10. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 424-461

Eddard 

Ned wakes from a dream of an old battle to find his steward, Vayon Poole, standing over him. He has been unconscious for six days and seven nights, Poole tells him, since Maester Pycelle gave him "milk of the poppy" for the pain of his broken leg. Poole tells him that the king has asked to see him as soon as he wakes up. In the meantime, Jaime Lannister has returned to Casterly Rock and the news has spread further about Catelyn's abduction of Tyrion.

The king and the queen are there to see him, but Cersei's words are not designed to ease his discomfort: "A man in your place should count himself fortunate  that his head is still on his shoulders." Robert snaps at her to be quiet, but he admits he's not happy about Catelyn's actions. He wants her to release Tyrion immediately and Ned to make peace with Jaime. Ned protests that three of his men "were butchered bfore my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to chasten me. Am I to forget that?" Cersei has it that "Lord Stark was returning drunk from a brothel. His men attacked Jaime and his guards, even as his wife attacked Tyrion on the kingsroad." Robert tells him that Littlefinger "admits you were returning from some whorehouse."

Ned retorts that he went there to see Robert's daughter. "Her mother has named her Barra. She looks like that first girl you fathered, when we were boys together in the Vale." Cersei's expression betrays nothing at this news, but she tells the king, "This man dishonors you with every breath he takes, and yet you stand there meekly, asking if his leg pains him and would he like some wine." Robert sends "a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei Lannister did not cry out." She says of the bruise, "I shall wear this as a badge of honor." Robert calls for a guard and has her escorted back to her room.

When she is gone, Robert expresses his contempt for her, tells Ned that he is going hunting the next morning, and forbids him to resign as Hand, threatening to make Jaime Lannister Hand instead. Ned reluctantly agrees.

Catelyn

Ser Rodrik brings Catelyn the news that Tywin Lannister is massing his troops and that her brother, Edmure, is preparing to defend the land ruled by the Tullys. There is no news of how her father, Lord Hoster, is handling matters, which makes Catelyn worry that he is sick and has handed over matters to her brother.

Meanwhile, plans are going forth for the trial by combat, and Catelyn reflects on the change in her sister: "The shy girl she had known at Riverrun had grown into a woman who was by turns proud, fearful, cruel, dreamy, reckless, timid, stubborn, vain, and above all, inconstant."

In the hall where the combat is to take place, Lysa is surrounded by her knights. "Most of them still hoped to wed her, bed her, and rule the Vale of Arryn by her side. From what Catelyn had seen during her stay at the Eyrie, it was a vain hope." She tries to dissuade Lysa from going through with the trial. "Alive, the Imp has value. Dead, he is only food for crows." And, she adds, suppose his champion should defeat hers.

Lysa's knights assure Catelyn that Ser Vardis will prevail. Catelyn has her doubts, however. She has seen Bronn fight. But Lysa will not be persuaded: "'Lord Robert wants to see him fly,' she said, as if that settled the matter." When Tyrion is brought forth, Lord Robert says, "The bad little man.... Mother, can I make him fly? I want to see him fly." Lysa promises him that he will.

The champions appear. "Ser Vardis Egen was steel from head to heel, encased in heavy plate armor over mail and padded surcoat.... Bronn was so lightly armored he looked almost naked beside the knight." But he is taller and has a longer reach, Catelyn observes, "and Bronn was fifteen years younger, if she was any judge."

There is some ceremony before the fight begins, which only makes Lord Robert more petulant. The combatants kneel, and afterward Ser Vardis is so encumbered by his armor that he has to be helped to his feet. He is given "a triangular shield almost four feet tall, heavy oak dotted with iron studs," but when Bronn is offered a similar shield he declines it. The sword Ser Vardis is handed was made for Jon Arryn, Lysa boasts. Catelyn observes that the knight "might have been more comfortable with his own sword," but she doesn't tell her sister that. Lord Robert keeps urging, "Make them fight," and when finally the time has come, he screams out the order, "Fight!"

