A Clash of Kings — Arya IV

Ser Amory Lorch storms the holdfast by night: Yoren dies at the barn door, and Arya frees the three chained men from the fire before crawling out the tunnel.

The chapter retold

Yoren’s column, sheltering for the night at a lakeside holdfast, is caught by Ser Amory Lorch’s riders in the dark. Yoren dies at the barn door with an axe buried in him, cursing to the last, buying his charges the only thing he has left to give — a few extra minutes. Arya, trapped inside with the fire spreading, does something no frightened child should be capable of: she frees the three chained prisoners — including a strange, quiet killer named Jaqen H’ghar — so they can fight their way out together, then crawls to freedom through a tunnel rather than waiting to be rescued.

It is the single bloodiest chapter of Arya’s story so far and the true end of her childhood’s last illusions — Yoren, gruff and unglamorous, was the closest thing to a protector she’d had since leaving King’s Landing, and his death at the barn door leaves her fully on her own with three dangerous strangers she has just put in her debt. The freed prisoners, particularly Jaqen, will reshape the rest of her arc; the debt she creates here by choosing to unchain them rather than flee alone is the axis the next several Arya chapters turn on.

This movement: Wolves and Krakens

• Theon comes home to Pyke and finds his father plotting war on the North — and his sister Asha commanding the ships he wanted.
• Renly weds Margaery Tyrell and parades a hundred thousand swords through the Reach at tourney pace.
• Dany leads her khalasar out of the red waste to the gates of Qarth, three dragons her only argument.
• Yoren's column is broken at a lakeside holdfast; Arya frees Jaqen H'ghar from a burning barn.

The fallen — spoilers

• Yoren of the Night's Watch — Died at the barn door with an axe in him, still cursing.