A Clash of Kings — Tyrion II
Tyrion's first strokes as Hand: Janos Slynt, butcher of babes and seller of Ned Stark, is shipped to the Wall before he finishes his wine.
The chapter retold
Tyrion’s first real strokes as Hand are surgical rather than showy: Janos Slynt, commander of the City Watch and the man who delivered Ned Stark’s head with his own hands, finds himself thanked for his service and shipped off to the Wall before he’s finished his wine at the small council table. It is a masterstroke of quiet menace — no trial, no accusation, just a lordship at the Wall dressed up as an honor, and an armed escort that makes clear refusal isn’t an option.
The move announces exactly the kind of Hand Tyrion intends to be: patient, indirect, willing to let his enemies think they’re being rewarded right up until the cell door — or in Slynt’s case, Eastwatch — closes behind them. It also quietly transfers the gold cloaks’ loyalty toward Tyrion’s own man, Bronn, a piece of city-scale chess that will matter enormously when the walls need defending later in the book.
This movement: The Comet
- A red comet splits the sky; five would-be kings each read their crown in it.
- On Dragonstone, Maester Cressen tries to poison the red priestess and drinks first; Stannis proclaims Joffrey a bastard born of incest.
- Tyrion takes the Hand's chair with Bronn at his back and starts removing his sister's men.
- Beyond the Wall, the Old Bear leads three hundred swords north into silence.