Tyrion and his clansmen are assigned to the vanguard under the command of Ser Gregor Clegane. Returning to his tent, Tyrion is greeted by a whore named Shae, whom Bronn has found for him. Before dawn, Tyrion is roused by the call to arms. In the ensuing battle on the Green Fork, Tyrion and his clansmen do well and the enemy is routed. Afterward Lord Tywin Lannister learns that Robb Stark has tricked him.
A long table draped with a golden cloth has been set up on a hill overlooking the kingsroad for Lord Tywin Lannister and his chief knights and lords bannermen to take their evening meal. Tyrion, arriving late, is embarrassed as he waddles up to the table. Lord Tywin mocks that he will charge Tyrion with burying the dead if he arrives as late to battle as he does to table. Tyrion replies sourly that surely a peasant or two could be found for him to kill.
The news from Ser Addam Marbrand is that Robb Stark has moved south from the Twins with House Frey’s levies in tow and is now no more than a day away. Tyrion mockingly protests that he is about to eat and Tywin asks if the thought of coming to grips with Robb unmans him. Tyrion jests that he would prefer to come to grips with the roast pig, which is far more tender and better smelling than Robb.
The army’s quartermaster, Lord Leo Lefford, who has had to supply Tyrion’s 300 clansmen, uses this opportunity to quip that he hopes the clansmen are braver than Tyrion or else they have wasted good steel. Tyrion assures him that the arms and armor will be put to good use. Ser Kevan, who Tyrion knows is giving voice to Lord Tywin’s thoughts, takes the opportunity to inform Tyrion that he and his clansmen will fight in the vanguard since they seem so ferocious. Tyrion stresses the ferocity of the clansmen by recounting their recent lethal fight over a sausage.
Lord Tywin uses this as evidence of a poor commander who cannot maintain discipline. Tyrion knows that his brother could always make men follow him eagerly, but Tyrion lacks such charisma and must use gold and his family name to get men to follow him. Tywin then tells Kevan that because the clansmen have no discipline, maybe they should not be in the vanguard. When Lord Tywin suggests that he should guard the baggage instead, Tyrion angrily agrees to command the vanguard, only to learn that he will not command, but be under Ser Gregor Clegane. Disgusted, Tyrion excuses himself after only eating one bite of the delicious pork.
Tyrion gets lost in the camp but finds his way by following the sounds of Shagga’s laughter in the dark. Conn calls for him to share their meat and Tyrion agrees to join them when it is cooked, doubting that will be before the battle. When he reaches his tent, he finds Bronn sharing wine with his new servants—a groom, a body servant, a squire named Podrick Payne, and a slim young dark-haired whore named Shae. Tyrion told Bronn to find him a young one with a pretty face and to be sure to tell her who and what he is, so as to avoid the displeasing look of revulsion that sometimes greets him. He likes the girl Bronn has found.
Shae, Tyrion Lannister’s new mistress.
Tyrion invites Shae into his tent. When he asks if she is a maiden, Shae tells him that finding out will cost him double and Tyrion decides they will get along fine. Tyrion explains that her duties besides sleeping with him include serving him and monogamy. When they have sex, Shae expresses pleasure, which pleases Tyrion, who decides he does not care if it is feigned. Tyrion also finds it good to be with a woman after nearly a year of enforced abstinence.
Afterward, he sneaks out of the tent without waking Shae. Outside, he asks Bronn where he found her and is told that she was stolen from a knight because all the pretty ones were taken. Tyrion comments that he did not ask Bronn to make him an enemy, but agrees to keep Shae. When Tyrion asks for the name of the knight so he can avoid him in battle, Bronn insists that Tyrion will have him for protection. Tyrion then tells Bronn that if they both survive the battle, he can name his reward. Bronn asks who would want to kill Tyrion and Tyrion explains who has put them in the vanguard. Bronn only laughs and jests that a small man with a big shield will give the enemy archers fits.
Tyrion returns to the tent to find Shae. When Tyrion asks whom Bronn has taken her from, she tells him that the knight was a minor figure and a small man. Tyrion mockingly asks if she takes him for a giant, but Shae insists she does, calling him ‘’my giant of Lannister.’’
Tyrion wakes before dawn to battle horns and Shae’s cries. Outside, Bronn informs him that the Stark host has come down the kingsroad at night and they are forming up for battle a mile north. Tyrion’s well-fitting suit of armor is at Casterly Rock, so Podrick Payne and Shae help him into the ill-fitting oddments that have replaced it. Tyrion asks Shae to weep for him if he dies, but she only asks how he will know. He is helped onto his heavily-armored horse and given his battle-axe. Shae tells him he looks fearsome, but Tyrion disagrees. He instructs his squire Podrick to take her safely home if they lose. As the sun rises and he rides north, the clansmen fall in behind him.
On the battlefield, Lord Tywin commands the reserve in his magnificent armor that puts Jaime’s to shame. Ser Kevan commands the center and Ser Addam Marbrand the right, where Lord Tywin has massed his armored knights. The northmen will be tired after their long sleepless march; Tyrion wonders what Robb Stark was thinking.
Tyrion spies the massive Ser Gregor Clegane with the vanguard massing on the left. Bronn, looking at Ser Gregor, states that it is best to follow a big man into battle since he attracts all the archers, which Tyrion finds amusing. They hear Ser Gregor tell his men that if anyone runs he will cut them down himself. Tyrion receives his orders to hold the left of the left next to the river. When Tyrion’s clansmen reach the Green Fork, Tyrion commands them to keep themselves between the enemy and the river. Then the clansmen raise their battle cry of “Halfman!”
Although the van is all mounted, it is comprised of misfits and sweepings, including half-trained boys. Tyrion notes that the force is unfit to hold the left, and wonders what his father was thinking. When the enemy appears, their numbers seem great, but Tyrion knows that his father has more. He also notes that the Freys are among the enemy.
Tyrion’s mountain clansmen ride to battle.
The northerners charge and are answered first by the Lannister bowmen. Ser Gregor orders the charge, and the clansmen quickly leave Tyrion in their dust. The charge nearly breaks against the Karstark spearmen opposing them, but Ser Gregor’s horse crashes through the shield wall as it dies. The monstrous knight rises from his fallen mount and begins slaying men all around. Before the gap in the enemy line can close, Shagga rides through right behind Ser Gregor, followed by the other clansmen.
The northmen’s line begins to crumble under the assault. Then Tyrion and Bronn are in the fight and Tyrion successfully defeats a number of enemies, including a close fight with a tall northerner whom Tyrion only overcomes because his horse bites the man’s cheek, giving Tyrion the opening to kill him. Then a knight with a morning star comes at Tyrion, wounding and unhorsing him. The knight calls for Tyrion to yield, but Tyion uses the spike on his helmet to eviscerate the horse, which falls on the knight, disabling and trapping him. The knight yields to Tyrion. Tyrion can now see that the battle has moved past him. The northerners are being pushed against the hills and pelted by arrows. Finally, Bronn rides up and Tyrion sees his father ride by with the reserves to break the northerners. Tyrion finds the remnants of his clansmen, of whom perhaps half, including Conn and Ulf son of Umar, are dead.
Tyrion searches for his father and finds him sipping wine as his armor is removed. Lord Tywin tells him that his clansmen fought well. Tyrion asks if that surprised him and if they were supposed to be butchered. Lord Tywin admits that he expected the left to collapse, hoping that Robb Stark would press into the breach where they might capture him. Tyrion demands to know why he was not informed. His father declares that a feigned rout is always less convincing and that he is not in the habit of trusting men who consort with savages and sellswords. Lord Tywin continues that the Stark boy proved more cautious than expected, but it is a victory. Then Tywin notes that Tyrion is wounded and Tyrion asks that he call for his maesters.
At that moment, Ser Addam Marbrand rides up with the news that Lord Cerwyn, Ser Wylis Manderly, Harrion Karstark, and four Freys were captured and Lord Halys Hornwood killed. The bad news follows: Lord Roose Bolton has escaped, and Robb has crossed with most of his horse at the Twins and is riding hard for Riverrun. Tyrion remembers his father’s words that the Stark boy would be more brave than wise and thinks that he would laugh if it didn't hurt so much.
Robb Stark has managed to lead his host to Riverrun without detection. Now Catelyn waits with her guards as her son leads his host to ambush Ser Jaime Lannister. Once the battle is over, Robb returns with Jaime as a captive. However, the death of several of Robb's party mars the sweetness of the victory.
Catelyn is protected by thirty men under the command of Hallis Mollen, Winterfell's captain of the guard, as Robb’s host waits to descend upon Ser Jaime Lannister in the Whispering Wood. Robb had wanted to leave her fifty guards and Catelyn had only wanted ten, so neither of them left happy.
Robb’s army rode hard from the Twins to catch Jaime by surprise. Along the way, they were joined by the Mallisters and some of the forces scattered after Edmure’s defeat, but Ser Jaime Lannister still outnumbers them three to one. However, in order to besiege Riverrun the Lannisters were forced to separate their twelve thousand foot and two or three thousand horse into three camps separated by rivers, which leaves them vulnerable. In addition, Catelyn’s uncle, Ser Brynden, led a screening force of three hundred picked men to kill the few outriders that Jaime bothered to post, allowing their advance to remain secret.
Before they face the siege, however, Robb and his men have concocted an elaborate trap. Unable to endure the boredom of a siege, Jaime has personally ridden out three times to chase raiders. To exploit this, Robb sent a few hundred men with Tully banners to lure Jaime and his men into an ambush in the narrow valley of the Whispering Wood.
As she waits, Catelyn realizes that she is again waiting for a man who has promised to return from war, as she has done all her life. First, she waited for her father when she was young. Then it was for Brandon Stark, who never came back. Then she waited for Ned Stark, who left a fortnight after he married her to fight in Robert's Rebellion. At least Ned left her pregnant with Robb, whom she must wait for now.
Robb shows no fear as the battle approaches, but Catelyn still fears for the life of her son, remembering him as a babe at her breast. As Robb’s squire Olyvar Frey helps with his shield and helm, Catelyn sees a tall young knight appear where her son had stood. Robb leaves her to let his men see him before the battle, as his father had once recommended, with his direwolf Grey Wind shadowing him.
The Kingslayer is taken.
While she waits, Catelyn hears snow shrikes, which remind her of Winterfell. Suddenly, horns blow and arrows fly as the trap closes. Catelyn can initially see the moonlight on the lances, but soon she can only hear the sounds of the battle in the Whispering Wood. Eventually the sounds fade, and then Robb returns on a different horse with the blood of one of his bodyguards on his arm. They drag Jaime before Catelyn, and the captive declares that he would offer up his sword, but he seems to have mislaid it. Catelyn asks Jaime to return her husband and daughters, but he replies that he seems to have mislaid them as well.
Theon Greyjoy calls for Jaime's head but Robb considers the Kingslayer more valuable alive and, like his father Ned, refuses to condone the murder of prisoners. Robb orders Jaime taken away with a strong guard in part to protect him from Lord Rickard Karstark, who will want vengeance for his sons Torrhen and Eddard along with Daryn Hornwood. Catelyn then learns that when Jaime saw he was lost, he charged Robb’s party, hoping to cut down Robb. Robb states that he would be dead if not for Lord Karstark’s sons and the others.
Despite these losses, the battle is a resounding victory for Robb. They have taken close to a hundred knights and a dozen lords bannermen captive. Catelyn points out that they have only won one battle, not the war. Although they took the leader, most of the Lannister host is still besieging Riverrun, and they still have to deal with Lord Tywin Lannister. Robb agrees that Catelyn is right, and declares that they still have the siege of Riverrun to defeat.
Khal Drogo falls off his horse. Daenerys orders the *khalasar* to halt and calls for Mirri Maz Duur. The godswife declares that only blood magic can save Drogo. As the rite is being performed, Drogo’s bloodriders attempt to intervene. A fight ensues in which Ser Jorah Mormont is injured and all of Drogo’s bloodriders are killed. Daenerys starts to hemorrhage and Ser Jorah carries her into Drogo's tent.
Khal Drogo is looking drawn and swaying in his saddle. He makes no reaction as the large bloodflies circle and bite him. This concerns Daenerys who is used to seeing her husband catch the hated insects with his hands, quick as a snake, when they come too near. Drogo tore off the poultice Mirri Maz Duur had prepared for him six days ago, complaining that it itched. Instead, he used the soothing mud plaster of the herb women. He has also been drinking poppy wine, fermented mare’s milk, and pepper beer heavily but not eating much. At night, he thrashes violently and even the kicking of their unborn child not longer seems to interest him.
As Daenerys reaches for him, Drogo reels from the saddle and falls heavily to the ground. Daenerys rushes to him. Only half conscious and struggling in her arms, Drogo insists that he must ride, for the khal who cannot ride is no khal. Now Drogo has fallen from his horse and it has been seen. When Drogo’s bloodriders come up, Daenerys commands that they will halt for the day and that the slaves be called to erect Drogo’s tent. The bloodriders are not happy with either command; the region is not a camping ground and a woman cannot command. Daenerys insists that Drogo will punish them if they do not obey her and commands Qotho to find Mirri Maz Duur.
Once the tent is erected, Daenerys and her handmaidens bring the feverish Drogo inside and bathe him. Finally, Ser Jorah Mormont arrives with word that Drogo’s fall is known all over the camp. He asks Daenerys to send her maids away and breaks the plaster from Drogo’s wound. The wound has festered and is rank with corruption. Ser Jorah declares that Drogo is beyond saving and that they must flee before he dies.
Daenerys asks why she should run, since her son will be khal after Drogo. Ser Jorah explains that the Dothraki follow only the strong; the *khalasar* will not follow a baby. Instead, the *kos will fight for the leadership and her baby will be killed as a challenge to their authority. Daenerys insists that her *khas and Drogo’s bloodriders will keep her child safe, but Jorah reminds her that the bloodriders' last duty is only to return her to the *dosh khaleen* in Vaes Dothrak and then follow their khal. Daenerys does not want to return to join the dosh khaleen, but she also refuses to leave Drogo.
Mirri Maz Duur arrives with Qotho, looking exhausted. Both Qotho and Haggo, taking one look at Drogo, blame the godwife and start beating her. When Daenerys demands that they stop, Qotho threatens to take Daenerys out to be raped along with the *maegi*. Ser Jorah intervenes and eventually the bloodriders leave.
After they leave, Ser Jorah explains that the bloodriders die with their khal and are now beyond fear because they see their death approaching. Daenerys tells Ser Jorah to don his armor. Once the knight has left, Daenerys tells Mirri Maz Duur to heal Drogo. The godswife states that he is beyond help and will be gone by morning. Daenerys pleads with her, insisting that there must be a way, a magical way. Mirri Maz Duur admits she does know some dark magic learned at great cost from a bloodmage from the Shadow Lands; it will cost a life. Daenerys asks if it means her life, but Mirri Maz Duur assures her it does not.
Blood Magic in Drogo’s Tent - Kerry Barnett. © Fantasy Flight Games
They lower Drogo into a bath and bring his stallion into the tent. Jhogo pleads with Daenerys not to use forbidden bloodmagic and to allow him to kill the maegi. It takes Rakharo, Quaro, and Aggo to force the frightened stallion to the tub while Mirri Maz Duur chants. The godswife uses a red bronze knife covered in glyphs to cut the horse’s throat and fill the tub with blood. The godswife then orders Daenerys, who is now filled with fear, to leave the tent; no one must look upon the old and dark powers the godswife’s spell will wake. Outside, the gathered crowd stares at her. When Ser Jorah, now in his armor, sees the bloody footprints Daenerys leaves he asks what foolish thing she has done.
Daenerys can hear the maegi’s voice and see the shadows moving inside the tent. The Dothraki start to mutter and draw back. Drogo’s bloodriders return with the healing eunuchs. When Qotho sees what is happening he moves toward the tent, intending to kill Mirri Maz Duur and then Daenerys. He pushes Daenerys aside as she tries to interfere and she screams for her khas to stop him. Quaro is quickly cut down, but Ser Jorah steps forward to confront Qotho. Without his helmet, the knight is hard pressed by Qotho’s rapid strikes. Then Qotho’s *arakh* cuts into Ser Jorah’s hip and catches on the bone, giving Ser Jorah the opportunity to kill him.
Meanwhile, the other bloodriders and members of Daenerys’ khas have also come to battle. Jhogo’s whip catches Haggo around the neck, giving Rakharo the chance to kill him. Daenerys is hemorrhaging from the birth of her child and crawling toward the tent, screaming that the price is too high. The bloodrider Cohollo catches her and is about to kill her when Aggo’s arrow takes him in the chest.
When Daenerys raises her head again, the crowd is dispersing. Some are saddling horses and riding off as the sun sets. She cannot rise and the shadows are whirling inside the tent. Ser Jorah comes to assist her and calls for her handmaids to get the birthing women. Doreah informs him that they believe Daenerys is cursed and are gone. Then she hears someone (possibly Aggo) telling them to take her to the maegi. Daenerys knows she does not want to go into the tent, but cannot speak. Irri and Doreah both agree that they heard Mirri Maz Duur say she knows about birthing.
Ser Jorah carries Daenerys into the tent.
Arya is surviving on the streets of King's Landing by hunting pigeons. When she hears the summoning bells, she joins the crowd to watch her father confess his treason. Once the confession is done, King Joffrey demands his head. Arya attempts to get to him, but Yoren of the Night's Watch stops her. Afterward, he declares that she is coming with him.
Arya is catching pigeons on the Street of Flour. Compared with catching cats, pigeons are easy. She uses her wooden practice sword to knock one from the air and snaps its neck.
After taking the pigeon, Arya walks by a cart filled with tarts. When she asks for one, she is charged three coppers she doesn’t have. The man also declines to trade for her pigeon. Arya uses the seeing taught by Syrio Forel and decides she could steal one and get away, but the seller guesses her intention and points out the two gold cloaks close by. Even though they are paying her no attention, the sight of the gold cloaks ties Arya's stomach in knots and she lets the man pass.
At the Red Keep, which she avoids, Arya can see the heads rotting on spikes. There are all sorts of stories among the smallfolk: Lord Renly killed King Robert and fled, or the king died hunting a boar, or the king died eating a boar, or the king was poisoned by Varys or by the queen. The stories only agree that the king is dead.
Arya wants to leave King's Landing, but the seven city gates are either closed completely, open only to entering, or closely guarded by Lannister guardsmen and gold cloaks, who search everything and ask questions. Once she considered swimming the river, but the current is treacherous and she cannot afford a ferry or a ship. Arya imagines that if she can escape to the countryside, she can dig for roots, find orchards, pick berries, and travel north.
There are pot shops in Flea Bottom where she can get her birds cooked or exchanged for some bread or stew, but the people in them seem dangerous. Arya has even been chased a couple of times when leaving, probably for her boots or cloak, but she outran them. She often goes hungry rather than endure the stares of the people in the pot shops. The first night she spent on the street, her silver bracelet and her bundle of good clothes were stolen while she slept. All the thieves left her were the clothes and cloak she was wearing, her practice sword, and her real sword “Needle,” which she was sleeping on.
She misses her brothers. She tried to talk to the other children, but must have talked wrong (likely with a northern accent) because the young ones all ran away and the older ones asked questions, called her names, or tried to steal from her. One girl, twice her age, even knocked her down to try to steal her boots and was rewarded with a smack from Arya's practice sword.
On her daily circuit to check the city gates, Arya decides to go to the riverfront on her way to the Mud Gate to see if she might be able to stow away on a ship. The wharfs are too quiet. On a pier she sees men in the livery of Winterfell guarding a ship. She learns from a passing longshoreman that the ship is called the *Wind Witch* out of Myr, which is the same ship that her father contracted to take her and Sansa home. As she approaches the ship, Arya suddenly remembers to use the seeing that Syrio taught her again and realizes she does not know the guards. They call to her and she plays the part of a boy trying to sell them the pigeon, knowing they will recognize her if she runs. The ploy works and they send her away dismissively.
Eddard Stark’s confession - © Cecilia Latella
Somehow, Arya finds her way back to Flea Bottom and discovers her pigeon is gone, either stolen or dropped. Then she hears the bells of Baelor's Sept and wonders what it means this time. From one of the passersby she hears that it is a summoning and from another she hears that the gold cloaks are carrying the Hand of the King to the sept.
Arya follows the masses. All around her the townsfolk are discussing her father and the rumors of his treason. She pushes through the crowd and finds herself next to the statue of Baelor the Blessed, the Septon King, and climbs up so she can see. From this vantage point she can see her father supported by two gold cloaks in a rich velvet doublet and a grey cloak, his face drawn with pain and thinner than Arya has ever seen. With him on the pulpit are the High Septon, King Joffrey, Queen Cersei, the Hound, four other members of the Kingsguard, Varys, Littlefinger, and Sansa; Arya wonders why Sansa is there and why she looks so happy.
Then her father makes a speech in which he confesses that he betrayed the trust of King Robert. A stone from the crowd strikes him, causing a gash on his face and more stones follow. The High Septon intones that Blessed Baelor taught mercy along with justice and asks Joffrey for his verdict. Joffrey declares that his mother and his betrothed have requested that Lord Eddard be allowed to take the black. Then he declares that while he is king treason shall never go unpunished, and calls for Ser Ilyn Payne to bring him Eddard’s head. This causes an uproar around Joffrey as the High Septon, Cersei, and even Varys protest the decree.
”Bring me his head!” (TV series)
Arya jumps to the ground, drawing Needle, but the crowd quickly engulfs her. She sees Ser Ilyn raise Ice—he has Ice!—and hears Sansa screaming. She continues to fight toward them, using Needle to cut a path. A hand shoots out to grab her and hold her tight, forcing her to drop her sword. The smelly old man who has grabbed her tells her not to look and calls her a boy. Then she hears a soft sighing noise.
Arya looks at the smelly man and recognizes him as Yoren of the Night’s Watch, who talked with her father. He tells her to keep her mouth shut and that she is coming with him. Yoren shakes her hard when she tries to speak. Once the crowd starts to disperse, he hands her back Needle, saying that he hopes she can use it. He keeps calling her a boy and does not give her the opportunity to deny it, insisting that she is trying to say she is not a smart boy.
Yoren shoves her inside a doorway and a blade flashes at Arya’s face; she wrenches back her head but cannot escape because Yoren has a strong grip on her hair.
Bran and Rickon have the same dream about seeing their father in the crypt of Winterfell. Maester Luwin takes Bran down to the crypts to show him his father is not there. They find Rickon already there. They go back to the maester’s turret where Luwin tells them about the coming of the First Men, the treaty with the children of the forest and the coming of the Andals. A raven arrives with news of Lord Eddard’s death.
Bran is watching Ser Rodrik Cassel train the new young recruits in the yard of Winterfell. Maester Luwin is taking measurements of the comet through his lens tube. Bran comments that the recruits do not fight very well, and is told that Lord Eddard took the cream of the guard with him to King's Landing and then Robb took the rest along with all the likely men for leagues around; men are needed to walk the walls of Winterfell. Bran stares resentfully at the boys below, remembering how he knocked Prince Tommen down many times. Then Bran suggests that he could fight from Hodor’s back, but Luwin dismisses the idea as impractical. Bran talks about the blind knight Symeon Star-Eyes, but Luwin insists that that is only a story and that Bran must put his dreams aside.
