A Game of Thrones

The night of Daenerys’s wedding is marked by “fear and barbaric splendor” (107) with Drogo’s khalasar in attendance—a warrior army of forty thousand plus women and children. Jorah Mormont, who pledged his allegiance to Viserys after the feast where Daenerys was offered to Khal Drogo, is now a “constant companion” (107) to the Targaryens and counseled Viserys one night shortly before the wedding. Viserys was quick to anger at Jorah’s suggestion that he be patient, and later that night Daenerys dreamed that Viserys was violently attacking her but was suddenly replaced with a dragon looking at her through a wall of flames.

Throughout the wedding celebrations, Daenerys is scared and anxious. Her new husband Khal Drogo is a huge, intimidating man, who does not speak her language. Viserys fumes through the festivities because he is seated below Daenerys and Drogo and is only offered food after the wedding couple. He wants Drogo to immediately mobilize his Dothraki horsemen and sail for Westeros. The Dothraki wedding traditions—many of which involve public displays of sex and violence—increase Daenerys’s fear, and at least a dozen people die during the festivities that day, which the Dothraki consider a blessing. After the feasting and violence, Daenerys receives her bridal gifts. Viserys gifts her three handmaids—Irri, who can teach her how to ride; Jhiqui, who will teach her the language of the Dothraki; and Doreah, who will “instruct [her] in the womanly arts of love” (109). Jorah gives her a collection of Westerosi history books, and Illyrio gifts her three “dragon’s eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai[…, which] eons have turned them to stone, yet they still burn bright with beauty” (112). Dragons are a symbol of the Targaryen family, who conquered the Seven Kingdoms by flying dragons into battle generations ago. Dragons are now considered extinct. Drogo gives his new bride a magnificent silver horse, “grey as the winter sea, with a mane like silver smoke” (113). Daenerys rides the horse and begins to feel less afraid. The Dothraki cheer her riding skills. Before Daenerys and Drogo ride away to consummate their marriage, Viserys privately warns his sister to do everything she can to please her husband, otherwise she “will see the dragon wake as it has never woken before” (114). That night, when they have sex, Daenerys is surprised by Drogo’s “deft and strangely tender” touch (115).

King Robert’s party heads south. Robert bids Ned to come ride with him so they can speak privately. Robert confesses that sometimes he just wants to leave it all behind and invites Ned to come be wayward knights with him. Ned reminds Robert of their duties to their family and the realm. Robert teases Ned about “that one time” (118) he allowed his honor to fail him, conceiving Jon with a common woman named Wylla, but Ned does not want to talk about it, so Robert turns to matters of state. Robert has news from Varys, the king’s eunuch, master of whispers, who heard from Ser Jorah Mormont. Ned bristles at the name because Jorah’s illegal sale of poachers to a slaver was a dishonor to the north. The Mormonts are Stark bannermen, but Jorah fled the Seven Kingdoms before a sentence could be passed, so now he is “anxious to receive a royal pardon that would allow him to return from exile” (119) and working as a spy. Jorah sent news about Daenerys’s wedding, and Robert is considering hiring an assassin to kill Viserys and Daenerys, thereby eliminating the last remaining Targaryen claimants to the Iron Throne. When Ned argues that Daenerys is “scarcely more than a child” (120), Robert reminds him that Rhaegar—the brother of Viserys and Daenerys—kidnapped and raped Ned’s sister Lyanna. He also reminds Ned that King Aerys II, the last Targaryen King, burned Ned’s older brother Brandon alive during his descent into madness. While Robert is worried about the threat of a Dothraki army, Ned assures him that the Dothraki “hate and fear the open sea” (121). He does not believe they will ever cross the Narrow Sea to Westeros, especially if Robert names a new Warden of the East, a role that was left empty when Jon Arryn died. Ned suggests Robert’s brother, Stannis Baratheon to fill the role, but Robert has already promised to make Jaime Lannister Warden of the East. Ned believes the Lannisters are the true threat to Robert, and he reminds Robert that Jaime’s father Tywin is already Warden of the West. Jaime will also inherit that title when Tywin dies, which would put him in charge of half the realm. The Lannisters were once loyal to King Aerys II, and they had no hesitation in switching allegiances for their own benefit. Ned remembers how, during their rebellion, Jaime Lannister betrayed his Kingsguard oath by killing King Aerys II, while Tywin Lannister entered King’s Landing with his army by falsely “professing loyalty” (123). Ned rode into the throne room to find the king dead and Jaime Lannister sitting on the Iron Throne with his bloody sword in his lap. Robert claims that he is “sick of secrets and squabbles and matters of state” (124) and rides off. Ned wonders why he didn’t stay in Winterfell where he belongs.

