A Game of Thrones

Sansa is confined to her room for two days. The first day Sansa shouts for her father to help her. When she hears all the killing, she cries. The Hound brings Jayne Poole to Sansa’s room, then bars the door again on the second day. Later, they hear bells ringing to signal that the king is dead. The next morning, Sansa is brought to Cersei in the council chambers. Littlefinger, Maester Pycelle, and Varys are also there. Cersei speaks to Sansa kindly but tells her men to remove Sansa’s friend Jayne from her rooms on the premise that Sansa is upset by Jayne’s crying. Cersei tells Sansa how much she and Joffrey love her then tells Sansa that her father is a traitor. Sansa doesn’t believe the accusation, but Cersei shows her the letter Ned wrote to Stannis Baratheon summoning him back to King’s Landing to take the crown. Cersei says that she can’t marry her son to the daughter of a traitor even if Sansa is innocent. Sansa protests that she loves Joffrey, and Cersei concedes that Sansa must love him since she told the queen of Ned‘s plan to send his daughters back to Winterfell. Sansa thought Cersei could convince Robert to command Ned to let Sansa stay and marry the prince. The slaughter of Ned’s men started just a few hours after she told Cersei. Sansa pleads her case, but the council says they don’t know what might happen in the future since she is the blood of a traitor. Cersei decides that if the rest of Sansa’s family could be proven to be loyal then perhaps she can be trusted. The queen tells Sansa to write letters to Catelyn and Robb—dictated by the queen—informing them of Ned’s treason and urging them to remain loyal to the crown. When Sansa asks to speak to Ned first, Varys suggests that would be treasonous and Cersei says she is disappointed. Sansa agrees to write letters to her mother, her brother, and even to her aunt Lysa and grandfather Hoster Tully. Sansa hopes that when she marries Joffrey and becomes queen she will be able to pardon her father. After writing the letters and returning to her room, Sansa realizes that she failed to ask about Arya.

Commander Mormont leads a contingent of men, including Jon and Sam, on a ranging mission beyond the Wall to investigate where Ghost found the hand he brought to the men during the ceremony. They find the men and discover that they were some of Benjen Stark’s party, though they are not all accounted for. The bodies are not rotting, but Sam points out the physical evidence that they have been dead for quite some time. The dogs cower and whimper and won’t go near the corpses. All the dead men have blue eyes, though none of them did before. All the men seem to be thinking of the Others, but no one voices this. Two men quietly suggest burning the bodies, but Mormont wants to bring them back for Maester Aemon to inspect. None of the horses will tolerate the bodies being placed on them, so they must drag them in makeshift carriers. At Castle Black, the Night’s Watch has been informed that Robert is dead, and Jon learns Ned has been “charged with treason” (556). Mormont intends to send a letter encouraging the councilors to send Ned to the Wall instead of executing him. The news spreads quickly through the castle, and Thorne makes a provocative comment about Ned. Jon attacks Thorne, but he is restrained by his friends. He is brought back to his sleeping cell where Mormont comes and expresses his disappointment in Jon. Mormont strips him of his weapons and leaves him confined to his room under guard with only Ghost for company until they can decide his punishment. Later, Jon is woken by Ghost scratching at the door. He opens the door and finds the guard dead. Feeling as though he is in a bad dream, he exits and finds one of the recovered corpses has returned to life and is approaching Mormont‘s chambers. Jon and Ghost attack the reanimated corpse, referred to as a wight. They save Mormont and burn the wight with flaming curtains.

Robb calls on the Starks and gathers an army of “twelve thousand men” (564) at Winterfell. Though some men challenge Robb’s authority, most respect him as the Lord of Winterfell. Bran is carried through Winterfell in a “wicker seat” (565) attached to Hodor’s back. In the camp, rumors about Ned spread quickly, but Robb and Bran find Sansa’s letter no less difficult to believe. They notice the failure to mention Arya, and Robb is angry at the demand that he come to King’s Landing to bend the knee to Joffrey. Bran worries that Sansa no longer has her direwolf to protect her, and he fears the pattern of Starks who leave Winterfell to go south, never returning. Bran prays for his family’s safety in the godswood, and Osha asks him if he can hear the gods answering him in the wind like she can. The wildling woman says the gods are sad because they cannot help his brother as they have “no power in the south” (572) where the ancient trees were cut down to make way for the new religion. Osha believes that events in the south are irrelevant compared to the dangers beyond the Wall and that Robb should be headed north to fight instead. At dinner, Bran overhears some men whispering about his condition, and Bran tells Maester Luwin he wants to learn magic if he can’t be a knight. Luwin tells him he can learn lots of things, but magic isn’t one of them. Bran replies that he could learn magic from the children of the forest. Robb leaves Winterfell to march south with his army. He places Bran in charge of Winterfell until an older male member of the Stark family returns. Bran feels that Robb is “marching the wrong way” (576).