The mention of dreams reminds Bran of his new dream of the three-eyed crow, a dream that was very sad. He tells Luwin how the crow brought him down to the crypts and his father was there. His father was sad because of Jon. When he woke up, Bran wanted to go down to the crypts to see if his father was there, but Hodor would not take him. Luwin tells Bran that Eddard will be down there someday, but not be for many years. Bran insists the dream was real and that his father was there. In order to dispel the boy’s delusion, Maester Luwin calls for Osha, who tells them that she has lived beyond the Wall, so a hole in the ground will not scare her. Because of Osha’s good behavior, her chains have been removed, but the shackles remain to show she is not totally trusted. She carries Bran in her arms, but he does not mind.
When Maester Luwin sticks his arm into the future tomb of Lord Eddard Stark Shaggydog springs out and savages his arm. - art by Tiziano Baracchi. © Fantasy Flight Games
The vault seems very dark and gloomy. Summer and Osha seem uncomfortable. When Bran states that the men represented by the granite statues were the Kings of Winter, Osha tells him that winter has no king; if he had seen a winter he would know. They proceed down the long corridor, past the statues, but Summer refuses to leave the steps. Bran tells the accomplishments of the different lords and kings: Jon Stark, Rickard Stark, Theon Stark, Brandon the Shipwright, Brandon the Burner, Rodrik Stark, Torrhen Stark, and Cregan Stark. When they get to the end with the statues of Brandon Stark, Lyanna Stark and Lord Rickard Stark, Luwin sticks his arm into the future tomb of Eddard, and Shaggydog springs out and savages Maester Luwin's arm.
Bran calls for Summer, who slams into Shaggydog, knocking the wolf off Luwin. Osha goes to assist Luwin. As the wolves fight, Rickon appears at the mouth of Eddard’s tomb, telling Luwin to leave his father be. When Bran tells Rickon father is not there, Rickon states that he saw him last night, and that he is coming home. Luwin, now looking unsure, tells Rickon that Shaggydog was supposed to be chained. Rickon replies that he does not like to be chained, and Luwin states that he is now the third man Shaggydog has savaged and it will only be a matter of time before he kills someone. Bran calmly states they will wait in Maester Luwin's tower, which Luwin states is quite impossible. Osha replies that Bran is the lord. Rickon agrees to come if Shaggy comes too. Maester Luwin reluctantly follows.
They enter Maester Luwin's cluttered turret, where Osha bandaged the maester's wound, following his instructions. Luwin tries to explain to the boys about the logic of them both dreaming the same dream. He says that Rickon is too young to understand, to which Rickon states that he is four. Then he tells Bran that he is old enough to know that dreams are just dreams. Osha adds in that some dreams are just dreams and some are not; the children of the forest could teach him something about dreams.
Bran starts to go into the stories that Old Nan told about the children of the forest: they knew the songs of the trees, flew like birds, swam like fish, talked to animals, and made beautiful music. The maester says that a man who trusts in spells duels with a glass sword. Luwin takes out several arrowheads made of dragonglass, or obsidian, which the children of the forest forged. He tells them that the children used shirts of woven leaves and greaves of bark in place of armor and carried blades of obsidian; Osha comments that they still do. Bran and Rickon each take some arrowheads.
'The children lived during the Dawn Age, before the coming of men in the land now called the Seven Kingdoms. They lived in the depths of the woods, in caves and crannogs and secret tree towns. Their wise men were called greenseers and carved the faces in the weirwoods to watch over the forest. No one knows how long they reigned or where they came from.' Twelve thousand years ago, the First Men crossed the Broken Arm of Dorne before it was broken. The First Men were mounted, tall of stature, and wielded bronze weapons.
The First Men chopped down the weirwood trees to build holdfasts, and the enraged children of the forest started a war. The greenseers supposedly used dark magic to make the sea rise and break the landmass that is now the broken arm of Dorne. Finally, a truce was called and the leaders of both races met on the Isle of Faces in the Gods Eye. After the Pact was forged, the greenmen formed to keep watch over the Isle of Faces and the First Men eventually adopted the old gods worshiped by the children. The signing of the Pact ended the Dawn Age and began the Age of Heroes. The Pact started 4000 years of friendship between the children and the First Men. While the kingdoms of the First Men endured, so did the Pact, all through the Age of Heroes, the Long Night, and the birth of the Seven Kingdoms.
Eventually the Andal invaders came with steel, fire, and the seven-pointed star of the new gods. The war lasted for hundreds of years, and the Andals burned most of the weirwoods remaining in the south, slaughtering the children where they found them. The children fled north. During the story, Osha adds that there are still children north of the Wall, and also giants, and other old races; Maester Luwin is not happy with Osha filling the two boys with folly.
Luwin’s tale is cut off when the two direwolves start howling. Now Bran is sure that he knew it. The direwolves quiet and a bloodied messenger raven appears. Even Maester Luwin is not sure he wants to know what is in the message. Bran, hugging Rickon hard, asks about the message and Osha tells him he knows, while putting a hand gently on his head. Maester Luwin reads the message and tears up as he tells them that they will need to find a stone carver that knew their father’s likeness well.
Sansa is in a depression after the execution of her father. Joffrey arrives to browbeat her into attending him in court. After court, Joffrey takes her to the ramparts to see the heads of her father and household. For a fleeting moment, Sansa has the opportunity to push Joffrey off the wall, but it disappears too soon.
Sansa stays in her room in Maegor’s Holdfast, sleeping, sobbing, and sleeping again. She does not eat the food the servants bring. When she dreams, she relives her father’s beheading. She remembers wanting to look away, but not being able to. She remembers that all the people were screaming and she remembers Joffrey smiling and feeling safe until he said those words.
Sansa believes she will be executed and the thought does not bother her; she knows songs will be sung about her. She even considers throwing herself from her window, but cannot summon the courage and runs back to her bed sobbing. She dreams of footsteps that belong to Ser Ilyn Payne coming for her with Ice. In the dreams, when Ser Ilyn is at her door she realizes she is naked, and covers herself and screams out that she will be good.
Finally, Joffrey arrives with the Hound and two others of the Kingsguard. Joffrey throws the curtains of the bed open and tells her that she will attend him in court that afternoon. Sansa begs him to leave her be, but Joffrey threatens to have his Hound force her. When she does not move, he orders the Hound to get her out of bed. She struggles as her blankets fall away to show that she only wears a thin bed gown. The Hound then tells her “Do as you are bid, child; dress.” He pushes her to the wardrobe almost gently.
She tells Joffrey that she did as she was asked and now only wants to go home. Joffrey tells her that he is still to marry her, so she will stay here. She responds that she does not want to marry him because he killed her father despite promising mercy. Joffrey insists he was merciful: he gave her father a clean death. Sansa now truly sees Joffrey for the first time, and cannot believe she ever found him handsome. Sansa whispers that she hates him. Joffrey tells her that his mother has said he should not strike his wife, so he orders Ser Meryn Trant to strike her with the back of his gloved fist. Sansa sprawls to the floor, her ear bloody. She agrees to attend court and everyone but the Hound leaves. The Hound tells her that she should save herself some pain and give Joffrey what he wants: she is to smile, smell sweet, and be his lady love.
Two maids creep timidly into the chamber. Sansa instructs them to prepare a bath and to get powder to hide the bruise on her face. She is amazed at how dirty her bathwater becomes, not having washed since her father’s execution. She chooses the green silk gown she wore at the Tourney of the Hand when Joffery was sweet to her—maybe he will remember and be gentle.
Ser Meryn escorts her to the throne room. From her observation of Ser Meryn, Sansa realizes that he feels nothing towards her; she is only an object. Sansa tells Ser Meryn that he is no true knight, which she thinks the Hound would find amusing, but she gets no reaction.
She is alone on the balcony as Joffrey dispenses what he considers justice. Mostly he lets his small council make the decisions, but when he intervenes he will not be dissuaded. She sees the ugly face of Janos Slynt at the council table and remembers how he threw down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead. She also notices how he nods approvingly at each of Joffrey’s brutal judgements. She wishes some hero would cut off his head but knows there are no heroes, remembering Petyr Baelish telling her that life is not a song. Sansa thinks “In life, the monsters win.” The last case is a singer accused of singing a song ridiculing King Robert Baratheon. He is made to sing the song before the court and Sansa thinks it is funny; in some verses it seems like he is singing about the queen. Joffrey gives the man the option of keeping his fingers or his tongue.
When the court is dismissed, Sansa flees the balcony only to be met by Joffrey, Ser Meryn, and the Hound. Joffrey examines her and tells her she looks much better. Sansa thanks him with hollow words. Joffrey then tells her to walk with him—the touch of his hand now makes her skin crawl. He asks her what she will get him for his coming name day, but Sansa admits that she was unaware it was near. Joffrey tells her that she is truly a stupid girl, and that his mother has said so and is worried their children will be stupid as well. Despite her expectations, the words still hurt Sansa and she realizes that the Hound was right: she is “only a little bird, repeating the words they taught her.” Joffrey then tells her that he will get her with child as soon as possible, and if the child is stupid, she will lose her head and he will find a smarter wife. He asks when she can have children and she tells him, not being able to look at him, that Septa Mordane told her twelve or thirteen.
Sansa now realizes they are going up onto the battlements and begs not to go there. Joffrey insists that he wants to show her how traitors are punished. He also threatens to have Ser Meryn drag her if she refuses. The Hound encourages her to go and Sansa realizes that one way or the other she must go up, so she goes willingly. It seems like she climbs a thousand steps to the top. Sansa looks out across the city to the countryside beyond and lets her imagination cross the hundreds of leagues north to her home in Winterfell. Joffrey demands to know what she is looking at and instructs her to look at the heads of her father, her septa, and a dozen more. Her father’s head does not look recognizable or even real. Sansa decides that they can make her look, but they cannot make her see. Joffrey is disappointed by Sansa’s hollow and stoic reaction.
Sansa cannot understand why they would kill Septa Mordane, but Joffrey insists she was a traitor as well. He asks again what Sansa will give him for his name day as a preamble to declaring that instead he will bring Sansa the head of her traitor brother Robb. Joffrey explains that Robb used treachery and deceit to defeat his Uncle Jaime. Sansa suggests that Robb may give her Joffrey’s head. This mistake results in two harder blows by Ser Meryn. Joffrey commands her to clean off the blood.
For a fleeting moment, Sansa realizes that it would only take a shove to send Joffrey over the parapet to splatter far below. Just as suddenly, the moment is gone when the Hound comes between her and Joffrey to dab the blood from her broken lip with surprising gentleness. She thanks the Hound; she is a good girl and remembers her courtesies.
Daenerys has terrible nightmares during her long recovery. She wakes to learn that her child was born dead, a twisted monstrosity. When she visits with Drogo he is comatose, but Mirri Maz Duur insist that he is alive. Daenerys is horrified by the cost of the bloodmagic. That night, she attempts to revive Drogo, but by morning knows he is gone forever and smothers him with a pillow.
In her dreams, Daenerys keeps hearing, “You do not want to wake the dragon, do you?” She is walking down a hall, her bare feet leaving bloody footprints. Suddenly she is with Drogo under the open sky of the Dothraki Sea. Drogo is stroking her, waking her passion, and when he enters her the stars are gone, great wings fill the sky, and the world takes flame. Then she sees Ser Jorah’s drawn and sorrowful face telling her that the last dragon was Rhaegar Targaryen while standing over a hot brazier containing red-hot stone eggs. In turn, he is replaced by Viserys with his molten gold crown screaming “The dragon does not beg, slut,” and “I will be crowned.” Then he painfully pinches her nipples and suddenly Daenerys is frantically running to a distant red door that is her salvation. She knows that the darkness is there, but she does not dare look back or she will be lost. She sees her son as a grown warrior, proud and tall, before flames consume him. Then the ghosts of kings are lining the hallway urging her to go faster. Then she is flying over the Dothraki Sea, and all are fleeing before her. She finally throws open the red door to see her brother Rhaegar, the last dragon, in his armor, but when she opens his visor she sees her own face.
Daenerys wakes to the taste of ashes, with Jhiqui standing over her. Her body hurts very much. She calls for something, but does not know what. Jhiqui says “Yes,” and bolts from the tent shouting. When they return, Daenerys is crawling toward her dragon eggs. Ser Jorah carries her back to bed and tells her to sleep and then Mirri Maz Duur gives her something in a cup. A dreamless sleep takes her.
It is dark when Daenerys wakes again. She calls for her handmaidens and they attend to her. They tell her that she has been sick for a long time. Then Mirri Maz Duur gives her wine and as she falls asleep, asking for a dragon’s egg. The next time she wakes, Daenerys has the pale dragon’s egg in her arms and it is warm. There is fine sheen of perspiration on her that she names “dragon’s dew.” There is no fever and she feels strong. She calls for her handmaidens and asks for a bath, Mirri Maz Duur, Ser Jorah, Drogo, and her child. Her handmaids avoid answering about Drogo and her child, and Daenerys knows that her child is dead.
Mirri Maz Duur and Ser Jorah enter to find Daenerys standing over the other eggs, which are all warm. However, when asked, Ser Jorah does not feel the heat from the eggs. Ser Jorah looks gaunt and limps from his wounds. He tells Daenerys that her son never lived, but Mirri Maz Duur tells her that the child was monstrous: lizard-like, with scales; his skin fell off, revealing a body filled with grave worms and the stink of corruption, as if he had been dead for years. She states that her son was strong when Ser Jorah brought her into the tent. Mirri Maz Duur explains that death was in the tent and that the shadows touched her.
Daenerys realizes that Ser Jorah killed her child by taking her into the tent, for love and loyalty to her. Daenerys states that she thought the life of the horse would be payment enough and is told that was a lie she told herself. Daenerys is not sure if she knew. Daenerys realizes that the life of the horse, her son, Quaro, Qotho, Haggo, and Cohollo paid for the life of Drogo. She asks to see what the price bought. Ser Jorah cannot dissuade her and has to help her stand since she is weaker than she thought.
Outside, in the glaring sun, Daenerys can see there is little left: a scattering of tents, a few score of horses, and perhaps a hundred people. They are the old, the frightened, and the sick. Jhogo reminds her that a *khal* who cannot ride is no khal. She learns that *Ko* Pono declared himself khal first, and Jhaqo after him. They took most of the riders, the herds, and the slaves because Daenerys’ own *khas* was too weak to stop them; it is the right of the strong to take from the weak. Most of the rest left during the following nights. Mago, now a bloodrider to Khal Jhaqo, seized Eroeh (whom Daenerys had denied him) and raped and murdered her. Daenerys repeats her mantra, “If I look back I am lost,” and swears that Mago and Jhaqo will die screaming. Irri warns her that Jhaqo now has 20,000 riders, but Daenerys insists that she is the blood of the dragon. Then she asks to see Drogo.
Drogo lies unmoving, unseeing, and covered in bloodflies. Daenerys asks why he is outside alone and Ser Jorah explains that he seems to like the warmth and staring at the sun with eyes that cannot see. He will follow where led and eat if food is put in his mouth, but otherwise does nothing. Daenerys faces Mirri Maz Duur, who insists that Drogo is alive. Daenerys responds that such is not life for a man that was as alive as Drogo. Then Daenerys asks Mirri Maz Duur when Drogo will be as he was. The maegi replies,
“When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east. When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When your womb quickens again, and you bear a living child. Then he will return, and not before.”
Daenerys goes to put an end to Drogo - by Magali Villeneuve. © Fantasy Flight Games
Daenerys sends the others away and then accuses Mirri Maz Duur of knowing, of cheating her and murdering her child. Mirri Maz Duur replies that it was wrong of the khalasar to burn her temple, and now the Stallion Who Mounts the World will burn no cities and trample no nations. Daenerys reminds the maegi that she saved her, but Mirri Maz Duur asks what Daenerys saved when three warriors had already raped her, burned her home and her temple, and cut off the heads of her neighbors and friends. Daenerys insists that she saved her life, but the maegi tells her to look at her khal and see what life is worth when all else is gone. Daenerys orders her men to bind Mirri Maz Duur and take her away; the woman only smiles at her.
Daenerys orders Drogo brought into her tent. She bathes him herself and washes his hair until darkness falls. She thinks of their first ride beneath the open sky and of when they made Rhaego. She is too raw from the miscarriage for intercourse, but uses other means in an attempt to use the magic of love to bring Drogo back. It does not work and her husband remains comatose. When dawn breaks, Daenerys kisses Drogo for the last time, and then smothers him with a soft silk pillow.
News of Robb Stark’s victory at Riverrun prompts vigorous debate among the Lannister officers. After dismissing the officers, Lord Tywin details their precarious position to Tyrion and dispatches him to King's Landing to serve as acting Hand of the King and keep Joffrey from ruining them all. In spite of his father’s direct command, Tyrion intends to bring Shae with him.
The army has just returned to the inn at the crossroads when a messenger arrives with word of Ser Jaime Lannister’s capture and the defeat of his army at Riverrun. Lord Tywin is upset that the Starks have his son. The news makes Tyrion think back on their grueling countermarch. After realizing that Robb Stark had split his forces, Lord Tywin set a grueling pace back toward the Trident in an attempt to reach Riverrun before the Starks. They left the bodies of the weak and the wounded in their wake every day and it was all for nothing; Robb Stark has beaten them there by many days.
Ser Harys Swyft bemoans Jaime’s decision to split his army into three camps, but Ser Kevan Lannister explains calmly that Riverrun’s position at the fork of the Tumblestone and the Red Fork forces any besieger to do just that, placing one army north of the Tumblestone, one south of the Red Fork, and one between the two rivers to the west.
Jaime’s army had no warning. Few of their outriders returned and those who did had seen nothing. The blame for their disappearance fell on a small raiding force commanded by Marq Piper and Jaime rode out personally to deal with them in the Whispering Wood and did not return. Robb’s force attacked the north camp first during the night. The Blackfish led the attack, cutting down the sentries. When Lord Andros Brax saw that the northern camp was under attack, he led the men of the western camp across the Tumblestone in rafts to join the battle. However, the current pushed them downstream into range of the catapults of Riverrun. Many of the rafts were sunk or overturned and Lord Brax was drowned by his heavy plate armor. Those few who reached the far bank found the enemy waiting for them. Ser Flement Brax, Lord Brax’s son, is disquieted to hear of the death of his father.
The camp between the rivers was overwhelmed as well. While Lord Brax was attempting to cross, two columns of armored horse swept in from the west led by Robb Stark himself with his direwolf at his side. A few Lannister pikemen managed to hold against the first charge, but Lord Tytos Blackwood led a sortie from Riverrun to take them from the rear. Greatjon Umber fired the siege towers and Lord Blackwood liberated the prisoners, including Ser Edmure Tully.
The south camp, under the command of Ser Forley Prester, was able to retreat in good order back toward the Golden Tooth with 2,000 spears and as many bowmen, but the Tyroshi sellswords in his camp struck their banners and went over to the enemy. Kevan curses Jaime for not heeding his warning about mercenaries.
Ser Harys exclaims that all is lost. Jaime’s host is all destroyed or put to flight and the Starks and Tullys now stand astride their supply lines, cutting Lord Tywin’s host off from their supplies and their homeland. Robb Stark can even march on Casterly Rock if he wishes. Ser Harys insists that they must sue for peace. At that, Tyrion shatters his wine cup against a wall, declaring that Ser Harys will have better luck drinking from his broken cup than making peace with Robb Stark now that Joffrey has beheaded Eddard Stark.
Ser Addam Marbrand insists that two battles do not make a war, while Lord Leo Lefford suggests a truce and an exchange of prisoners. Tyrion only scoffs that the Starks hold far more prisoners than they do and that Eddard Stark’s head will not get his brother Jaime back; Robb is winning. When Lefford mentions that they hold Robb’s sisters, Marbrand states that only an utter fool would exchange two girls for Jaime. Tyrion also shoots down Lefford’s suggestion of a monetary ransom, declaring that the Starks can melt Jaime’s armor if they need gold. Ser Harys then suggests that they get their friends in the court to join them and to raise a new host at Casterly Rock. Lord Tywin has been even quieter than usual. After reiterating that they have his son, Tywin orders everyone but Tyrion and Kevan out.
Tyrion is going to ask for wine but his father gives him his, untouched. Lord Tywin tells Tyrion that he was right about Eddard Stark: alive, Eddard could have been used to bargain a peace and buy time to deal with Robert’s brothers. Tywin states the execution was madness and rebuffs Tyrion’s attempt to excuse Joffrey for his youth, though at least Joffrey did not marry a whore.
Lord Tywin explains that Varys has heard reports that Renly Baratheon has wed Margaery Tyrell and declared himself king, with all the might of Highgarden and Storm's End behind him. Lord Tywin also informs them that Cersei has commanded him to march to defend King's Landing. Tyrion can tell that Tywin is not happy about being commanded. Cersei has not told Joffrey of Renly’s claim, fearing her son will insist on leading the City Watch against Renly and leave the city undefended against Stannis Baratheon. Lord Tywin admits that, from the beginning, he has considered Stannis the most dangerous, and yet the Lord of Dragonstone has done nothing; Varys has only heard whisperings that Stannis is building a fleet, hiring sellswords, and seeking the counsel of a shadowbinder from Asshai.
Lord Tywin and Tyrion discuss their options. (TV series)
Tywin then details their position on a map. With Jaime’s defeat, they are in a bad situation: Roose Bolton’s remnants are to the north, enemies hold the Twins and Moat Cailin, and Robb Stark is to the west so they cannot retreat to Lannisport without giving battle, while Jaime’s army has ceased to exist and Beric Dondarrion and Thoros of Myr plague their foraging parties. Then there are Dragonstone, Storm’s End, and Highgarden to the south calling their banners. Tyrion’s jest that at least Rhaegar Targaryen is still dead goes unappreciated. If they remain where they are they might get caught between three armies. Tywin explains that he plans to go to Harrenhal to confront Robb Stark. Ser Addam Marbrand will screen their movements, while Gregor Clegane, Vargo Hoat, and Ser Amory Lorch with 300 men each will set fire to the riverlands south of the Red Fork.
Once Ser Kevan leaves to issue the orders, Lord Tywin offers to let Tyrion’s clansmen ride with Vargo Hoat, but Tyrion wishes to keep them close. Lord Tywin insists that Tyrion must learn to control them then, because he will not have King’s Landing pillaged. Tyrion does not understand until his father explains that he is sending him to court to act as Hand of the King and clean up the mess Cersei and the small council have created. Lord Tywin goes on to rant about the raising of Janos Slynt, the dishonoring of Ser Barristan Selmy--who lent honor to any man he served--and the appointment of the Hound to the Kingsguard. He also tasks Tyrion with bringing Joffrey under control if Cersei continues to fail and gives instructions to execute any councilors who play Tyrion false. When Tyrion asks why ‘‘he’’ is being sent, Tywin states it is because Tyrion is his son; Tyrion, however, thinks it is because Tywin has given up Jaime for lost. As he leaves, Tywin commands that Tyrion is not to take his whore to court.