Bronn's tactic is to wear the armored Ser Vardis out, enraging the crowd, which calls him a coward. Ser Rodrik, however, explains to Catelyn what Bronn is doing. She remembers the duel between Brandon Stark and Littlefinger, when the latter challenged him for her hand. It was a brutal mismatch that ended with Littlefinger being seriously wounded. Because her father forbade her seeing him, it was Lysa who nursed Littlefinger back to health. She did not see him again until her secret return to King's Landing. Littlefinger also nursed a grievance against her brother Edmure, who had been Brandon's second in the duel.

Her mind comes back to the duel at hand, and she notices that Ser Vardis is unable to lay a blow on Bronn, but Bronn has already put a dent in the knight's armor. The fight has taken them to the vicinity of a marble statue of a weeping woman meant to be Alyssa Arryn, a legendary ancestor whose tears for her dead husband and children are supposed to be the source of a waterfall near the castle. Bronn ducks behind the statue just as Vardis lunges, so the sword hits the statue instead. Lord Robert whines that they're "not fighting good," and Lysa assures him that they will: "The sellsword can't run all day."

Bronn lands more blows on the knight's armor and he hacks chips off of the shield. He ducks a blow from the knight's sword, and Vardis crashes into the statue. He is having trouble keeping the agile Bronn in his sights: the slit in his visor limits his vision. From behind, Bronn lands a blow on Vardis's sword arm, which begins to bleed. Vardis is moving slower and his breaths are audible. Lysa is oblivious to this, however, and orders him, "Finish him now, my baby is getting tired."

Vardis seems to respond to her command, and charges at Bronn, who almost loses his footing and has to grab the statue to regain his balance. Vardis drops his shield and uses both hands to raise his sword, but the blow misses Bronn and hits the statue, breaking the sword. Bronn shoves the statue and it topples onto the knight. Then Bronn moves in for the kill.

Lord Robert asks if it's over. "No, Catelyn wanted to tell him, it's only now beginning." But Lysa says, "Yes," and when the boy asks, "Can I make the little man fly now?" Tyrion speaks up. "'Not this little man,' he said. 'This little man is going down in the turnip hoist, thank you very much," meaning the basket that hoists provisions from below. Lord Robert is furious at his mother. "You promised I could make him fly." But Lysa remains true to her word and sets Tyrion free, giving them the horses and supplies they need as well, once they reach the high road.

Catelyn realizes what this means as "Lysa allowed herself a faint, satisfied smile. It was another sort of death sentence," exposing them to the same sort of attacks they had encountered on the way to the Vale of Arryn.

Jon 

Ser Alliser Thorne has assembled the trainees in the yard for an announcement: Five new boys are on their way to the Wall for training, so he has decided to send eight of Jon's group to the Lord Commander for assignment to their duties as men of the Night's Watch. He calls out their names, and the last one he mentions is "the Bastard." But he says they aren't really fit yet, "and when winter comes you will die like flies."

The promoted boys celebrate, but then "Jon noticed Samwell Tarly standing by himself beneath a bare dead tree in the corner of the yard." When he goes to offer Sam a drink from the wineskin being passed around, Sam declines. He says he is happy for Jon and the others, but when Jon is swept up again in the horseplay of the celebrating boys, Sam disappears.

At dinner they talk about what they hope their assignments will be. Most want to be rangers, but others want to be builders, tasked with maintenance of the Wall. They agree that Jon will be a ranger, since his uncle Benjen, whom Jon is still unwilling to believe is dead, was First Ranger. But Jon is upset because Sam is not at dinner. He has realized what is likely to happen to his friend: With him and the other boys who have protected him gone, Sam will be exposed to the sadism of the master-at-arms.

Jon goes back to his quarters to fetch Ghost, then saddles a horse and rides away from Castle Black on the road leading south. He lets Ghost run free and hunt while he reflects on the fact that the road leads to Winterfell and to the places beyond that he has never seen. "The world was down that road ... and he was here." He hasn't sworn his vow to the Night's Watch yet, so he could still just keep riding down the road to Winterfell and his brothers. But he corrects himself: They are his half-brothers, and Catelyn Stark will not be pleased to see  him return. So he turns and goes back to Castle Black, followed by Ghost, whose muzzle is red with blood from whatever he has killed.

