Second Siege of Riverrun

"Riverrun is ours! Take it back!"

- Lord Walder Frey commands his sons to recapture Riverrun.

The Second Siege of Riverrun is a siege during the War of the Five Kings. It first appears in the episode "The Broken Man". Following Brynden Tully the Blackfish's recapture of Riverrun, the ancestral seat of House Tully, House Frey, the current Lords of Riverrun, launch a siege in an attempt to take it back. The Freys are later joined by the armies of House Lannister led by Lord Jaime Lannister on the orders of King Tommen Baratheon.

Prelude
For their actions during the Red Wedding in which House Frey betrayed House Stark and oversaw the massacre of the Northern army, House Frey was rewarded by the Iron Throne by replacing House Tully as Lords Paramount of the Trident and Lords of Riverrun. Though Lord Edmure Tully was kept as a hostage by the Freys, Ser Brynden Tully the Blackfish, Edmure's uncle, was able to escape the massacre. The Blackfish was able to gather what remained of the Tully army and retook Riverrun from House Frey.

The Siege begins
Lord Walder Frey tasks his sons, Lothar Frey and Walder Rivers, to recapture Riverrun from the Blackfish after news reaches the Twins of their loss. In order to do this, the Freys begin constructing various siege towers and attempt building trenches outside of the castle, though they are blocked by the river surrounding it. The Freys also construct a gibbet and publicly threaten Edmure Tully's life. Despite this, the Blackfish does not yield Riverrun.

Later during their siege, they are joined by the Lannister forces led by Lord Jaime Lannister, who has been ordered by King Tommen to retake the castle. Jaime assumes command of the siege, and Ser Bronn orders for perimeter trenches to be dug, pickets to be set up, and to have the men work double-time on the siege towers. Jaime also orders the Freys to provide Edmure with a bath and a meal.

Attempted negotiations
With the siege under his command, Jaime gets a message to the Blackfish, asking for a parley. When the two men meet on Riverrun's drawbridge, Brynden refuses to surrender his family's castle, claiming that he is prepared to die in the castle in which he was born. He also tells Jaime that they have enough provisions for two years, and that they can wait the Lannisters out and kill thousands of their men before they take the castle. Despite Jaime's insistance that Bryden could save his men, he refuses to concede.

Several days after Jaime's arrival, Brienne of Tarth and her squire Podrick Payne arrive at the Lannister camp. Brienne had been sent by Sansa Stark, who has been assembling an army to reclaim Winterfell from House Bolton. Having received word that her great-uncle was still alive and possessed his own army, she requested that he bring his forces north to help her against the Boltons. Brienne offers to negotiate with the Blackfish so that he would surrender Riverrun, in exchange for Jaime providing both him and the Tully host with safe passage to the North. Jaime agrees but only gives her until nightfall to accomplish her aim.

Inside Riverrun, Brienne tries to convince Brynden to accept her offer and head north to help Sansa. However, he refuses, claiming he would die before he surrendered his family's home.

Riverrun's surrender
With nightfall and Brienne's failure to convince the Blackfish, Jaime speaks to Edmure Tully, and promises him to have him, with his wife and child, to Casterly Rock away from the Freys once Riverrun surrendered. When Edmure refuses to listen and insults him, the Kingslayer threatens to kill both him and his son if he refuses to surrender his castle. Under threat, Edmure agrees.

Edmure walks up to the drawbridge and demands entry as the rightful Lord of Riverrun. Although the Blackfish orders his men not to let him in, they ignore his order as they have sworn to be loyal to the head of House Tully. The drawbridge is dropped and Edmure orders the garrison to surrender the castle to the Lannisters and the Freys. He also orders them to arrest his uncle. Brynden shows Brienne and Podrick to a waterway beneath the castle which allows them to escape from the Lannisters and the Freys. Although Brienne tries to convince him to accompany them, he tells them that he would rather die than run again, as he had at the Red Wedding. He draws his sword to fight approaching soldiers while Brienne and Podrick escape by boat. The Blackfish is killed in the melee.