Tyrion decides not to return directly to King’s Landing. He travels north with Jon and the other Night’s Watch recruits to see the Wall for himself. They meet up with Yoren, an experienced man of the Watch. The recruits include two rapists who have agreed to take the vows of the Watch, as it is “preferable to castration” (127), the typical punishment for their crime. One night when the men have made camp, Tyrion wanders away to read a book about dragons, which Tyrion is particularly enamored with. Jon finds him and the two talk. Tyrion explains his love of history, books, and learning to Jon, saying that his physical status means that his mind is his only weapon, so “a mind needs books as a sword needs a whetstone, if it is to keep its edge” (131). He talks freely about how much he hates his father Tywin and his sister Cersei for mistreating him when he was young. Jon believes that the Night’s Watch is a noble institution and that he is doing an honorable thing. However, Tyrion reveals that the Watch is now “a midden heap for all the misfits of the realm” (132). Sensing Jon’s anger, Ghost knocks Tyrion down, but backs off when Tyrion concedes to speak to Jon nicely. Jon helps him back up. They share some wine, and when Jon finally accepts Tyrion’s characterization of the Watch, Tyrion praises his honesty as most people would rather “deny a hard truth than face it” (134).

Robb remains in Winterfell with Catelyn and the still-unconscious Bran. Robb struggles to take on the duties of the castle lord while Catelyn stays beside her stricken son. The “howling of the direwolves” (137) haunts her. While visiting his mother, Robb spies a fire in the library tower. He rushes to help. When he is gone, “a small, dirty man in filthy brown clothing” (139) sneaks into Bran’s room. He creeps toward Bran with a dagger, but he is stopped by Catelyn and Bran’s direwolf, who kills the assassin. In the struggle, Catelyn’s hands are badly cut by the dagger, and she is given milk of the poppy for the pain and to help her sleep. She wakes four days later, feeling “weak and light-headed, yet strangely resolute” (140). She chastises herself for becoming distracted by her concern for Bran. The new master at arms tells her the dagger the assassin carried was made of Valyrian steel and had a dragonbone handle; it could only belong to someone high-born. The assassin also had been paid a large sum of silver. Thinking about the assassin’s expensive dagger and remembering Jaime was at the castle on the day of Bran’s fall, she suspects the Lannisters are trying to kill Bran. She tells Robb, Theon, Maester Luwin, and Rodrik about Lysa’s accusation, and suggests that Bran uncovered a dark truth which might damage the Lannisters. Given the nature of the accusation they “must have proof, or forever keep silent” (144). Concerned for her husband, Catelyn and Ser Rodrik set out to reach King’s Landing before Ned and her daughters to warn Ned about the Lannister threat.

Sansa rides south with her father and sister. Unlike Arya, Sansa loves the pageantry and glamor of the royal procession. Sansa reflects on how she and Arya are so different when their parents are the same. Sansa accepts an invitation to ride with Prince Joffrey, the mere thought of whom makes her “feel a strange fluttering inside” (146). She has been betrothed to Joffrey, which will formally unite the Stark and Baratheon houses. Meanwhile, Arya spends most of her days away from the procession, seeking out rough adventures with a common butcher’s boy named Mycah and returning every day “covered in mud” (148). Sansa has been looking forward to the day she has been invited to ride with Princess Myrcella and worries that Arya will ruin it. Sansa harbors romantic dreams of being queen, and she and Joffrey appear to enjoy each other’s company. He introduces her to the members of the court, such as Barristan Selmy, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, and Renly Baratheon, Robert’s younger brother and master of laws. Joffrey invites Sansa to go for a ride without his guard the Hound or Lady, who would frighten the horses. They visit the battleground where Robert “killed Rhaegar Targaryen” (156), and find Arya stick fighting with Mycah. Joffrey mocks the “wide-eyed and startled” (156) common boy, threatening him with a real sword. Arya intervenes, hitting Joffrey with her stick to defend the butcher’s boy, who runs away. When Joffrey angrily rounds on her, Arya’s direwolf Nymeria defends her. The direwolf bites the prince, drawing blood. After throwing Joffrey’s expensive sword in the river, Arya runs away. Sansa tries to soothe Joffrey and tells him she will ride for help, but he looks at her with an expression of “the vilest contempt” (158) and tells her not to touch him.