When he gets back to the castle, Jon goes and asks to see Maester Aemon. The two stewards, Clydas and Chett, tell him that the maester is asleep and can't be disturbed, but Jon gets his foot in the door and insists that it is important. So they let him in reluctantly and tell him to make a fire in the library. When Maester Aemon enters, Jon apologizes for waking him, but the maester tells him he wasn't asleep and is curious why he has "a midnight visitor." Jon tells him that he has come "To ask that Samwell Tarly be taken from training and accepted as a brother of the Night's Watch." Aemon says that training is under the purview of Ser Alliser Thorne, but Jon argues that the Lord Commander listens to the maester, "And the wounded and the sick of the Night's Watch are in your charge" -- and Sam will be both if he doesn't get the maester's help.

He explains that Sam is completely incompetent as a fighter, and "If Ser Alliser makes him fight, it's only a matter of time before he's hurt or killed." Chett argues that "The Wall is no place for the weak," and the maester should just leave it in the hands of the master-at-arms who will "make a man of him or kill him, as the gods will." Jon says, "That's stupid." And he tells how Maester Luwin once explained that the chain a maester wears around his neck is made up of a variety of metals, each of which symbolizes a different kind of learning. "A chain needs all sorts of metals, and a land needs all sorts of people.... The Night's Watch needs all sorts too. Why else have rangers and stewards and builders?" No one can make Same into a warrior, so why not make him a steward? 

Chett protests that the work of stewards is hard, that they have to hunt and farm, cook and make clothing and fetch supplies from the south. Aemon asks if Sam is a hunter or a farmer or a butcher, and Jon is forced to answer no. But he argues, "He can do sums, and he knows how to read and write. I know Chett can't read, and Clydas has weak eyes. Same read every book in his father's library." He's good with animals, too. "The Night's Watch needs every man. Why kill one, to no end?"

The maester says, "Your mind is as deft as your blade, it would seem." And he tells Jon he'll think about it.

Tyrion

Tyrion and Bronn have reached the high road and are preparing to camp for the night. But when Tyrion starts gathering firewood, Bronn is astonished: "A fire will bring the clansmen down on us from miles around. I mean to survive this journey, Lannister." He argues that they should ride fast by night and hide during the day. But Tyrion observes, "Riding hard and fast by night is a sure way to tumble down a mountain and crack your skull." And as their journey to the Vale demonstrated, the horses tend to die if ridden that way. Besides, "I think the clans will find us no matter what we do."

Bronn threatens to take Tyrion's horse and go on without him, taking his chances by having an extra mount. "Make no mistake, dwarf. I fought for you, but I do not love you." To which Tyrion replies, "It was your blade I needed, ... not your love." He had taken a chance that Bronn would come to his aid because he knew the mercenary does things for gold. He took Catelyn's side in the abduction because he figured he'd get paid. So when the challenge came for the trial by combat, "I was counting on your being smart enough to know where your best interest lay. Happily for me, you did." Then he adds, "What do you want, Bronn? Gold? Land? Women? Keep me alive, and you'll have it." And if he dies, Tyrion says, "I'll have one mourner whose grief is sincere.... The gold ends when I do."

Bronn goes in search of food and comes back with a goat, which they roast and eat. Bronn asks where they'll go if they survive the journey, and Tyrion says either to Casterly Rock or to King's Landing. "I have some questions that want answering concerning a certain dagger." After dinner, Tyrion observes, "Our friends are taking their sweet time," and Bronn suggests that they're being so open about their presence in the territory of the hill people that maybe they think it's a trap. Tyrion begins to whistle a tune, "The Seasons of My Love." He tells Bronn, "The first girl I ever bedded used to sing it, and I've never been able to put it out of my head."

