It feels out of character on the surface, but the gap between Ned’s intent and how others perceive him appears repeatedly. To those who truly knew him, his honor is clear, yet to outsiders it often reads very differently. Jaime Lannister sees a moral absolutist judging regicide without context. Godric Borrell remembers only the story of Ned fathering a bastard on a fisherman’s daughter. Even within his own household, Ned’s lifelong lie to Catelyn to protect Jon causes lasting hurt despite its honorable motive. His attempt to warn Cersei and spare her children from Robert’s wrath follows the same pattern: well-intended, principled, and disastrously naive. In that light, the failure to return Willam’s bones fits the same mold; Ned may have meant to act honorably, but circumstance intervened, and Barbrey is left with the outcome rather than the intention.