Hand's tourney

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The Hand's tourney as depicted in Game of Thrones

The Hand's tourney[1][2][3] is a tourney held in King's Landing to celebrate the naming of Eddard Stark as Hand of the King to Robert I Baratheon.

Recent Events

A Game of Thrones

The tournament consists of a joust, melee and archery contest. The prizes are forty thousand gold dragons for the winner of the joust, twenty thousand dragons for the runner-up of the joust, twenty thousand dragons to the winner of the melee, and ten thousand dragons to the winner of the archery contest. Lord Eddard Stark, the new Hand of the King, disapproves of the high winnings commanded by King Robert I Baratheon.[4] The surrounding roads, inns,[5] and the city of King's Landing[1] become busy. Lady Lysa Arryn forbids the participation of the knights of the Vale.[3] Eddard and Ser Barristan Selmy convince Robert not to participate in the melee.[6]

Joust

Gregor Clegane vs. Sandor Clegane
Art by Cristi Balanescu © Fantasy Flight Games

Semi-Finals

"I am no ser," the Hound replied, but he took the victory, and the champion's purse, and, for perhaps the first time in his life, the love of the commons.[6]
Art by Cristi Balanescu © Fantasy Flight Games

Final

  • House Clegane.svg House Tyrell.svg Sandor Clegane is supposed to face Ser Loras Tyrell in the final tilt, but Loras, in gratitude to the Hound for saving his life from his brother Gregor, yields the match.[2]

Archery Competition

Mêlée

Thoros of Myr is victorious in the melee.
Art by Jason Engle © Fantasy Flight Games
  • Fiery Heart.svg Thoros of Myr wins the mêlée after a brutal three-hour fight against nearly forty other competitors. His sword, lit with wildfire, tends to frighten the mounts of the other competitors.[6]

Other Participants

Other Attendees

Quotes

Jory: The talk in the yard is we shall have a tourney, my lord. They say that knights will come from all over the realm to joust and feast in honor of your appointment as Hand of the King.
Eddard: Do they also say this is the last thing in the world I would have wished?[7]

As if the expense and trouble were not irksome enough, all and sundry insisted on salting Ned's wound by calling it "the Hand's tourney," as if he were the cause of it. And Robert honestly seemed to think he should feel honored![1]

—thoughts of Eddard Stark

The Hand's tourney means rich lords with fat purses.[5]

The splendor of it all took Sansa's breath away; the shining armor, the great chargers caparisoned in silver and gold, the shouts of the crowd, the banners snapping in the wind ... and the knights themselves, the knights most of all.[2]

—thoughts of Sansa Stark

King Robert had staged it in her father's honor. High lords and fabled champions had come from all over the realm to compete, and the whole city had turned out to watch. She remembered the splendor of it: the field of pavilions along the river with a knight's shield hung before each door, the long rows of silken pennants waving in the wind, the gleam of sunlight on bright steel and gilded spurs. The days had rung to the sounds of trumpets and pounding hooves, and the nights had been full of feasts and song. Those had been the most magical days of her life, but they seemed a memory from another age now.[8]

—thoughts of Sansa Stark

References