When he was thirteen, he was out with Jaime one night and rescued a girl being attacked by two men. As Jaime pursued them, he watched over the girl who said she was the daughter of a crofter who had died. He took her to an inn where Tyrion lost his virginity. They located "a drunken septon" who married them, and he set the girl up in a cottage, where they were man and wife for a fortnight. Then the septon sobered up and told Tyrion's father, who made Jaime tell him the truth: "The girl was a whore, you see. Jaime arranged the whole affair, the road, the outlaws, all of it. He thought it was time I had a woman." So Lord Tywin made Tyrion watch as his guards had sex with the girl, each of them paying her in silver. Then Tywin made Tyrion go last. "And he gave me a gold coin to pay her because I was a Lannister, and worth more."

Bronn says, "I would have killed the man who did that to me." Tyrion says, "You may get that chance one day. Remember what I told you. A Lannister always pays his debts." Then he says he'll try to get some sleep. "Wake me if we're about to die."

And Bronn does, waking Tyrion from a dream in which he is the jailer and his father is the prisoner in a sky cell. Shadowy figures are creeping up on them, and Tyrion invites them to share their fire and some of their goat. A voice replies that it's their mountain and their goat. A man who calls himself Gunthor son of Gurn of the Stone Crows steps into the light, followed by Shagga son of Dolf, and others who call out their names. "I am Tyrion son of Tywin of the Clan Lannister, the Lions of the Rock," Tyrion replies, and offers to pay them for the goat. Gunthor replies that since they have them surrounded, everything Tyrion and Bronn have is already theirs, "You have nothing to give us but your lives. How would you like to die, Tyrion son of Tywin?"

"In my own bed, with a belly full of wine, and a maiden's mouth around my cock, at the age of eighty," he replied. 

They laugh, and Gunthor orders his men to kill Bron and take Tyrion so "He can milk the goats and make the mothers laugh." Bronn leaps to his feet, but Tyrion restrains him, telling Gunthor, "If the Stone Crows will see us safely through these mountains, my lord father will shower you with gold." And he stands his ground when they threaten him, after he says of their weapons, "My father's smiths shit better steel." Gunthor stills the others: "What would you give us for your lives, Tyrion son of Tywin? Swords? Lances? Mail?"

Tyrion replies that he'll give them more than that: "I will give you the Vale of Arryn."

9. A Game of Thrones, by George R.R. Martin, pp. 378-423

Eddard 

Ned has been to the brothel that Littlefinger identified for him, and now has to listen to his ribald chatter as they return to the castle. He has found the prostitute with whom Robert sired another bastard, a girl the mother named Barra, and agreed with her that the infant looks like Robert. He had "touched the baby's fine, dark hair. It flowed through his fingers like black silk. Robert's firstborn had had the same fine hair, he seemed to recall." He thinks of Jon Snow's resemblance to himself.

As they ride back, he asks Littlefinger what he knows about Robert's bastards, and Littlefinger admits that there have been a lot of them, including twins born at Casterly Rock after Robert visited there for a tournament. "Cersei had the babes killed, and sold the mother to a passing slaver. Too much an affront to Lannister pride, that close to home." And he asks why Jon Arryn took "a sudden interest in the King's baseborn children. Lannister says he assumes Robert wanted to see that they were provided for. Ned isn't convinced that's the reason.

Suddenly Jory calls out in alarm, and they are surrounded by soldiers. When Littlefinger says, "This is the Hand of the King," Jaime Lannister moves through the group and says, "He was the Hand of the King." He tells Ned that he is looking for Tyrion. "'Your brother has been taken at my command, to answer for his crimes,' Ned Stark said." Jaime draws his sword and says that Ned should do the same, then tells Littlefinger to leave if he doesn't want to get his clothes bloody. Littlefinger does so, promising Ned that he'll bring the City Watch.

There are twenty of Lannister's men, all on foot except Jaime, and only Ned and three of his men, all of them on horses. Ned assumes that they could get free by charging, but decides to meet Jaime's challenge: "'Kill me,' he warned the Kingslayer, 'and Catelyn will most certainly slay Tyrion.'" Jaime says that he doubts that "The noble Catelyn Tully of Riverrun [would] murder a hostage," but he tells the captain of his men to "see that no harm comes to Lord Stark." Then he adds that he wouldn't want Ned "to leave hear entirely unchastened, so ... kill his men."

