A Clash of Kings ÔÇö Tyrion XII

A last supper of threats with Cersei, a last night with Shae; at dawn Tyrion will hold a city that hates him against a king it might prefer.

The chapter retold

TyrionÔÇÖs last supper of threats with Cersei plays out over wine that neither sibling drinks with any real pleasure ÔÇö accusations, warnings, and the particular venom two people can only produce for family. ItÔÇÖs followed by a quieter, sadder scene: a last night with Shae before the battle, tender in a way neither of them names directly, both aware that dawn brings a fight Tyrion might not survive.

By morning he will hold a city that hates him against a king StannisÔÇÖs men might actually prefer to Joffrey, an irony the chapter doesnÔÇÖt need to underline because Tyrion is already keenly aware of it. The chapter is the calm immediately before the Blackwater ignites ÔÇö the last private moments before Tyrion becomes, for one violent day, the only thing standing between KingÔÇÖs Landing and StannisÔÇÖs fleet.

This movement: The Battle of the Blackwater

• The bay goes up in green fire; Stannis's fleet burns between a chain and a trap.
• Tyrion leads the sortie when Joffrey is pulled from the walls ÔÇö and a Kingsguard's sword opens his face to the bone.
• Sansa keeps the highborn women singing while Cersei drinks and plans their deaths.
• Tywin and the knights of Highgarden take Stannis in the flank; ghost-Renly's shadow rides in the vanguard of gossip.