A Feast for Crows

A Feast for Crows is a 2005 fantasy novel by American author George R. R. Martin. It is the fourth of seven planned books in the series “A Song of Ice and Fire” set in the fictional medieval kingdom of Westeros. A Feast for Crows focuses on the Lannister family’s continuing consolidation of power following victory in the “War of the Five Kings.” Specifically, it follows the events precipitated by the murder of Tywin Lannister, who had been de facto ruler of Westeros. In his place, his daughter Cersei, seizes power. She strives to eliminate all perceived threats, especially those of the Tyrell family, whose daughter Margaery marries child king Tommen, Cersei’s son. However, Cersei’s paranoia over Margaery and her plots to prove her infidelity backfire. It leads her to empower a religious movement that eventually imprisons Cersei on charges of murder and immorality. The novel also follows a series of other characters’ stories occurring concurrently in different places in Westeros. This guide uses the Harper Voyager edition of the text published in 2011.

Plot Summary

A Feast for Crows is composed of 46 chapters, each bearing the name of the character from whose perspective it is told. These are arranged in broadly chronological order, with chapters jumping between the stories and locations of the different characters. For clarity, this summary will look at the narratives associated with each of the main characters separately. Note: Westeros is a unified kingdom composed of seven constituent smaller “kingdoms.” These include the Vale and Dorne. As such, there can be a “king” or “ruler” of these, but they are nonetheless subordinate to Westeros’s overall ruler based in King’s Landing.

Cersei Lannister, mother of eight-year-old King Tommen, hears that her father Tywin has been murdered. With the effective ruler of Westeros now dead, Cersei positions herself as the new and exclusive authority in King’s Landing. Nevertheless, she is troubled by a prophecy she received as a child. The prophecy said that she would become queen but be usurped by someone younger and more beautiful. She assumes the prophecy refers to Margaery Tyrell, who is to marry Tommen. To forestall the prophecy, Cersei plans to ruin Margaery by arranging for one of her knights, Osney, to seduce her. However, Cersei’s obsession with the Tyrells blinds her to the growing power of “the sparrows,” a radical religious movement. Although the sparrows arrest Margaery on charges of immorality, they also make Osney confess that he has slept with Cersei. Cersei realizes this too late when she visits their temple and is imprisoned.

Balon Greyjoy, ruler of the Iron Islands, unexpectedly dies. However, it is unclear whether one of his brothers, Euron and Victarion, or his daughter Asha should be his successor. Euron, the eldest brother, is immoral and impious, and women traditionally may not rule the Iron Islands. To avoid war, they decide to settle the issue by means of a “kingsmoot,” a gathering of lords. Euron emerges victorious when he claims that he can summon dragons and allow the Iron Islanders to conquer Westeros.

Following the death of Prince Oberyn in King’s Landing, his daughter Obara petitions her uncle and Dorne’s ruler, Prince Doran. They want him to declare war on the Lannisters, whom she blames for Oberyn’s death. Suspecting he cannot win such a war, Doran has Obara and her sisters locked up. In response, Arianne, Doran’s daughter, kidnaps Myrcella Lannister, the young daughter of Cersei who is married to a Dornish prince. She hopes to crown Myrcella queen of Westeros and thus provoke a war. However, her plot is discovered, and she too is imprisoned by Doran.

A female knight, Brienne, made a promise to protect Sansa Stark after her disappearance from King’s Landing. Brienne travels to numerous places and follows several leads, but all prove fruitless. She is attacked and captured near a place called Saltpans. She is then tried by a group of outlaws for supporting the Lannisters. Brienne is hanged after refusing to find and kill Jaime Lannister, whom she loves.

Meanwhile, Sansa is hiding in the mountainous kingdom of the Vale, posing as the daughter of Lord Baelish, a lord who helped rescue her from King’s Landing. Baelish murdered Sansa’s aunt but encourages her to lie about this to the other lords of the Vale. He also successfully defuses an attempt to overthrow him. Baelish arranges a marriage between Sansa and the heir to the Vale.

Sansa’s younger sister, Arya, likewise escaped King’s Landing when her father was executed. She is on a ship headed to the free city of Braavos. At Braavos, Arya becomes a novice in a temple devoted to the “Many-Faced God.” She is sent by a priest there to live as girl selling shellfish. However, when she murders a man named Dareon who deserted the Night’s Watch, she is blinded.

Sam is stationed at “The Wall” in the North as part of the Night’s Watch. He is sent, along with a wildling girl Gilly and Maester Aemon, to Old Town, a city in the south, to become a maester. On the way, Aemon tells Sam about a prophecy: Daenerys Targaryen, a queen in the free cities to the east and last survivor of the former ruling house of Westeros, will return to save the realm. Aemon dies on the way to Old Town, but Sam arrives to relay the prophecy to a maester.