Tyrion sits for a long while in the common room before going to his bed with Shae and whispering that he is of a mind to take her to King’s Landing.
Arya runs out on her needlework session to watch the boys practice with swords in the yard.
Arya is dismayed at her crooked stitches; she can't match her sister Sansa's needlework. Their governess, Septa Mordane, coos over Princess Myrcella's needlework, which Arya thinks is also crooked. Sansa is whispering with Jeyne Poole and Beth Cassel. When Arya asks what they are whispering about she is told it is about how handsome Prince Joffrey is, and that he has complimented Sansa and is going to marry her. Arya points out that Jon Snow thinks Joffrey looks like a girl. Sansa laments that Jon gets jealous because he is a bastard but Arya defends him, drawing the septa's attention to her.
Septa Mordane inspects Arya's stitches and pronounces her dissatisfaction. Humiliated, Arya bolts for the door, stopping only long enough to be forced to bow to Princess Myrcella. Arya wishes she had some of her sister's skill and beauty. She has her father’s looks, not the beauty of their mother like Sansa. Jeyne used to call her "Horseface", which was all the more hurtful because the only thing that Arya could do better than Sansa was ride. That and manage a household since Sansa has no head for figures.
Arya finds her direwolf pup Nymeria waiting for her and together they go to watch the boys sparring in the practice yard, not daring to go back to her room where she would be found and punished. On the covered bridge overlooking the yard, Arya comes across Jon Snow seated on a sill with Ghost, watching the fighting below. She sits down beside him and they watch together.
In the yard below, heavily-padded Bran and Prince Tommen are fighting each other with wooden swords under the watchful eye of Ser Rodrik Cassel, the master-at-arms. The group of spectators includes Robb and Theon. Jon comments that swords are a bit more exhausting than needlework, but Arya responds that they are also more fun. Arya remembers thinking when she was little that she was a bastard like Jon because they were the only children to take after their father. When Arya asks why Jon is not down in the yard with the others, Jon explains that bastards are not allowed to damage princes, only trueborn swords can do that. Arya says she could fight as well as Bran who is only seven while she is nine, but Jon says she doesn't have enough strength for a longsword.
Prince Joffrey gives his mother's sigil equal place.
Jon points out that the newly-arrived Prince Joffery is wearing a sigil that has both the stag and lion on it, giving his mother’s Lannister sigil equality to the royal Baratheon sigil. Jon suggests that Arya should wear a combination sigil for the Starks and Tullys, but Arya jokes that a wolf with a trout in its mouth would look silly. She questions why a girl would need a sigil if she isn't allowed to fight. Jon shrugs that girls get the sigils but not the swords, while bastards get the swords but not the sigils.
Below, Bran has knocked Tommen down and Ser Rodrik calls Robb and Joffrey for a bout. Joffrey acts as if it is beneath his dignity to fight Starks with practice swords. He suggests real swords and Robb readily accepts. Jon comments to Arya that Joffrey truly is a "little shit". Ser Rodrik states that he will only allow blunted tourney swords. Joffrey's scarred bodyguard Sandor Clegane remarks that he killed a man with a real sword when he was only twelve. Joffrey makes a few more condescending remarks that enrage Robb, then feigns a yawn and leaves with Tommen. Jon encourages Arya to go to her room and face her punishment. Arya insists it is not fair, but Jon says that nothing is fair as he walks away with Ghost. Arya returns to her room to find not only Septa Mordane, but also her mother.
Jon deserts in the middle of the night, determined to join his brother Robb in the quest for vengeance. South of Mole's Town, his friends catch up and bring him back. In the morning, Lord Commander Mormont reveals he knows about the night’s events and convinces Jon to stay and join him on a great ranging beyond the Wall.
Late at night, Jon saddles a mare in the stables of Castle Black. As he mounts up, Sam appears in the doorway, insisting that Jon cannot do this. Jon warns Sam to get out of his way since he does not want to hurt him. When the fat boy refuses, Jon spurs his horse and forces Sam to leap out of the way, stumbling and falling. The mare leaps over Sam. As he heads south down the kingsroad, Jon hopes that Sam has not hurt himself getting out of the way.
The whole castle is silent and there is no one to see him leave; all the sentries are atop the Wall, looking north. Jon trusts that Sam loves him enough to give him a head start. In truth, he does not believe the timid boy can summon the courage to disturb the guards to wake the Lord Commander in the night. As he rides, Jon flexes his burnt hand, appreciating having the bandages off.
Jon stays on the kingsroad in the moonlight, knowing that he must get as far from Castle Black as he can before dawn, planning to then go overland to confuse the pursuit. When he fails to bring the Lord Commander’s breakfast at dawn they will search his cell, discover Longclaw, and know he has deserted. It was hard to leave the sword, but in the end Jon followed Jorah Mormont’s example. The thought of betraying old Jeor Mormont’s trust bothers Jon, but it cannot be helped. Jon is still not sure he is doing the honorable thing. Jon thinks that the southerners have it easier; they can talk to their septons to help sort out right from wrong whereas the heart trees do not talk.
Once out of sight of Castle Black, Jon slows his pace to spare the horse. He hopes to trade her for a new one and cannot do that if she is injured or blown. He will also require an entire set of new clothes; his black wool, leather, and steel will draw the suspicions of everyone north of the Neck. Once Maester Aemon's ravens take flight, not even Winterfell will offer refuge to him.
Yet fond memories of Winterfell are not why Jon has forsaken his vows. He is his father’s son and Robb's brother. Maester Aemon was right about the pain of choosing, but Tyrion Lannister was also right about denying a hard truth. Jon is done with denying the truth. For the rest of his life, he will be accursed and outcast but it will be worth it so long as he lives long enough to join Robb in avenging their father. Jon even envisions the moment he will reveal himself to Robb. Yet those visions stall at Robb’s reaction, when Jon cannot picture his brother smiling. Jon’s mind flashes to the deserter that their father beheaded and to what his father told the deserter about vows. He wonders what his father’s reaction might have been if that deserter had been his brother Benjen; he thinks it must be different. The thought of being rejected and executed does not bear thinking about, so Jon begins riding harder again, as if to outrun his doubts. He does not fear death, but he does not want to die like that. He is not a true Stark but he can die like one; let them say there were four sons.
As Jon approaches the lights of Mole's Town, Ghost disappears, apparently to go hunting. Jon does not concern himself, knowing the direwolf will follow at his own pace. Once he is well beyond the village, Jon stops to drink runoff from the snow and finds his fingers ache worse than they have in days and he has a pounding headache. Since his horse is lathered, he walks. Jon still has not seen his wolf and it concerns him. He decides to eat a sparse meal to give Ghost a chance to catch up. As he is finishing, Jon hears horses coming from the north. Knowing they are too close to outrun, Jon quickly takes cover with the horse in a grove of sentinel trees off the road.
As the riders ride up, Jon quickly recognizes the voices of the boys of his former training syndicate: Grenn, Pyp, Toad, Halder, and Matthar. Jon’s mare snorts, and Halder hears it as the others argue about where Jon might be, and asks the others to be quiet. Jon realizes that Sam did not go to the Lord Commander but he did not go to sleep, either. Jon is concerned that the other boys will be named deserters if they are not in their beds by dawn. Just as the boys are about to pass him by, Ghost comes loping through the woods and spooks Jon’s horse, giving away his position.
Jon first tries to flee but the boys are on him before he can. He draws his sword and attempts to frighten them into backing down, but the boys are unafraid. Jon demands to know what they want and they explain they are here to take him back where he belongs. Jon insists that he belongs with his brother Robb, but the others remind him that they are his brothers now. Jon wonders why they cannot leave him in peace. They start reciting their vows, Jon cursing them. Pyp moves his horse closer, and the others surround him. Pyp grabs the reins and tells Jon that he must either come back with them or kill them. Jon knows can easily kill them all, but agrees to go back, cursing them all. Ghost comes out of the trees and Jon glares at him, but Ghost’s eyes seem to have a knowing look. Pyp notes that they have to hurry because they must be back before first light, otherwise the Lord Commander will have all their heads. They make it back an hour before dawn. To Jon it no longer seems like home and he decides he will bide his time before his next attempt and avoid the kingsroad next time.
The next morning as Jon is serving his breakfast, the Lord Commander reminds Jon of his comment that the things men love destroy them and that the hard truths are the ones to hold tight. Then he comments that Jon looks weary and asks if his moonlight ride was exhausting. When Jon expresses his surprise, Mormont explains that Maester Aemon told him that Jon would leave, and that he told Aemon that Jon would come back. He adds that he knew honor would bring Jon back. Jon points out that his friends brought him back, but Mormont replies that he did not say it was Jon’s honor. He then tells Jon that he had a watch put over him, and that if his friends had not brought him back, he would have been taken anyway.
Jon thinks his life is forfeit and declares he is not afraid to die. Mormont says he hopes Jon is not afraid to live either, pointing out that if they beheaded every man who rode to Mole’s Town for the night only ghosts would guard the Wall. Mormont also notes that Jon is plotting to desert again. When Jon keeps silent, Mormont asks if he thinks he can actually bring his father back to life or make any difference to Robb’s war; each of Robb’s bannermen command more swords than the entire Night’s Watch.
Mormont goes so far as to point out that his own sister, Maege, and her daughters rode south with Robb, but that his place is the Wall. Mormont asks where Jon believes his place is. Jon thinks that he has no place, no mother, and now no father, but only says he does not know. Mormont says that he knows Jon’s place. The cold winds are rising: Cotter Pyke’s men have reported mammoths and huge misshapen tracks near Eastwatch. Denys Mallister has reported that the wildlings are abandoning their villages near the Shadow Tower and Qhorin Halfhand has taken a captive who revealed that Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, is massing his people in some secret stronghold for an unknown purpose. Then the Lord Commander asks if Jon thinks his brother’s war is more important than theirs is. He also asks Jon if he thinks it matters who sits the Iron Throne when dead men come hunting in the night. Jon has to agree; he has never thought of it that way before.
Mormont goes on to say that he believes Jon and Ghost were meant to be here, because the blood of the First Men, who built the Wall, is strong in the Starks of Winterfell; they remember things other men have forgotten. In addition, Ghost led them to the two wights. Some men, like Ser Jaremy Rykker, might call that happenstance, but Mormont stresses that Ser Jaremy is dead and he is alive. He wants Jon and Ghost with him when they go beyond the Wall; he wants to find Benjen Stark, alive or dead.
When Jon asks what he means, Mormont declares that he will not sit meekly and wait for the snows to come. The Night’s Watch will ride in force against the wildlings, the Others, and whatever else is out there. Mormont plans to command them himself. He continues that the Lord Commander’s steward also serves as his squire, but he does not want to be looking over his shoulder. Therefore, he asks Jon:
Are you a brother of the Night’s Watch or only a bastard boy who wants to play at war?
Jon pauses to apologize mentally to all his family before declaring that he is Mormont’s man and that he will not run again. Mormont expresses his approval and orders Jon to go put on his sword again.
Catelyn returns to Riverrun for the first time in many years. After meeting with her ailing father, she seeks out Robb in the godswood. After praying with his bannermen, Robb calls a council to determine their next move. The council argues for hours about which way to march and which king to support until Greatjon Umber gives a rousing speech and the bannermen proclaim Robb the King in the North.
Riverrun, the seat of House Tully – by Franz Miklis © Fantasy Flight Games
To Catelyn, it seems a thousand years since she left Riverrun by boat with an infant Robb to head north to Winterfell for the first time. Now she is returning by boat across the same river with a son who wears plate and mail instead of swaddling clothes. With them in the boat is Theon Greyjoy, and in the boat following are Brynden Tully, Greatjon Umber, and Rickard Karstark.
As they draw near, the men on the walls cheer them as the banners of House Tully fly from every rampart, but Catelyn cannot feel anything but sadness since she received news of her husband’s death, and she wonders if her heart will ever lift again. After passing under the wall through the wide Water Gate, they are greeted on the water stair by Catelyn’s brother Ser Edmure Tully and Lord Tytos Blackwood. A worn-looking Edmure embraces Catelyn, expresses his condolences, and promises vengeance against the Lannisters. Catelyn only says that it will not bring Ned back, then states she has to see her father.
She is escorted to her father’s solar in the keep, which is three-sided like Riverrun itself. Along the way, Catelyn asks about her father, and--as expected--Edmure explains that he is dying. When Catelyn demands to know why she was not notified, Edmure explains that with the Seven Kingdoms so volatile their father forbid it; if word had gotten out that he was ailing, the Lannisters might have attacked. Catelyn immediately blames herself, remembering it was she who sparked the war by arresting Tyrion Lannister.
The solar is also triangular with a balcony to the east from which the walls, battlements, and river fork can be seen. Lord Hoster’s bed has been moved onto the balcony so he can sit in the sun and watch the rivers. He is shrunken, looking much older and frailer than Catelyn remembers. Lord Hoster calls her “Little Cat” and tells how he wanted to be awake when she arrived; he was afraid he would not wake again. He speaks weakly and is wracked by spasms of pain. He defends his decision to keep news of his illness a secret, but admits that he was afraid he would die before seeing her again, especially once the siege began. She tells him that Robb is here, they have Jaime Lannister in irons, and Riverrun is free again. This leads Lord Hoster to tell her of the joy he had as he watched the battle from the battlements.
Her father asks if it was Robb who won the battle and Catelyn tells him that it was. Then she mentions that Ser Brynden was also an important figure. Lord Hoster seems surprised by the mention of the Blackfish and asks if Lysa has come down from the Vale as well. Catelyn cannot lie and explains that Lysa is frightened and believes she and her son are only safe in the Eyrie. Hoster is very disappointed that he will not see her.
Lord Hoster agrees to see Robb, who he remembers has his Tully eyes. When Catelyn presses on to ask if he will see his brother, her father asks if Ser Brynden has married anyone yet. Catelyn is saddened that her father cannot allow the old feud to rest. She tells him that his brother has not wed, nor will he ever. Lord Hoster launches into a weak rant, criticizing Brynden’s choice to defy him and never marry, saying that Bethany Redwyne is still waiting for Brynden. Catelyn has to remind her father that Bethany Redwyne has long ago married Lord Mathis Rowan and has three children. Her father states there were also offers from others, including Lord Jonos Bracken’s daughter or any of three by Walder Frey. Catelyn tells how she would not have made it to Riverrun without Brynden, and her father agrees that he was always a warrior. Lord Hoster agrees to see his brother later but he is too tired to fight now. Hoster is asleep before Catelyn leaves the solar.
Brynden is talking with the Riverrun guards when Catelyn returns, but he anxiously asks about his brother, and Catelyn confirms that he is dying. When Brynden asks if Hoster will see him, Catelyn conveys that he will but he is too tired to fight. Ser Brynden only laughs that his brother will be chiding him about the Redwyne girl as they light his funeral pyre. Catelyn smiles and asks where she can find Robb.
In the halls Catelyn finds Theon regaling the garrison an account of the battle and of how Grey Wind tore off a man’s arm and drove the Lannister horses mad. When asked, Theon tells her that he believes Robb went to the godswood. She realizes that this is just what Eddard would do after a battle.
Catelyn finds Robb praying with those of his lords bannermen who hold to the old gods, including the Greatjon, Rickard Karstark, Maege Mormont, Galbart Glover, and Lord Tytos Blackwood (one of a very few followers of the old gods south of the Neck). She feels she should not disturb their prayers. As she walks through the godswood, memories of her childhood beset Catelyn. Here her father taught her to ride, there Edmure fell and broke his arm, and under that bower she and Lysa played at kissing with Petyr Baelish and he tried to tongue them with mint from the godswood on his breath. As Robb rises from his prayers, Catelyn wonders if Robb--who has ridden into battle and killed men with a sword--has ever been kissed in the godswood.
When he sees her, Robb declares that they must call a council. Catelyn tries to get him to see his very sick grandfather, but Robb insists that first they must meet to discuss the news that Renly Baratheon has proclaimed himself king. Catelyn says she had expected it to be Lord Stannis and Galbart Glover says they all did.
The meeting is held in the great hall at four long tables. Lord Hoster is too weak to attend, but the attendance includes Edmure and the Blackfish with the Tully bannermen arrayed around them: Lord Jonos Bracken, Lord Tytos Blackwood, Lord Jason Mallister, Ser Marq Piper, Ser Stevron Frey, Karyl Vance (a lord now, following his father’s death), and Lord Lyman Darry, son of Ser Raymun Darry. The smaller number of northern lords sits opposite: Robb, Theon, Rickard Karstark (grief-stricken over the death of his two sons), Maege Mormont, Galbart Glover, and Greatjon Umber.
The lords argue late into the night with every lord taking full advantage of his right to speak. Roose Bolton has reformed their other host at the mouth of the causeway. Lord Tywin Lannister has crossed the Trident and is making for Harrenhal. Some lords favor marching east to meet Lord Tywin at Harrenhal. Marq Piper favors marching west to Casterly Rock. Jason Mallister suggests they simply stay athwart Lord Tywin’s supply lines and rest their troops. Jonos Bracken proposes they pledge fealty to Renly and move south to join him.
Robb, speaking for the first time, insists that Renly is not the king. The lords protest that Robb cannot mean to hold to Joffrey, who executed his father. Robb insists that that makes Joffrey evil, but does not make Renly king; as the youngest brother, Renly cannot be king before Stannis. That splits the room again, with some favoring Stannis and some still favoring Renly who is crowned and has Highgarden and Storm's End to support him. Robb states he does not know what to do since Joffrey is the true heir, but he executed his father based on a lie. Ser Stevron Frey, old Walder Frey’s heir, suggests that they make peace and allow Renly and Joffrey to fight and oppose or submit to the winner as they choose; Lord Tywin would welcome the truce and the return of his son. This is met with shouts of outrage.
Catelyn suggests a peace. Robb reminds her that the Lannisters murdered her husband and that he will have no peace with them, laying his sword on the table to emphasize his point. Catelyn points out that the war was started to free Eddard and to protect the Riverlands. The Riverlands are now safe and no amount of vengeance will bring her husband back. She wants her daughters safe, for Robb to be safe and ruling from Winterfell, and to go home. Ser Brynden questions what the terms of peace could be that would prevent another war in the near future. Rickard Karstark and Jonos Bracken question what their sacrifices have been worth if peace is made now. Tytos Blackwood notes that if they make peace with King Joffrey, are they not traitors to King Renly? Catelyn’s hopes of peace shatter before her eyes.
The meeting breaks down into another argument of which king to support, until the Greatjon rises to his feet and silences them all. He spits upon all the kings and declares that Renly and Stannis are nothing to him. He asks why they should rule over him and his from some flowery seat in the south when they know nothing about the North. Even their gods are wrong. The Greatjon asks why they should not rule themselves again. It was the dragons they submitted to and the dragons are all dead. Then the immense man points his two-handed greatsword at Robb and proclaims:
*There sits the only king I mean to bend my knee to, m’lords. The King in the North!*
The other bannermen all take up the call, even the river lords who have never been ruled from Winterfell. And for the first time in 300 years, there is a King in the North.
Daenerys builds a funeral pyre for Drogo and places her dragon eggs among his treasures. When she attempts to take control of the few remaining Dothraki as a *khal* would, she is refused. As night falls, Daenerys lights the pyre and is drawn by instinct deep into the inferno. When the pyre dies, the others find her unburnt and nursing the first three baby dragons in hundreds of years.
Daenerys and her *khas* build a funeral pyre for Khal Drogo, as is Dothraki custom. There is little wood in the land so much of what they find is gnarled. They lay the logs in a square and fill the center with brush, grass, and bark shavings. Aggo and Rakharo kill a stallion from their now meager herd so that Drogo might have a mount in the afterlife; it is nowhere near as fine as Drogo’s red, but there are few in the world that are. Mirri Maz Duur believes that Daenerys is attempting to use bloodmagic to resurrect her khal and insists that without the proper spells the blood is nothing. The *maegi* even goes so far as to offer assistance in exchange for being released from her bonds, but Daenerys orders her silenced. On the platform they pile Drogo's treasures, but Daenerys does not let the weapons she received as bride gifts be added, insisting they are hers.
Ser Jorah is wary of her intentions, and pleads with her to let Drogo go and come with him to see the wonders of the east. Daenerys assures him that she does not plan to sacrifice herself on her husband’s pyre. When Ser Jorah calls her “princess”, Daenerys insists that he call her “queen”; her brother, the king, is dead and everything that was his is now hers.
Once the pyre is completed, Daenerys gathers her people together, now fewer than a hundred, and declares that they will be her *khalasar. Among the crowd, she sees slaves and declares them free. She announces that any among them are free to go, but that if they stay they shall always have an honored place among her *khalasar.
Daenerys turns to the three young warriors of her khas and gives each of them one of her bride gifts, naming them *ko* and asking for their oaths as her bloodriders: to Jhogo she gives the silver-handled whip, to Aggo the double-curved black dragonbone bow, and to Rakharo the gold-chased arakh. However, none of them are willing to take the oath: Jhogo replies that this is not done and it would shame him to be a woman's bloodrider, Aggo states that only a man can lead a khalasar and name a ko, and Rakharo only promises to take her to Vaes Dothrak to join the *dosh khaleen*. Daenerys ignores the refusals. Finally, Daenerys turns to Ser Jorah and promises him a fine Valyrian steel blade when she comes into her birthright. Ser Jorah swears his fealty and heart to her and Daenerys proclaims him the first of her Queensguard.
Daenerys returns to her tent, knowing the Dothraki think her mad and not sure that they are wrong. After a pleasingly steaming hot bath, she is dried and perfumed. Daenerys sends her handmaids away so that she might prepare Drogo for his final journey. She thinks about how few Dothraki men die with their hair uncut as she washes him, braids his hair with bells, and dresses him in fine clothes and the worn vest he liked most. She finally asks him to forgive her, and declares that she paid the price, but it was too high. She then dresses in fine clothes with a vest like Drogo’s. The sun is setting when she calls them back to bear Drogo to the pyre.
Daenerys enters the pyre – by Kerry Barnett © Fantasy Flight Games
Daenerys orders oil poured over the pyre, and then orders her handmaidens to fetch her dragon eggs. Something in her voice makes them run. Ser Jorah protests that Drogo will have no need of dragon eggs, urging Daenerys to sell them and live as a wealthy woman for the rest of her days. Daenerys insists that the eggs were not given to her to sell. Daenerys climbs the pyre to place the black egg under Drogo's arm, near his heart, the green beside his head, and the cream-and-gold between his legs. Once the eggs are in place, Daenerys gives her love one last kiss. Climbing down, Daenerys notices Mirri Maz Duur watching her and hears the maegi call her mad. Daenerys only asks how far madness is from wisdom and commands that Mirri Maz Duur be bound to the funeral pyre by Rakharo and Ser Jorah, who hesitates and protests. The woman does not scream or plead as she is bound. As she pours the oil over the maegi’s head, Daenerys thanks her for all she has taught her. Mirri Maz Duur promises that Daenerys will not hear her scream. Daenerys insists that she will, but that she only wants the maegi’s life, echoing the woman’s own words: “Only death can pay for life.” This brings a flicker of what might be fear to maegi’s face for the first time.
