gold.” A furious Gregor finally gets up and summons his squire with his sword and in a fit of rage he then decapitates his own horse. He smashes Ser Loras off his horse and attacks him with his sword. Loras is barely able to raise his shield in time. Before he can be overwhelmed, Gregor’s brother, Sandor Clegane, jumps in the way and the two exchange blows for several moments before King Robert stands from his chair and commands them to stop. Sandor immediately kneels as the defeated Gregor storms off the field. Ser Loras thanks Sandor and holds his arm aloft to be cheered by the commoners.

Later, at the meeting of the small council, King Robert tells Eddard that, the “Mad King” Aerys Targaryen’s daughter Princess Daenerys is pregnant with a son who will eventually have a claim to the Iron Throne. He wants her and her brother Viserys Targaryen dead as soon as possible. Eddard states that this act would be dishonorable and beneath their dignity. Robert explodes in fury, telling Eddard that he has seven kingdoms to rule and honor does not come into it: it's fear and blood that keeps the peace. Eddard says that makes them no better than the Mad King, infuriating Robert even more as he is incredulous that Eddard's conclusion is that they do nothing. He asks the council to speak their advice to Eddard. However, the other members of the council: Baelish, Renly, Lord Varys and Grand Maester Pycelle, all concur that Daenerys must die for the good of the realm. King Robert orders Ned to enact the order. Eddard tells Robert that he will not support this. He followed Robert into war twice with no doubts or hesitation, but he will not follow him into this. Robert angrily snaps that Eddard is the King's Hand; he will do as commanded or Robert will find another. At that, Eddard removes his badge of office and leaves it on the table. A furious Robert orders him to leave and go back to Winterfell before he takes his head as a traitor. As Eddard is packing, Lord Baelish arrives and offers to take him to the last place Jon Arryn went before he "fell ill."

Afterwards, Robert shares a rare drink with Cersei as they discuss the Targaryen threat. Cersei asks if it was wise to lose Eddard over this, stating that without a Hand, the realm will fall to pieces. Robert asks if this is the part where she suggests her brother for the job. Cersei replies no, that Jaime is not serious enough. Robert admits that he doesn’t know if it the assassination is worth it, however, does know that if the Dothraki invade Westeros, he doesn't think they can be stopped. Cersei insists that they'd outnumber the Dothraki, but Robert replies that one real, experienced army united behind one leader and one purpose is worth more than five different armies fighting for different leaders. He explains that unity died when he usurped King Aerys and now all the lords want something different: Cersei’s father Lord Tywin Lannister wants to own the world, Eddard wants to bury his head in the snow, and all he himself wants is a drink. Their discussion then moves to Lyanna Stark, which surprises Robert, as in seventeen years Cersei has never asked about her. He tells her that Lyanna's death left in him a void that seven kingdoms could not fill. He also tells her that their marriage never had a chance of success because of the hold Lyanna's memory has on him, and bitterly adds that he can barely remember what she looked like. Cersei then states that she felt something for Robert once, even after they lost their first boy, for quite a while. She asks Robert if there was ever any chance for their marriage. He bluntly answers "no".

Meanwhile, as promised, Baelish brings Eddard to the last place Jon Arryn visited, which happens to be Littefinger's brothel. Inside, Ned meets one of Robert's bastards, a baby girl and her mother named Mhaegen, a prostitute working in the brothel. Mhaegen remarks that her child has Robert's nose and black hair. Eddard then asks Baelish why Jon Arryn was searching for Robert's bastards, but Baelish insists that he doesn't know. Leaving the brothel, Eddard, Jory Cassel, and two other guards are confronted by a group of guardsmen led by Ser Jaime. Jaime has received word of his brother Tyrion's arrest by Eddard’s wife Catelyn. Eddard points out that if he’s killed, Tyrion will die as well. Jaime acknowledges that this is true, so he settles for killing Eddard's guards instead. Jory engages Jaime in a duel but is quickly killed when Jaime stabs him through the eye with a dagger. Furious, Eddard crosses swords with Jaime. Although an even match, a Lannister guard steps in during the fight and stabs Eddard through the leg with a spear. An angered Ser Jaime then departs, demanding to Eddard that he wants his brother back.

