Instead, Joffrey has Eddard executed.Īfter the death of King Robert, a civil war erupts. Eddard reluctantly agrees to sign a confession in return for his daughters' lives and the chance to go into exile on the Wall. When Eddard tries to right this wrong, he is accused of treason. Before this can happen, King Robert dies while hunting and Cersei's eldest son Joffrey is proclaimed King before Eddard can pass the crown to Stannis, Robert's true heir. Rather than arrest the Queen for her indiscretions, Eddard instead offers Cersei the chance to flee. In the capital at King's Landing, Eddard investigates Jon Arryn's death and learns Jon Arryn and King Robert's brother, Lord Stannis Baratheon, discovered that King Robert's three children were actually the products of an incestuous liaison between Queen Cersei and her twin brother Jaime. Instead, the Commander is going to keep Jon close, as fathers keep their heirs nearby.
Jon is eventually promoted to the status of full brother of the Night's Watch, but is dismayed that, instead of being sent to the rangers, he has been made a steward, servant to the Lord Commander of the Watch, Jeor Mormont. Through this experience Jon wins the friendship of Samwell Tarly, and Maester Aemon.
Tyrion chooses trial by battle and his champion, Bronn, wins freedom for him.ĭuring training for the Night's Watch, Jon and many of the other young men are bullied by the master-at-arms, Alliser Thorne, but Jon concocts a plan for them to stand up to him. Traveling north, Catelyn and her party encounter Tyrion by chance in an inn and take him captive to the Eyrie, where he is placed on trial. Caitlyn learns the assassin is Tyrion Lannister. Catelyn realizes that Bran must have seen something, his injuries were inflicted deliberately, and the would-be murderers are trying to cover their tracks. Jon also learns the Watch is grievously under strength, mustering barely a thousand men to cover the three hundred miles of the Wall, and its manpower is now made up of murderers and criminals who chose the Wall over execution or imprisonment.Īfter Eddard leaves for the south, an attempt is made on Bran's life. This man, Mance Rayder, was once a brother of the Watch before fleeing to join the wildlings. A new King-beyond-the-Wall has arisen in the northern lands to rally the wildlings to his banner. At the Wall Jon finds the Watch is beset with problems. Tyrion, eager to see the fabled construction for himself, accompanies Jon. Jon Snow elects to travel north to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. Eddard leaves to take his post with his daughters, leaving his wife behind to care for one of their children who was injured after witnessing Jaime and Queen Cersei participating in inappropriate behavior. Eddard reluctantly agrees, despite hearing a rumor that the Queen's family had Jon Arryn killed. Robert, who grew up as a foster brother to Eddard, asks Eddard to become the new Hand of the King after the death of the previous office holder, Lord Jon Arryn. The Queen's twin brother, Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, and their younger brother Tyrion also accompany the group. Jon claims this one for himself.Ī short time later King Robert Baratheon travels to Winterfell with his court and many retainers, including his wife, Queen Cersei of House Lannister, and their children. Unexpectedly, Jon finds a sixth pup lying separately nearby, an albino runt with white fur and red eyes. Robb and his brothers ask to keep them and Eddard consents. On the road, Robb finds a dead direwolf killed by the antlers of a stag, which gave birth to five pups before it died. His sons Robb and Bran, his illegitimate son Jon Snow, and his ward Theon Greyjoy all attend. Martin's story is intricate, gripping and original, but his greatest strengths are his memorable characters and a rich, assured writing style.Įddard Stark, Lord of Winterfell and the North, is on the way home from the execution of a man of the Night's Watch who betrayed his vows and fled from the Wall. As the story expands, the subplots branch out and intertwine with increasing complexity, and the reader is drawn deeper and deeper into the tale. Further north, the ubiquitous otherworldly forces of evil are gathering. In the north the Starks are reluctantly drawn into a web of politics and plots. Over the sea, the heir of the previous dynasty, Viserys Targaryen, is struggling to win back his crown by marrying his sister Daenerys off to a powerful nomad chieftain. This world, where seasons last for years, is ineptly ruled and a struggle for power is about to erupt. A Game of Thrones is set in medieval times with a knights-and-ladies sort of kingdom, and a wider, exotic world around it.