Daenerys the Unburnt, Mother of Dragons – by Michael Komarck©
They wait for night to fall. It is Jhogo that first notices the red comet, the first star of the evening. Daenerys sees this as a sign to light the pyre. Mirri Maz Duur sings in a high, ululating voice at first, but her voice becomes a wail as the flames engulf her and she soon falls silent. The Dothraki and Ser Jorah back away as the smoke grows thicker and the heat stronger, but Daenerys stands her ground; she is the blood of the dragon and undeterred by the fire. She knew the truth long ago, but the brazier was not hot enough. Then Daenerys begins to slowly walk towards the fire as sweat covers her body. She sees many images as she walks: trees, animals, and a great grey stallion. Seeing the horse she tells Drogo to mount, and for a second she sees him mounted. He smiles at her and cracks a whip made of flame down upon the pyre and Daenerys hears the crack of breaking stone as the pyre collapses, showering her with ash, cinders, and broken egg shell. Behind her, she can hear the Dothraki and Ser Jorah shouting. As the pyre begins to collapse completely, Daenerys hears two more cracks like the first and walks into the heart of the fire.
When the fire dies, Ser Jorah finds Daenerys, naked but alive and unburnt except for her hair, nursing two baby dragons, with a third draped across her shoulders. The dragons match the colors of their eggs: cream-and-gold, green-and-bronze, and black-and-scarlet. Ser Jorah drops to his knees wordlessly. He is followed by Jhogo, Aggo, and Rakharo who declare her blood of their blood, and then her handmaidens and the rest of the Dothraki do the same. Daenerys knows that they are now hers as they never were Drogo’s.
Daenerys rises and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night comes alive with the music of dragons.
Bran is climbing the towers of Winterfell when he discovers Cersei and Jaime Lannister making love and talking about the danger his father poses. Eventually, he is discovered and Jaime shoves him out the window.
The majority of the men have gone hunting boar with the king, leaving Bran behind with Jon, Rickon, and the girls. Jon seems to be angry with everyone, even though he’s going to the Wall with Uncle Benjen, so Bran does not look very hard for him.
At first Bran was excited about leaving Winterfell and going to King's Landing on a real horse, not just a pony. He remembers the stories Old Nan told about ghosts, terrible dungeons, and dragon skulls on the walls. He dreams of being a member of the Kingsguard someday and is anxious to meet the greatest living knight, Ser Barristan the Bold. But now Bran is also apprehensive about leaving the only home he has ever known. He will miss all those he is leaving behind, even his pony.
Not being able to stand the goodbyes, Bran goes to the castle godswood with his direwolf. Unlike all his siblings, he still hasn’t named his wolf; none of the names he tries seem right. Eventually, Bran gets tired of trying to teach his wolf to fetch and decides to go climbing. His wolf doesn’t want him to go and howls when he climbs away up a tree and onto the armory roof.
Bran spends much of his time climbing the roofs of Winterfell. His mother claims that he could climb before he could walk. Since Bran cannot remember learning to climb or learning to walk he assumes it must be true. His mother is also terrified that one day he might fall and kill himself. Once Bran kept a promise not to climb for almost a fortnight and was miserable the entire time. Finally he gave in, but confessed his crime the next day. When his father ordered him to the godswood to cleanse himself, they found him sleeping in the tallest tree in the grove the next morning. His father, angry and laughing, told him that from now on he was free to climb, so long as his mother didn’t catch him.
Others have tried to stop him, but to no avail. The guards tried to stop him, but they were too slow and escaping from them was fun. Old Nan once told a story of a boy who climbed too high and was struck by lightning and had his eyes eaten by crows, but Bran likes to feed the crows and they never seem interested in eating his eyes. Maester Luwin made a clay boy and threw it off the wall as an example, but Bran only responded that he is not made of clay and he never falls.
Jaime and his sister Cersei caught in flagrante at Winterfell - by Pojypojy©
Bran is climbing toward the Broken Tower, where he likes to feed the crows, when he is startled by voices from the First Keep, the oldest part of the castle. At first he doesn’t recognize them as Queen Cersei and her brother, Ser Jaime. Cersei is telling Jaime that he should be the Hand of the King and that Eddard Stark will put them in danger because the king loves him like a brother. Jaime jokes that Robert hates his brothers. Unamused, Cersei insists that Robert will listen to Eddard. Jaime states that he prefers honorable men to ambitious men like Robert’s brothers and Littlefinger.
Cersei says she is worried about what Lysa Arryn may have said to the Starks, but Jaime tells her not to worry, as Lysa has no proof. Despite this, Cersei remains fearful that Eddard might betray her son Joffrey when he takes the throne or convince Robert to put her aside.
Bran grows frightened by what he overhears but wants to see who is talking, so he climbs over the window, then drops down. He can see the man and woman inside, naked and wrestling, fondling, and moaning. He recognizes Cersei just as her eyes open and she sees him. Bran loses his grip as he tries to escape, but he catches himself on the window ledge. Cersei and Jaime come to look at him. Jaime extends a hand to Bran and pulls him up onto the ledge.
As Bran begins to relax, Jaime asks him how old he is. Bran tells him he is seven. Then Jaime loathingly says, “The things I do for love,” and shoves Bran backwards out the window into the empty air.
Tyrion meets up with his nephew Joffrey and insists he pay his sympathies to the Starks, before joining his brother and sister for breakfast with news that Bran Stark will probably survive.
Tyrion has been reading all night in Winterfell's library when he hears a wolf howl. He gives up on reading, noticing that it's near dawn and that Septon Chayle is asleep. Tyrion wakes him and goes out to break his fast. As he leaves, Tyrion hears Sandor Clegane complaining about how long Bran Stark is taking to die. Prince Joffrey states that at least Bran is dying quietly, but the wolf's howling is disturbing his sleep. The Hound offers to go kill it, which Joffrey finds amusing, believing the Starks would not notice it missing. Tyrion notes that the Starks can count past six, unlike some princes.
The Hound uses the remark as an excuse to make fun of Tyrion's height. Tyrion brushes the comment off before advising Joffrey to pay a visit to the Starks to offer his sympathies. When Joffrey asks what good it would do, Tyrion tells him that his absence has been noticed. Joffrey continues to refuse, but Tyrion proceeds to browbeat him to the edge of tears until the boy acquiesces. The Hound, looming over Tyrion, warns him that the prince will remember how his uncle slapped him. Tyrion responds that he hopes he does and that the Hound should be a good dog and remind Joffrey if he forgets it.
Tyrion then seeks out his brother and sister, who are having breakfast in the morning room of the guest house. He asks if King Robert is still in bed and Cersei disdainfully explains that Robert has been up all night with Lord Eddard and has taken the Starks' sorrow deeply to heart. When Jaime adds that Robert has a big heart, Tyrion remembers that during his childhood Jaime was the only person who ever showed him any affection or respect. In return, Tyrion is willing to forgive Jaime almost anything.
As Tyrion orders breakfast, Prince Tommen asks after Bran and says he doesn't want him to die. Jaime comments on the name "Brandon" being unlucky, but Tyrion states this may not be the case, explaining that Maester Luwin thinks that Bran may recover. As he speaks, Tyrion catches the significant glance between Jaime and Cersei. Cersei immediately insists it is no mercy for Bran to live. When Myrcella asks if Bran will be alright, Tyrion replies that Bran will never walk again. Tyrion goes on to say that the wolf howling outside his window may be contributing to Bran's survival: when the window is closed Bran gets weaker, but his heart strengthens again when it is open. Cersei responds that the wolves disturb her and are dangerous, but Jaime tells her the girls' wolves will doubtless follow them to King's Landing.
Tyrion then reveals to his family that he intends to visit the Wall before returning south. Jaime jokes that he hopes Tyrion is not planning to take the black, but Tyrion quips back that if he did the whores would go begging. Cersei leaves abruptly with her children, insisting they shouldn't hear such filth, while Jaime wonders if Eddard will leave Winterfell with Bran so ill. Tyrion insists that King Robert will make the choice for Eddard.
Jaime declares that if he were Eddard, he would end Bran's torment and save him from being a cripple. Tyrion, himself less than able-bodied, advises Jaime not to say as much to Eddard before wondering out loud what tale Bran might tell if he wakes up. Jaime is not amused and wonders aloud about Tyrion's loyalty. Tyrion replies that Jaime knows how much he loves his family.
Copyright ©Round house, Drawn by James Sinclair
The Map of the North in A Game of Thrones consists of all the geographical information given north of the Neck. It was drawn by James Sinclair.
Copyright ©Round house, Drawn by James Sinclair
The Map of the South in *A Game of Thrones* consists of all the geographical information given south of the Neck. It was drawn by James Sinclair.
Three rangers of the Night's Watch are tracking a group of wildling raiders beyond the Wall, and encounter the Others, who had not been seen for eight thousand years.
Gared, Will, and Ser Waymar Royce, three rangers from the Night's Watch, are tracking a band of wildling raiders in the haunted forest. Will has reported on wildlings that he found, claiming they are all dead. Gared, an older man who has been in the Night's Watch for decades, is uneasy, and insists that they turn back to the Wall; they have eight or nine days of travel ahead of them, which can turn into a fortnight if it snows. Waymar, a noble born youth of eighteen, however, has the command, and after making light of Gared's fears asks Will again for the details of what he saw.
Will explains that he saw the wildlings' encampment. Their lean-to was covered by snow, they had no fire, and none of the wildlings moved the entire time he was watching. They were lying on the ground as if dead, but no blood was visible. Waymar suggests they might have been sleeping, but Will insists they are dead. There was also a woman up in a tree, but she did not move either. Gared suggests the wildlings must have been killed by the cold, but Waymar points out that the weather has not been cold enough to freeze men like that. He asks Will to lead them to the dead wildlings.
With night falling, the rangers ride back to the wildling camp. Both Will and Gared sense something is wrong, but Waymar mocks them again and commands Gared to stay behind to guard the horses. When Gared suggests starting a fire, Waymar sardonically orders him not to. Will fears that Waymar's insolence will provoke Gared into drawing his sword, but Gared eventually acquiesces and no fire is lit.
Will and Waymar climb up the ridge, Waymar much noisier than Will. When Will reaches his previous vantage point, he sees that the bodies are gone. Waymar, walking upright, reaches the top of the ridge and stands in plain sight. Will warns Waymar to get down, but Waymar just laughs. Determined to find the wildlings and make his first ranging a success, Waymar orders Will to climb a tree and look for a fire.
Will reluctantly climbs a nearby sentinel tree. Below him, Waymar challenges an unseen foe. Will thinks he sees a white shadow moving below, but is not sure. He is about to call down a warning, but stops, unsure. Waymar calls to Will with unease in his voice as he turns in a circle with his sword drawn, and asks about the sudden cold, which Will also feels.
Waymar Royce faces off against an Other. (art by Jon Neimeister)
An Other emerges from the woods: tall, gaunt, and white, dappled with a gray-green shimmer. Waymar nervously commands it to come no further and prepares himself for battle, challenging the Other to "dance" with him. Will notes that Waymar, in that moment, is no longer a boy, but truly a man of the Night's Watch. When more Others appear among the trees, Will considers calling out a warning, but decides not to do so, as it would require him to reveal his position. The sword of the first Other is made of inhumanly-sharp translucent crystal. Waymar is able to check the oncoming blows until his parry comes a bit too late and the Other's sword cuts through the mail under his arm. Waymar screams "For Robert!" and charges, but as his blade strikes the Other's sword, it shatters. One of the shards hits Waymar's left eye and he falls to his knees, blinded. All of the Others move in and slash at him mercilessly.
Will turns his head away for a long time before looking back to see that the Others are gone. When he finally dares, Will climbs down, examines Royce's body, then picks up the knight's twisted and broken sword. He decides to bring it back to show to their commanders, hoping Gared is still with the horses. When Will stands up again, Waymar has risen and is standing over him. His remaining eye has turned blue. With an icy cold touch, Waymar's hands go around Will's throat.
For the RPG game, see Game of Thrones (2012 video game).
A Game of Thrones: Genesis is a strategy video game by Cyanide. The game is an adaptation of the *A Song of Ice and Fire* book series by George R. R. Martin and is the first such video game adaptation. A Game of Thrones: Genesis was published by Focus Home Interactive on PC.
The game takes place over 1,000 years of the fictional history of Westeros, beginning with the arrival of the Rhoynar led by the warrior-queen Nymeria and ending with the defence of the Wall from the wildling assault.
The game can begin with the beginning of *A Game of Thrones* and ends when someone wins the Iron Throne. The goal of the game is to win the Iron Throne and doing so can be done by amassing enough 'prestige' within the game.
Each house has special units and abilities.
The Playable Houses included in the game are:
The game has two modes of play: House vs House (Versus) and Campaign. The game features four main facets: diplomacy, military, economic, and underhand.
"A Golden Crown" is the sixth episode of the HBO medieval fantasy television series *Game of Thrones*, first aired on May 22, 2011. Runtime is 53 minutes. The teleplay was written by Jane Espenson, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss from a story by Benioff and Weiss, and directed by Daniel Minahan.
Bran Stark (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) is awakened from one of his recurring dreams of a three-eyed crow with the pleasant surprise that the specially designed saddle that will allow him to ride has been finished. He goes to test it in the forest under the supervision of his brother Robb (Richard Madden) and Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen).
While Theon is trying to convince Robb to avenge his father for the Lannister's attack, a small group of wildlings that have ventured south capture Bran. Robb and Theon manage to kill all the men and capture the woman (Natalia Tena), but despite Theon's help, Robb chastises him for endangering Bran's life when he shot an arrow at the wildling that was holding Bran.
Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) is able to trick Lysa Arryn (Kate Dickie) into summoning a court to listen to his confession which reveals he had nothing to do with the attempt on Bran's life and Lysa's husband's death. After the Imp publicly demands a trial by combat and the mercenary Bronn (Jerome Flynn) volunteers to fight for him, she is forced to allow it. Bronn manages to defeat Lysa's champion by tiring the heavily armored knight, and Tyrion is allowed to walk free with Bronn as his escort much to the despair of the Tully sisters.
Ned awakes in his chambers with Robert and Cersei Lannister watching over him. Cersei accuses Ned of kidnapping her brother, Tyrion, and claims he was drunk and attacked Jaime first, but she is silenced by a slap from Robert. After she leaves, Robert tells Ned that he cannot rule the kingdoms if the Lannisters and Starks are at war and insists that Ned remain the Hand of the King, or else he will give the position to Jaime. He also informs Ned that he will be the acting King while he is on a hunting trip. Meanwhile, Arya Stark deals with her father's injury and losing Jory during her sword-dance lessons; Syrio tells her it's a perfect opportunity for her to learn to avoid distraction while fighting. In the Stark's common room, Sansa Stark and Septa Mordane are interrupted by Prince Joffrey Baratheon, who apologizes to Sansa for his earlier behavior and gives her a necklace.
While acting as King, Ned learns that Ser Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane was spotted leading brigands and attacking villages in the Riverlands. Realizing this is revenge for Tyrion's arrest, Ned orders Gregor's arrest, strips him of his lands and titles, and summons his Lord Tywin Lannister to answer for Gregor's actions. Fearing war with the Lannisters and for his daughters' lives, he orders Arya and Sansa to return to Winterfell for their safety. Sansa protests and mentions Joffrey's blond hair; Ned realizes something and re-reads the book of lineages of the Baratheon family. Doing so, he puts the pieces together: Joffrey does not have black hair like his father, his father's ancestors, and Robert's bastards whom he and Jon Arryn had been researching. Ned concludes Joffrey is not Robert's real son.
Daenerys Targaryen takes one of the dragon eggs and places it on a glowing-hot brazier. She reaches in and picks the blisteringly hot egg up. Her handmaiden rushes in to take the hot egg from her hands, burning herself in the process. Daenerys' hands are unscathed.In Vaes Dothrak, Daenerys begins the ritual with the Khaleen by eating a raw heart of a stallion. After some struggle, she completes the task and stands up to proclaim her unborn son as the Khal who will unite the entire world under one banner, and she names him Rhaego. Viserys grows angry at his sister's popularity among the Dothraki, but Jorah Mormont urges patience. Viserys will have none of it, though, and sneaks away to Daenerys' tent to steal the dragon eggs to fund his army. However, Jorah confronts him and forces him to leave the eggs behind, and Viserys storms off after a tense exchange of barbed words between the two men.Later, at a feast for Daenerys and Khal Drogo, a drunken Viserys draws his sword on his sister, threatening that if the Khal does not give him an army to take back the Seven Kingdoms, he will take back Daenerys and cut out the child from her. Khal Drogo agrees to give him the "Golden Crown" that he wants. But to Viserys' horror, the "Golden Crown" is actually molten gold to be poured onto his head. Daenerys watches her brother's death without care and coldly replies: "He was no dragon. Fire cannot kill a dragon."
Jane Espenson received a co-credit on the teleplay of the episode.
The teleplay for "A Golden Crown" was written by Jane Espenson, David Benioff and D. B. Weiss from a story by Benioff and Weiss, based on *A Game of Thrones* by George R. R. Martin. The episode includes the book's chapters 37 to 40, 43 to 44, and 46 of the book (Bran V, Tyrion V, Eddard X, Catelyn VII, Eddard XI, Sansa III, and Daenerys V). Chapter 41 (Jon V), dealing with Jon Snow convincing Maester Aemon to allow Samwell join the Watch as a steward, was removed from the series,
The episode introduces the recurring character of the wildling Osha. The writer of the original books, George R. R. Martin, admitted that this is the casting that is more different from the idea he had of the character. As he explains, he was surprised to see that actress Natalia Tena was being considered for the role since Osha had been conceived as a hard-bitten older woman and the actress was "too young and too hot". However, when he saw the audition tapes he was convinced with the new approach: "she was sensational, and I said, 'It's gotta be her.'"
For the first time since the premier of the shows the ratings decreased in relation to the previous week's. The first airing brought 2.4 million viewers, compared to the 2.6 million gathered by the previous episode. With the second airing the differences were reduced, rising the total of the night to 3.2 million and only one hundred thousand viewers below last week's 3.3.
"A Golden Crown" received many positive reviews from critics. Todd VanDerWerff from the A.V. Club gave it an A-,
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is a collection containing the first three Dunk and Egg novellas by George R. R. Martin.
A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms contains the first three Dunk and Egg novellas:
The original intent was to publish all Dunk and Egg novellas in a series of anthologies, as was done for the first three tales. After that, all the stories would have been collected in one big book. However, by the time *The Mystery Knight* was released, it became clear that the stories were too long, and that there were going to be too many, so the original plan could not be followed. A series of Dunk and Egg collections have been planned instead.
The title The Hedge Knight was the first title that was considered for the first collection. But since there already was confusion between The Hedge Knight novella, and The Hedge Knight graphic novel, this title was not chosen for the collection. The first collection was then titled A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms instead.
Because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms consists of previously-published material, additional content was added for those readers who had previously bought the anthologies containing the three original Dunk and Egg tales.
In several other languages than English, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms had already been published before October 2015, as several publishers acquired the rights to the novellas and did not wish to wait.
"A Man Without Honor" is the name of the seventh episode of the second season of the HBO medieval fantasy television series *Game of Thrones*. It was written by David Benioff & D.B. Weiss and directed by David Nutter. It aired on May 13, 2012.
The name of the episode comes from Catelyn Stark's assesment of Ser Jaime Lannister: "You are a man without honor," after he kills a member of his own family in order to attempt escape.
Sansa Stark (Sophie Turner thanks the Hound Sandor Clegane (Rory McCann) for saving her during the riots, but her thanks is met with a cold reception. Later, Sansa is awakened by a nightmare of the riots, and discovers that she has bled, which means she will soon have to bear Joffrey's children. When Shae (w:Sibel Kekilli) discovers her trying to cut the blood from her sheets, she begins to aid her, but they are discovered by one of the Queen's handmaidens, who rushes to tell the Queen. Shae catches her in the hall and threatens her life should she tell anyone, but upon her return discovers the Hound now knows as well. Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey) meets with Sansa to discuss her duty to Joffrey Baratheon, but tells her that it will be impossible to love Joffrey so she should just focus on loving her children. Tyrion Lannister (Peter Dinklage) discusses with Cersei that Stannis' fleet will be arriving in days and the King's plan to repel them might not work. Cersei opens up and admits to Tyrion that Jaime is the father of her children and regrets making Joffrey King who has become mad with power, believing she is being punished for committing incest. Tyrion can do nothing but counsel his sister that her other two children are still fine.
Jon Snow (Kit Harington) continues to search for his companions with his prisoner, Ygritte (Rose Leslie), in tow. When Ygritte deduces that Jon has never been with a woman, and learns that he has taken a vow of celibacy, she is dumbfounded, and tries to convince him that life would be better with the wildlings, under Mance Rayder. Jon remains true to his vows, and rebuffs her repeatedly. While crossing a muddy passage, Ygritte is able to slip away from Jon and make her escape. Jon pursues her but is unable to find her until she whistles to him, at which point several wildlings reveal themselves, thus capturing Jon.
Lord Tywin Lannister (Charles Dance) orders Ser Gregor Clegane (Ian Whyte to find Amory Lorch's killer, having confused the murder of Lorch with an attempt on his own life. When Clegane leaves, he invites Arya Stark (Maisie Williams) to eat with him, which she eventually does. They discuss Tywin's desire to leave a legacy and the conquest of Westeros by Aegon the Conqueror, which lead to the destruction of Harrenhal. Tywin is surprised to learn that Arya knows much of Aegon and his sister-wives and deduces that she is highborn, as she says "my lord" instead of "m'lord".
King Robb Stark (Richard Madden) hears Alton Lannister's (Karl Davies) unfavorable reply to the peace terms he brought to Queen Cersei. Lord Roose Bolton (Michael McElhatton) informs Robb that his prisons are full, so Robb orders the construction of a new pen to keep Alton in, and orders him placed with Ser Jaime Lannister (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) until it is complete. Robb also meets with Talisa (Oona Chaplin) to discuss getting her more medical supplies. Robb asks her to come with him to the Crag to see the Maester for her supplies, which she agrees to. After a long conversation, Jaime brutally kills Alton, planning to escape. When the jailer investigates, Jaime strangles him with his chains and flees. In the morning, he is recaptured and brought back to the Stark camp. Lord Rickard Karstark (John Stahl) demands the Kingslayer's head in retribution for murdering his son, the jailer Torrhen. Catelyn Tully (Michelle Fairley), with the assistance of Brienne of Tarth (Gwendoline Christie), is able to delay the execution until Robb returns from the Crag. She later visits Jaime in his pen, and after being insulted repeatedly, asks Brienne for her sword.
Having lost her dragons, Daenerys (Emilia Clarke) has difficulty trusting Xaro Xhoan Daxos (Nonso Anozie) when he tells her he did not take them. Later, Ser Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) returns from his search for a ship, and vows to find them. He seeks out the mysterious Quaithe (Laura Pradelska), who knows much of the dragons and the relationship between Jorah and Daenerys. She informs Jorah that although she does not have the dragons, Daenerys is currently with the one who does. At a meeting of the Thirteen, Pyat Pree (Ian Hanmore) tells Daenerys that he has her dragons in the "House of the Undying". Shortly after this revelation, Xaro, with the aid of the Pree, proclaims himself King of Qarth. Pree, having multiplied himself around the room, assassinates the remaining eleven members of the Thirteen, and Daenerys flees with Mormont and Kovarro (Steven Cole).
