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A duel between Brandon Stark and Petyr Baelish took place at Riverrun in 282 AC
Prelude
In 276 AC or 277 AC, when she was twelve years old, Catelyn Tully was betrothed to Brandon Stark, the heir to Winterfell,[1][2] and thanked her father, Hoster Tully, Lord of Riverrun, for making such a splendid match for her.[3] Petyr Baelish, Hoster's ward, was less pleased, however. While Catelyn had come to regard Petyr as a brother,[4][5] Petyr had fallen in love with Catelyn.[6]
When the date of Catelyn's wedding was announced in 282 AC,[7] the fifteen-year-old Petyr challenged the twenty-year-old Brandon to a duel for her hand.[4]
Duel
Catelyn refused to give Petyr her favor when he asked, choosing instead to give Brandon a pale blue handscarf embroidered with the leaping trout of House Tully.[8] She begged the older Brandon not to kill the much smaller Petyr, to which her betrothed agreed.[8] Petyr wore only helm, breastplate, and mail, so Brandon removed most of his own armor.[8] Catelyn's younger brother, Edmure Tully, served as Brandon's squire.[8]
Brandon dominated the ensuing duel, which began in the lower bailey of Riverrun and proceeded down the water stair. Brandon asked Petyr to yield more than once, but he refused, despite bleeding from a dozen wounds. Petyr eventually fell into the water when Brandon's backhand cut through Petyr's armor below the ribs; Petyr whispered "Cat" with blood flowing through his fingers.[8]
Aftermath
Although Catelyn thought Petyr would die from his wound,[8] the youth survived with a scar.[4] A fortnight passed before Petyr was strong enough to leave Riverrun, but Lord Hoster forbade Catelyn from visiting him in the tower where he lay abed.[8] Catelyn's younger sister, Lysa Tully, helped Maester Kym nurse Petyr during his recovery.[8] Edmure tried to visit Petyr in the sickroom, but was turned away because Petyr could not forgive him having served as Brandon's squire.[8] Catelyn did not say her farewells to Petyr when Hoster sent him in a closed litter back to the Fingers.[8][3] Brandon left Riverrun as well, promising Catelyn to return soon for their wedding.[9]
Unbeknownst to Catelyn, Lysa and Petyr had slept together during his infirmary.[10] After Petyr was sent back to the Vale of Arryn, Lysa revealed her pregnancy to her father, hoping that Hoster would relent and let her wed Petyr. Hoster, who had always felt Petyr was too lowborn,[11] instead forced Lysa to abort the child with moon tea provided by Maester Kym.[12][10] Lysa nearly died from this.[13]
Brandon and his father, Lord Rickard Stark, were eventually executed by King Aerys II Targaryen.[5] Petyr sent Catelyn a letter after Brandon's death, but she burned it unread.[4] In order to gain Lord Hoster for the rebels during Robert's Rebellion, Brandon's younger brother, Lord Eddard Stark, and Lord Jon Arryn agreed to marry Hoster's daughters, Catelyn and Lysa.[14] Because Lysa was proven fertile, Jon hoped to secure a new heir for the failing Arryn line, and so he and Eddard married the Tully sisters in a dual ceremony at Riverrun.[14]
Petyr would dream about Winterfell, always imagining it as a dark and cold place.[12]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Catelyn Stark mentions the duel to Ser Rodrik Cassel.[4]
During the trial by combat between Bronn and Ser Vardis Egen at the Eyrie, Catelyn recalls the details of when Brandon Stark and Petyr Baelish dueled for her hand at Riverrun.[8]
Lord Petyr, now master of coin on the small council, promises to help Catelyn's husband, Lord Eddard Stark, during his investigation into the death of Lord Jon Arryn, his predecessor as Hand of the King.[15][16] After the death of King Robert I Baratheon, however, Petyr betrays Eddard in the throne room.[17] Eddard is later executed by order of King Joffrey I Baratheon.[18]
A Storm of Swords
As Lord Hoster Tully lies dying, he repeats the word "Tansy". Catelyn thinks her father is referring to a woman with that name,[14] but Hoster is actually recalling the moon tea he forced his younger daughter Lysa to drink to abort her child with Petyr.[12] Catelyn realizes that if Lysa had lost a child, her proven fertility is what led Lord Arryn to hastily wed her during Robert's Rebellion.[14]
Catelyn is killed by House Frey during the Red Wedding.[19]
Petyr had conspired with Lysa to murder her husband, Lord Arryn, with the tears of Lys.[12] Petyr, now Lord of Harrenhal and Lord Paramount of the Trident, marries the widowed Lysa in a ceremony at his tower on the Fingers.[11] Later at the Eyrie, Lysa threatens Catelyn's daughter, Sansa Stark, before the Moon Door. Petyr calms Lysa down, but confesses that he has only ever loved one woman: "Only Cat". Petyr then throws Lysa through the Moon Door to her death, framing her singer Marillion for the deed.[12]
Quotes
That fight was over almost as soon as it began.[8]
—thoughts of Catelyn Stark
References
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 6, Catelyn II.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Catelyn Tully.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 45, Catelyn VI.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 4.5 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 18, Catelyn IV.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 55, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 29, Sansa II.
- ↑ See the Petyr Baelish's duel against Brandon Stark
- ↑ 8.00 8.01 8.02 8.03 8.04 8.05 8.06 8.07 8.08 8.09 8.10 8.11 8.12 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 40, Catelyn VII.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 63, Catelyn X.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Petyr Baelish.
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 68, Sansa VI.
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 80, Sansa VII.
- ↑ George R. R. Martin's A World of Ice and Fire, Lysa Tully.
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 A Storm of Swords, Chapter 2, Catelyn I.
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 20, Eddard IV.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 35, Eddard IX.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 49, Eddard XIV.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 65, Arya V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 51, Catelyn VII.