Some time later, beneath a canopy of netting, Eddard Stark is lying on a bed, wounded after being attacked by Jaime Lannister and his men. Sweating profusely, he opens his eyes. Groggy with blurry vision, he sees King Robert and Queen Cersei standing by his bed, looking down at him concerned and disapproving respectively. Cersei is furious with Eddard's acts in having her brother Tyrion arrested and attacking Jaime in the street. Eddard quickly informs them, falsely, that Catelyn took Tyrion prisoner on his orders. Robert realizes that Eddard is just saying this to in order to protect his wife and states that he didn't know Catelyn had it in her. Cersei wants her husband Robert to take action against him, but Robert refuses to condemn him without hearing Eddard's side, and tells her to be silent. When Cersei protests further, and calls Robert a woman, he hits her across the face. She then asserts that she will wear the bruise with honor. He tells her to be silent, or he will honor her again, and Cersei leaves in anger. Afterwards, Robert restores Eddard to his position as Hand, and tells him not to quit again, or he will give the position to Jaime. He tells Lord Eddard to end the animosity between House Stark and House Lannister, as strife between these two powerful houses could lead them into war. He is leaving on a hunt and wants the realm at peace by the time he returns.

Later on, King Robert is out hunting in the nearby forest, accompanied by his brother Renly, as well as Ser Barristan and his squire Lancel. Robert walks in the lead carrying a spear while he is continuously supplied with wine by Lancel. He becomes drunk and nostalgic and informs his hunting party that he is longing for the days of young knights trying to make a name for themselves. When the enemies were obvious, vicious warriors in the open, not hidden schemers. Robert then discusses an old tradition called "making the eight," which referred to having sex with a girl from each of the seven kingdoms and the Riverlands. When asked, a bemused Ser Barristan doesn't believe that he ever completed this ritual, to Robert's amusement. Robert then irritates Renly when he starts to question Renly's sexual history. Renly calls him a fool and remarks that the past had its share of violence that Robert himself was responsible for during Robert’s Rebellion, yet is conveniently ignoring. Renly supposes it was all even more heroic with enough wine and convenient prostitutes nearby so he could "make the eight". An angry Robert reminds Renly that he speaks to a king. Renly then storms off, leaving Ser Barristan to look on with concern, as Lancel continues to top up King Robert's wine supply.

That evening, walking heavily on his cane, Lord Eddard walks over to the bed on which his daughters Sansa and Arya are sitting. Without declaring any reasoning behind his decision, he informs them that he is sending them both back to Winterfell. Arya wants to know if they are going home because Eddard is dying from his injured leg, but he assures them that safety concerns are the reason. Both Stark sisters begin arguing with him as Sansa doesn't want to leave Prince Joffrey, and Arya is finally seeing results in her sword training. Sansa protests that no one cares about her trivial dancing instructor, still unaware of what her sister is training in. Sansa then notes that they are talking about breaking her betrothal to Joffrey. Lord Eddard says that he will find someone else for her. Sansa refuses—she is going to marry Joffrey and have lots of golden-haired babies. This gives Eddard pause. Afterwards in his quarters, Eddard returns to the lineage book that Jon Arryn was looking at before he died. As Eddard consults the book's entry on House Baratheon, Lord Eddard finds that every time a Baratheon has married, the children have had black hair… right up to Cersei and Robert's children, who are all blond. Eddard then realizes that Prince Joffrey is not Robert's true-born heir and is result of an incestuous relationship between Cersei and Jaime. This leads Ned to ponder whether this may have been what his son Bran encountered before his “fall” out of the tower in Winterfell.

Some time later, in the gardens of the Red Keep, Lord Eddard meets with Queen Cersei and in a bold move he informs the queen that he knows the secret that Jon Arryn died for. He explains his discovery of the fact that Cersei's three children are not Robert's, but the product of incest between her and Jaime. Cersei quite casually does not deny the charge and in fact is proud of it, comparing her love to her twin brother to the old Targaryen practice of marrying and bedding siblings in an attempt to keep the bloodline pure. She also doesn’t deny her part in Bran’s fall from the tower at Winterfell. Cersei then admits to having despised Robert ever since their wedding night, when the king drunkenly stumbled into Cersei's bed and called her "Lyanna”. Eddard angrily tells her to take her children and leave the city immediately. He then explains that when Robert returns from his hunt, he will tell him the truth of the matter and Cersei should run as far as she can before that happens, lest Robert's wrath find her. Cersei calls Ned a fool for turning down the throne himself after the sack of King's Landing. Eddard tells her that he has regrets, but that isn't one of them. Cersei then departs with a chilling warning: "When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die. There is no middle ground."