With the surrender of the garrison, Jaime strikes House Tully's banners and raises those of House Lannister and House Frey over the castle. True to his word, he allows the surviving Tully men to leave Riverrun with their lives. He also chooses not to send men after Brienne and Podrick as he sees them escaping on the Trident.

Background
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, there is no "second siege" of Riverrun, that is indeed held by Brynden Tully, who is not present at the Red Wedding and thus he never lose or "retakes" the castle. Robb appointed him as Warden of the Southern Marches (a new post) and ordered him to stay at Riverrun, leaving his wife Jeyne, alongside her mother Sybell and siblings Rollam and Eleyna, at his custody. Brynden, loyal to king even after his death, continues to hold Riverrun after the massacre, in defiance of the Freys and the Iron Throne.

It is not mentioned in the book how many soldiers are in Riverrun. Jaime claims that the besiegers are twenty times the besieged are, but it can be an exaggeration; besides, since it is unknown how many soldiers Daven Lannister and Forley Prester brought, it is not possible to calculate the size of Brynden's troops by dividing. If Jaime told the truth, given that he and Ryman Frey brought nearly 3,000 men, there has to be more than 150 soldiers in Riverrun.

Also, Brienne is not present when the siege takes place and does not try to reach Riverrun, though she and Jaime cross paths again with his army in the Riverlands.

A combined force of Frey (2,000 spears) and Lannister soldiers, commanded respectively by Ser Ryman Frey and Ser Daven Lannister, son of the late Stafford Lannister who was named Warden of the West by Queen Cersei, marches on Riverrun, in an effort to remove the final vestiges of resistance in the Riverlands and install Ser Emmon Frey (Lord Frey's second son and husband of Genna Lannister) as the new Lord of Riverrun, per the terms of the alliance between the Freys and Lannisters dictate.

Brynden Tully anticipates the siege. He gathers all the foodstuffs and goods he can within the castle, enough for two years, expels all the unnecessary mouths, smallfolk who had been granted shelter by Edmure Tully, and prepares for a long siege. He does not expect and does not receive help from anyone, since:
 * Lord Tytos Blackwood - the only Riverlord who has not yielded yet to the Iron Throne - is under siege by Lord Jonos Bracken.
 * The Brotherhood without Banners are indeed rising up against the Freys, but hunting individuals of them rather than raiding their food supplies and camps. So far, Petyr and Merrett Frey had died in these attacks, each of these characters being omitted from the show.


 * Sansa, safe at the Vale, knows about the siege of Riverrun and that uncle Edmure is held captive at the Twins, but does not take any action to help him or her great-uncle. She is unaware of the current events at the north, and has no idea who currently controls Winterfell either.

The Siege
Ryman commands a large and disorderly Frey encampment north of the Tumblestone. South of the Red Fork are Lord Emmon, Ser Forley Prester with other westermen, and rivermen who knelt to the Iron Throne after the Red Wedding. Daven commands House Lannister's camp between the Tumblestone and the Red Fork. To prevent Riverrun's defenders from escaping, Ser Manfryd Yew and Ser Raynard Ruttiger command a boom across the Red Fork east of the castle.

When Arya and the Hound encounter Polliver and the Tickler at the Inn at the Crossroads, the Hound asks (shortly before the bloody brawl breaks out) if Blackfish is still in Riverrun. Polliver answers lightly "Not for long, he's under siege. Old Frey's going to hang Edmure Tully unless he yields the castle. The only real fighting's around Raventree".

In contrast to Polliver's anticipation, the besiegers realize very quickly that Blackfish will not yield so easily. They have no hope to starve the besieged out, and are seriously short of food: the Freys, not surprisingly, bring food only for their troops; the Lannisters have to look for food themselves. They catch enough fish, but nothing to feed the horses. Half of the soldiers who are sent to find food do not return, either killed by outlaws (persumably the Brotherhood) or desert. Soon the besiegers grow bored, and find whatever available entertainments to spend their time with: camp followers, drinking, gambling, etc. Ryman Frey acts the same, rather than maintain discipline at his troops, leaving the command to his son Edwyn and his uncle Walder Rivers.

