Quick recap
With Robert and Ned dead, the realm splinters. Joffrey reigns in King's Landing, Robb is King in the North, and Robert's brothers Stannis and Renly each declare themselves king. A red comet crosses the sky, and every claimant reads it as a sign in his favor. Tyrion arrives in the capital as acting Hand of the King, sent by his father to rein in his nephew. Arya flees north disguised as a boy, Jon heads beyond the Wall with the Night's Watch, and Daenerys crosses the desert with her dragons and an exhausted people. The volume ends with the pieces of the war in place and no king willing to yield.
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