In the fight that follows Ned watches Jory cut down, and Ned's horse slips and falls. He feels "a moment of blinding pain" and sees "the splintered bone poking through his calf" before he faints. "When he opened his eyes again, Lord Eddard Stark was alone with his dead.... Littlefinger and the City Watch found him there in the street, cradling Jory Cassel's body in his arms."

Daenerys

They arrive at Vaes Dothrak with Khal Drogo and his bloodriders in the lead, followed by Daenerys, Jorah Mormont, and her brother, Viserys, who has been allowed to ride on a horse again. After a day of walking, Viserys had been given a cart to ride in. "In his stubborn ignorance, he had not even known he was being mocked; the carts were for eunuchs, cripples, women giving birth, the very young and the very old." Daenerys asked Ser Jorah not to tell him the truth.

Viserys continues to scorn everything he sees as they move through the city, and constantly refers to the Dothraki as "savages," though Daenerys tells him he shouldn't.

"The dragon speaks as he likes," Viserys said ... in the Common Tongue. He glanced over his shoulder at Aggo and Rakharo, riding behind them, and favored them with a mocking smile. "See, the savages lack the wit to understand the speech of civilized men." 

He continues to complain that Khal Drogo hasn't given him the army or the golden crown that he was promised. Jorah tells Daenerys that it would have been better if Viserys had stayed behind in Pentos. "You do not demand a gift, not of a khal. You do not demand anything of a khal." Jorah also comments that even if Viserys were to get his army, he would be unable to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, which leads Daenerys to ask, "What ... what if it were not Viserys?" What if someone else led the Dothraki against the Seven Kingdoms?  Jorah ponders the question and suggests that the kind of warfare the Dothraki wage is different from the kind the lords of the Seven Kingdoms are used to, and that the Dothraki are used to open warfare rather than besieging castles. Robert Baratheon, he says, might be "rash enough to meet a Dothraki horde in the open field, but not the men around him, such as "His brother Stannis, Lord Tywin Lannister, Eddard Stark...." He spits at the mention of Ned, whom he hates.

Their conversation takes a different turn when they enter Vaes Dothrak through the Western Market. She is helped down from her horse by Cohollo, one of Khal Drogo's three bloodriders -- men who are treated like the Khal's brothers, and according to ancient tradition are expected to die with the Khal when he dies. Daenerys likes Cohollo, but the others "frightened her; Haggo, huge and silent, often glowered as if he had forgotten who she was, and Qotho had cruel eyes and quick hands that liked to hurt.

Dar Salim as Qotho

That night, Khal Drogo and his bloodriders go up the Mother of Mountains to thank the gods for a safe return, and Daenerys has her handmaidens prepare a meal for Viserys, to whom she is giving some gifts. She sends Doreah to fetch him, but he comes back enraged, dragging Doreah by the arm and calling her a whore because she had told him Daenerys "commanded" him to join her for supper. "'No one commands the dragon,' Viserys snarled. 'I am your king! I should have sent you back her head!'" Daenerys tries to placate him with her gifts, Dothraki garments that she has had specially made for him, but he scorns them as "Dothraki rags."

Roxanne McKee as Doreah

When Viserys says, "Do you think that big belly will protect you if you wake the dragon?" and grabs her roughly and painfully, she reaches out for the ornate belt she had planned to give him, and lashes out with it, cutting his cheek with one of the bronze medallions on it. "Leave me now, before I summon my khas to drag you out. And pray that Khal Drogo does not hear of this, or he will cut open your belly and feed you your own entrails." He leaves, clutching his bleeding cheek, threatening, "When I come into my kingdom, you will rue this day, slut."

She tells her servants that she isn't hungry and to share the food they have prepared among them, then asks for one of the dragon's eggs. She lies down and holds it to her stomach, feeling "the child move within her ... as if he were reaching out, brother to brother, blood to blood.

