A Feast for Crows ÔÇö Brienne IV
At Maidenpool Lord Randyll Tarly dispenses iron justice and contempt in equal measure; Brienne takes on a squire in truth and a septon's road west.
The chapter retold
Brienne's road brings her to Maidenpool, held by Lord Randyll Tarly ÔÇö Sam's father, though Brienne has no cause to know or care about the connection ÔÇö who dispenses the king's justice with an iron hand and open contempt for a woman traveling armed and armored like a knight. Amid the harsh legal theater of Tarly's court, Brienne genuinely acquires a squire for the first time ÔÇö young Podrick's role solidifies into something more formal ÔÇö and picks up a new lead, a septon's road heading west, toward yet another rumor of a highborn girl matching Sansa's description.
The chapter uses Randyll Tarly as a mirror for everything wrong with how Westeros treats women who choose the sword: he is competent, just by his own narrow lights, and utterly incapable of seeing Brienne as anything but an aberration to be mocked or dismissed. It's a bracing contrast to Jaime's growing respect for her, deepening the book's throughline about how differently men read the same woman depending on whether they've actually watched her fight and keep faith.
This movement: The Quill and the Quiet Isle
- Brienne's hunt crosses the Quiet Isle, where a limping gravedigger is taller than any brother has a right to be.
- Sam sails for Oldtown via Braavos, where a girl called Cat learns his name ÔÇö and Maester Aemon hears of dragons and weeps.
- Jaime brings the king's peace to the riverlands with words where his sword hand used to be; Riverrun yields without blood.
- Arya's nightly wolf dreams betray her to the kindly man; a girl must give up Arya Stark ÔÇö she hides Needle instead.