A Game of Thrones-Chapter 1

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Bran I
A Game of Thrones chapter
AGameOfThrones.jpg
POV Bran Stark
Place North of Winterfell
Page US HC (Other versions)
Chapter chronology (All)
Prologue  ← Bran I →  Catelyn I

Bran II

Lord Eddard Stark dispenses justice to a deserter and Jon Snow finds some orphaned direwolf puppies: one puppy for each of Eddard's children, including Jon himself who gets an albino direwolf pup.

Synopsis

It is the ninth year of summer. [1] Seven-year-old Bran is traveling with a total of twenty men, including his father Lord Eddard Stark to see the king's justice done. It is the first time that he is allowed to join. Bran's older brother Robb thinks he must be a wildling, sworn to Mance Rayder, the King-Beyond-the-Wall, which makes Bran think of the tales Old Nan has told him about wildlings.

They bring the man forth, an old man dressed in ragged blacks of the Night's Watch who has lost his ears and a finger to frostbite.[2] Lord Eddard questions the man briefly. Two of Eddard’s guardsmen drag the man to the stump and then Theon Greyjoy, Eddard's ward/hostage, gives Eddard his Valyrian steel sword Ice. Eddard announces the sentence and raises the blade. Jon Snow, Bran's bastard brother, tells him to watch and not look away, and Bran watches as his father strikes off the man's head with a single stroke. The head lands by Theon, who laughs and kicks it away. Jon calls Theon an ass under his breath and compliments Bran on his poise during the execution.

On the way back to Winterfell, Robb and Jon argue about whether the deserter died bravely before racing their horses to the bridge leaving Bran and his pony behind. Eddard rides up and asks if Bran knows why he executed the man himself. Bran replies that he was a Wilding. Eddard corrects him, telling Bran he was a deserter, and explains that the First Men, of whom the Starks are descendants, believe that the man who pronounces the verdict should do the execution himself, lest he become too comfortable in ordering deaths. The Starks still hold to that principle.

© Fantasy Flight Games

Jon calls from up ahead for them to come see what he and Robb have found. They find Robb holding something in his arms next to the corpse of a wolf larger than Bran's pony. Jon correctly identifies the corpse as that of a direwolf. Theon comments that direwolves have not been seen south of the Wall for two hundred years. Bran then notices that Robb is cradling a small pup, and gives it a stoke after Robb reassures him. Then Jon gives him another one.

When they inspect the mother's corpse, they find a large piece of shattered antler lodged in her throat. The soldiers in the company feel this to be a bad omen. Theon offers to kill the pups but Bran protests. Eddard initially states killing them would be the best but changes his mind when Jon points out that there are five pups, one for each of Eddard's legitimate children; they are meant to have the wolves. Bran immediately realizes, along with everyone else, that the comparison only works out because Jon is not claiming one for himself.

Robb and Bran both state they are willing to nurse their pups themselves. Eddard stresses that the children must feed and raise the pups themselves, not pass them off to the servants, and must treat them well lest they become dangerous. Both Robb and Bran state they will not allow the pups to die. As they begin to ride away, Jon hears a noise and goes back to discover a sixth cub, an albino with red eyes, that had crawled away from its mother. Bran finds it curious that it is the only pup that has opened its eyes. Theon claims that the albino will die quicker then the others, but Jon disagrees, claiming it for himself.

Character List

Places and terms mentioned

Notes and References

  1. Seasons in Westeros are of varying length, usually lasting at least a couple of years each, but this has been a long summer.
  2. It seems to be Gared from the Prologue

This page uses content from Wikia. The original content was at A_Game_of_Thrones:_Chapter 01. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

External links