A Storm of Swords ÔÇö Catelyn VII
The Red Wedding: the music turns to crossbows under Walder Frey's roof; Robb dies with his mother's screams in his ears, and Catelyn's throat is opened last.
The chapter retold
The music turns without warning. Inside the Twins' hall, as the wedding feast for Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey reaches its height, the band strikes up The Rains of Castamere ÔÇö a song about the annihilation of a house that defied the Lannisters ÔÇö and crossbowmen posted around the room open fire on Robb Stark's unarmed household before a single Stark man can reach a blade. Catelyn understands what is happening perhaps two seconds before anyone else in the hall, and two seconds is not enough time to save anyone she loves.
Roose Bolton embraces his king with the studied warmth of a loyal bannerman and drives a dagger up under his ribs, murmuring that Jaime Lannister sends his regards as Robb dies in his arms, betrayed by a man he trusted with his own back. Grey Wind is slaughtered penned in the stables outside, feathered with crossbow bolts before he can reach his master. Dacey Mormont dies fighting with whatever weapon comes to hand, a flagon, rather than surrender. Ser Wendel Manderly takes a quarrel through the mouth mid-laugh, killed before he even understands the joke has stopped being a wedding.
Catelyn, past reason, seizes Walder Frey's wife as a hostage and threatens her life for her son's, and it buys nothing ÔÇö Robb is already gone, and the room has no mercy left in it for bargaining. Her throat is opened last, after she has watched her firstborn murdered under a roof that swore him safe passage, guest right broken in the most complete way the story ever shows it broken. The Red Wedding ends the War of the Five Kings in a single hall in under a page of real time, and it does so by breaking the oldest law in Westeros ÔÇö the sanctity of bread and salt ÔÇö proving that in this story, honor is not armor and the institutions everyone trusted to enforce decency answer, in the end, to Tywin Lannister's ledger instead.
This movement: The Red Wedding
- Edmure weds Roslin Frey under the Twins' roof; the bread and salt are eaten; the music is wrong.
- Crossbows from the gallery, tent canvas cut over the feast outside, Grey Wind penned and shot.
- Robb dies with Roose Bolton's steel in his heart: "Jaime Lannister sends his regards."
- Catelyn opens her own face with her nails, and a Frey opens her throat. The North dies at a wedding.
The fallen ÔÇö spoilers
- Robb Stark, King in the North ÔÇö Murdered under guest right at his uncle's wedding, Roose Bolton's blade for a Lannister's regards.
- Catelyn Stark ÔÇö Her throat cut at the Red Wedding after watching her firstborn die.
- Grey Wind ÔÇö Slain penned in the stables, feathered with quarrels.
- Dacey Mormont ÔÇö Danced at the feast; died fighting with a flagon for a weapon.
- Ser Wendel Manderly ÔÇö A quarrel through the mouth mid-laugh.