Bran

Bran goes out riding on the horse named Dancer that has been specially trained for the saddle designed for him according to Tyrion's specs. He is accompanied by Robb and Theon Greyjoy, a stableman named Joseth who is master of horse, and four guards. Maester Luwin brings up the rear, riding on a donkey. Bran's wolf, Summer, and Robb's Grey Wind, run alongside. As Bran grows more used to the saddle, he wants to ride faster, and soon they are moving at a gallop.

As they reach the woods, the wolves disappear into it. Bran mentioned that Summer had been howling the night before, and Robb says that Grey Wind was restless as well. Robb takes Bran aside and tells him that a bird had arrived from King's Landing with the news that "Jory Cassel is dead. And Wyl and Heward as well, Murdered by the Kingslayer." As Bran absorbs the news, Robb tells him the worst: His father has broken his leg and is unconscious. "Theon thinks I should call the banners," i.e., summon their supporters for retaliation. Bran knows that only the Lord of Winterfell can summon the banners, but Greyjoy says if Bran's father dies, Robb will be the lord. "'He won't die!' Bran screamed at him."

Bran says he's cold and wants to go back now, but Robb says they need to find the wolves first. They travel ahead of the others into the forest and reach a stream where they used to fish with Jory, which causes Bran to start to cry. When they cross the stream they hear a howl that Bran identifies as Summer. It's followed soon by a howl from Grey Wind, and Robb says the wolves have made a kill. He goes to find them, leaving Bran alone, expecting Greyjoy and the others to join them soon.

Bran hears the leaves rustle and turns, expecting to see the others, but instead it's a group of four men and two women, dressed in rags. Two of the men are dressed in black, which Bran realizes must be the remnants of the Night's Watch uniforms. He remembers the deserter his father executed, and his father's warning, "No man is more dangerous" than a deserter. One of the men demands the silver pin that fastens Bran's cloak at the shoulders, one of the women says they'll take the horse. She tells him to get down, but when he says he can't the other woman notices that he's strapped onto the horse. She suggests taking him hostage.

One of the men cuts the strap around Bran's thigh, and in doing so cuts Bran's leg. He doesn't feel the wound, but sees the blood begin to flow. Just then Robb appears, with the carcass of an elk across the back of his horse. He says, "Put down your steel now, and I promise you shall have a quick and painless death," but they mock him, pointing out he's outnumbered, six to one. Then Robb whistles and the two wolves appear from the forest.

Natalia Tena as Osha

They do battle, the wolves attacking as Robb fights with the larger of the two women, whom one of the men called Osha. She is standing in midstream and wielding a spear, but Robb's longsword gets the better of her. The wolves dispatch the others, but the big man known as Stiv cuts the strap around Bran's chest. Bran falls into the water, but Stiv grabs him and puts his dagger to Bran's throat, telling Robb to call off the wolves, "or the cripple boy dies now!" Osha rises from where she fell in the stream and Stiv orders her to kill the wolves. She refuses to go anywhere near them. So Stiv orders Robb to kill the wolves or he'll kill Bran.

Suddenly an arrow pierces Stiv's chest and he releases his hold on the dagger and on Bran. The guardsmen appear from the woods and Osha begins to beg for her life. Maester Luwin goes to examine Bran's wound, and Joseth goes behind a tree to vomit when he sees Summer feeding on the corpse of one of the attackers. Robb berates Greyjoy for taking such a chance with the arrow he shot Stiv with, and the guardsmen for being so far behind. "Bran had never seen him so angry."

Osha continues to plead for her life. Greyjoy suggests giving her to the wolves. Bran speaks up and says, "She said they should keep me alive so they could take me to Mance Rayder." Maester Luwin suggest that they question her, so they take her back to Winterfell.

Tyrion

Behind: Ciaran Bermingham as Mord

Tyrion is being held in a cell, "miserably small, even for a dwarf," that has only three walls. Where the fourth would be is open air and a six-hundred-foot drop to the rocks below. Moreover, the floor of the cell slopes toward the opening, so that Tyrion is afraid to fall asleep because he might roll over the edge. The sadistic guard, Mord, brings his dinner, but holds "the plate out at arm's length, over the edge where the cell ended and the sky began," telling him to come get it, then drops the plate.

