Red Wedding

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Red wedding artistic depiction by FatherStone ©

The Red Wedding was a massacre that took place at the Twins in 299 AC during the War of the Five Kings, in which "the king in the north" Robb Stark, his mother Catelyn Stark, and most of his 3,500 banner-men were slaughtered. The event was orchestrated by the turncloak Lord Walder Frey as revenge for Robb Stark's breaking of a marriage pact he made with House Frey. Walder Frey however would never have gone along with the massacre without the promise of protection from Tywin Lannister.

Background

During the War of the Five Kings, the Freys initially rose in rebellion against the Iron Throne for the King in the North, securing an invaluable strategic position for the northmen. The rebellion was contingent on Robb Stark betrothal to one of Lord Frey's daughters. However, Robb Stark broke his promise when he marries Jeyne Westerling, a slight that Lord Walder Frey was unlikely to overlook. After learning of the broken pact, Lord Walder Frey secretly began conversing with Tywin Lannister for terms to bring House Frey back into the Iron Throne's supporters. Tywin developed a devious ploy, in which Lord Frey lured Robb to the Twins, under the pretense of an invite to another marriage developed to allegedly forgive Robb's broken vow. The marriage, between Edmure Tully and his daughter Roslin Frey, was an invitation which Robb could not decline after already giving slight to his allies once. After Robb arrival he apologizes for his slight and Catelyn ask for bread and salt to secure guest right.

Wedding Night

By using sellswords and knights at the feast disguised as musicians, and getting Robb's men too drunk to fight, Lord Frey was able to coordinate a massacre with little loss to his own men. The two twin castles, and the outlying camps, were all signaled when the band began playing the The Rains of Castamere song. Few of the northmen had a chance to react, and most were butchered on the spot.

At that sign, the Frey and Bolton men turned on the Stark soldiers. The specially-rigged feast tents were collapsed and set aflame during the slaughter. In the main hall, many of Robb's personal guard were killed by Freys, including Smalljon Umber, Dacey Mormont, Ser Wendel Manderly, and his mother Catelyn. Roose Bolton personally killed Robb with a thrust to the heart.[1]

Though no definitive count is known, most of the northmen were dead while House Frey lost only approximately fifty men in the camps, as well as Ser Garse Goodbrook and Ser Tytos Frey[2] After the battle, the Freys cut off Robb's head along with Grey Wind's, Robb's direwolf. In a mockery of Robb's relationship with his direwolf, the Freys sewed Grey Wind's head onto Robb's decapitated body. Lady Catelyn Stark had her throat slit and was later thrown naked into the river in a mockery of House Tully funeral customs.

Aftermath

The Red Wedding brought to an end the Northern rebellion, Roose Bolton was made the Warden of the North, and several great benefits befell House Frey, including the lordship of Riverrun. However the it also destroyed what honor was left in the house as they had violated one of the oldest and most sacred traditions of old, the Guest right. This led to vile and disgust towards the house by most Westerosi, including their own allies. Additionally, though no other House has dreamed to repeat the breaking of the right, it has left a more lasting stain on the ancient Guest right, with safety and security in a strange castle no longer being considered guaranteed.

The Iron Throne also gained valuable prisoners which helped resolve hostilities around Westeros. With Edmure Tully, Jaime Lannister was able to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the Siege of Riverrun and with Patrek Mallister, Black Walder threatened to hang him outside his father's castle which resulted in Seagard's surrender. The Greatjon and Marq Piper were held as hostages to ensure their Houses loyalty; Hother Umber allied his forces with the newly appointed Warden of the North, Roose Bolton, and Lord Clement Piper was forced to help at the Siege of Riverrun but his son has yet to be returned to him.

Known victims

Known captives

Frey Version

Jared Frey claims that, contrary to the true story, the Red Wedding was actually Robb Stark’s work. According to the Frey fictionalization, Stark changed into a wolf-man beast before the eyes of the Freys and tore out the throat of Jinglebell, a harmless simpleton. Furthermore, he allegedly would have slain Lord Walder Frey if Ser Wendel Manderly had not put himself in the way. According to this version of the event, the other Northmen also turned into wolves to join Robb's attack.[3]

Influences

George R.R. Martin has revealed that the inspiration for the Red Wedding came from the Black Dinner.[4] in which the rise in power of the Scottish Clan Douglas, united behind the young King of Scotland James II, was put to an end after he was invited under the promise of safe conduct and was beheaded.

References and Notes

This page uses content from the English Wikipedia. The original content was at Strongholds of A Song of Ice and Fire. The list of authors can be seen in the page history of Strongholds of A Song of Ice and Fire. As with A Wiki of Ice and Fire, the content of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.