A Storm of Swords

Jaime becomes despondent after the loss of his sword hand. Brienne encourages him to live on and seek revenge or else die a coward. This, along with the thought of returning to his family, provokes him into surviving. He wonders what kind of life he can live, however, now that he no longer has the hand that made him a knight.

Hoat is determined to ransom for Brienne for sapphires. To stop the Brave Companions from raping Brienne, Jaime yells “sapphires” to alert Hoat. Once at Harrenhal, Jaime and Brienne are received by Roose Bolton as his guests.

Tyrion is humiliated when news spreads that he and Sansa have not consummated their marriage. To his surprise, Shae is indifferent to the news of his marriage to Sansa.

Tyrion tries to convince Shae’s friend, Symon Silver Tongue, to leave for Essos. Instead, Symon leverages his knowledge of Shae to blackmail Tyrion, demanding to enter the tourney of singers at Joffrey’s wedding feast. Later, Tyrion instructs Bronn to assassinate Symon.

Tywin summons Tyrion to show him the wedding gift he has prepared for Joffrey: a sword made from rare Valyrian steel, which House Lannister has never before possessed. Tywin has also produced a twin sword—for Jaime. When Tyrion indicates his wish for his own sword, Tywin tells him to take a regular one from the armory.

Tywin orders Tyrion to finance a cleanup of the city slums, hoping to prove to their guests that the capital is thriving. Finally, Tywin urges Tyrion to consummate his marriage and spare their family any more humiliation.

The reinstated Grand Maester Pycelle—a scholarly scientific adviser— reports that Night’s Watch Lord Commander Jeor Mormont sent messages warning of the wildling invasion. Tywin is annoyed that Jeor attempted to contact all five would-be kings for aid, seemingly recognizing all of their claims to the throne. Pycelle suggests that if Jeor is dead, then Janos Slynt should be elected to replace him as Lord Commander. Tyrion disagrees.

The surviving rangers arrive at the keep of Craster, their wildling ally. The encounter between Craster and the rangers is tense, however, as many of them resent Craster’s stinginess, as well as his apathy toward a dying ranger named Bannen.

Both the rangers and Craster tease Sam by calling him “Slayer,” a moniker referring to the Other he killed. Sam voices his frustration with the nickname when Grenn uses it. Grenn explains that the nickname is meant to embolden him since everyone pretends to be brave anyway.

Craster announces that one of his wives, Gilly, has given birth to a son. Sam preemptively offers to take Gilly’s son into the Night’s Watch, which offends Craster. Jeor scolds Sam for the suggestion and refuses to take Gilly with them.

Bannen dies of starvation. The rangers decide they will leave the following morning. Craster hosts what he calls a feast, but only serves two loaves of bread. Despite Jeor’s attempts to pacify his men, the angry rangers mutiny and kill both Jeor and Craster. Sam turns despondent as he holds the dying Jeor. Jeor orders Sam to return to the Wall and to extend forgiveness to his son, Jorah (Daenerys’s protector). Gilly’s mother urges Sam to take Gilly and her son with him before they are all killed by the Others.

The outlaws convince the Mad Hunstman to turn his prisoner, Ser Sandor Clegane, over to Beric Dondarrion for judgment. Sandor is the man Arya recognized—he is a fearsome knight employed by the Lannisters. They soon arrive at Beric’s secret hideout, where they are met by his priest, Thoros of Myr who, like Melisandre, also worships the fire god R’hllor. Beric introduces himself and his outlaw band, the Brotherhood Without Banners. Resolved to bring Sandor to justice, they take turns naming all of the people Sandor has murdered. Arya joins in by naming Mycah, her friend, as one of Sandor’s victims. Sandor recognizes Arya immediately and casts doubt over her accusation.

Beric decides that Sandor must undergo trial by combat. He duels Sandor using a flaming sword blessed by Thoros, who prays to R’hllor. Since Sandor is scared of fire, Beric has an advantage in the duel. Sandor manages to cut Beric’s blazing sword in half and slashes deeply into him. The outlaws declare Sandor’s innocence, which Arya does not accept. She attempts to kill Sandor herself, but Lem stops her, even as Sandor admits to killing Mycah. To Arya’s surprise, Beric is alive in spite of Sandor’s fatal slash.

The Tullys hold a funeral for Hoster, Catelyn’s father. The funeral is attended by Walder’s envoy, Lame Lothar Frey, who has come to convey terms for a new alliance. Catelyn loses hope for her daughters’ release when she learns of Sansa’s marriage to Tyrion. With the Starks’ grasp on the North more precarious than ever, Catelyn suggests surrendering to the Lannisters to save their kingdom. Robb refuses her advice because he still wants justice for Ned.

Lothar conveys Walder’s request for an apology, which Robb must make in person. Walder also demands that Robb’s uncle, Edmure, wed Walder’s daughter, Roslin, at once. Edmure is reluctant to accept without having met Roslin, but Robb, Brynden, and Catelyn urge him to agree, citing the need to move past the Frey issue as soon as possible. Edmure ruefully concedes.