Tyrion is berating himself for not holding his tongue when he was brought before Lysa and her son. The boy had asked, "Is he the bad man?" and when his mother said he was, had giggled and said, "He's so small." And when Lysa accused him of killing her husband, Tyrion retorted sarcastically, "Oh, did I kill him too?" He was in a bad mood because he had been unable to make the final climb to the Eyrie and Bronn had carried him. So when he threatened reprisals from his brother Jaime if he is harmed, Lysa asked, "Can you fly, Tyrion Lannister? ... Does a dwarf have wings? If not, you would be wiser to swallow the next threat that comes to mind." Tyrion still can't resist: "I made no threats.... That was a promise." This only provokes the boy to scream, "You can't hurt us," and Lysa to maintain the Eyrie is impregnable. "Still, Tyrion had been unableto silence himself. 'Not impregnable,' he said, 'merely inconvenient.'"

When Robert says, "You're a liar. Mother, I want to see him fly," and two guards lift Tyrion up by the arms, Catelyn finally intervenes and reminds her sister that Tyrion is her prisoner. So Tyrion is sent to the sky cells.

Shivering and starving in his cell, Tyrion wonders if his brother and sister "had sent the footpad to silence the Stark boy, and whether they had truly conspired at the death of Lord Arryn." The latter, if it was murder, "was deftly and subtly done." But the attack on Bran "struck him as unbelievably clumsy." He has a suspicion that he is being framed for the attack, that "someone was using him as a catspaw. Tyrion Lannister hated being used." So he begins to devise a plan to get out of the cell. He bribes Mord with a promise of gold if he'll take a message to Lady Arryn saying that he wants to confess his crimes.

Brendan McCormack as Vardis Egen

Ser Vardis Egen, who had been captain of Jon Arryn's household guard, comes to the cell with the queen's response to Tyrion's message: She wants to see him. He is taken to the High Hall, where there is a gathering of the lords of the Vale, as well as Ser Rodrik Cassel, Marillion, Bronn, and Catelyn. She says, "You wish to confess your crimes, we are told." Her sister says, "The sky cells always break them. The gods can see them there, and there is no darkness to hide in." Catelyn only observes, "He does not look broken to me." But Lysa tells him to proceed with his confession.

Tyrion confesses to gambling, whoring, to wishing his father and his sister were dead, and to mistreating his servants, but not to murdering Jon Arryn or hiring someone to attack Bran. "Those crimes I cannot confess, I fear. I know nothing of any murders." Lysa is furious and orders him sent back to "a smaller cell, with a floor more sharply sloped." But Tyrion stands his ground and demands a trial. So Lysa shows him what his fate will be if he is found guilty: She has the Moon Door opened. Beyond the heavily barred door there is only "the emptiness of the night sky," and the howling wind it admits blows out some of the torches in the hall.

Catelyn advises against the trial, but Lysa ignores her: "My son will listen to whatever you care to say, and ou shall hear his judgment. Then you may leave ... by one door or the other."

She looked so pleased with herself, Tyrion thought, and small wonder. How could a trial threaten her, when her weakling son was the lord judge? Tyrion glanced at her Moon Door. Mother, I want to see him fly! the boy had said. How many men had the snot-nosed little wretch sent through that door already?

But Tyrion has another card to play: "I demand trial by combat."

The request causes laughter throughout the hall. But Lysa admits that he has the right to ask for it. Suddenly there is a clamor of men volunteering to be the champion of Lysa's cause. "Tyrion found it disheartening to realize so many strangers were eager to kill him. Perhaps this had not been such a clever plan after all." Lysa chooses Vardis Egen, her husband's "good right hand," to be her champion. But he protests that Tyrion is "A dwarf, half my size and lame in the legs. It would be shameful to slaughter such a man and call it justice." So Tyrion seizes the opportunity and claims the right to choose his own champion, and names his brother Jaime.

But Lysa stands her ground this time and says, "Your precious Kingslayer is hundreds of leagues from here," and the combat will take place tomorrow. Now Tyrion wonders "if it had all been a colossal blunder." But from the rear of the hall Bronn speaks up: "I'll stand for the dwarf."