A Clash of Kings ÔÇö Theon II
Theon raids the Stony Shore as his sister sails for Deepwood Motte with five times his strength; he decides to win the war with a bolder stroke.
The chapter retold
Theon, itching to prove himself against his sisterÔÇÖs larger command, settles for raiding the Stony Shore while Asha sails for Deepwood Motte with five times the strength heÔÇÖs been given. The imbalance stings exactly as his father intended ÔÇö a smaller command is a smaller vote of confidence ÔÇö and Theon, rather than accepting the demotion, starts turning over a bolder, riskier plan in his head that no one has sanctioned.
ItÔÇÖs the hinge chapter for TheonÔÇÖs arc: humiliated by his family twice over now, at Pyke and again in the field, he begins choosing ambition over caution in a way that will define ÔÇö and doom ÔÇö everything he does at Winterfell. The raid itself is minor; the decision germinating underneath it is not.
This movement: Kings in Every Corner
- Stannis besieges Storm's End; the brothers parley with a peach between them and part as dead men.
- Catelyn watches a shadow with Stannis's face open Renly's throat inside his own pavilion.
- Tyrion trades princess Myrcella's hand to Dorne and ships Cersei's spies to the black cells.
- At Winterfell, Bran dreams with wolf's teeth; the Reeds of Greywater come to teach him what it means.