Daven Lannister supervises the construction of siege machines - battering rams, towers, trebuchets and ladders. They do not dig trenches, because there is no need to: no one comes to help the besieged. Emmon, who does nothing except reminding everyone his new title, tries to tell Daven how to run the siege. He wants the castle to be taken without damaging it with the siege machines. No one pays any attention to him, though.

Ryman tries to make Blackfish yield Riverrun, the same way his son Black Walder forced Lord Jason Mallister to yield Seagard (by threatening to kill his son Patrek): he builds a gallows and threatens to hang Edmure. However, Brynden is not impressed by the threat. Very foolishly, Ryman repeats that every day, unaware the threat - which made no impression from the beginning - has lost any effectiveness.

Next, Ryman tries to parley with Blackfish. He rides up to the castle gates half-drunk and blustering, making threats. Blackfish appears on the ramparts long enough to say that he will not waste fair words on foul men. Then he puts an arrow in the rump of Ryman’s palfrey. The horse rears and drops Ryman into the mud, much to the amusement of the spectators.

Arrival of Jaime Lannister
Since the besiegers do not make any progress, Cersei grows impatient and sends Jaime, who is still the Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, to set Harrenhal to rights and to resolve the siege of Riverrun. Jaime has mixed feelings about the mission: one of hand, knowing what an incompetent mother Cersei was to Joffrey, he does not like the idea of leaving Tommen in her hands, nor does he wish to break his vow to Catelyn - never again to take up arms against the Starks or Tullys; on the other hand, he seizes the opportunity to get away from the Small Council, because he has no taste for the company of the lickspittles and fools who surround Cersei. He feels more comfortable amongst soldiers in the field than he ever has at court.

Jaime leaves King's Landing with nearly one thousand reinforcements for the Freys, including Ser Ilyn Payne, his friend Addam Marbrand, and Ser Bonifer Hasty, who was recently given the questionable office of the Castellan of Harrenhal. Among the host are forty knights, half of them westermen sworn to House Lannister, the others recent foes turned doubtful friends.

On the way to Riverrun, Jaime stops at Harrenhal. He is glad to see that Wylis Manderly and the other prisoners are alive. Ser Bonifer takes charge of the castle, and is not worried about the curse that so far allegedly claimed the life of whoever served before him as the castellan of Harrenhal (except Roose Bolton, who is still alive at that point). At his demand, Jaime takes the Mountain's men, leaving the Holy Hundred at Harrenhal. Jaime commands Ser Ronnet Connington to take the prisoners to Maidenpool. After giving Ser Bonifer last orders about the Hound and Beric Dondarrion, Jaime continues to Riverrun.

As soon as Jaime arrives, he meets his cousin Daven, who briefs him about the situation. Daven does not hide his contempt toward the attending Freys - Emmon, Ryman, Edwyn and Walder Rivers - and comments he wouldn't be too upset if they all get killed during the siege. He intends, though, to keep his part in the agreement between Tywin and the Freys - marry a Frey girl.

Jaime meets his aunt Genna and her insignificant husband Emmon. They ask him about the death of their son Cleos. Rather than tell them the truth, that the coward Cloes was shot down without putting up a fight, Jaime lies that he scattered the outlaws who attacked them, but it cost his life. The lie pleases them. Emmon waves the decree that makes him the lawful lord of Riverrun, but Genna tells him sharply that as long as Blackfish does not yield - that decree worth no more than a toilet paper. Emmon thinks his new title makes him the new overlord of the Riverlands. Jaime corrects him that he was granted Riverrun with its lands and incomes, no more - Petyr Baelish is the Lord Paramount of the Trident, and Riverrun will be subject to the rule of Harrenhal. Emmon is displeased, but does not have the guts to go to King's Landing and argue with Cersei. Emmon walks away. Genna talks with Jaime about his father, how she and her other brothers lived and grew in his shadow, and that no one can fill his place - neither Jaime, nor Kevan. She surprises Jaime by stating "Tyrion is Tywin’s son, not you".

