A Storm of Swords ÔÇö Davos VI
Davos gambles his head to read Stannis a letter from the Wall ÔÇö and wins: the king who must save the realm to win the throne will sail north.
The chapter retold
Davos Seaworth risks his neck to read Stannis Baratheon a letter that has come from the Wall ÔÇö a plea from the Night's Watch, describing an army of wildlings and worse things massing beyond the ice, begging for help no one else in the Seven Kingdoms has been willing to send. Melisandre argues against it, and Stannis, a man not easily moved by sentiment, listens to the argument that actually appeals to him: not mercy, but opportunity ÔÇö the chance to be the king who saves the realm when every other claimant is too busy fighting each other to notice it needs saving.
Davos wins the argument, and Stannis agrees to sail north to the Wall, a decision that will define the rest of his war far more than any battle for the Iron Throne has. The chapter reestablishes Davos's value to a king who trusts almost no one, proving that plain honesty, offered at the right moment, can still move a stubborn man further than flattery ever could.
This movement: The Purple Wedding and the Trial
- Joffrey chokes at his own wedding feast, purple as his namesake; Sansa vanishes with a fool and a hairnet lighter by one stone.
- Tyrion stands trial for kingslaying; Shae's testimony cuts deepest; he demands trial by combat.
- Oberyn Martell fights the Mountain for a confession ÔÇö and wins everything but the ending.
- Petyr Baelish sails Sansa to the Vale as his "daughter Alayne"; Lysa marries him inside a week.