the stag was the baratheon symbol (lannisters are the lion)...and him (ned) going down to help the stag (king robert) ended up killing him so it was definitely some foreshadowing....i knew that it was going to be a bad omen, i just didnt think he actually was going to die.

also im pretty disappointed at the fact they did not show how badass the imp was in battle...in the book he killed 2 niggas in an epic fashion, instead we had to watch 10 minutes of that sweet drinking game -____- (yes i know hearing that story about his dad and the whore was key for char development, still would have liked to see some actual battling)