Prince Theon Greyjoy (Alfie Allen) awakes in the morning and finds the wildling Osha (Natalia Tena) gone from his bed. When he arrives outside, he discovers one of his men has been killed, and Bran (Isaac Hempstead-Wright), Rickon (Art Parkinson), Hodor (Kristian Nairns) and Osha have fled Winterfell in the night. While berating his men for the escape of the children he is challenged by Black Lorren (Forbes KB) for sleeping with the wildling. Theon brutally beats Lorren and then begins a hunt for the two boys and their companions, against the wishes of Maester Luwin (Donald Sumpter). After arriving at a farm, Theon is displeased to learn the dogs have lost the trail, but Dagmer (Ralph Ineson) discovers walnut shells in the farm yard, indicating Bran and Rickon may have passed through. Theon then orders Luwin back to Winterfell so he may interrogate the farm owner. After returning from the hunt, Theon calls the people to the square, and after Luwin's arrival, reveals to them two charred remains which he claims are Bran and Rickon.
Aidan Gillen (Lord Petyr Baelish), Liam Cunningham (Davos Seaworth), Stephen Dillane (Stannis Baratheon), Carice van Houten (Melisandre), Jack Gleeson (Joffrey Baratheon), Natalie Dormer (w:Margaery Tyrell|), John Bradley-West (Sam Tarly), James Cosmo (Commander Mormont), Jerome Flynn (Bronn) and Conleth Hill (Varys) do not appear in this episode and are not credited. Recurring guest actor Karl Davies (as Alton Lannister, the courier between Robb Stark and King's Landing) made his final appearance, as his character is killed in the episode.
The episode received positive reviews from critics: w:IGN's Matt Fowler awarded the episode a 9/10, noting that "While A Man Without Honor didn't have as many big, striking scenes as some of the past few episodes, it made up for its lack of face-melting moments with some absolutely fantastic one-on-one scenes.".
A Rose of Gold - by Serena Malyon © FFG
"A Rose of Gold" is a song.
It is sung by Hamish the Harper at the wedding of King Joffrey I and Margaery Tyrell in honor of House Tyrell.
A Song of Ice and Fire (commonly abbreviated as ASoIaF) is an ongoing a series of epic fantasy novels by American novelist and screenwriter George R. R. Martin. Martin began writing the series in 1991 and the first volume was published in 1996. Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes; a further two are planned. In addition there are three prequel novellas currently available, with several more being planned, and a series of novella-length excerpts from the main Ice and Fire novels.
The story of A Song of Ice and Fire takes place in a fictional world, primarily on a continent called Westeros but also on a large landmass to the east, known as Essos., the exiled daughter of a king who was murdered in another civil war fifteen years before, to return to Westeros and claim her rightful throne. As the series progresses, the three story lines become increasingly interwoven and dependent upon each other.
The series is told in the third-person through the eyes of a number of point of view characters. By the end of the fourth volume, there have been seventeen such characters with multiple chapters and eight who only have one chapter apiece. Several new viewpoint characters are introduced by the conclusion of the fifth volume, setting the stage for the major events of the sixth novel.
A Song of Ice and Fire is set primarily in the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, a large, South American-sized continent with an ancient history stretching back some twelve thousand years. A detailed history reveals how seven kingdoms came to dominate this continent, and then how these seven nations were united as one by Aegon the Conqueror, of House Targaryen. Some 283 years after Aegon's Conquest, the Targaryens are overthrown in a civil war and King Robert I Baratheon, backed primarily by his friend Lord Eddard Stark and foster father Lord Jon Arryn, takes the Iron Throne. The novels, which begin fifteen years later, follow the fall-out from this event across three major storylines, set not only in Westeros but on the eastern continent as well.
The first storyline, set in the Seven Kingdoms themselves, chronicles a many-sided struggle for the Iron Throne that develops after King Robert's death. The throne is claimed by his son Joffrey, supported by his mother's powerful family, House Lannister. However, Lord Eddard Stark, King Robert's Hand, finds out Robert's children are illegitimate, and that the throne should therefore fall to the second of the three Baratheon brothers, Stannis. The charismatic and popular youngest brother, Renly, also places a claim, openly disregarding the order of precedence, with the support of the powerful House Tyrell. While the claimants battle for the Iron Throne, Robb Stark, Lord Eddard Stark's heir, is proclaimed King in the North as the northmen and their allies in the Riverlands seek to return to self-rule. Likewise, Balon Greyjoy also (re-)claims the ancient throne of his own region, the Iron Islands, with an eye toward independence. This so-called War of the Five Kings is the principal storyline of the first four novels; indeed, the fourth novel primarily concerns Westeros's recovery from it in the face of the coming winter and the political machinations of those seeking to gain in its aftermath. In the wake of the war, four of the five self-proclaimed kings have been killed, leaving Stannis as the sole survivor. The Iron Throne is currently held by Tommen Baratheon, allegedly Robert's son, but illegitimate too. His former regent, Cersei Lannister has been deposed and imprisoned in King's Landing by the Faith. Stannis and his army, having gained little support from the Great Houses of Westeros, are presently at the Wall, far to the north where Stannis seeks to protect the realm from the threat of invasion, and simultaneously win the favor of the northern strongholds.
The second storyline is set on the extreme northern border of Westeros. Here, many thousands of years ago, a huge wall of ice and gravel was constructed by both magic and labor to defend Westeros from the threat of the Others, a race of now-mythical creatures living in the uttermost north. This Wall, 300-mile-long, 700-foot-tall, is defended and maintained by the Sworn Brotherhood of the Night's Watch, whose duty is to guard the kingdom against the Others. By the time of the novels, the Others have not been seen in over 8,000 years, and the Night's Watch has devolved into essentially a penal colony: it is badly under-strength, manned primarily by criminals and refugees, with only a few knights or men of honor to stiffen them, and spends most of its time dealing with the human "wildlings" or "free folk" who live beyond the Wall. This storyline is told primarily through the eyes of Jon Snow, bastard son of Lord Eddard Stark, as he rises through the ranks of the Watch, learns the true nature of the threat from the north, and prepares to defend the realm, even though the people of Westeros are too busy warring to send support. By the end of the third volume, this storyline is somewhat entangled with the civil war to the south.
The third storyline is set on the huge eastern continent of Essos, across the narrow sea, and follows the adventures of Daenerys Targaryen, the last scion of House Targaryen in exile and another claimant to the Iron Throne. Daenerys's adventures showcase her growing ability as she rises from a pauper sold into a dynastic marriage to a barbarian warlord to a powerful and canny ruler in her own right. Her rise is aided by the birth of three dragons, creatures thought long extinct, from fossilized eggs given to her as wedding gifts. Because her family standard is the dragon, these creatures are of symbolic value before they have grown big enough to be of tactical use. Though her story is separated from the others by many thousands of miles, her stated goal is to reclaim the Iron Throne.
The eponymous song of ice and fire is mentioned only once in the series, in a vision Daenerys sees in A Clash of Kings: "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire", spoken by a Targaryen (probably Daenerys's dead older brother Rhaegar Targaryen) about his infant son named Aegon. It is implied that there is a connection between the song, the promise, and Daenerys herself. This is established more clearly in A Feast for Crows, when Aemon Targaryen identifies Daenerys as the heir that was promised. The phrase "ice and fire" is also mentioned in the Reeds' oath of loyalty to Bran in A Clash of Kings. However, the song and the promise are never mentioned again, and the song itself remains a mystery.
The books are known for complex characters, sudden and often violent plot twists, and political intrigue. In a genre where magic usually takes center stage, this series has a reputation for its limited and subtle use of magic, employing it as an ambiguous and often sinister background force. center around a climactic clash between "Good" and "Evil"; plot lines have revolved primarily around political infighting and civil war, with only one or two storyline arcs even suggesting the possibility of an external threat.
The novels are narrated from a very strict third person limited omniscient perspective, the chapters alternating between different point of view characters. Martin's treatment of his characters makes them extremely hard to classify: very few can be labeled as "good" or "evil". The author also has a reputation of not being afraid to kill any character, no matter how major.
See also: Themes in A Song of Ice and Fire
Martin had a longtime love of miniature knights and medieval history, but his early novels and short stories mostly fit into the science fiction and horror genres; however, eventually several fantasy stories did appear, such as The Ice Dragon, which he later turned into an illustrated children's book by the same name.* series convinced him it could be approached in a more adult and mature way than previous authors had attempted.
After a lengthy hiatus spent writing and producing a television pilot for a science fiction series he had created called Doorways, Martin resumed work in 1994 on A Game of Thrones and completed it the following year, although he was only partway through his initial plan for the first novel. As a result, over time, Martin eventually expanded his plan for the series to include four books, then six, and finally seven, as the tale "grew in the telling," he said, quoting epic fantasy master J.R.R. Tolkien. Publication of A Game of Thrones followed in 1996. In the UK, the book was the subject of a fierce bidding war, eventually won by HarperCollins for £450,000.
Numerous parallels have been seen between the events and characters in A Song of Ice and Fire and events and people involved in the Wars of the Roses. Two of the principal families in A Song of Ice and Fire, the Starks and the Lannisters, are seen as representing the historical House of York and House of Lancaster, respectively.
A similar reality-inspired conflict is the succession struggle called the Dance of the Dragons between two children Aegon II and Rhaenyra. A historical struggle (labeled The Anarchy) between Empress Matilda, daughter of Henry I of England, and her cousin Stephen of Blois, provides the inspiration. Each daughter is announced as her father's successor, but due to differing reasons, male rivals seize the crown and are anointed as rulers. During the dynastic struggle, the rival claimants are deposed and succeeded by the son (Aegon III Targaryen and Henry II of England respectively) of the original designated heir. Neither Empress Matilda nor Rhaenyra actually ruled in their own name.
Martin is an avid student of medieval Europe, and has said that the Wars of the Roses, along with many other events in Europe during that time, have influenced the series. However, he insists that "there's really no one-for-one character-for-character correspondence. I like to use history to flavor my fantasy, to add texture and verisimilitude, but simply rewriting history with the names changed has no appeal for me. I prefer to re-imagine it all, and take it in new and unexpected directions."
Martin has also said the Albigensian Crusades are an influence for the series.
Regarding content, there are some major differences between the series and much of the high fantasy genre, but its structure has much in common with *The Lord of the Rings*. Martin states, "Although I differ from Tolkien in important ways, I’m second to no one in my respect for him. If you look at Lord of the Rings, it begins with a tight focus and all the characters are together. Then by end of the first book the Fellowship splits up and they have different adventures. I did the same thing. Everybody is at Winterfell in the beginning except for Dany, then they split up into groups, and ultimately those split up too. The intent was to fan out, then curve and come back together. Finding the point where that turn begins has been one of the issues I’ve wrestled with."
Originally planned as a trilogy, the series now consists of five published volumes:
The remaining two novels are provisionally titled:
Additionally there are also three prequel novellas, set in the same world, roughly 90 years before the main events, commonly known as the "Tales of Dunk and Egg" after their main protagonists:
The Hedge Knight is also available as a graphic novel from Dabel Brothers Productions; an adaptation of The Sworn Sword is forthcoming from the same company. The author has said that he would like to write a number of these stories (varying from six to twelve from interview to interview) covering the entire lives of these two characters. Further, a collection containing the first three published Dunk and Egg novellas called *A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms* was published in 2015.
Additionally there are also three novellas based on chapter sets from the books, previously in collected form in other outlets.
Furthermore, Martin released a "history compendium", a companion book to the main series, and has announced a second and third.
George R. R. Martin at the 2011 Time 100 gala.
George R. R. Martin was already a successful fantasy and sci-fi author and TV writer before writing his A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
When Martin was between Hollywood projects in the summer of 1991, he started writing a new science fiction novel called Avalon. After three chapters, he had a vivid idea of a boy seeing a man's beheading and finding direwolves in the snow, which would eventually become the first non-prologue chapter of A Game of Thrones.
Martin resumed work on A Game of Thrones in 1994, selling the novel as part of a trilogy to his agent,
The finished manuscript for A Game of Thrones was 1088 pages long (without the appendices),
The second book called *A Clash of Kings* was released in February 1999 in the United States,
Martin was several months late turning in the third book, *A Storm of Swords*.
After A Game of Thrones, A Clash of Kings, and A Storm of Swords, Martin originally intended to write three more books.
In 2001, Martin was still optimistic that the fourth installment might be released in the last quarter of 2002.
The manuscript length of A Feast For Crows eventually surpassed A Storm of Swords.
Since the characters were spread out across the world,
Upon its release in October 2005 in the UK
With around 1600 pages in manuscript length,
The sixth book is going to be called *The Winds of Winter*,
Martin hopes to finish The Winds of Winter much faster than the fifth book.
Displeased with the provisional title A Time For Wolves for the final volume, Martin ultimately announced A Dream of Spring as the title for the seventh book in 2006.
Martin does not rule out additional stories set in Westeros after the last book, although he is unlikely to continue in that vein immediately.
The series has been placed as the number 1 rated series at the Internet Book List since a revision of the rating system in October 2005., Additionally the individual books has won a number of awards:
Main article: Derived works
The series is the basis of a great number of derived works, including the HBO TV series Game of Thrones, a card game, a board game, a role-playing game and two video games under development. It has also inspired several musicians, and an upcoming parody of A Game of Thrones.
Main article: Pronunciation guide
Unlike J. R. R. Tolkien, who provided detailed instructions for the pronunciation of the languages of Middle-earth, Martin has provided no canonical way of pronouncing Westerosi names, stating "You can pronounce it however you like." However, it is possible to establish some guidelines.
A Song of Ice and Fire Calendars, are calendars based on the epic fantasy series, A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin. They provide new and original thematic illustration. The first calendar was released in 2009, by Dabel Brothers Publishing. However, due to some problems, George R. R. Martin's main publisher, Random House Publishing, took over production of future calendars.
Cover of the 2009 calendar,
by Michael Komarck
Back cover of the 2009 calendar,
by Michael Komarck
Cover of the 2011 calendar,
by Ted Nasmith
Back cover of the 2011 calendar,
by Ted Nasmith
Cover of the 2012 calendar,
by John Picacio
Back cover of the 2012 calendar,
by John Picacio
Cover of the 2013 calendar,
by Marc Simonetti
Back cover of the 2013 calendar,
by Marc Simonetti
Cover of the 2014 calendar,
by Gary Gianni
Back cover of the 2014 calendar,
by Gary Gianni
Cover of the 2015 calendar,
by Donato Giancola
Back cover of the 2015 calendar,
by Donato Giancola
Cover of the 2016 calendar,
by Magali Villeneuve
Back cover of the 2016 calendar,
by Magali Villeneuve
Cover of the 2017 calendar,
by Didier Graffet
Back cover of the 2017 calendar,
by Didier Graffet
Cover of the 2018 calendar,
by Eric Velhagen
Back cover of the 2018 calendar,
by Eric Velhagen
Cover of the 2019 calendar,
by John Jude Palencar
A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide is a supplemental role-playing game book for use with Green Ronin Publishing's *A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying, a role-playing game based on the *A Song of Ice and Fire fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide describes Martin's Westeros in lavish detail, providing full details on all the major regions and principal players of the game of thrones.
The pages indexed on this page contain errata for confirmed errors and inconsistencies in George R. R. Martin's *A Song of Ice and Fire* series.
In his *A Song of Ice and Fire* series, George R. R. Martin uses the "unreliable narrator". As such, not all inconsistencies in the books that are mistakes. As such, the pages indexed here represent a collection of gathered possible and confirmed mistakes and, if possible, their confirmed corrections within Martin's series.
What you will not find on this page are discussions of information from the So Spake Martins which contradicts with more recently released printed material, contradictions found in sample chapters from unreleased books (e.g., *The Winds of Winter*), or speculations about possible solutions.
Examples of what will not be found on the errata pages include:
A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying is a role-playing game produced by Green Ronin Publishing and based on the *A Song of Ice and Fire* fantasy series by George R. R. Martin. It is the second roleplaying game to be licensed by Martin, the first being *A Game of Thrones, which stopped being made when its publisher went bankrupt. *A Song of Ice and Fire Roleplaying uses a custom system made just for the setting, and the company has since released many supplemental adventures and content.
The game has won many industry awards such as 2009's Silver ENnie for Best Rules, while its free quick-start counterpart received the 2009 Golden ENnie for best Free Product.
Freed from the grip of mad King Aerys II, Westeros emerges from a bloody civil war as Robert Baratheon attempts to bring a lasting peace to the Seven Kingdoms. In spite of the promises of justice and prosperity for all, this perilous time is marked by the political maneuvering of ambitious nobles and foul plots hatched in secret councils. Villains are rewarded for dark deeds and honest men are brought low for old loyalties. Conspiracies abound, the wind carries rumors of war, and the Great Houses struggle to find their places in this new regime. And all the while an ancient evil stirs in the far-flung reaches of the north.
Core Rules
*A Song of Ice and Fire Campaign Guide* - The second core book, describes Westeros in lavish detail, providing full details on all the major regions and principal players of the game of thrones.
Peril at King's Landing - Supporting book, provide a complete adventure to help you kick-start your campaign. Used by itself or as part of a series, this adventure provides everything a Narrator needs to tell an engaging tale of mystery and mayhem.
A Song of Ice and Fire Chronicle Starter.
A Song of Ice and Fire Narrator's Kit
Wedding Knight (pdf only)
2009 (Hardcover) and 2010 (Pocket) Editions
Core Rules, A Game of Thrones Edition (2012)
A translation of the basic rules (more exactly, of the Pocket Edition) was published in Brazilian Portuguese by Jambô Editora in March 2015 (ISBN 9788589134866). It has the cover of the 2012 edition and is named "Guerra dos Tronos", which translates to "War of the Thrones".
A Storm of Swords is the third of seven planned novels in *A Song of Ice and Fire, an epic fantasy series by American author George R. R. Martin. It was first published on August 8, 2000 in the United Kingdom, with a United States edition following in November 2000. Its publication was preceded by a novella called *Path of the Dragon, which collects some of the Daenerys Targaryen chapters from the novel into a single book.
To date, A Storm of Swords is the longest novel in the series. It was so long that in the UK its paperback edition was split in half, Part 1 being published as Steel and Snow in June 2001 (with the one-volume cover) and Part 2 as Blood and Gold in August 2001 (with a specially-commissioned new cover). In France, the decision was made to cut the novel into four separate editions.
A Storm of Swords won the 2001 Locus Award and 2002 Geffen Award for Best Novel and was nominated for the 2002 Nebula Award for Best Novel. Significantly, it was the first novel in the series to be nominated for the Hugo Award, one of the two most prestigious awards in science fiction and fantasy publishing, although it lost to J. K. Rowling's novel *Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire*.
Meisha Merlin, who had previously issued limited, illustrated editions of both *A Game of Thrones* and *A Clash of Kings, were planning to release a similar version for *A Storm of Swords in two volumes. However, lengthy delays on the release of A Clash of Kings caused Meisha Merlin to lose the printing rights for the book, which were picked up by Subterranean Press instead. This edition, fully illustrated by Charles Vess, was released in the summer of 2006.
A Storm of Swords is also the name of the second expansion to the board game *A Game of Thrones*, released in July 2006.
The novel has been placed as the number 1 rated book at the Internet Book List since a revision of the rating system in October 2005. This list is derived from the votes of Internet Book List registered users.
A Storm of Swords is set in a fictitious world reminiscent of medieval Europe (primarily on a continent called Westeros), except for the fact that in this world, seasons can last for years, sometimes decades.
Main article: Chapter Summaries
A Storm of Swords picks up the story where *A Clash of Kings* ends. The Seven Kingdoms are in the grip of the War of the Five Kings, with Robb Stark, Balon Greyjoy, Renly Baratheon, Joffrey Baratheon, and Stannis Baratheon fighting to secure their crowns, although Renly has already died. Stannis's attempt to take King's Landing has been defeated by the new alliance between House Lannister (backing Joffrey) and House Tyrell, whilst House Martell has also pledged its support to the Lannisters. Meanwhile, a large host of wildlings is marching on the Wall under Mance Rayder, with only the tiny force of the Night's Watch in its path, and in the distant east Daenerys Targaryen is on her way back to Pentos in the hope of raising forces to retake the Iron Throne.
The novel begins in the final months of 299 AC and carries on into 300 AC.
UK hardcover edition of A Storm of Swords
Brienne of Tarth escorts Jaime Lannister from Riverrun by boat, Jaime having been released at Catelyn's order. Brienne is to take Jaime back to King's Landing and ensure that Sansa and Arya Stark are returned in his place. They are pursued by Tully bannermen, but evade them. Jaime spends most of his time insulting Brienne, despite her great size and strength with a sword. They are forced to abandon the Red Fork and take to the countryside of the riverlands. Near Maidenpool they are waylaid by mercenaries from Essos known as the Brave Companions (in the service of the Starks, having swapped sides from the Lannisters) and taken to Harrenhal, which is now under their command. The Companions find Jaime's position as a captive to be highly amusing and their commander, Vargo Hoat, orders Jaime's sword hand to be hacked off to send a message to Tywin Lannister, on their way to Harrenhal. Roose Bolton arrives back at the castle and is unimpressed with the Brave Companions' activities. He agrees to return Jaime to King's Landing and sends him on, with compliments to Lord Tywin. This strikes Jaime as a highly odd thing for a loyal Stark bannerman to do. As he leaves, Jaime offhandedly says, "Send Robb Stark my regards." Bolton hands over Brienne to the Brave Companions to ransom her for the promised sapphires or to do with her as they pleased. He leaves Harrenhal subsequently, leaving Vargo Hoat as Lord of Harrenhal. Hoat throws Brienne into the bear pit; from where she is rescued by Jaime with the help of Bolton's men, when he comes back for her. They head back for King's Landing.
Robb Stark's army returns to Riverrun in triumph, having smashed several Lannister forces in the westerlands and won great victories. However, Robb is furious with his uncle, Ser Edmure Tully, whose Battle of the Fords prevented Lord Tywin's army from marching into the west. Robb's plan was for Tywin to come west and into a trap Robb was preparing, which would have kept Tywin from intervening at the Battle of the Blackwater. Catelyn is horrified when Robb reveals that he has married Jeyne Westerling of the Crag, violating his oath of betrothal to House Frey. Robb claims he had no choice when Jeyne offered him 'comfort' after he learned of the capture of Winterfell and the supposed deaths of Bran and Rickon. The situation of the Stark and Tully armies is poor, with the combined Tyrell-Lannister host far outnumbering their own and the Greyjoys barring the way home, not to mention the loss of the footmen at Duskendale. Nevertheless, Robb has a new plan to outflank and take Moat Cailin from the Greyjoys and allow them to return to the north. Unfortunately, the riverlords will have to fight on for themselves. Catelyn agrees to this plan, but it hinges on winning the support of the Freys once more, which they are now unlikely to give. Robb is angry that Catelyn let Jaime go, but cunningly uses her guilt at this in order to get her to agree to him naming Jon Snow, his half-brother, as his heir. Not long after this, Lord Hoster Tully finally dies and Edmure becomes Lord of Riverrun.