Jaime considers the situation: he knows that eventually he may have to conquer the castle by force, thus to violate his vow to Catelyn, but decides to do his best to avoid bloodshed. Jaime first tries to parley with Blackfish.

The Parley
The parley does not go well, right from the beginning: Brynden teases Jaime, repeatedly calls him "Kingslayer" and reminds him that his vows are worthless - like his vow to Aerys. Jaime restrains himself and offers terms to Brynden "Strike your banners and open your gates and I’ll grant your men their lives. Those who wish to remain at Riverrun in service to Lord Emmon may do so. The rest shall be free to go where they will, though I will require them to surrender their arms and armor.” He also offers Brynden to take the black, commenting that Ned Stark’s bastard is the Lord Commander on the Wall. Brynden rejects the offer "Did your father arrange for that as well? Catelyn never trusted the boy, as I recall, no more than she ever trusted Theon Greyjoy. It would seem she was right about them both. No, ser, I think not. I’ll die warm, if you please, with a sword in hand running red with lion blood.” He also claims that Tywin was the mastermind behind the Red Wedding, what Jaime cannot deny.

Jaime tries to reason with Brynden, pointing out that Harrenhal, Seagard and Maidenpool have fallen, all the other Riverlands lords have surrendered, except Lord Tytos Blackwood who is also under siege, and that the besiegers outnumber the besieged 20:1. Brynden is unimpressed, pointing out that twenty times the men require twenty times the food, and the besiegers are out of supplies.

Finally, Jaime loses his patience. He offers to resolve the siege by a single combat - his champion against Brynden's: if the besiegers' champion wins, Riverrun yields; if the besieged's champion wins, the besiegers will lift the siege. Brynden makes it clear he does not believe Jaime, and laughs "Who will it be? Strongboar? Addam Marbrand? Black Walder Frey? Why not you and me, ser?”. Jaime muses " That would have been a sweet fight once " and accepts the challenge, knowing well that he does not have even the slightest chance against Blackfish. Brynden laughs at him “Much as I would welcome the chance to take that golden sword away from you and cut out your black heart, your promises are worthless. I would gain nothing from your death but the pleasure of killing you, and I will not risk my own life for that. as small a risk as that may be". He concludes the parley with "A siege is deadly dull. I wanted to see this stump of yours and hear whatever excuses you cared to offer up for your latest enormities. They were feebler than I’d hoped. You always disappoint, Kingslayer" and leaves.

The War Council
After the parley fails, Jaime assembles a war council. The senior officers gather, except Ryman who is too drunk. Jaime asks for suggestions how to proceed. The attenders come up with various ideas: At that point, Lord Clement Piper, whose son Marq was taken captive at the Red Wedding, states disdainfully that the Blackfish will not yield to the treacherous Freys, since everyone knows their word worth nothing. He calls Edwyn "a treacherous lying weasel, like all your kin" and demands to know where his son and escorts are. Edwyn answers that Marq is held captive, till his father proves his loyalty to the Iron Throne. As for the knights who escorted Marq... maybe some of them are alive. He tells Lord Piper "You’d do well to guard your traitor’s tongue, Piper, unless you want your heir returned in pieces". Angrily, Lord Piper challenges Edwyn to fight. Edwyn blanches, but Walder Rivers accepts the challenge. Jaime reminds them this is a war council, not a war, and orders them to sit down. Walder sits, but Lord Piper mutters a curse and leaves. Jaime muses that his father’s councils never went like that, and concludes he had enough counsel for one day. He says “We're done. See to your preparations, my lords. We attack at first light.”
 * Emmon demands to hang Edmure, to teach Brynden that they do not make idle threats. Karyl Vance, the Lord of Wayfarer's Rest, objects, reminding that Blackfish's brother could not move him to a marriage bed.
 * Daven suggests to storm the walls, using the siege machines he built: towers, scaling ladders and battering rams. Ser Lyle "Strongboar" Crakehall supports the idea, and volunteers to lead the attack. Emmon starts objecting, fearing that his precious castle will be damaged, but no one listens to him.
 * Ser Addam Marbrand proposes to wait for a moonless night and send a dozen picked men across the river in a boat with muffled oars. They can scale the walls with ropes and grapnels, and open the gates from the inside. He volunteers to lead the attack. Walder Rivers objects, claiming that Brynden will not fall for such tricks.
 * Edwyn Frey points out that the Blackfish is their biggest obstacle. He suggests to move the siege towers close, fill them full of bowmen, and feign an attack upon the gates. That will bring Brynden to the battlements. The archers will smear their shafts with night soil, and shoot at Brynden. Once he dies, Riverrun will yield.
 * Strongboar objects to Edwyn's advice, stating that the Blackfish deserves a nobler death. He volunteers to challenge the Blackfish to single combat, stating that he will undoubtfully win. Ser Forley Prester objects, claiming that the Blackfish has no reason to accept the challenge (indeed, this is the reason he rejected Jaime's offer): "What could he gain from such a duel? Will we lift the siege if he should win? I do not believe that. Nor will he. A single combat would accomplish nought."
 * Norbert Vance, the blind Lord of Atranta, suggests to go and speak with Blackfish and try to make him understand the hopelessness of his position (what Jaime has already tried, unsuccessfully).