Davos is removed from his cell to meet with Stannis. His escort, the zealous Ser Axell Florent, asks him for an endorsement as Stannis’s new Hand. When they meet with Stannis, Axell presents his case for winning back Stannis’s bannermen: He intends to decimate the stronghold of a former vassal to intimidate Stannis’s lost allies. Davos comments that the strategy is cowardly because the stronghold is filled with smallfolk who have not wronged Stannis. Axell is furious, so Stannis sends him away.

Stannis asserts that he wants to restore justice to the realm. He elevates Davos to the status of lord and makes him Hand. Davos argues that he does not have the necessary skills to perform his duties competently. Stannis replies that his trust in Davos is enough to qualify the appointment, especially in light of the coming battle against the Lord of Darkness.

Stannis clarifies that he does not want to harm Edric (Robert’s son who was born out of wedlock) since they are kin. He has even ordered Edric to undergo leech cure therapy for an obscure illness. Later, Melisandre asks Stannis to surrender Edric to her to awaken the “stone dragon.” Stannis is reluctant to do so. To prove the power of Edric’s royal blood, Melisandre has Stannis throw Edric’s blood leeches into the hearth, saying the names of his rival kings as they burn.

Jaime shares a bathtub with Brienne, hoping she will assist him if he accidentally drowns. They once again discuss Jaime’s past as the Kingslayer, causing him to wonder why he is mocked when others have done equally reprehensible things in the name of the realm.

After pointing out that Tyrion set Blackwater aflame with wildfire, Jaime recounts how he became the Kingslayer. King Aerys, raving and paranoid, planned to incinerate all of King’s Landing with wildfire once the conquering Robert entered the city. Jaime stood by as Aerys carried out the preparations, killing everyone who opposed this plan. As Robert’s forces approached the city, Aerys ordered Jaime to kill Tywin to prove his loyalty. Jaime chose to spare his father and kill Aerys instead before Aerys could destroy the city. Ned Stark found Jaime over the corpse of Aerys and immediately judged him for his crime. Nobody else knows this happened because Jaime has kept it secret for many years. Jaime faints because of the warm bathwater’s effect on his malnourished body.

Jaime and Brienne have supper with Bolton. Bolton claims he has no need to claim the bounties on Jaime’s head because of the dowry that came with his recent marriage to Lady Walda Frey. He will soon turn Harrenhal over to Vargo Hoat to attend Edmure’s wedding at the Twins.

Bolton instead offers to send Jaime back to King’s Landing as intended, so that Jaime can absolve Bolton for the loss of his hand. Jaime will be escorted by Bolton’s captain, Steelshanks Walton. Brienne, on the other hand, will remain Hoat’s prisoner as compensation for taking Jaime away.

Tyrion welcomes the Martell delegation from Dorne. The delegation is led by the sickly Prince Doran’s brother, Prince Oberyn, who will take Doran’s small council seat since Doran’s gout prevents him from leaving Sunspear. Tyrion expects that his family will be surprised by this change. Oberyn has a reputation for being indulgent, bloodthirsty, and antagonistic.

Oberyn has little fondness for Tywin, who treated him poorly when he was his guest just after Tyrion’s birth. Tyrion was reputed to be a monster, but Oberyn found his smallness disappointing rather than frightening. Cersei presented baby Tyrion to Oberyn, making her contempt for her youngest brother known.

Now, Oberyn is eager to seek justice for the murder of his sister, Elia, by Gregor Clegane (Sandor’s even more vicious older brother). He stresses that he also intends to learn who ordered Elia’s death. Tyrion cautions that King’s Landing is prepared to defend itself if Oberyn stirs any trouble, especially with the Tyrells present. Oberyn suggests that the Tyrells do not intimidate him.

Arya resents that the outlaws freed Sandor after his trial. While traveling with them, she learns that Thoros has raised Beric from the dead several times. Thoros asserts that Beric has been brought back to life because R’hllor has a purpose for him. Arya is sad when she realizes that Thoros cannot use his power to bring back her father Ned. She soon worries about what will happen to her if her brother Robb refuses to pay the ransom for her. Beric reassures her that she can live with Lady Smallwood, but he will do whatever it takes to return Arya to her family.

Gendry volunteers to smith for the Brotherhood, declaring that Beric’s altruistic principles resonate with him. Beric knights Gendry and accepts him into the Brotherhood.

Sandor returns to the Brotherhood to reclaim the gold the outlaws stole from him. Beric claims it was already spent to feed the hungry. When Sandor leaves empty handed, Thoros deduces that Sandor has nowhere else to go—meaning that he is longer be allied with the Lannisters. Though cautious of Sandor’s return, Beric and Thoros refuse to kill him, believing that R’hllor has a purpose for him as well.

Arya is saddened to realize that she and Gendry will soon part ways. However, the next morning, she refuses to accept his apology for leaving her and pities him for choosing to stay with the outlaws.