Arya Stark and her friends encounter a group of outlaws known as the brotherhood without banners, who defend the smallfolk of the war-torn riverlands, led by Lord Beric Dondarrion and thered priest, Thoros of Myr. Beric was originally sent out by Lord Eddard Stark to put down the Gregor Clegane's raids, but they have a grander destiny now. The group encounters Sandor Clegane, Joffrey Baratheon's former bodyguard who fled the Battle of the Blackwater in terror, and resolve to execute him, but he chooses trial by battle. He wins, killing Lord Beric, and is set free. To Arya's amazement, Thoros is able to resurrect Beric using what he calls a gift from R'hllor, the last kiss. Arya eventually tires of following the brotherhood and tries to escape, but is captured by Sandor instead. The Hound decides to take her back to her family in exchange for some kind of service, and they head north.
Robb Stark's host, now reinforced by Lord Roose Bolton's army from Harrenhal, reaches the Twins and Robb parleys with Lord Walder Frey. The Lord of the Crossing agrees to forgive Robb on the condition that Lord Edmure Tully weds one of his grand-daughters in Robb's place. Edmure's new bride, Roslin Frey, turns out to be an attractive and gentle woman, which Catelyn finds confusing. Walder Frey, known for his tetchiness, could easily have forced Edmure to marry a lackwit or an ugly girl instead. The wedding celebration is held and a great party takes place afterwards. Suddenly, the musicians produce crossbows and proceed to fire into the Stark supporters. The Boltons and Freys produce arms and cut down many of the Stark bannermen present, killing Dacey Mormont and Smalljon Umber among them. Catelyn takes Jinglebell, one of Walder's grandsons, hostage with a knife and threatens to kill him should Robb be harmed, but a man in armor and helm, wearing the colors of House Bolton, cuts Robb down anyway, saying "Jaime Lannister sends his regards." Catelyn kills her hostage, but in turn is restrained and her throat is cut.
Arya and Sandor are in the outskirts of the castle when the "Red Wedding" takes place, and flee downriver. Many of the northern lords are either killed or taken prisoner, but there are two missing: Robb had sent Lady Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover to win the allegiance of Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch for their planned attack on Moat Cailin.
Arya has a strange dream that she is actually her long-missing direwolf, Nymeria, who now leads a huge pack of wolves in the riverlands. She dreams of Nymeria finding a corpse floating in the Green Fork south of the Twins and pulling it ashore, only to flee as a group of men approach.
Arya and Sandor Clegane run afoul of some of the Mountain's men within the inn at the crossroads. There is a fight and the freeriders are killed, but Sandor is wounded. Arya leaves him dying under a tree and goes to the nearby port town of Saltpans, on the Trident. She finds a ship from the Free City of Braavos there, but they refuse to take her north. She pulls out the coin Jaqen H'ghar gave her and the ship crew suddenly become more cooperative. They will not take her north, but do agree to take her with them to Braavos beyond the narrow sea.
Davos Seaworth is washed ashore on one of the spears of the merling king in Blackwater Bay, having been nearly killed in the epic Battle of the Blackwater. He is found by Salladhor Saan's men who are loyal to Stannis Baratheon and taken back to Dragonstone. Along the way Davos comes to blame the red priestess, Melisandre, for Stannis's defeat and resolves to murder her. Upon his arrival he is immediately locked up for treason: Melisandre saw his intent in her flames. Melisandre talks to Davos and reveals that Stannis was defeated because she was not at the battle (at his bannermen's request), and asks for Davos simply to be true to his king. She also tells him that there are not seven gods but two: R'hllor, Lord of Light and Fire, and his enemy, the Great Other, Lord of Darkness, whose war has raged since the dawn of time. Stannis releases Davos and asks him to serve as his Hand of the King. Davos agrees and begins to learn to read and write to better fulfill his office.
King's Landing rejoices for their deliverance from the threat of Stannis, and the Tyrells are welcomed as liberators. King Joffrey I Baratheon agrees to set aside his betrothal to Sansa Stark, daughter of a House attainted of treason, and promises to marry Lady Margaery Tyrell instead. Sansa's joy at this turn of events is short-lived when she is married to Tyrion Lannister instead. Tyrion was badly injured in the battle, losing his nose and suffering other wounds to his face, but he treats Sansa gently and refuses to sleep with her against her will. Tyrion himself is unimpressed with the turn of events, particularly as his father, Tywin Lannister, has taken up his role as Hand, reducing Tyrion to an advisory role, although he is later made master of coin to replace Petyr Baelish (who has been named Lord of Harrenhal for his role in securing the Lannister-Tyrell alliance). Despite the victory, the Tullys and Starks remain a threat in the north, but Robb Stark has erred in sending his footmen down towards Duskendale to threaten the capital. Lord Mace Tyrell's most seasoned and feared battle commander, Lord Randyll Tarly, leads an army against the northmen and destroys them, shattering more than a third of Robb Stark's strength. Balon Greyjoy, styling himself King of the Isles and the North, sends an offer of an alliance but Tywin spurns it, as he has another plan that does not involve selling off half the realm. He refuses to tell Tyrion what he is plotting.
On Dragonstone Davos meets Edric Storm, one of the late King Robert I Baratheon's many bastards, whom Stannis is keeping safe from the Lannisters. Davos is horrified to learn that Melisandre wants to sacrifice Edric and his royal blood to her fires to awaken the 'stone dragons', which she thinks are the great statues that guard the castle. Stannis rejects this decision and instead gives some of his blood to the fires instead, naming the names of three men that he wants dead: Balon Greyjoy, Joffrey Baratheon and Robb Stark.
Petyr Baelish, called Littlefinger, fresh from his diplomatic victory in gaining the alliance of the Tyrells and the titular Lord of Harrenhal (although his castle is in the hands of Roose Bolton), departs King's Landing for the Eyrie with a new scheme, namely to woo the widowed Lady Lysa Arryn into marriage and agreeing to support King Joffrey. Tyrion is suspicious of Littlefinger's growing power but is no longer in a position to stop him.
Word reaches King's Landing of the death of King Robb Stark at the Red Wedding, closely followed by news that King Balon Greyjoy has died as well, swept over a bridge at Pyke by a strong wave. Joffrey is exultant, particularly keen on the gory detail that Robb's direwolf's head was sewn on his body, and Catelyn Stark's body was hurled naked into the Green Fork. Margaery and Joffrey's wedding is held, but Joffrey spends more time tormenting his uncle Tyrion than paying attention to his wife during the wedding feast. Suddenly Joffrey starts choking and dies in a fit on the floor. Tyrion suspects poison and inspects Joffrey's goblet before realizing he could be blamed for the crime. He throws the goblet away, but is seen by several witnesses. His sister, Queen Cersei Lannister, has him arrested and put on trial. Sansa Stark is smuggled out of the castle by Littlefinger, who had secretly returned to the crownlands. He also tells her that he was responsible for Joffrey's death.
Davos learns to read and write. One of the letters he receives is from the Night's Watch, who sent missives to all the kings begging for aid against Mance Rayder and the wights. Davos is disturbed by the letter. The success of Melisandre's spell has convinced Stannis to sacrifice Edric Storm to the flames to wake the dragons. However, Davos smuggles Edric to safety. Stannis prepares to execute Davos for treason, but Davos is allowed to read the letter that lately arrived from the Wall. The news stuns Stannis and Melisandre.
Jaime and Brienne reach King's Landing to find the situation volatile. Joffrey's brother, Tommen, has been acclaimed king, but not crowned yet. Tyrion is on trial and the Tyrell bannermen blame Brienne for King Renly's death, particularly Renly's close friend, Ser Loras Tyrell. She is thrown in a tower cell, at Jaime's behest. Jaime takes up the position of Lord Commander of the Kingsguard and finds that his journey and the loss of his hand has made him more willing to fulfill his duties. He refuses his father when he offers to remove him from the Kingsguard and make him heir to Casterly Rock, and refuses to believe Cersei's claims that Tyrion killed Joffrey. He rejects her advances, deciding to remain true to his vows.
Tyrion decides to risk all in his trial. Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne, who is in the city representing his brother Doran, Prince of Dorne, harbors a desire for vengeance against Gregor Clegane, who killed and raped his sister Elia (the wife of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen) and her children during the Sack of King's Landing. When Tyrion chooses trial by battle, Cersei appoints Gregor as her champion and Oberyn takes Tyrion's part. The battle is fought and Oberyn apparently emerges victorious after knocking the giant Gregor down with a poisoned spear. Unfortunately, he spends too much time demanding Gregor's confession and Gregor kills him. Tyrion is condemned to death, but escapes with the help of Jaime and Varys. On his way out of the Red Keep, Jaime reveals that Tyrion's first wife, Tysha, had not been a prostitute, as their father had told him, but had actually been a crofter's daughter. Tyrion sees this as unforgivable betrayal from both his father and his brother. Stopping at his father's chamber in the Tower of the Hand, Tyrion coldly shoots Tywin through the groin with a crossbow before leaving on a ship provided by Varys, which takes him across the narrow sea.
Jaime frees Brienne, giving her one of the two swords Lord Tywin had reforged out of Eddard Stark's Valyrian steel blade. Ice. He tells her to fulfill the oath he gave to Lady Catelyn, to find Arya and Sansa and return them home. He also tells her that the real reason he betrayed his oath and murdered King Aerys II Targaryen was because Aerys had hidden wildfire barrels all over the capital and planned to destroy the city during the Sack of King's Landing. He carried out his most infamous act to save the innocent, not that anyone would believe him. Brienne departs on her quest.
At the Eyrie, Sansa lives in fear of her increasingly psychotic aunt, who eventually goes mad and tries to kill her. Lysa reveals that Littlefinger told her to poison her husband, Lord Jon Arryn, and blame the Lannisters. Littlefinger saves Sansa by throwing Lysa out of the Moon Door of the Eyrie to her death hundreds of feet below and blaming Lysa's minstrel, Marillion, for the crime.
In the epilogue, Merrett Frey travels to a parley at Oldstones with the brotherhood without banners, who have taken Petyr Frey captive and are demanding a ransom. Merrett discovers the hanged corpse of Petyr Pimple, and the outlaws point out to the panicking Merrett that he was at the Red Wedding and helped in the murder of the guests. Merrett demands that they prove it by providing a witness. In response a battered figure appears and points at him. Merrett Frey is hanged next to Petyr, while the broken form of Catelyn Stark watches and hates.
The bulk of the strength of the Night's Watch sits on the Fist of the First Men, awaiting word from Qhorin Halfhand and Jon Snow. Suddenly three blasts are sounded on a watchman's horn. Three blasts means something not heard in nearly eight thousand years: Others. The Watch comes under attack by wights and the fabled ice demons of ancient history, suffering heavy casualties, but manages to withdraw in something approaching good order. Sam Tarly kills one of the Others with a strange blade Jon Snow fashioned for him from obsidian, or "dragonglass," he found near the Fist. The Watch regroups at Craster's Keep, but some of the less respectable members of the Watch mutiny and kill Lord Commander Jeor Mormont. Sam escapes in the chaos with the help of one of Craster's daughter-wives, Gilly, and they make their way south towards the Wall. They are helped by a strange figure riding an elk named 'Coldhands'.
Jon Snow is taken to Mance Rayder and is able to convince him that he has truly turned his cloak. He learns that the fabled Others have returned and are driving the wildlings south towards the Wall. Mance has been seeking the legendary Horn of Winter which will shatter the Wall when sounded, but has been unable to find it. Jon is unsure of this story. Eventually, Jon is sent south on a mission to scale the Wall, circle around, and attack Castle Black from the south to allow the wildlings through the gates. Jon instead flees from the wildlings and reaches Castle Black to warn them of the threat. With many of the other Watch members dead or missing, Jon is forced to command a skeleton defence against the wildlings, but nevertheless defeats them. Among the dead is Ygritte, who had been Jon's lover for a time.
Bran Stark and Jojen and Meera Reed, fleeing the ruin of Winterfell, are guided north by Bran's strange dreams of a three-eyed crow. They reach the Wall at the abandoned castle of the Nightfort, but cannot pass it. Suddenly they meet Samwell Tarly and Gillyin the castle. Sam guides them to Coldhands through a secret gate in a well, who will take them north, whilst he returns to Castle Black with Gilly, agreeing to keep the truth of their survival a secret.
The wildling army, over forty thousand strong, reaches Castle Black and assaults the Wall at that location. Jon leads a tenacious defence which sees thousands of wildlings killed, but it seems that the Watch must be overrun. Things get worse when Janos Slynt, the former commander of King's Landing's City Guard who was exiled by a suspicious Tyrion Lannister, arrives. As one of the betrayers of Eddard Stark, Slynt takes an instant dislike to Jon Snow and accuses him of being a traitor. He has Jon sent out to parley with Mance Rayder. Jon expects to be killed, but Rayder is more understanding of his betrayal. Jon is shocked to learn that Rayder found the Horn of Winter after all and is preparing to blow it. Suddenly horns are heard in the east and a great strength of cavalry attacks the wildling army, plunging it into chaos and putting it to rout. To Jon's disbelief, the surviving army of King Stannis Baratheon has arrived. Rayder is captured and imprisoned. Stannis reveals that he received word of the Wall's dire straits and that Melisandre believes the wildling invasion to be the forerunner of the return of the Others, the sworn foes of the red god R'hllor. Stannis resolves to forge a new kingdom out of the shattered, leaderless North. The Night's Watch chooses its new Lord Commander and Jon Snow wins by some margin.
Returning to Pentos by sea, Daenerys learns from Ser Jorah Mormont that large slave armies can be bought in the cities of Slaver's Bay: Meereen, Astapor and Yunkai. To Arstan Whitebeard's disgust - slavery has been illegal in the Seven Kingdoms for millennia - Daenerys buys the services of the Unsullied, the feared warrior-eunuchs of Astapor. When the slave lords of Astapor try to take one of Daenerys' dragons as payment, Daenerys has them burned alive. The Unsullied agree to serve her, whilst Daenerys has the slaves of Astapor set free. She leads a strong force north to Yunkai which forces the lords of the city to release their slaves into Daenerys' service. However, the lords of Meereen choose to antagonise Daenerys by killing 163 of their slaves and leaving each corpses staked at every mile along the road to the city. Daenerys besieges the city to no avail.
Daenerys discovers two traitors in her camp: Ser Jorah Mormont and Arstan Whitebeard. However, the nature of their treachery is very different. Mormont was selling information about her to Robert Baratheon up until they reached Qarth. Arstan Whitebeard is actually an alias of Ser Barristan Selmy, late of King Aerys and Robert's Kingsguard. Barristan wanted to right the ancient wrong of accepting Robert as his king by finding the true Targaryen heir to Westeros, but wanted to make sure the taint of madness had not affected her as her father. Daenerys offers both men the chance to make amends: by sneaking into Meereen through its sewers and opening the gates. They succeed and Meereen falls to Daenerys' armies. She forgives Barristan Selmy and makes him Lord Commander of her Queensguard. However, she finds she still cannot trust Mormont and has him banished from her presence. Learning that Astapor has fallen under the control of a brutal dictator who moved to fill the power vacuum she left behind, Daenerys decides she cannot allow that to happen to Meereen and resolves to stay, and rule, and learn to be the queen that Westeros needs her to be.
The tale is told through the eyes of ten main characters, a one-off prologue POV and a one-off epilogue POV character:
George R. R. Martin did not write the Red Wedding chapters until the very end of the book and having completed every other chapter, as he felt it was a painful experience to write.
Martin lost the 2001 Hugo Award for Best Novel to J. K. Rowling. Afterwards he made this comment about his fans: "Eat your heart out, Rowling. Maybe you have billions of dollars and my Hugo, but you don't have readers like these."[1]
The brotherhood without banners, introduced in A Storm of Swords (although referenced earlier), also lends its name to an George R. R. Martin fan group, The Brotherhood Without Banners. The name was adopted in the first half of 2001 and the group held its first major gathering at the 2001 World Science Fiction Convention in Philadelphia.
Appendix
JOFFREY BARATHEON, the First of His Name, a boy of thirteen years, the eldest son of King Robert I Baratheon and Queen Cersei of House Lannister,
his mother, QUEEN CERSEI, of House Lannister, Queen Regent and Protector of the Realm,
Cersei's sworn swords:
SER OSFRYD KETTLEBLACK, younger brother to Ser Osmund Kettleblack of the Kingsguard,
SER OSNEY KETTLEBLACK, youngest brother of Ser Osmund and Ser Osfryd,
his sister, PRINCESS MYRCELLA, a girl of nine, a ward of Prince Doran Martell at Sunspear,
his brother, PRINCE TOMMEN, a boy of eight, next heir to the Iron Throne,
his grandfather, TYWIN LANNISTER, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, and Hand of the King,
his uncles and cousins, paternal,
his father's brother, STANNIS BARATHEON, rebel Lord of Dragonstone, styling himself King Stannis the First,
Stannis's daughter, SHIREEN, a girl of eleven,
his father's brother, (RENLY BARATHEON), rebel Lord of Storm's End, murdered in the midst of his army,
his grandmother's brother, SER ELDON ESTERMONT,
Ser Eldon's son, SER AEMON ESTERMONT,
Ser Aemon's son, SER ALYN ESTERMONT,
his uncles and cousins, maternal,
his mother's brother, SER JAIME LANNISTER, called THE KINGSLAYER, a captive at Riverrun,
his mother's brother, TYRION LANNISTER, called THE IMP, a dwarf, wounded in the Battle of the Blackwater,
Tyrion's squire, PODRICK PAYNE,
Tyrion's captain of guards, SER BRONN OF THE BLACKWATER, a former sellsword,
Tyrion's concubine, SHAE, a camp follower now serving as bedmaid to Lollys Stokeworth,
his grandfather's brother, SER KEVAN LANNISTER,
Ser Kevan's son, SER LANCEL LANNISTER, formerly squire to King Robert, wounded in the Battle of the Blackwater, near death,
his grandfather's brother, (TYGETT LANNISTER), died of a pox,
Tygett's son, TYREK LANNISTER, a squire, missing since the great riot,
Tyrek's infant wife, LADY ERMESANDE HAYFORD,
his baseborn siblings, King Robert's bastards:
MYA STONE, a maid of nineteen, in the service of Lord Nestor Royce, of the Gates of the Moon,
GENDRY, an apprentice smith, a fugitive in the riverlands; and ignorant of his heritage,
EDRIC STORM, King Robert's only acknowledged bastard son, a ward of his uncle Stannis on Dragonstone,
his Kingsguard:
SER JAIME LANNISTER, Lord Commander,
SER MERYN TRANT,
SER BALON SWANN,
SER OSMUND KETTLEBLACK,
SER LORAS TYRELL, the Knight of Flowers,
SER ARYS OAKHEART,
his small council:
LORD TYWIN LANNISTER, Hand of the King,
LORD PETYR BAELISH, called LITTLEFINGER, master of coin,
VARYS, a eunuch, called THE SPIDER, master of whisperers,
LORD MACE TYRELL, master of ships,
GRAND MAESTER PYCELLE,
his court and retainers
SER ILYN PAYNE, the King's Justice, a headsman,
LORD HALLYNE THE PYROMANCER, a Wisdom of the Guild of Alchemists,
MOON BOY, a jester and fool,
ORMOND OF OLDTOWN, the royal harper and bard,
DONTOS HOLLARD, a fool and a drunkard, formerly a knight called SER DONTOS THE RED,
JALABHAR XHO, Prince of the Red Flower Vale, an exile from the Summer Isles,
LADY TANDA STOKEWORTH,
her daughter, FALYSE, wed to Ser Balman Byrch,
her daughter, LOLLYS, thirty-four, unwed, and soft of wits, with child after being raped,
her healer and counselor, MAESTER FRENKEN,
LORD GYLES ROSBY, a sickly old man,
SER TALLAD, a promising young knight,
LORD MORROS SLYNT, a squire, eldest son of the former Commander of the City Watch,
JOTHOS SLYNT, his younger brother, a squire,
DANOS SLYNT, younger still, a page,
SER BOROS BLOUNT, a former knight of the Kingsguard, dismissed for cowardice by Queen Cersei,
JOSMYN PECKLEDON, a squire, and a hero of the Battle of the Blackwater,
SER PHILIP FOOTE, made Lord of the Marches for his valor during the Battle of the Blackwater,
SER LOTHOR BRUNE, named LOTHOR APPLE-EATER for his deeds during the Battle of the Blackwater, a former freerider in service to Lord Baelish,
other lords and knights at King's Landing:
MATHIS ROWAN, Lord of Goldengrove,
PAXTER REDWYNE, Lord of the Arbor,
Lord Paxter's twin sons, SER HORAS and SER HOBBER, mocked as HORROR and SLOBBER,
Lord Redwyne's healer, MAESTER BALLABAR
ARDRIAN CELTIGAR, the Lord of Claw Isle,
LORD ALESANDER STAEDMON, called PENNYLOVER,
SER BONIFER HASTY, called THE GOOD, a famed knight,
SER DONNEL SWANN, heir to Stonehelm,
SER RONNET CONNINGTON, called RED RONNET, the Knight of Griffin's Roost,
AURANE WATERS, the Bastard of Driftmark,
SER DERMOT OF THE RAINWOOD, a famed knight,
SER TIMON SCRAPESWORD, a famed knight,
the people of King's Landing
the City Watch (the "gold cloaks"),
(SER JACELYN BYWATER, called IRONHAND), Commander of the City Watch, slain by his own men during the Battle of the Blackwater,
SER ADDAM MARBRAND, Commander of the City Watch, Ser Jacelyn's successor,
CHATAYA, owner of an expensive brothel,
ALAYAYA, her daughter,
TOBHO MOTT, a master armorer,
IRONBELLY, a blacksmith,
HAMISH THE HARPER, a famed singer,
COLLIO QUAYNIS, a Tyroshi singer,
BETHANY FAIR-FINGERS, a woman singer,
ALARIC OF EYSEN, a singer, far-traveled,
GALYEON OF CUY, a singer notorious for the length of his songs,
SYMON SILVER TONGUE, a singer.
King Joffrey's banner shows the crowned stag of Baratheon, black on gold, and the lion of Lannister, gold on crimson, combatant.