Daenerys and Drogo discuss taking back the Iron Throne. Drogo has no interest in crossing the “poison water” and is focused on preparing for a hunt with his bloodriders. When the men leave, Daenerys summons Jorah, hoping he knows how to convince Drogo that he must help her return to Westeros. Jorah advises her to be patient, unlike her brother. To distract Daenerys from her worries, Jorah and Daenerys visit a market. Jorah insists on going alone to see if the captain of the market has a letter for Daenerys from Illyrio, which she finds odd. After learning who she is, a wine merchant offers her a special vintage, but Jorah returns and stops her from taking the cask. When they insist the winemaker sample the wine himself, he tries to run away. Jorah explains that Illyrio’s letter said that there is a bounty for anyone who kills Viserys, Daenerys, or her unborn child; the wine seller was a hopeful assassin. Later, Daenerys has a strange urge to put her dragon eggs in the fire to see if they will hatch, but the fire does nothing. When Drogo hears about the assassination attempt, he gives Jorah his pick of a horse for saving Daenerys. Furious, Drogo promises that he will gift the Iron Throne to his newborn son, and two days later the Dothraki begin the ride west toward the Narrow Sea.

Catelyn leaves the Eyrie and travels to Moat Cailin, where Robb is with his army. Catelyn is determined to help young Robb project himself as a strong and capable leader. Already, Jaime and a separate army are making their way to Riverrun after defeating the ranks sent to delay him. Tywin Lannister‘s army has destroyed Ser Beric Dondarrion’s small force that Ned sent to kill Gregor Clegane and is marching north, destroying everything and making the kingsroad impassable. Robb confesses uncertainty, but Catelyn tells him that he “cannot afford to seem indecisive” (596). With her guidance, Robb decides to split his forces in two, with a river in between them, to engage the two Lannister forces separately instead of allowing them to combine forces. Robb will lead the horse party, and on Catelyn‘s advice, Robb chooses the discerning and devious Roose Bolton rather than the bold, boisterous Greatjon Umber to lead the foot party. Catelyn will travel to Riverrun to see her brother and her father, who she believes is dying.

Backed by “near three hundred” (599) mountain clansmen, Tyrion returns to the same inn where he was first captured by Catelyn and where his father is now quartered. Tywin’s large army has fortified the kingsroad for miles though they burned down the village. Tywin suggests that it was Tyrion “who started” the war by allowing himself to be captured, forcing Tywin to assemble his army. Tywin does not trust Tyrion, nor think Tyrion can be a battle commander. He wishes to give Tyrion a perfunctory number of men and send him to kill what is left of Beric Dondarrion’s forces, who are “making a nuisance of themselves” (605). Tyrion reveals that he has recruited the mountain clans and plans to take them to destroy the Vale, but he is interrupted by a messenger reporting that the Starks are heading down the kingsroad. Tywin asks the clansmen to join him against the Starks, promising to pay Tyrion’s debt plus more. They agree, provided Tyrion rides with them so they can ensure the Lannister promises are kept.

Sansa has an escort appointed by Cersei who follows her everywhere, and she is not allowed to leave the Red Keep. Sansa attends Joffrey’s first court as king and notices that the attendance is significantly smaller than King Robert’s; all of the lords there either don’t recognize her or avoid her. Joffrey has Pycelle read his decrees. First is a long list of nobility who are formally called to swear fealty to their new king, the Starks, including Arya, among them. Next, it is decreed that Tywin Lannister will replace Ned Stark as Hand of the King, and Cersei will replace Stannis Baratheon on the small council. Following the decrees, Ser Barristan is forcefully retired as Lord Commander of the Kingsguard despite his oath to serve for life. Jaime Lannister will replace him. The Hound is appointed to the Kingsguard though he insists he will “say no knight’s vows” (615), which breaks with tradition. Sansa approaches Joffrey and begs him to show mercy to her father. Joffrey agrees, as long as Ned confesses to treason.

Ned is kept in the “absolute” darkness of the Red Keep’s filthy dungeon. He blames himself for the deaths of his men. He feels guilty for failing Robert and placing his family in danger, and he is bedeviled by memories. Varys enters the cell in disguise, bringing him wine and news about the Stark family. Varys informs him Cersei provided the unusually strong wine to Lancel, who brought it to Robert and caused him to lose control on his hunt. Varys presses that it was the mercy Ned offered Cersei by warning her that led to the king being killed. Cersei’s biggest fear is that Stannis will come to King’s Landing, claim the throne, and kill Joffrey. Varys laments that it’s always the innocent who suffer the most as the highborn play their games, and he claims that he wants nothing more than peace. He tells Ned that Cersei will come to him the next day and he can choose to stick to his honor and die along with Sansa, or he can swear fealty to Joffrey for the sake of his daughter’s life, tell Robb to call off his attack, and be sent to the Wall.

Robb and his army reach a bridge controlled by Lord Walder Frey. There is “no other way across the river” (628). The Freys have held this bridge—known as the Twins—for 600 years and “they have never failed to exact their toll” (630). Although the Freys are the bannermen of the Tullys, it is unclear whose side he is on. Robb receives news that Jamie successfully invaded Riverrun and took Catelyn’s brother captive. Robb must get there soon to help. Catelyn offers to negotiate a crossing as she has experience with the bitter Walder Frey. Walder complains about being mistreated by everyone. He dislikes Tywin Lannister, but he also has been insulted by the Tullys, so Catelyn flatters Frey to win his allegiance. She returns to Robb with good and bad news. She has negotiated a crossing, but two of Frey’s grandsons will be fostered at Winterfell, Frey’s son Olyvar will become Robb’s personal squire, and Robb must marry one of Frey’s daughters. Arya must also marry one of the Frey sons. Robb accepts the terms since he has no other choice.