Shortly following his meeting with Cersei, a panicked Renly Baratheon finds Eddard and informs him that Robert has been badly mauled by a boar and is not expected to survive to accident. Eddard finds the fatally-wounded King Robert lying in bed and telling Prince Joffrey that he wishes he could have been a better father to him. Once alone with the King, Eddard chooses not to tell Robert about his recent discoveries to spare his final hours from any emotional pain regarding his “children”. Robert instructs Eddard to write a letter naming him as the Lord Protector of the Realm, to rule until Joffrey comes of age. Eddard, however, does not write Joffrey's name, instead saying "the rightful heir". Robert also asks him to cancel the attempt on Daenerys Targaryen's life in the eastern continent of Essos, a final act of mercy displayed by the dying king. After leaving the chamber and bidding farewell to his closest friend, Eddard talks to Lord Varys and Ser Barristan. Asking Barristan a seemingly-innocent  question about the wine, Varys slyly points out that Robert’s squire Lancel ensured the king was kept "refreshed" with alcohol during the hunt, meaning his reactions were slowed and unreliable. Varys then regretfully informs that it is far too late to stop the attempt on Daenerys' life.

Afterwards, Renly confronts Eddard and offers him a hundred swords to take soon-to-be King Joffrey into custody, but Eddard refuses to dishonor Robert's last hours with bloodshed. Renly insists that every moment they delay action give Cersei more time to prepare as with the moment of Robert’s death it will be too late for them both. Renly suggests that he himself could make a good king, but Eddard angrily points out that Stannis Baratheon is Renly's older brother and the true heir that follows the line of succession. Renly asserts that Stannis inspires no love or loyalty, adding that good soldiers do not make for great kings. Afterwards, in his study, Eddard writes a letter laying out his findings to Lord Stannis and instructs a courier to take the message to Dragonstone, Stannis' island fortress. Lord Baelish then arrives and talks to Eddard, who tells him the truth about Joffrey's parentage. Littlefinger suggests that they keep this quiet, acknowledge Joffrey as king and essentially make the boy their puppet. If Joffrey proves intractable, they can reveal the truth and eventually crown the more malleable Lord Renly instead. Eddard, however, considers this as treason. Littlefinger realizes that even though Lord Eddard has Robert's edict naming him Regent  and  Protector of the Realm, he doesn't have the men needed in order to seize control from Cersei, adding that Ned needs the loyalty of the City Watch. Baelish understands that the honorable Eddard can't come right out and ask him to bribe them, but agrees to do what needs to be done.

Later on, Eddard is summoned to the throne room by "King Joffrey," confirming Robert’s passing as well as further Lannister control. Outside, he arrives to find Baelish and Varys waiting for him, along with Commander Janos Slynt and a detachment of the City Watch. Varys informs him that Renly Baratheon has now fled the city, along with Ser Loras Tyrell and a number of retainers. They were last seen heading south. The party then enters the throne room, where Joffrey smugly sits on the Iron Throne. He immediately demands oaths of fealty from his councilors and subjects. However instead, Eddard gives Ser Barristan Selmy the proclamation naming him as Lord Protector of the Realm. To Barristan's shock, Queen Regent Cersei takes the "paper shield" and tears it up. Instead, she suggests that Eddard bend the knee and swear allegiance and in return he will be allowed to safely return to Winterfell and stay out of their affairs. Eddard responds that Joffrey has no claim to the Iron Throne and commands Janos Slynt to take Cersei and her son into custody. Instead, the City Watch immediately kill Eddard's bodyguards, while Baelish himself sneaks up behind Eddard and holds a knife to his throat, saying, "I did warn you not to trust me."

*In the aftermath of Robert’s death, follow Eddard, Cersei, or Joffrey’s journey throughout the rest of the series.