THE KING OF THE TRIDENT
ROBB STARK, Lord of Winterfell, King in the North, and King of the Trident, the eldest son of Eddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell, and Lady Catelyn of House Tully,
his direwolf, GREY WIND,
his mother, LADY CATELYN, of House Tully, widow of Lord Eddard Stark,
his siblings:
his sister, PRINCESS SANSA, a maid of twelve, a captive in King's Landing,
Sansa's direwolf, (LADY, killed at Castle Darry,
his sister, PRINCESS ARYA, a girl of ten, missing and presumed dead,
his brother, PRINCE BRANDON, called BRAN, heir to the north, a boy of nine, believed dead,
Bran's direwolf, SUMMER,
Bran companions and protectors:
MEERA REED, a maid of sixteen, daughter of Lord Howland Reed of Greywater Watch,
JOJEN REED, her brother, thirteen,
HODOR, a simpleminded stableboy, seven feet tall,
his brother, PRINCE RICKON, a boy of four, believed dead,
Rickon's direwolf, SHAGGYDOG,
Rickon's companion and protector:
OSHA, a wildling captive who served as a scullion at Winterfell,
his half-brother, JON SNOW, a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch,
Jon's direwolf, GHOST,
his uncles and aunts, paternal
his father's elder brother, (BRANDON STARK), slain at the command of King Aerys II Targaryen,
his father's sister, (LYANNA STARK), died in the Mountains of Dorne during Robert's Rebellion,
his father's younger brother, BENJEN STARK, a man of the Night's Watch, lost beyond the Wall,
his uncles, aunts, and cousins, maternal
his mother's younger sister, LYSA ARRYN, Lady of the Eyrie and widow of Lord Jon Arryn,
their son, ROBERT ARRYN, Lord of the Eyrie,
his mother's younger brother, SER EDMURE TULLY, heir to Riverrun,
his grandfather's brother, SER BRYNDEN TULLY, called THE BLACKFISH,
his squire, OLYVAR FREY,
SER WENDEL MANDERLY, second son to the Lord of White Harbor,
PATREK MALLISTER, heir to Seagard,
DACEY MORMONT, eldest daughter of Lady Maege Mormont and heir to Bear Island,
JON UMBER, called THE SMALLJON, heir to Last Hearth,
DONNEL LOCKE, OWEN NORREY, ROBIN FLINT, northmen,
his lords bannermen, captains and commanders
(with Robb's army in the Westerlands)
SER BRYNDEN TULLY, the BLACKFISH, commanding the scouts and outriders,
JON UMBER, called THE GREATJON, commanding the van,
RICKARD KARSTARK, Lord of Karhold,
GALBART GLOVER, Master of Deepwood Motte,
MAEGE MORMONT, Lady of Bear Island,
(SER STEVRON FREY), eldest son of Lord Walder Frey and heir to the Twins, died at Oxcross,
Ser Stevron's eldest son, SER RYMAN FREY,
Ser Ryman's son, BLACK WALDER FREY,
MARTYN RIVERS, a bastard son of Lord Walder Frey,
(with Roose Bolton's host at Harrenhal),
ROOSE BOLTON, Lord of the Dreadfort,
SER AENYS FREY, SER JARED FREY, SER HOSTEEN FREY, SER DANWELL FREY
their bastard half-brother, RONEL RIVERS,
SER WYLIS MANDERLY, heir to White Harbor,
SER KYLE CONDON, a knight in his service,
VARGO HOAT of the Free City of Qohor, captain of a sellsword company, the Brave Companions,
his lieutenant, URSWYCK called THE FAITHFUL,
his lieutenant, SEPTON UTT,
TIMEON OF DORNE, RORGE, IGGO, FAT ZOLLO, BITER, TOGG JOTH of Ibben, PYG, THREE TOES, his men,
QYBURN, a chainless maester and sometime necromancer, his healer,
(with the northern army attacking Duskendale)
SER HELMAN TALLHART, of Torrhen's Square,
HARRION KARSTARK, sole surviving son of Lord Rickard Karstark, and heir to Karhold,
(traveling north with Lord Eddard's bones)
HALLIS MOLLEN, captain of guards for Winterfell,
his lord bannermen and castellans, in the north:
WYMAN MANDERLY, Lord of White Harbor,
HOWLAND REED, Lord of Greywater Watch, a crannogman,
MORS UMBER, called CROWFOOD, and HOTHER UMBER, called WHORESBANE, uncles to Greatjon Umber, joint castellans at the Last Hearth,
LYESSA FLINT, Lady of Widow's Watch,
ONDREW LOCKE, Lord of Oldcastle, an old man,
(CLEY CERWYN), Lord of Cerwyn, a boy of fourteen, killed in battle at Winterfell,
his sister, JONELLE CERWYN, a maid of two-and-thirty, now the Lady of Cerwyn,
(LEOBALD TALLHART), younger brother to Ser Helman, castellan at Torrhen's Square, killed in battle at Winterfell,
Leobald's wife, BERENA of House Hornwood,
Leobald's son, BRANDON, a boy of fourteen,
Leobald's son, BEREN, a boy of ten,
Ser Helman's son, (BENFRED), killed by ironmen on the Stony Shore,
Ser Helman's daughter, EDDARA, a girl of nine, heir to Torrhen's Square,
LADY SYBELLE, wife to Robett Glover, a captive of Asha Greyjoy at Deepwood Motte,
Robett's son, GAWEN, three, rightful heir to Deepwood Motte, a captive of Asha Greyjoy,
Robett's daughter, ERENA, a babe of one, a captive of Asha Greyjoy at Deepwood Motte,
LARENCE SNOW, a bastard son of Lord Hornwood, and ward of Galbart Glover, thirteen, a captive of Asha Greyjoy at Deepwood Motte.
The banner of the King in the North remains as it has for thousands of years, the grey direwolf of the Starks of Winterfell, running across an ice-white field.
STANNIS BARATHEON, the First of His Name, second son of Lord Steffon Baratheon and Lady Cassana of House Estermont, formerly Lord of Dragonstone,
his wife, QUEEN SELYSE of House Florent,
PRINCESS SHIREEN, their daughter, a girl of eleven,
PATCHFACE, her lackwit fool,
his baseborn nephew, EDRIC STORM, a boy of twelve, bastard son of King Robert by Delena Florent,
his squires, DEVAN SEAWORTH and BRYEN FARRING,
his court and retainers:
LORD ALESTER FLORENT, Lord of Brightwater Keep and Hand of the King, the queen's uncle,
SER AXELL FLORENT, castellan of Dragonstone and leader of the queen's men, the queen's uncle,
LADY MELISANDRE OF ASSHAI, called THE RED WOMAN, priestess of R'hllor, the Lord of Light and God of Flame and Shadow,
MAESTER PYLOS, healer, tutor, counselor,
SER DAVOS SEAWORTH, called THE ONION KNIGHT and sometimes SHORTHAND, once a smuggler,
Davos's wife, LADY MARYA, a carpenter's daughter,
their seven sons
(DALE), lost on the Blackwater,
(ALLARD), lost on the Blackwater,
(MATTHOS), lost on the Blackwater,
(MARIC), lost on the Blackwater,
DEVAN, squire to King Stannis,
STANNIS, a boy of nine years,
STEFFON, a boy of six years,
SALLADHOR SAAN, of the Free City of Lys, styling himself Prince of the Narrow Sea and Lord of Blackwater Bay, master of the *Valyrian* and a fleet of sister galleys,
MEIZO MAHR, a eunuch in his hire,
KHORANE SATHMANTES, captain of his galley *Shayala's Dance*,
his lords bannermen,
MONTERYS VELARYON, Lord of the Tides and Master of Driftmark, a boy of six,
DURAM BAR EMMON, Lord of Sharp Point, a boy of fifteen years,
SER GILBERT FARRING, castellan of Storm's End,
LORD ELWOOD MEADOWS, Ser Gilbert's second,
MAESTER JURNE, Ser Gilbert's counselor and healer,
LORD LUCOS CHYTTERING, called LITTLE LUCOS, a youth of sixteen,
LESTER MORRIGEN, Lord of Crows Nest,
his knights and sworn swords,
SER LOMAS ESTERMONT, the king's maternal uncle,
his son, SER ANDREW ESTERMONT,
SER ROLLAND STORM, called THE BASTARD OF NIGHTSONG, a baseborn son of the late Lord Bryen Caron,
SER PARMEN CRANE, called PARMEN THE PURPLE, held captive at Highgarden,
SER ERREN FLORENT, younger brother to Queen Selyse, held captive at Highgarden,
SER GERALD GOWER,
SER TRISTON OF TALLY HILL, formerly in service to Lord Guncer Sunglass,
LEWYS, called THE FISHWIFE,
King Stannis has taken for his banner the fiery heart of the Lord of Light, a red heart surrounded by orange flames upon a yellow field. Within the heart is the crowned stag of House Baratheon, in black.
DAENERYS TARGARYEN, the First of Her Name, *Khaleesi* of the Dothraki, called DAENERYS STORMBORN, the UNBURNT, MOTHER OF DRAGONS, sole surviving heir of Aerys II Targaryen, widow of Khal Drogo of the Dothraki,
her Queensguard:
SER JORAH MORMONT, formerly Lord of Bear Island, exiled for slaving,
JHOGO, *ko* and bloodrider, the whip,
AGGO, ko and bloodrider, the bow,
STRONG BELWAS, a former eunuch slave from the fighting pits of Meereen,
his aged squire, ARSTAN called WHITEBEARD, a man of Westeros,
her handmaids:
IRRI, a Dothraki girl, fifteen,
JHIQUI, a Dothraki girl, fourteen,
GROLEO, captain of the great cog *Balerion*, a Pentoshi seafarer in the hire of Illyrio Mopatis,
her late kin:
(RHAEGAR), her brother, Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne, slain by Robert Baratheon on the Trident,
(RHAENYS, Rhaegar's daughter by Elia of Dorne, murdered during the Sack of King's Landing,
(AEGON, Rhaegar's son by Elia of Dorne, murdered during the Sack of King's Landing,
(VISERYS), her brother, styling himself King Viserys, the Third of His Name, called THE BEGGAR KING, slain in Vaes Dothrak by Khal Drogo,
(DROGO), her husband, a great *khal* of the Dothraki, never defeated in battle, died of a wound,
(RHAEGO), her stillborn son by Khal Drogo, slain in the womb by Mirri Maz Duur,
her known enemies:
KHAL PONO, once ko to Drogo,
KHAL JHAQO, once ko to Drogo,
MAGGO, his bloodrider,
THE UNDYING OF QARTH, a band of warlocks,
THE SORROWFUL MEN, a guild of Qartheen assassins,
her uncertain allies, past and present:
XARO XHOAN DAXOS, a merchant prince of Qarth,
ILLYRIO MOPATIS, a magister of the Free City of Pentos, who brokered her marriage to Khal Drogo,
in Astapor:
KRAZNYS MO NAKLOZ, a wealthy slave trader,
his slave, MISSANDEI, a girl of ten, of the Peaceful People of Naath,
GRAZDAN MO ULLHOR, an old slave trader, very rich,
his slave, CLEON, a butcher and cook,
in Yunkai:
GRAZDAN MO ERAZ, envoy and nobleman,
MERO OF BRAAVOS, called THE TITAN'S BASTARD, captain of the Second Sons, a free company,
BROWN BEN PLUMM, a sergeant in the Second Sons, a sellsword of dubious descent,
PRENDAHL NA GHEZN, a Ghiscari sellsword, captain of the Stormcrows, a free company,
SALLOR THE BALD, a Qartheen sellsword, captain of the Stormcrows,
DAARIO NAHARIS, a flamboyant Tyroshi sellsword, captain of the Stormcrows,
in Meereen:
OZNAK ZO PAHL, a hero of the city.
The banner of Daenerys Targaryen is the banner of Aegon the Conqueror and the dynasty he established, a three-headed dragon, red on black.
BALON GREYJOY, the Ninth of His Name Since the Grey King, styling himself King of the Iron Islands and the North, King of Salt and Rock, Son of the Sea Wind, and Lord Reaper of Pyke,
his wife, QUEEN ALANNYS, of House Harlaw,
their children:
(RODRIK), their eldest son, slain at Seagard during Greyjoy's Rebellion,
(MARON), their second son, slain at Pyke during Greyjoy's Rebellion,
ASHA, their daughter, captain of the *Black Wind* and conqueror of Deepwood Motte,
THEON, their youngest son, captain of the *Sea Bitch* and briefly Prince of Winterfell,
Theon's squire, WEX PYKE, bastard son of Lord Botley's half-brother, a mute lad of twelve,
Theon's crew, the men of the Sea Bitch:
URZEN, MARON BOTLEY called FISHWHISKERS, STYGG, GEVIN HARLAW, CADWYLE,
his brothers:
EURON, called Crow's Eye, captain of the *Silence*, a notorious outlaw, pirate, and raider,
VICTARION, Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet, master of the *Iron Victory*
AERON, called DAMPHAIR, a priest of the Drowned God,
his household on Pyke:
MAESTER WENDAMYR, healer and counselor,
HELYA, keeper of the castle,
his warriors and sworn swords:
DAGMER called CLEFTJAW, captain of *Foamdrinker*,
BLUETOOTH, a longship captain,
ANDRIK THE UNSMILING, a giant of a man,
QARL, called QARL THE MAID, beardless but deadly,
people of Lordsport:
OTTER GIMPKNEE, innkeeper and whoremonger,
SIGRIN, a shipwright,
his lords bannermen:
SAWANE BOTLEY, Lord of Lordsport, on Pyke,
LORD WYNCH, of Iron Holt, on Pyke,
STONEHOUSE, DRUMM, and GOODBROTHER of Old Wyk,
LORD GOODBROTHER, SPARR, LORD MERLYN, and LORD FARWYND of Great Wyk,
LORD HARLAW, of Harlaw,
LORD SALTCLIFFE and LORD SUNDERLY of Saltcliffe.
The Arryns are descended from the Kings of Mountain and Vale, one of the oldest and purest lines of Andal nobility. House Arryn has taken no part in the War of the Five Kings, holding back its strength to protect the Vale of Arryn. The Arryn sigil is the moon-and-falcon, white, upon a sky-blue field. The Arryn words are As High As Honor.
ROBERT ARRYN, Lord of the Eyrie, Defender of the Vale, Warden of the East, a sickly boy of eight years,
his mother, LADY LYSA, of House Tully, third wife and widow of Lord Jon Arryn, and sister to Catelyn Stark,
their household:
MARILLION, a handsome young singer, much favored by Lady Lysa,
MAESTER COLEMON, counselor, healer, and tutor,
SER MARWYN BELMORE, captain of guards,
MORD, a brutal gaoler,
his lords bannermen, knights, and retainers:
LORD NESTOR ROYCE, High Steward of the Vale and castellan of the Gates of the Moon, of the junior branch of House Royce,
Lord Nestor's son, SER ALBAR,
Lord Nestor's daughter, MYRANDA,
MYA STONE, a bastard girl in his service, natural daughter of King Robert I Baratheon,
LORD YOHN ROYCE, called BRONZE YOHN, Lord of Runestone, of the senior branch of House Royce, cousin to Lord Nestor,
Lord Yohn's eldest son, SER ANDAR,
Lord Yohn's second son, (SER ROBAR), a knight of Renly Baratheon's Rainbow Guard, slain at Storm's End by Ser Loras Tyrell,
Lord Yohn's youngest son, (SER WAYMAR), a man of the Night's Watch, lost beyond the Wall,
SER LYN CORBRAY, a suitor to Lady Lysa,
MYCHEL REDFORT, his squire,
LADY ANYA WAYNWOOD,
Lady Anya's eldest son and heir, SER MORTON, a suitor to Lady Lysa,
Lady Anya's second son, SER DONNEL, the Knight of the Gate,
EON HUNTER, Lord of Longbow Hall, an old man, and a suitor to Lady Lysa,
HORTON REDFORT, Lord of Redfort.
The Florents of Brightwater Keep are Tyrell bannermen, despite a superior claim to Highgarden by virtue of a blood tie to House Gardener, the old Kings of the Reach. At the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings, Lord Alester Florent followed the Tyrells in declaring for King Renly, but his brother Ser Axell chose King Stannis, whom he had served for years as castellan of Dragonstone. Their niece Selyse was and is King Stannis's queen. When Renly died at Storm's End, the Florents went over to Stannis with all their strength, the first of Renly's bannermen to do so. The sigil of House Florent shows a fox head in a circle of flowers.
ALESTER FLORENT, Lord of Brightwater,
his wife, LADY MELARA, of House Crane,
their children:
ALEKYNE, heir to Brightwater,
MELESSA, wed to Lord Randyll Tarly,
RHEA, wed to Lord Leyton Hightower,
his siblings:
SER AXELL, castellan of Dragonstone,
(SER RYAM), died in a fall from a horse,
Ser Ryam's daughter, QUEEN SELYSE, wed to King Stannis Baratheon,
Ser Ryam's son, (SER IMRY), commanding Stannis Baratheon's fleet on the Blackwater, lost with the *Fury*,
Ser Ryam's second son, SER ERREN, held captive at Highgarden,
SER COLIN,
Ser Colin's daughter, DELENA, wed to SER HOSMAN NORCROSS,
Delena's son, EDRIC STORM, a bastard of King Robert I Baratheon, twelve years of age,
Delena's son, ALESTER NORCROSS, eight,
Delena's son, RENLY NORCROSS, a boy of two,
his sister, RYLENE, wed to Ser Rycherd Crane.
Powerful, wealthy, and numerous, the Freys are bannermen to House Tully, but they have not always been diligent in their duty. When Robert Baratheon met Rhaegar Targaryen on the Trident, the Freys did not arrive until the battle was done, and thereafter Lord Hoster Tully always called Lord Walder "the Late Lord Frey." It is also said of Walder Frey that he is the only lord in the Seven Kingdoms who could field an army out of his breeches.
At the onset of the War of the Five Kings, Robb Stark won Lord Walder's allegiance by pledging to wed one of his daughters or granddaughters. Two of Lord Walder's grandsons were sent to Winterfell to be fostered.
WALDER FREY, Lord of the Crossing,
by his first wife, (LADY PERRA, of House Royce):
(SER STEVRON), their eldest son, died after the Battle of Oxcross,
m. (Corenna Swann, died of a wasting illness),
Stevron's eldest son, SER RYMAN, heir to the Twins,
Ryman's son, EDWYN, wed to Janyce Hunter,
Edwyn's daughter, WALDA, a girl of eight,
Ryman's son, WALDER, called BLACK WALDER,
Ryman's son, PETYR, called PETYR PIMPLE,
m. Mylenda Caron,
Petyr's daughter, PERRA, a girl of five,
m. (Jeyne Lydden, died in a fall from a horse),
Stevron's son, AEGON, a halfwit called JINGLEBELL,
Stevron's daughter, (MAEGELLE, died in childbed), m. Ser Dafyn Vance,
Maegelle's daughter, MARIANNE, a maiden,
Maegelle's son, WALDER VANCE, a squire,
Maegelle's son, PATREK VANCE,
m. (Marsella Waynwood, died in childbed),
Stevron's son, WALTON, m. Deana Hardyng,
Walton's son, STEFFON, called THE SWEET,
Walton's daughter, WALDA, called FAIR WALDA,
Walton's son, BRYAN, a squire,
SER EMMON, m. Genna of House Lannister,
Emmon's son, SER CLEOS, m. Jeyne Darry,
Cleos's son, TYWIN, a squire of eleven,
Emmon's son, SER LYONEL, m. Melesa Crakehall,
Emmon's son, WALDER, called RED WALDER, fourteen, a squire at Casterly Rock,
SER AENYS, m. (Tyana Wylde, died in childbed),
Aenys's son, AEGON BLOODBORN, an outlaw,
Aenys's son, RHAEGAR, m. Jeyne Beesbury,
Rhaegar's son, ROBERT, a boy of thirteen,
Rhaegar's daughter, WALDA, a girl of ten, called WHITE WALDA,
Rhaegar's son, JONOS, a boy of eight,
PERRIANE, m. Ser Leslyn Haigh,
Perriane's son, SER HARYS HAIGH,
Harys's son,WALDER HAIGH, a boy of four,
Perriane's son, SER DONNEL HAIGH,
Perriane's son, ALYN HAIGH, a squire,
by his second wife, (LADY CYRENNA, of House Swann):
Jared's son, SER TYTOS, m. Zhoe Blanetree,
Tytos's daughter, ZIA, a maid of fourteen,
Tytos's son, ZACHERY, a boy of twelve, training at the Sept of Oldtown,
Jared's daughter, KYRA, m. Ser Garse Goodbrook,
Kyra's son, WALDER GOODBROOK, a boy of nine,
Kyra's daughter, JEYNE GOODBROOK, six,
SEPTON LUCEON, in service at the Great Sept of Baelor in King's Landing,
by his third wife, (LADY AMAREI of House Crakehall):
SER HOSTEEN, their eldest son, m. Bellena Hawick,
Hosteen's son, SER ARWOOD, m. Ryella Royce,
Arwood's daughter, RYELLA, a girl of five,
LADY LYTHENE, m. Lord Lucias Vypren,
Elyana's son, RICKARD WYLDE, four,
Lythene's son, SER DAMON VYPREN,
Symond's son, ALESANDER, a singer,
Symond's daughter, ALYX, a maid of seventeen,
Symond's son, BRADAMAR, a boy of ten, fostered on Braavos as a ward of Oro Tendyris, a merchant of that city,
SER DANWELL, m. Wynafrei Whent, (many stillbirths and miscarriages),
MERRETT, m. Mariya Darry,
Merrett's daughter, AMEREI, called AMI, a widow of sixteen, m. (Ser Pate of the Blue Fork),
Merrett's daughter, WALDA, called FAT WALDA, a wife of fifteen years, m. Lord Roose Bolton,
Merrett's daughter, MARISSA, a maid of thirteen,
Merrett's son, WALDER, called LITTLE WALDER, a boy of seven, taken captive at Winterfell while a ward of Lady Catelyn Stark,
SER GEREMY, drowned, m. Carolei Waynwood,
Geremy's son, SANDOR, a boy of twelve, a squire to Ser Donnel Waynwood,
Geremy's daughter, CYNTHEA, a girl of nine, a ward of Lady Anya Waynwood,
SER RAYMUND, m. Beony Beesbury,
Raymund's son, ROBERT, sixteen, in training at the Citadel in Oldtown,
Raymund's son, MALWYN, fifteen, apprenticed to an alchemist in Lys,
Raymund's twin daughters, SERRA and SARRA, maiden girls of fourteen,
Raymund's daughter, CERSEI, six, called LITTLE BEE,
by his fourth wife, (LADY ALYSSA, of House Blackwood):
LOTHAR, their eldest son, called LAME LOTHAR, m. Leonella Lefford,
Lothar's daughter, TYSANE, a girl of seven,
Lothar's daughter, WALDA, a girl of four,
Lothar's daughter, EMBERLEI, a girl of two,
SER JAMMOS, m. Sallei Paege,
Jammos's son, WALDER, called BIG WALDER, a boy of eight, taken captive at Winterfell. while a ward of Lady Catelyn Stark,
SER WHALEN, m. Sylwa Paege,
Whalen's son, HOSTER, a boy of twelve, a squire to Ser Damon Paege,
Whalen's daughter, MERIANNE, called MERRY, a girl of eleven,
LADY MORYA, m. Ser Flement Brax,
Morya's son, ROBERT BRAX, nine, fostered at Casterly Rock as a page,
Morya's son, WALDER BRAX, a boy of six,
Morya's son, JON BRAX, a babe of three,
TYTA, called TYTA THE MAID, a maid of twenty-nine,
by his fifth wife, (LADY SARYA of House Whent): no progeny,
by his sixth wife, (LADY BETHANY of House Rosby):
SER PERWYN, their eldest son,
SER BENFREY, m. Jyanna Frey, a cousin,
Benfrey's daughter, DELLA, called DEAF DELLA, a girl of three,
Benfrey's son, OSMUND, a boy of two,
MAESTER WILLAMEN, in service at Longbow Hall,
OLYVAR, squire to Robb Stark,
ROSLIN, a maid of sixteen,
by his seventh wife, (LADY ANNARA of House Farring):
ARWYN, a maid of fourteen,
WENDEL, their eldest son, a boy of thirteen, fostered at Seagard as a page,
COLMAR, promised to the Faith, eleven,
WALTYR, called TYR, a boy of ten,
ELMAR, formerly betrothed to Arya Stark, a boy of nine,
SHIREI, a girl of six,
by his eighth wife, LADY JOYEUSE of House Erenford, no progeny as yet,
Lord Walder's natural children, by sundry mothers,
WALDER RIVERS, called BASTARD WALDER,
Bastard Walder's son, SER AEMON RIVERS,
Bastard Walder's daughter, WALDA RIVERS,
JEYNE RIVERS, MARTYN RIVERS, RYGER RIVERS, RONEL RIVERS, MELLARA RIVERS, others.