Jaime decides to make one last attempt to resolve the siege peacefully before resorting to battle. He orders Ilyn Payne and Strongboar to come with him. They approach the gallows, ignoring the Freys who try to stop them. Jaime orders Payne to cut Edmure loose. Ryman Frey, very drunk and accompanied by a whore wearing a crown, arrives. Enraged, Jaime notices the crown which the whore wears is none other than Robb's. He gives Ryman a very painful lesson (using his artificial hand) about the ineffectiveness of unrealized threats, and orders him to leave the camp. Jaime gives Edwyn Frey the command over the Frey troops, advising him to be less stupid than his father. Edwyn sneers that it wouldn't be too difficult.

The conversation with Edmure
They walk to Jaime's tent, Strongboar pulls Edmure not very gently. Jaime notices a singer named Tom of Sevenstreams, and orders him to come too. Jaime teases Edmure for having sex with his wife while his sister and king were slain. Embarrassed, Edmure says he couldn't hear because of the music. He comments that Roslin carries his child; Jaime, knowing well how the Freys think, muses "No, that's your death she has growing in her belly".

Inside the tent, Jaime orders to bath and feed Edmure and find him decent clothes. Then he present Edmure his offer: "Once you've eaten, my men will escort you to Riverrun. What happens after that is up to you. Your uncle is an old man. Valiant, yes, but the best part of his life is done. He has no bride to grieve for him, no children to defend. A good death is all the Blackfish can hope for. but you have years remaining, Edmure. And you are the rightful lord of House Tully, not him. Your uncle serves at your pleasure. The fate of Riverrun is in your hands". Jaime continues: "Yield the castle and no one dies. Your smallfolk may go in peace or stay to serve Lord Emmon. Ser Brynden will be allowed to take the black, along with as many of the garrison as choose to join him. You as well, if the Wall appeals to you. Or you may go to Casterly Rock as my captive and enjoy all the comforts and courtesy that befits a hostage of your rank. I’ll send your wife to join you, if you like. If her child is a boy, he will serve House Lannister as a page and a squire, and when he earns his knighthood we’ll bestow some lands upon him. Should Roslin give you a daughter, I’ll see her well dowered when she’s old enough to wed. You yourself may even be granted parole, once the war is done. All you need do is yield the castle". Edmure hesitates, then asks "And if I will not yield?"

