A Storm of Swords recap

The war reaches its bloodiest turns. Jaime Lannister, escorted south by Brienne of Tarth, loses his sword hand to captors and is changed by the ordeal. Robb Stark, having broken a marriage pact, seeks to mend his alliance with the powerful House Frey, but at a wedding meant to seal the peace he, his mother Catelyn, and his army are massacred in the treacherous slaughter that becomes known as the Red Wedding. In the capital, King Joffrey is poisoned and dies at his own wedding feast; Tyrion is blamed, condemned in a rigged trial, and, after his lover betrays him, kills both her and his father Tywin before fleeing the kingdom. Sansa Stark is spirited away by the schemer Petyr Baelish and hidden in the Vale under a false name. At the Wall, Jon Snow returns to the Night's Watch and helps repel a massive wildling assault; Stannis Baratheon sails to the Wall's relief, and Jon is chosen Lord Commander. Bran travels beyond the Wall in search of a green-seeing power, while Daenerys conquers the slaver cities of the east and settles as queen in Meereen to learn the hard work of ruling.

Previously: In A Game of Thrones, Eddard Stark went south as Hand of the King, uncovered that Queen Cersei's children were fathered by her twin Jaime, and was executed for it on the order of Cersei's son, the boy king Joffrey. His son Robb was proclaimed King in the North; the realm broke into war as Robert's brothers Stannis and Renly also claimed the throne. Across the sea, the exiled Daenerys Targaryen rose from a funeral pyre with three newborn dragons. In A Clash of Kings, Tyrion Lannister governed the capital as acting Hand while Stannis, driven by the priestess Melisandre, killed his brother Renly by sorcery and besieged King's Landing. At the Battle of the Blackwater, Tyrion's defenses and the last-moment arrival of Tywin Lannister and the Tyrells shattered Stannis's assault, though Tyrion was cast aside afterward. In the North, Theon Greyjoy betrayed the Starks and took Winterfell, which then fell and burned, while the Stark boys Bran and Rickon escaped into hiding. Jon Snow went among the wildlings, Arya fled the ruined castle of Harrenhal, and Daenerys sought soldiers and ships in the east.

House Stark's cause is broken by the Red Wedding, where Robb and Catelyn Stark are murdered under guest-right by the Freys and Boltons. Jaime Lannister, maimed and humbled, is back in King's Landing and increasingly estranged from his sister Cersei. Joffrey lies dead of poison at his own wedding, and his younger brother Tommen is crowned in his place; Tyrion, wrongly convicted of the murder, escapes into exile across the sea after killing his father Tywin, who is found slain on the privy. Sansa Stark hides in the Vale as the ward of Petyr Baelish, who has murdered his way to control there. Arya Stark, having wandered the ruined Riverlands with the outlaw known as the Hound, leaves him behind and takes ship for the free city of Braavos to begin a new life. Jon Snow, now Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, holds the Wall with Stannis Baratheon encamped nearby, the wildling threat blunted but the deeper danger to the north unresolved. Bran Stark reaches a hidden teacher beyond the Wall to learn the ways of greensight. In the far east, Daenerys rules the freed city of Meereen, refusing to march on until she has learned to govern. In a final, grim turn, the murdered Catelyn is drawn back from death by outlaws as a vengeful revenant.