The Lannisters of Casterly Rock remain the principal support of King Joffrey's claim to the Iron Throne. They boast of descent from Lann the Clever, the legendary trickster of the Age of Heroes. The gold of Casterly Rock and the Golden Tooth has made them the wealthiest of the Great Houses. The Lannister sigil is a golden lion upon a crimson field. Their words are Hear Me Roar!
TYWIN LANNISTER, Lord of Casterly Rock, Warden of the West, Shield of Lannisport, and Hand of the King,
his son, SER JAIME, called THE KINGSLAYER, a twin to Queen Cersei, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Warden of the East, a captive at Riverrun,
his daughter, QUEEN CERSEI, twin to Jaime, widow of King Robert I Baratheon, Queen Regent for her son Joffrey,
her son, KING JOFFREY BARATHEON, a boy of thirteen,
her daughter, PRINCESS MYRCELLA BARATHEON, a girl of nine, a ward of Prince Doran Martell in Dorne,
her son, PRINCE TOMMEN BARATHEON, a boy of eight, heir to the Iron Throne,
his dwarf son, TYRION, called THE IMP, called HALFMAN, wounded and scarred on the Blackwater,
his siblings:
SER KEVAN, Lord Tywin's eldest brother,
Ser Kevan's wife, DORNA, of House Swyft,
their son, SER LANCEL, formerly a squire to King Robert, wounded and near death,
their son, WILLEM, twin to Martyn, a squire, captive at Riverrun,
their son, MARTYN, twin to Willem, a squire, a captive with Robb Stark,
their daughter, JANEI, a girl of two,
GENNA, his sister, wed to Ser Emmon Frey,
their son, SER CLEOS FREY, a captive at Riverrun,
their son, SER LYONEL,
their son, TION FREY, a squire, captive at Riverrun,
their son, WALDER, called RED WALDER, a squire at Casterly Rock,
(SER TYGETT), his second brother, died of a pox,
Tygett's widow, DARLESSA, of House Marbrand,
their son, TYREK, squire to the king, missing,
(GERION), his youngest brother, lost at sea,
Gerion's bastard daughter, JOY, eleven,
his cousin, (SER STAFFORD LANNISTER), brother to the late Lady Joanna, slain at Oxcross,
Ser Stafford's son, SER Daven Lannister,
his cousins:
SER DAMION LANNISTER, m. Lady Shiera Crakehall,
his son, SER LUCION,
his daughter, LANNA, m. Lord Antario Jast,
MARGOT, m. Lord Titus Peake,
his household:
MAESTER CREYLEN, healer, tutor, and counselor,
VYLARR, captain-of-guards,
WHITESMILE WAT, a singer,
SER BENEDICT BROOM, master-at-arms,
his lords bannermen:
DAMON MARBRAND, Lord of Ashemark,
SER ADDAM MARBRAND, his son and heir,
ROLAND CRAKEHALL, Lord of Crakehall,
his brother, (SER BURTON CRAKEHALL), killed by Lord Beric Dondarrion and his outlaws,
his son and heir, SER TYBOLT CRAKEHALL,
his second son, SER LYLE CRAKEHALL, called STRONGBOAR, a captive at Pinkmaiden Castle,
his youngest son, SER MERLON CRAKEHALL,
(ANDROS BRAX), Lord of Hornvale, drowned during the Battle of the Camps,
his brother, (SER RUPERT BRAX), slain at Oxcross,
his eldest son, SER TYTOS BRAX, now Lord of Hornvale, a captive at the Twins,
his second son, (SER ROBERT BRAX), slain at the Battle of the Fords,
his third son, SER FLEMENT BRAX, now heir,
(LORD LEO LEFFORD), drowned at the Stone Mill,
REGENARD ESTREN, Lord of Wyndhall, a captive at the Twins,
GAWEN WESTERLING, Lord of the Crag, a captive at Seagard,
his wife, LADY SYBELL, of House Spicer,
her brother, SER ROLPH SPICER,
her cousin, SER SAMWELL SPICER,
their children:
SER RAYNALD WESTERLING,
JEYNE, a maid of sixteen years,
ELEYNA, a girl of twelve,
ROLLAM, a boy of nine,
LEWYS LYDDEN, Lord of the Deep Den,
LORD ANTARIO JAST, a captive at Pinkmaiden Castle,
LORD PHILIP PLUMM,
his sons, SER DENNIS PLUMM, SER PETER PLUMM, and SER HARWYN PLUMM, called HARDSTONE,
QUENTEN BANEFORT, Lord of Banefort, a captive of Lord Jonos Bracken,
his knights and captains:
SER HARYS SWYFT, good-father to Ser Kevan Lannister,
Ser Harys's son, SER STEFFON SWYFT,
Ser Steffon's daughter, JOANNA,
Ser Harys's daughter, SHIERLE, m. Ser Melwyn Sarsfield,
SER FORLEY PRESTER,
SER GARTH GREENFIELD, a captive at Raventree Hall,
SER LYMOND VIKARY, a captive at Wayfarer's Rest,
LORD SELMOND STACKSPEAR,
his son, SER STEFFON STACKSPEAR,
his younger son, SER ALYN STACKSPEAR,
TERRENCE KENNING, Lord of Kayce,
SER KENNOS OF KAYCE, a knight in his service,
SER GREGOR CLEGANE, the Mountain That Rides,
POLLIVER, CHISWYCK, RAFF THE SWEETLING, DUNSEN, and THE TICKLER, soldiers in his service,
(SER AMORY LORCH), fed to a bear by Vargo Hoat after the fall of Harrenhal.
Dorne was the last of the Seven Kingdoms to swear fealty to the Iron Throne. Blood, custom, and history all set the Dornishmen apart from the other kingdoms. At the outbreak of the War of the Five Kings, Dorne took no part. With the betrothal of Myrcella Baratheon to Prince Trystane, Sunspear declared its support for King Joffrey and called its banners. The Martell banner is a red sun pierced by a golden spear. Their words are Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.
DORAN NYMEROS MARTELL, Lord of Sunspear, Prince of Dorne,
his wife, MELLARIO, of the Free City of Norvos,
their children:
PRINCESS ARIANNE, their eldest daughter, heir to Sunspear,
PRINCE QUENTYN, their elder son,
PRINCE TRYSTANE, their younger son, betrothed to Myrcella Baratheon,
his siblings:
his sister, (PRINCESS ELIA), wife of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
their children:
(PRINCESS RHAENYS, a young girl, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
(PRINCE AEGON, a babe, slain during the Sack of King's Landing,
his brother, PRINCE OBERYN, called THE RED VIPER,
Prince Oberyn's paramour, ELLARIA SAND,
Prince Oberyn's bastard daughters, OBARA, NYMERIA,TYENE, SARELLA, ELIA, OBELLA, DOREA, LOREZA, called THE SAND SNAKES,
Prince Oberyn's companions:
HARMEN ULLER, Lord of Hellholt,
Harmen's brother, SER ULWYCK ULLER,
SER RYON ALLYRION,
Ser Ryon's natural son, SER DAEMON SAND, the Bastard of Godsgrace,
DAGOS MANWOODY, Lord of Kingsgrave,
Dagos's brother, SER MYLES MANWOODY,
SER ARRON QORGYLE,
SER DEZIEL DALT, the Knight of Lemonwood,
MYRIA JORDAYNE, heir to the Tor,
LARRA BLACKMONT, Lady of Blackmont,
her daughter, JYNESSA BLACKMONT,
her son, PERROS BLACKMONT, a squire,
his household:
AREO HOTAH, a Norvoshi sellsword, captain of guards,
MAESTER CALEOTTE, counselor, healer, and tutor,
his lords bannermen:
HARMEN ULLER, Lord of Hellholt,
EDRIC DAYNE, Lord of Starfall,
DELONNE ALLYRION, Lady of Godsgrace,
DAGOS MANWOODY, Lord of Kingsgrave,
LARRA BLACKMONT, Lady of Blackmont,
TREMOND GARGALEN, Lord of Salt Shore,
ANDERS YRONWOOD, Lord of Yronwood,
Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun was one of the first of the river lords to swear fealty to Aegon the Conqueror. The victorious Aegon rewarded him by raising House Tully to dominion over all the lands of the Trident. The Tully sigil is a leaping trout, silver, on a field of rippling blue and red. The Tully words are Family, Duty, Honor.
HOSTER TULLY, Lord of Riverrun,
his wife, (LADY MINISA, of House Whent), died in childbed,
their children:
CATELYN, widow of Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell,
her eldest son, ROBB STARK, Lord of Winterfell, King in the North, and King of the Trident,
her daughter, SANSA STARK, a maid of twelve, captive at King's Landing,
her daughter, ARYA STARK, ten, missing for a year,
her son, BRANDON STARK, eight, believed dead,
her son, RICKON STARK, four, believed dead,
LYSA, widow of Lord Jon Arryn of the Eyrie,
her son, ROBERT, Lord of the Eyrie and Defender of the Vale, a sickly boy of seven years,
SER EDMURE, his only son, heir to Riverrun,
Ser Edmure's friends and companions:
SER MARQ PIPER, heir to Pinkmaiden,
LORD LYMOND GOODBROOK,
SER RONALD VANCE, called THE BAD, and his brothers, SER HUGO, SER ELLERY, and KIRTH,
PATREK MALLISTER, LUCAS BLACKWOOD, SER PERWYN FREY, TRISTAN RYGER, SER ROBERT PAEGE,
his brother, SER BRYNDEN, called The Blackfish,
his household:
MAESTER VYMAN, counselor, healer, and tutor,
SER DESMOND GRELL, master-at-arms,
SER ROBIN RYGER, captain of the guard,
UTHERYDES WAYN, steward of Riverrun,
RYMUND THE RHYMER, a singer,
his lords bannermen:
JONOS BRACKEN, Lord of the Stone Hedge,
JASON MALLISTER, Lord of Seagard,
WALDER FREY, Lord of the Crossing,
CLEMENT PIPER, Lord of Pinkmaiden Castle,
KARYL VANCE, Lord of Wayfarer's Rest,
NORBERT VANCE, Lord of Atranta,
THEOMAR SMALLWOOD, Lord of Acorn Hall,
his wife, LADY RAVELLA, of House Swann,
their daughter, CARELLEN,
WILLIAM MOOTON, Lord of Maidenpool,
SHELLA WHENT, dispossessed Lady of Harrenhal,
SER HALMON PAEGE.
TYTOS BLACKWOOD, Lord of Raventree
The Tyrells rose to power as stewards to the Kings of the Reach, whose domain included the fertile plains of the southwest from the Dornish marches and Blackwater Rush to the shores of the Sunset Sea. Through the female line, they claim descent from Garth Greenhand, gardener king of the First Men, who wore a crown of vines and flowers and made the land bloom. When Mern IX, last king of House Gardener, was slain on the Field of Fire, his steward Harlen Tyrell surrendered Highgarden to Aegon the Conqueror. Aegon granted him the castle and dominion over the Reach. The Tyrell sigil is a golden rose on a grass-green field. Their words are Growing Strong.
Lord Mace Tyrell declared his support for Renly Baratheon at the onset of the War of the Five Kings, and gave him the hand of his daughter Margaery. Upon Renly's death, Highgarden made alliance with House Lannister, and Margaery was betrothed to King Joffrey.
MACE TYRELL, Lord of Highgarden, Warden of the South, Defender of the Marches, and High Marshall of the Reach,
his wife, LADY ALERIE, of House Hightower of Oldtown,
their children:
WILLAS, their eldest son, heir to Highgarden,
SER GARLAN, called THE GALLANT, their second son,
his wife, LADY LEONETTE of House Fossoway,
SER LORAS, the Knight of Flowers, their youngest son, a Sworn Brother of the Kingsguard,
MARGAERY, their daughter, a widow of fifteen years, betrothed to King Joffrey Baratheon,
Margaery's companions and ladies-in-waiting:
her cousins, MEGGA, ALLA, and ELINOR TYRELL,
Elinor's betrothed, ALYN AMBROSE, squire,
LADY ALYSANNE BULWER, a girl of eight,
MEREDYTH CRANE, called MERRY,
TAENA OF MYR, wife to LORD ORTON MERRYWEATHER,
LADY ALYCE GRACEFORD,
SEPTA NYSTERICA, a sister of the Faith,
his widowed mother, LADY OLENNA of House Redwyne, called the Queen of Thorns,
Lady Olenna's guardsmen, ARRYK and ERRYK, called LEFT and RIGHT,
his sisters:
LADY MINA, wed to Paxter Redwyne, Lord of the Arbor,
their children:
SER HORAS REDWYNE, twin to Hobber, mocked as HORROR,
SER HOBBER REDWYNE, twin to Horas, mocked as SLOBBER,
DESMERA REDWYNE, a maid of sixteen,
LADY JANNA, wed to Ser Jon Fossoway,
his uncles and cousins:
his father's brother, GARTH, called THE GROSS, Lord Seneschal of Highgarden,
Garth's bastard sons, GARSE and GARRETT FLOWERS,
his father's brother, SER MORYN, Lord Commander of the City Watch of Oldtown,
Moryn's son, (SER LUTHOR, m. Lady Elyn Norridge,
Theodore's daughter, ELINOR,
Theodore's son, LUTHOR, a squire,
Luthor's son, MAESTER MEDWICK,
Luthor's daughter, OLENE, m. Ser Leo Blackbar,
Moryn's son, LEO, called LEO THE LAZY,
his father's brother, MAESTER GORMON, a scholar of the Citadel,
Quentin's son, SER OLYMER, m. Lady Lysa Meadows,
Olymer's daughter, MEGGA,
his cousin, MAESTER NORMUND, in service at Blackcrown,
his cousin, (SER VICTOR), slain by the Smiling Knight of the Kingswood Brotherhood,
Victor's daughter, VICTARIA, m. (Lord Jon Bulwer), died of a summer fever,
their daughter, LADY ALYSANNE BULWER, eight,
Victor's son, SER LEO, m. Lady Alys Beesbury,
his household at Highgarden:
MAESTER LOMYS, counselor, healer, and tutor,
IGON VYRWEL, captain of the guard,
SER VORTIMER CRANE, master-at-arms,
BUTTERBUMPS, fool and jester, hugely fat,
his lords bannermen:
RANDYLL TARLY, Lord of Horn Hill,
PAXTER REDWYNE, Lord of the Arbor,
ARWYN OAKHEART, Lady of Old Oak,
MATHIS ROWAN, Lord of Goldengrove,
ALESTER FLORENT, Lord of Brightwater Keep, a rebel in support of Stannis Baratheon,
LEYTON HIGHTOWER, Voice of Oldtown, Lord of the Port,
ORTON MERRYWEATHER, Lord of Longtable,
LORD ARTHUR AMBROSE,
his knights and sworm swords:
SER MARK MULLENDORE, crippled during the Battle of the Blackwater,
SER JON FOSSOWAY, of the green-apple Fossoways,
SER TANTON FOSSOWAY, of the red-apple Fossoways.
(ranging Beyond the Wall)
JEOR MORMONT, called THE OLD BEAR, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch,
JON SNOW, the Bastard of Winterfell, his steward and squire, lost while scouting the Skirling Pass,
GHOST, his direwolf, white and silent,
EDDISON TOLLETT, called DOLOROUS EDD, his squire,
THOREN SMALLWOOD, commanding the rangers,
DYWEN, DIRK, SOFTFOOT, GRENN, BEDWYCK called GIANT, OLLO LOPHAND, GRUBBS, BERNARR called BROWN BERNARR, another BERNARR called BLACK BERNARR, TIM STONE, ULMER OF KINGSWOOD, GARTH called GREYFEATHER, GARTH OF GREENAWAY, GARTH OF OLDTOWN, ALAN OF ROSBY, RONNEL HARCLAY, AETHAN, RYLES, MAWNEY, rangers,
JARMEN BUCKWELL, commanding the scouts,
BANNEN, KEDGE WHITEYE, TUMBERJON, FORNIO, GOADY, rangers and scouts,
SER OTTYN WYTHERS, commanding the rearguard,
SER MALADOR LOCKE, commanding the baggage,
DONNEL HILL, called SWEET DONNEL, his squire and steward,
HAKE, a steward and cook,
CHETT, an ugly steward, keeper of hounds,
SAMWELL TARLY, a fat steward, keeper of ravens, mocked as SER PIGGY,
LARK called THE SISTERMAN, his cousin ROLLEY OF SISTERTON, CLUBFOOT KARL, MASLYN, SMALL PAUL, SAWWOOD, LEFT HAND LEW, ORPHAN OSS, MUTTERING BILL, stewards,
(QHORIN HALFHAND), commanding the rangers from the Shadow Tower, slain in the Skirling Pass,
(SQUIRE DALBRIDGE, EGGEN), rangers, slain in the Skirling Pass,
STONESNAKE, a ranger and mountaineer, lost afoot in Skirling Pass,
BLANE, Qhorin Halfhand's second, commanding the Shadow Tower men on the Fist of the First Men,
SER BYAM FLINT,
(at Castle Black)
BOWEN MARSH, Lord Steward and castellan,
MAESTER AEMON (TARGARYEN), healer and counselor, a blind man, one hundred years old,
his steward, CLYDAS,
BENJEN STARK, First Ranger, missing, feared dead,
SER WYNTON STOUT, eighty years a ranger,
SER ALADALE WYNCH, PYPAR, DEAF DICK FOLLARD, HAIRY HAL, BLACK JACK BULWER, ELRON, MATTHAR, rangers,
OTHELL YARWYCK, First Builder,
SPARE BOOT, YOUNG HENLY, HALDER, ALBETT, KEGS, SPOTTED PATE OF MAIDENPOOL, builders,
DONAL NOYE, armorer, smith, and steward, one-armed,
THREE-FINGER HOBB, steward and chief cook,
TIM TANGLETONGUE, EASY, MULLY, OLD HENLY, CUGEN, RED ALYN OF THE ROSEWOOD, JEREN, stewards,
SEPTON CELLADOR, a drunken devout,
SER ENDREW TARTH, master-at-arms,
RAST, ARRON, EMRICK, SATIN, HOP-ROBIN, recruits in training,
(at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea)
COTTER PYKE, Commander Eastwatch,
MAESTER HARMUNE, healer and counselor,
SER ALLISER THORNE, master-at-arms,
JANOS SLYNT, former commander of the City Watch of King's Landing, briefly Lord of Harrenhal,
SER GLENDON HEWETT,
DAREON, steward and singer,
IRON EMMETT, a ranger famed for his strength,
(at Shadow Tower)
SER DENYS MALLISTER, Commander, Shadow Tower
his steward and squire, WALLACE MASSEY,
MAESTER MULLIN, healer and counselor.
BERIC DONDARRION, Lord of Blackhaven, called THE LIGHTNING LORD, oft reported dead,
his right hand, THOROS OF MYR, a red priest,
his squire, EDRIC DAYNE, Lord of Starfall, twelve,
his followers:
LEM, called LEM LEMONCLOAK, a one-time soldier,
HARWIN, son of Hullen, formerly in service to Lord Eddard Stark at Winterfell,
GREENBEARD, a Tyroshi sellsword,
TOM OF SEVENSTREAMS, a singer of dubious report, called TOM SEVENSTRINGS and TOM O' SEVENS,
ANGUY THE ARCHER, a bowman from the Dornish Marches,
JACK-BE-LUCKY, a wanted man, short an eye,
THE MAD HUNTSMAN, of Stoney Sept,
MERRIT O'MOONTOWN, WATTY THE MILLER, LIKELY LUKE, MUDGE, BEARDLESS DICK, outlaws in his band,
at the Inn of the Kneeling Man:
SHARNA, the innkeep, a cook and midwife,
her husband, called HUSBAND,
BOY, an orphan of the war,
at the Peach, a brothel in Stoney Sept:
TANSY, the red-haired proprietor,
ALYCE, CASS, LANNA, JYZENE, HELLY, BELLA, some of her peaches,
at Acorn Hall, the seat of House Smallwood:
LADY RAVELLA, formerly of House Swann, wife to Lord Theomar Smallwood,
here and there and elsewhere:
LORD LYMOND LYCHESTER, an old man of wandering wit, who once held Ser Maynard at the bridge,
his young caretaker, MAESTER ROONE,
the ghost of High Heart,
the Lady of the Leaves,
the septon at Sallydance.
MANCE RAYDER, King-beyond-the-Wall,
DALLA, his pregnant wife,
VAL, her younger sister,
his chiefs and captains:
HARMA, called DOGSHEAD, commanding his van,
THE LORD OF BONES, mocked as RATTLESHIRT, leader of a war band,
RYK, called LONGSPEAR, a member of his band,
his captive, JON SNOW, the crow-come-over,
GHOST, Jon's direwolf, white and silent,
STYR, Magnar of Thenn,
JARL, a young raider, Val's lover,
GRIGG THE GOAT, ERROK, QUORT, BODGER, DEL, BIG BOIL, HEMPEN DAN, HENK THE HELM, LENN, TOEFINGER, STONE THUMBS, raiders,
TORMUND, Mead-King of Ruddy Hall, called GIANTSBANE, TALL-TALKER, HORN-BLOWER, and BREAKER OF ICE, also THUNDERFIST, HUSBAND TO BEARS, SPEAKER TO GODS, and FATHER OF HOSTS, leader of a war band,
his sons, TOREGG THE TALL, TORWYRD THE TAME, DORMUND, and DRYN, his daughter MUNDA,
(ORELL, called ORELL THE EAGLE), a skinchanger slain by Jon Snow in the Skirling Pass,
MAG MAR TUN DOH WEG, called MAG THE MIGHTY, of the giants,
VARMYR called SIXSKINS, a skinchanger, master of three wolves, a shadowcat, and a snow bear,
THE WEEPER, a raider and leader of a war band,
(ALFYN CROWKILLER), a raider, slain by Qhorin Halfhand of the Night's Watch,
CRASTER, of Craster's Keep, who kneels to none,