A Game of Thrones ÔÇö Eddard XI

Ned sits the Iron Throne in Robert's place, hears the ruin Gregor Clegane has made of the riverlands, and sends Beric Dondarrion for his head.

The chapter retold

With Robert off hunting and the realm's business piling up regardless, Ned sits the Iron Throne in his stead to hear petitions ÔÇö an uncomfortable seat for a man who has never wanted the crown's authority, only its absence of chaos. The worst of the day's business concerns Ser Gregor Clegane, whose men have been savaging villages in the riverlands with a brutality far beyond any sanctioned campaign; Ned, appalled and unwilling to let it stand unanswered, sends the knight Beric Dondarrion south with a small company and a royal warrant to bring back Gregor's head.

The scene shows Ned discharging the Hand's actual, unglamorous duty ÔÇö dispensing justice to smallfolk nobody at court much cares about ÔÇö with the same seriousness he'd bring to any Stark matter, in sharp contrast to a king who'd rather be hunting than sitting in judgment. Sending Beric after Gregor also plants a mission that will take on a life of its own in the chapters and books to come, a small warrant issued almost as routine business that turns out to matter far more than Ned, focused on graver threats, has time to notice.

This movement: The Wine and the Boar

• Ned tells Cersei what he knows and gives her time to run ÔÇö mercy with a body count.
• A boar opens the king; Robert dictates a will naming Ned Protector; Ned edits one word: heir.
• A wineseller's poison misses Daenerys; Drogo promises his son the iron chair across the poison water.
• Renly flees south; Littlefinger promises the gold cloaks; the trap in the throne room closes.