Jaime, feeling uncomfortable for what he is going to say (due to his oath to Catelyn), forces himself to smile, then answers harshly: "''You've seen our numbers, Edmure. You've seen the ladders, the towers, the trebuchets, the rams. If I speak the command, my coz will bridge your moat and break your gate. Hundreds will die, most of them your own. Your former bannermen will make up the first wave of attackers, so you’ll start your day by killing the fathers and brothers of men who died for you at the Twins. The second wave will be Freys, I have no lack of those. My westermen will follow when your archers are short of arrows and your knights so weary they can hardly lift their blades. When the castle falls, all those inside will be put to the sword. Your herds will be butchered, your godswood will be felled, your keeps and towers will burn. I’ll pull your walls down, and divert the Tumblestone over the ruins. By the time I’m done no man will ever know that a castle once stood here.” Jaime gets to his feet and issues his most vicious threat: “Your wife may whelp before that. You’ll want your child, I expect. I’ll send him to you when he’s born. With a trebuchet''".

For the final touch, Jaime orders the singer to play "The Rains of Castamere". That really leaves impression on Edmure.

Riverrun yields
Edmure enters Riverrun. He deliberately waits most of the day before hauling down the direwolf of Stark, as a token of surrender. In the confusion of the castle changing hands, only in the next morning Jaime is informed that the Blackfish is not amongst the prisoners. Emmon - who has finally become the lord of Riverrun de facto - is enraged, demanding to behead Eemure. Edmure says humorously "You required me to surrender my castle, not my uncle. Am I to blame if your men let him slip through their siege lines?". Unamused at Edmure's wisecrack, Jaime threatens to lock him inside one of the oubliettes beneath the Casterly Rock. Edmure admits "We raised the portcullis on the Water Gate. Not all the way, just three feet or so. Enough to leave a gap under the water, though the gate still appeared to be closed. My uncle is a strong swimmer. After dark, he pulled himself beneath the spikes".

Jaime, knowing how dangerous the Blackfish is and undoubtfully capable of continuing the fight, sends Addam Marbrand and Ser Dermot of the Rainwood to find him, alongside hounds and hunters. He is not hopeful, though. Jaime questions the garrison, and they all swear that they know nothing of Ser Brynden's plans or where he might have gone. Jaime belives them, reasoning that “If you share your plans with no one, no one can betray you". Genna suggests to interrogate by force the occupants of Riverrun, but Jaime refuses, since he gave his word to Edmure that if he yielded, the garrison could leave unharmed.

Jaime meets Robb's widow
Jaime meets Jeyne Westerling and her mother Sybell Spicer. He thinks that Jeyne is pretty, but not a girl to lose a kingdom for. He is glad she has not escaped: pregnant with Robb's child, she could have proved more dangerous than the Blackfish.

Jaime asks Jeyne if she is pregnant with Robb's child. Jeyne bursts into tears and tries to escape. Her mother assures Jaime she is not, she made certain of that (probably by giving Jeyne Moon tea), in compliance with her agreement with Tywin. Jaime repeats the terms of the agreement: the Westerlings have a full pardon (because they only pretended to switch sides), Sybell's brother Ralph has been made Lord of Castamere. Sybell claims that Tywin promised worthy marriages for Jeyne and her younger sister, lords or heirs. Jaime promises Sybell her daughters will have their marriages, but Jeyne must wait two full years before she weds again, because if she takes another husband too soon and has a child by him, inevitably there will come whispers that Robb is the father.

Sybell reminds Jaime that her elder son Rayland went to the Red Wedding, his fate is unknown (he is presumed dead). Jaime promises to make inquiries, and if Rayland is alive, to pay his ransom. Greedily, Sybell says that Tywin promised a marriage for Rayland too - a bride from Casterly Rock. Jaime guesses his father meant Joy Hill, Gerion's natural daughter. Sybell does not like the idea that her son would marry a natural child. Jaime's patience runs out, and he tells Sybell harshly "No more than I want Joy to marry the son of some scheming turncloak. She deserves better". He feels like choking Sybell with her seashell necklace.

