Chapters

Catelyn rides northwest from the Eyrie to Moat Cailin, where Robb’s army is stationed. Though Catelyn fears for her son, she knows he must be a strong leader. Tywin has smashed the royal force that Ned sent to stop Gregor and his men. Robb plans to march south and split his army once they arrive south of the Neck. One half, his footmen, will continue south and engage Tywin in battle. The other half, the men on horseback, will cross the Green Fork of the Trident River and ride to Rivverrun to break Jaime’s siege on the castle. Robb plans to lead the horsemen and leave the fearless Greatjon to lead the footmen. Catelyn advises him against it and tells Jon that being fearless is, in fact, not always best. Robb reconsiders and chooses the shrewd, calculating Roose Bolton to lead the footmen instead.

Tyrion arrives at the Inn at the Crossroads with his force of mountain clans. His journey has taken longer than expected. His father, Tywin, is stationed at the Inn with his army. Tywin tells Tyrion that he thinks Tyrion is responsible for the coming war. When Catelyn captured Tyrion, Tywin was forced to defend the pride of House Lannister. Tywin suggests he will give Tyrion a small force to deal with what remains of the men that Ned sent against Gregor. Tyrion scoffs at how little his father trusts him to do and says he would prefer his mountain clans to his father’s men. With some cunning flattery, Tywin helps convince the clansmen to follow Tyrion into battle.

In a filthy cell in the dungeon of the Red Keep, Ned blames himself for the deaths of his men, the danger his family is in, and his fate as Robert’s Hand. He imagines Robert scolding him for his foolish pride and honor. Varys visits Ned and gives him news about the Stark family. Varys implies that Cersei poisoned Robert’s wine before he died. Varys asks Ned why innocents always suffer most when high lords play at the game of thrones. He tells Ned that he does not serve Cersei or Littlefinger. He serves only the realm, and his only goal is peace. He tells Ned that, when he leaves his cell, he has a choice: Ned can maintain his loyalty and duty to Robert by insisting that Joff is not the true king, in which case Sansa may be executed along with Ned; or, for the love he bears Sansa, Ned can confess to a crime he did not commit.

Robb’s horsemen arrive at the Green Fork of the Trident. They need to cross the river by passing through the Twins, the name for the bridged castles of Walder Frey. Catelyn tells Robb that for six hundred years the Freys have never failed to exact a toll from people who wish to cross through the Twins. On Robb’s behalf, Catelyn negotiates with the aging Lord Frey for the right to cross. Frey is very old and notoriously late to choose a side during conflicts. Since he hates Tywin, Frey lets the Starks cross. His price for the crossing is that the Starks take two Frey children as wards, another as a squire to Robb, a fourth as a husband for Arya, and a fifth as a wife for Robb. Though the last two parts of the bargain are not appealing, Robb agrees.

Daenerys rides through the ruins of the town of the Lamb Men. A rival khal and his men had been attacking the town when Drogo and his khalasar joined the battle. Drogo’s men defeated the rival khalasar and the Lamb Men and captured thousands of slaves, which they can sell to buy the ships and men needed to sail to Westeros. Daenerys sees the Dothraki hurting and raping the defeated people and orders them to leave the women alone. Jorah tells Daenerys that she reminds him of Rhaegar. When Daenerys finds Drogo, he has a deep wound from fighting. Drogo’s men are not happy that Daenerys has prevented them from raping women, but Drogo sides with Daenerys. Mirri, a priestess Daenerys has spared from rape, says she knows a good deal about healing. The Dothraki do not trust Mirri, since she is a maegi, or witch, but Daenerys convinces Drogo to let Mirri treat him.

Tywin equips Tyrion’s band of mountain clansmen with weapons and assigns them the lead of the left-side charge in the coming battle. Tyrion is insulted when he learns that he will be fighting under Gregor’s command. During the battle, Tyrion’s three hundred clansmen fight well, though half of them die. Tyrion realizes that Tywin meant for Tyrion’s forces to be easily defeated. The ploy was part of Tywin’s strategy to wait in the reserve, draw Robb’s men forward with an easy victory, and then defeat them with a surprise attack. After the battle Tywin admits this is true, since he expected Robb would be more brave than wise. A messenger arrives and tells Tywin that Robb was not even in the battle. Robb and his horsemen are riding fast to break the siege at Riverrun.