A Game of Thrones

Catelyn learns that the great houses in the Riverlands are preparing for war. Her brother, Edmure Tully, reports this, so Catelyn assumes her father must be very ill. The Lannisters are gathering an army at their ancestral home, Casterly Rock, but Lysa still plans to go ahead with the trial. Catelyn believes “the dwarf has played [Lysa] like a set of pipes, and she [cannot] hear the tune” (430) and that Tyrion is much more valuable as a prisoner than dead. Her Uncle Brynden is also angry with Lysa, who has denied him the men to fortify the ranks at Riverrun, their home, in preparation for Lannister attacks. Catelyn tells him to come with her to Winterfell and she will give him a thousand men. Catelyn is starting to doubt that Tyrion was involved in the death of Jon Arryn, but she still believes the Lannisters killed the former Hand of the King. The trial by combat begins. Lysa’s champion Ser Vardis Egen wears “steel from head to heel” (435) while Bronn is very lightly armored. The fight reminds Catelyn of when Littlefinger tried to win her hand in marriage from Brandon Stark. Bronn dodges Egen’s attacks until the knight tires, then defeats the exhausted knight.