A Game of Thrones: Chapter Eleven to Chapter Twenty Summaries

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Chapter 11 – Daenerys

It is Daenerys’ wedding feast, held just outside of Pentos, in the open, with tens of thousands of people attending (mostly Dothraki). Khal Drogo sits next to Daenerys, but ignores her for the whole feast. Ser Jorah Mormont, having sworn fealty to Viserys, brings books on the Seven Kingdoms as his gift to Daenerys. Viserys offers her 3 handmaidens (all three provided by Illyrio, since Viserys has no money).

Illyrio gives Daenerys 3 petrified dragon eggs. The feast is wild, involving mass orgies and more than a handful of deaths. At the end of the feast, Khal Drogo presents his gift, a beautiful silver horse. Finally, Khal Drogo leads Daenerys away from the feast, to a small stream. Though she is very much afraid at first, she is surprised by Khal Drogo’s sensitivity and gentle caresses, and the two eventually make love.

Chapter 12 – Eddard

One morning, on their way to King’s Landing, Eddard and King Robert have a private chat. Robert shows Eddard a letter received by Lord Varys, the Master of Whisperers on the King’s small council. It is a letter from Ser Jorah Mormont, informing Varys of the marriage between Daenerys Targaryen and Khal Drogo. Eddard Stark remembers Jorah Mormont; the knight brought shame to the North when he tried to sell several captured poachers to slave traders.

Meanwhile, Robert has decided to name Jaime Lannister, Warden of the East, a title that has traditionally gone to the Arryns. Eddard cautions Robert against this, saying it’ll put too much power in the hands of the Lannisters. He also tells Robert a story the King has never heard before: that during Robert’s Rebellion, when Eddard went to King’s Landing to claim the Iron Throne for Robert, he found Jaime sitting on the throne, with the dead King’s (Aerys II) blood on his sword. Jaime treated the whole thing like a joke, but Eddie had been mistrustful of the man’s trustworthiness ever since. Robert is unconcerned and sticks to his decision.

Chapter 13 – Tyrion

Jon, Ghost and Benjen Stark are on their way to the Wall, along with Tyrion and two of his personal servants. On the way, they are joined by another Night’s Watch brother, Yoren, who is bringing two rapists from back to the Wall. Jon questions Tyrion about his habit of reading books.

Tyrion answers that his intelligence are one of the few gifts he was born with, and like how his brother Jaime keeps his sword sharp, so too must he keep his mind sharp. Jon claims that the Night’s Watch is a noble calling, but Tyrion tells him otherwise – that the Night’s Watch is a place where all the misfits of the Seven Kingdoms go: rapists, poachers, peasants, bastards and the like. Jon ultimately concedes that Tyrion has the truth of the matter.

Chapter 14 – Catelyn

Maester Luwin enters Bran’s room one night; the young boy is still in a coma and Catelyn has been at his side since the fall. Maester Luwin implores Catelyn to go through the accounts with him and, since Eddard took a large retinue of men to King’s Landing, assist him with appointing new men to the now-empty household positions. Luwin’s request makes Catelyn angry, but Robb steps in to diffuse the situation, offering his assistance to Maester Luwin instead.

The two men suddenly notice a fire going on outside, and rush off to help put it out. Catelyn walks to the window to look out, only to suddenly realize that a strange man is in the room with her, holding a knife. The man is surprised at Catelyn’s presence; he had expected Bran to be left unguarded. They struggle, and Catelyn suffers deep cuts to her fingers due to the sharp blade, but Bran’s direwolf comes to the rescue, killing the man.

After several days of sleeping and healing, Catelyn wakes up and calls together a small council consisting of Robb, Theon, Maester Luwin and Rodrik. The council comes to the conclusion that the man was hired to kill Bran due to the large sum of money they found on his body, as well as the fine knife the man carried. Catelyn reveals her suspicions, that the Lannisters were behind the death of Jon Arryn, and that it must have been Jaime Lannister who pushed Bran. Her evidence: Jaime had not having gone to the hunt. The council agrees that Catelyn and Rodrik will go to King’s Landing to find the truth behind the Valyrian steel knife – they go by ship.

Chapter 15- Sansa

Sansa meets the two men who have ridden from King’s Landing to join the King’s entourage. Barristan Selmy is the Commander of the Kingsguard, a select group of knights whose duty it is to protect the King. Renly Baratheon is Robert Baratheon’s younger brother. She also meets Ser Ilyn Payne, the King’s mute executioner.

Ser Ilyn Payne scares her but Sansa quickly forgets her distress when Joffrey invites her to a day of riding with him. They ride, explore the land and have lunch together. They then come across Arya Stark using wooden sticks to practice her swordplay with her friend, Mycah, the butcher’s boy. Joffrey taunts Mycah with his princely sword, and is about to do hurt the butcher’s boy when Arya intervenes, hitting Joffrey with her wooden stick. Joffrey retaliates, but Arya’s direwolf, Nymeria, savages the arm of the Prince, who then falls to the ground whimpering. Arya throws the Prince’s sword into the nearby river and runs off.

Sansa tries to help the injured Prince, but he treats her with scorn. Sansa rides off to find help.

