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The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword.
— Eddard Stark · Game of Thrones
Behind the line May contain spoilers.
Our reading
An editorial interpretation.
This is a rule of personal responsibility: if you're willing to order a punishment, you should be willing to carry it out yourself. It argues against handing consequences to someone else, so the weight of the decision is felt firsthand rather than kept at a distance.
Context reviewed