Chapters

Using the saddle Tyrion designed, Bran rides outside of Winterfell’s walls with Robb and other Winterfell men. Robb tells Bran how Jaime attacked Ned. Robb and Theon have considered calling on the houses loyal to Winterfell to prepare for war. After Theon and the other men fall behind, Robb leaves Bran to find their direwolves. While Bran is alone, six wildlings find him. They plan to steal Bran’s possessions and likely kill him. Robb and the wolves return just in time to defend Bran. The fight that follows ends with one wildling holding Bran at knifepoint. Theon finally returns and kills the wilding from behind with an arrow. At Luwin’s suggestion, Robb spares the life of Osha, the only surviving Wildling.

In a cell high up in the Eyrie, Mord the jailer torments Tyrion. The cell has only three walls, and the front opens to the sky and a six-hundred-foot drop down to the rocks below the Eyrie. Tyrion remembers how he mocked Lysa when she accused him of killing Jon Arryn as well as trying to kill Bran. In his cell, Tyrion also wonders how his siblings managed to kill Jon Arryn so subtly yet did such a poor job of assassinating Bran. He wonders if there was a third party that tried to kill Bran. He also realizes that his imprisonment offers his family a strategic advantage that they will probably ignore due to their pride. Tyrion bribes Mord to tell Lysa he wants to confess his crimes. When he is brought before Lysa and Robert Arryn, he instead confesses to petty crimes like whoring and demands a trial by combat to decide the accusations of murder. Bronn volunteers to fight on Tyrion’s behalf, and Lysa commands Ser Vardis to fight on behalf of the prosecution.

Catelyn learns that Tywin Lannister is building an army at Casterly Rock and that the Tullys and men loyal to them have prepared their own defenses. Catelyn tries to convince her sister not to go through with Tyrion’s trial by combat, and she reflects on how inconstant and obnoxious her sister has become. From a strategic standpoint, Catelyn realizes that Tyrion is most valuable if he remains a prisoner. She also wonders which of the Lannisters really killed Jon Arryn. In the duel, the quick and lightly armored Bronn defeats the slower, older, heavily armored Vardis. Lysa wants to kill Tyrion nonetheless, but he reminds her of the Arryn words: “As High as Honor.” Though Tyrion is set free to travel from the Eyrie, it seems almost certain that the mountain tribes will kill him, since Lysa provides no escort.

A new batch of recruits are about to arrive at the Wall, so Jon and his friends are to be promoted to full membership as black brothers of the Night’s Watch. But Sam is not promoted, and Jon worries that without anyone left around to protect Sam, Thorne will have the new recruits hurt Sam. Jon goes to Aemon and asks the old maester to consider promoting Sam as a steward. Jon compares the Night’s Watch to the chain Aemon wears as a maester. The chain is composed of links of all different sorts of metals to signify a maester’s many different types of learning. Jon argues that, like a maester’s chain, the Night’s Watch needs many different types of men. He points out that Sam is literate and good at math, and therefore he would be quite useful to Aemon.

Robert is gone hunting, and as the newly reinstated Hand, Ned deals the king’s justice from the Iron Throne. Aegon the Conqueror built the Throne after he united the Seven Kingdoms. He ordered his blacksmiths to melt down the swords surrendered by his enemies and use them to construct the Throne, since he believed a king should never sit easy. Ned listens to reports that troops of armed men have been killing commoners and burning towns near Riverrun. The survivors give descriptions that match Gregor and Lannister men. The council hesitates to act against the Lannisters. Ned sentences the absent Gregor and his men to death. Since he is injured, Ned sends other men to carry out the orders. Though Loras volunteers, Ned turns him down because he believes Loras primarily wants revenge on Gregor.

Sansa and Jeyne discuss Ned’s decision not to send Loras to kill Gregor. At dinner, Arya says that the Hound and Jaime deserve to be executed as much as Gregor. Sansa disagrees. She says the Hound was protecting Joff when he killed the butcher’s boy. The girls bicker and are sent to their rooms. Later, Arya says she is sorry, but Sansa will not accept the apology. Ned tells the girls he is sending them back to Winterfell for their safety and swears them to silence about his plans. When Sansa protests that she cannot leave since she must marry Joff, Ned tells her the marriage is a mistake. Sansa and Arya begin to bicker again, and Sansa yells that Joff is nothing like his old drunk father. Ned realizes she is right.