Chapter 16- Eddard

Eddard is furious that Arya was brought before the King by Lannister men, before he even had a chance to talk to her. Queen Cersei seeks justice for what has happened to her son. Joffrey tells everyone that Arya and the butcher’s boy had ambushed him, struck him with their wooden sticks and set Nymeria upon him.

Arya, incensed at the Prince’s outright lies, sticks to telling the truth. Sansa is then brought in to tell her story: she lies, telling everyone she did not remember what happened. Arya is furious. The Queen seeks punishment. King Robert agrees to discipline Joffrey if Eddard will discipline Arya, which Eddard agrees to only too willingly. Cersei is not satisfied, and requests that the direwolf that attacked Joffrey be slaughtered. Since Nymeria has disappeared, Cersei points to Sansa’s direwolf, Lady, as a replacement. King Robert agrees, much to Eddard’s dismay. Eddard is angry, but he refuses to let Lannister men kill Lady; he offers to do the deed himself. And he does.

The Hound returns, with the body of Mycah; he tells Eddard that the boy had run, but not fast enough.

Chapter 17 - Bran

Bran is dreaming; he is falling. As he falls can see the Seven Kingdoms, as well as the mysterious lands to the East. He is afraid of falling because he knows he’ll die if he doesn’t stop falling. A three-eyed crow tells him to fly, because it was the only way for him to avoid death. Bran tries, and much to his delight, manages to soar. The crow starts to peck at Bran’s forehead, between his eyes, and that is when Bran wakes up, with his direwolf on the bed with him.

When Robb bursts into Bran’s room, Bran tells him that he now knows his direwolf’s name: Summer.

Chapter 18 – Catelyn

Catelyn and Rodrik finally arrive at King’s Landing, before the King’s party. They take a room at an inn. Rodrik goes off to find the Ser Aron Santager, the King’s master-at-arms, hoping that the man would know the owner of the Valyrian steel knife. Not long later, City Watch guards come to escort Catelyn; they take her to Petyr Baelish, more commonly called “Littlefinger”, who was once enamored with Catelyn Stark when they were children and who now holds a position on the King’s small council. Lord Varys, the King’s Master of Whisperer, also known as “The Spider”, joins the meeting as well, asking to see the dagger; Catelyn complies. Petyr immediately recognizes the knife – he reveals that it is his. He had lost it in a wager – he tells Catelyn that he had backed Jaime Lannister in a joust, while Tyrion had backed Loras Tyrell. Loras Tyrell has unhorsed Jaime, and the knife went to Tyrion.

Chapter 19 – Jon Snow

Jon is trying to adapt to life on the Wall. Ser Alliser Thorne, the master-at-arms at Castle Black, oversees the recruits’ training. Jon manages to best all the other Night Watch recruits. However, Ser Alliser Thorne only has scorn for Jon and the other new recruits; he creates nicknames for each of them, and calls Jon “Lord Snow”, a cruel poke at Jon for being a bastard.

Jon gets into a fight in the armory with several other recruits, but Castle Black’s blacksmith, Donal Noye stops them before the fight gets serious. Jon tells Donal that the other recruits hate him because he is better than them. Donal reveals the truth: that they actually hate him because he is a bully. Jon protests but Donal points out Jon’s privilege of having been trained by a very competent master-at-arms at Winterfell; in contrast, some of the recruits are only holding a sword for the very first time. Jon concedes the point, and leaves, ashamed of his attitude towards the other recruits.

Tyrion accidentally bumps into Jon, and they chat for a while about Jon’s uncle, Benjen Stark, who has not yet returned from a ranging trip. Jon is then summoned to see Jeor Mormont, the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch. Jeor, or “The Old Bear” as he is known to the brothers of the Night’s Watch, hands over a letter written by Robb – the letter states that Bran is alive, although he has forever lost the use of his leg. Jon is happy that Bran is alive, and runs to the mess hall to celebrate with Tyrion. He is so happy that, in an attempt to make amends with the other recruits, offers to show them how to improve their form and swordsmanship. Ser Alliser mocks him, but Jon returns the barb in kind, leaving Ser Alliser fuming.

Chapter 20 – Eddard

Eddard arrives in King’s Landing and is immediately summoned to convene with the King’s small council. He is joined by Littlefinger, Varys, Renly, and Grand Maester Pycelle. There are two other members who sit on the council, but Stannis Baratheon, the elder of King Robert’s younger brothers, has returned to Dragonstone, while Ser Barristan is with King Robert.

The small council announces that there is to be tournament, in honor of Eddard’s appointment as the new Hand of the King. Eddard balks at this, especially when he learn just how much the crown is in debt, with a significant portion of that debt being to House Lannister.

After the meeting, Littlefinger takes Eddard to a brothel to meet his wife. Eddard is surprised that Catelyn is in King’s Landing but listens to the story she tells him, of the man who tried to kill Bran, and of the Valyrian steel knife belonging to Tyrion. Eddard promises to search for evidence on the Lannisters’ involvement in the hired killing. He then instructs Catelyn and Rodrik to return to Winterfell and make preparations for a possible war. Littlefinger, because of his love for Catelyn, agrees to help Eddard find Jon Arryn’s killer.