Arya goes missing for several days. Jory finds her, much to Ned’s relief, but she is “taken directly before the king” (160). Sobbing and dirty, Arya apologizes to Ned. Robert wants to “get the business done with quickly” (162) and he listens to Arya recount events. Joffrey lies, claiming he was viciously attacked without provocation by Mycah and Arya. Renly mocks Joffrey for being disarmed so easily. When Arya accuses him of lying, Sansa is called as a witness. Sansa does not want to undermine her potential marriage to Joffrey, but she also does not want to betray her sister, so she claims not to remember the incident as “everything happened so fast” (163). King Robert, bored, delegates any potential punishment for Arya to Ned, but Cersei demands that Nymeria the direwolf be killed. However, Nymeria has disappeared into the forest, so Cersei decides that Sansa’s direwolf Lady can be executed instead. Ned begs Robert to stop his wife’s cruel revenge. Robert curses Cersei, but he does not challenge her decision. Ned tells the astonished Robert to “at least have the courage” (165) to carry out the unfair execution himself, but Robert leaves without responding. Ned tells Cersei that Lady is from the north and deserves better than a butcher, so he will execute the direwolf himself, much to Sansa’s horror. When the deed is done, he sends men back to Winterfell with Lady’s body to bury it with honor. Meanwhile, the Hound seeks out and kills Mycah so violently that he is “cut almost in half from shoulder to waist” (166).

Still in a coma, Bran dreams about falling. In the dream, a crow tries to help him learn to fly. When Bran sees Jaime’s face, the crow encourages him to focus on flying. Still falling high above Winterfell, Bran sees Catelyn sailing south with Rodrik, unaware of an ominous storm on the horizon. Further south, he sees Ned pleading with the king, Arya keeping secrets, and Sansa crying herself to sleep, with three ominous shadows above them. He sees dragons across the Narrow Sea in Free Cities and sees Jon at the Wall. Beyond the Wall, Bran can see “deep into the heart of winter” (171) and is afraid. The crow tells him that what he sees in the north is why he must live, but Bran doesn’t understand. The crow warns that “winter is coming” (170), so Bran must learn how to fly, or he will die. Bran throws his arms wide and starts to fly. He sees the crow has three eyes, the third of which is “full of a terrible knowledge” (170), and it flaps its wings in Bran’s face, blinding him, then pecks him violently in the middle of his forehead. Bran wakes up, and his direwolf leaps up onto his bed. Bran’s initial excitement is marred when he realizes that he cannot feel his own legs. He is struck by a moment of inspiration and knows that the direwolf should be named Summer (171).

Catelyn arrives in King’s Landing with Rodrik before Ned and the royal procession. They traveled undercover on a ship owned by Captain Moreo Tumitis so as not to raise suspicion. At an inn, Rodrik canvases people for information about the expensive dagger used in the assassination attempt on Bran’s life. Alone, Catelyn is surprised by the arrival of two guards from the City Watch, who insist on taking her to the King’s Castle, the Red Keep, by the order of Petyr Baelish, more commonly known as Littlefinger. Catelyn and Littlefinger “grew up together in Riverrun” (174), and in his youth, he was deeply in love with her. This love was never requited. Now, Littlefinger sits on the king’s small council as master of coin, controlling the Seven Kingdom’s finances. When she arrives at his tower, he tells her that Lord Varys knows about Catelyn’s arrival in King’s Landing. Varys is a eunuch and the king’s master of whispers, meaning that he operates a vast and dangerous network of spies and informants, earning him the moniker the Spider. Varys joins the meeting between Littlefinger and Catelyn; he already seems to know about the dagger, much to Catelyn’s disbelief and Littlefinger’s confusion. Littlefinger confesses that he is the former owner of the dagger but lost it when he “backed Ser Jaime in the jousting, along with half the court” (182). The winner of the bet (and the dagger) was Tyrion Lannister, who won by betting against his brother and in favor of a young knight named Loras Tyrell, who unexpectedly defeated Jaime.

Jon arrives at the Wall, a massive structure made from ice that separates the Seven Kingdoms from the wild lands to the north. The Night’s Watch occupy the Wall in a series of castles, only three of which are now in use. The Watch is headquartered in Castle Black, where Jon is trained in combat by the master-at-arms, a cruel and vindictive man named Alliser Thorne who mocks Jon with the nickname “Lord Snow” (183). As the bastard son of the Lord of Winterfell, Jon has spent his entire life training in combat. Thorne sends waves of new recruits—all poor boys or convicts with no training—at Jon, who defeats them easily. Jon feels “abandoned” (185); he misses his family, and his Uncle Benjen has traveled beyond the Wall on a ranging mission. The other recruits include Grenn, Toad, and the two rapists brought to the Wall by Yoren. They confront Jon for making them look foolish during training. Donal Noye, the armorer and blacksmith at Castle Black, tells them to leave Jon alone but reminds Jon that he acts like “a castle-bred bastard who thinks he’s a lordling” (189) even if Jon doesn’t see his parentage as a privilege. Noye criticizes Jon for bullying the peasant boys and encourages him to help the other recruits. After dinner, Jon is summoned to the chambers of the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Jeor Mormont (Jorah’s father). In the commander’s chambers, Mormont passes on a message to Jon, which says that Bran has woken up. Jon is delighted. He finds the other recruits, including Grenn. and offers to help them in training. Thorne overhears and is insulted that Jon believes he can train the boys better than he can.