The Besiegers Depart
Jaime orders Ser Forley Prester to escort Edmure to Casterly Rock, with 400 soldiers, in case the Brotherhood or the Blackfish attempt to free Edmure or Jeyne. Ser Forley assues Jaime he will take precautions to prevent escape, and assign ten archers to watch Edmure all the time; if he tries to escape, they will spray him with arrows. Jaime approves, and instructs Ser Forley to take the same precautions in respect of Jeyne, explaning she is twice as dangerous as Edmure.

Jaime goes to call on Edwyn Frey. Edwyn and Walder Rivers tell him that Ryman and his 15 escorts were killed, hung by the Brotherhood. That makes Ryman the third Frey being killed by the Brotherhood (following Petyr Pimple and Merrett). Edwyn, who is not overly sad at his father's death, claims his brother Black Walder had a hand in that. Jaime is unconcerned both about Ryman and the identity of Lord Frey's heir, but he is bothered by the fact that those outlaws are growing bold, if they dare hang Lord Walder's heir not a day's ride from the Twins. He says dryly "If you will pardon me for intruding on your grief, we have other matters to consider. When you return to the Twins, please inform Lord Walder that King Tommen requires all the captives you took at the Red Wedding.” Edwyn and Walder Rivers are clearly displeased to hear that. Edwyn says “My lord grandfather will expect recompense for these prisoners.” Jaime thinks "And he’ll have it, as soon as I grow a new hand", but says aloud "We all have expectations". He asks them about Rayland. They tell him how Rayland tried to save Grey Wind, but was shot by two arrows and jumped into the river. His body was not found. They presume he is dead.

The Lannister troops get ready to leave. Daven suggests to take the siege machines to Raventree, but Jaime orders to burn them down. That night, during his practice with Ilyn Payne, Jaime wonders aloud what to do with his sluttish sister. Ilyn suggests wordlessly to kill her. Jaime says "No, Tommen has lost a brother, and the man he thought of as his father. If I were to kill his mother, he would hate me for it. and that sweet little wife of his would find a way to turn that hatred to the benefit of Highgarden".

The next morning, Ser Dermot of the Rainwood returns empty-handed. He tells Jaime that a pack of wolves, led by she-wolf of monstrous size, attacked them, killing two sentries and horses. Jaime wonders if that she-wolf is the same who mauled Joffrey (he is right). Ser Dermot resumes his search for Blackfish.

The lords of the Trident come to Jaime, asking his leave to return to their own lands. He grants it, and promises Lord Piper his son and all the other captives will be ransomed. Lord Karyl Vance lingers to advise Jaime that Tytos Blackwood will never yield as long as it is Jonos Bracken is at his gates, but he will bend his knee for Jaime. Jaime thanks him for his counsel.

Strongboar, dissapointed there was no battle, asks Jaime's permission to hunt the Hound or Beric Dondarrion. Jaime agrees, but reminds Strongboar that Lord Beric must be captured alive, to be executed in public, to refute the stories about his immortality.

The Tully garrison departes the next morning, stripped of all their arms and armor. Each man is allowed three days' food and the clothing on his back, after he swears a solemn oath never to take up arms against Lord Emmon or House Lannister. Genna tells Jaime it will be fortunate if only 10% of those keep their oath. Jaime says humorously it is fine, he prefers to face nine men than ten.

Desmond Grell, Lord Hoster's old master-at-arms, and Ser Robin Ryger, Riverrun’s captain of guards, prefer to join the Watch. Jaime allows them to keep their arms and armor, and assigns a dozen of the Mountain’s men to escort them to Maidenpool, led by Rafford. Jaime, knowing well how untrustworthy and brutal the Mountain’s men are, warns Raff that he and his men will pay dearly if any harm happens to Grell and Ryger.

Lord Emmon assembles all of Riverrun in the yard, Edmure’s people and his own, and speaks to them for almost three hours about what will be expected of them now that he is their lord and master. They are clearly bored by that speech.

That night, Jaime has a strange dream about a woman in grey. Jaime is startled to realize it is his mother. She says "We all dream of things we cannot have. Tywin dreamed that his son would be a great knight, that his daughter would be a queen. He dreamed they would be so strong and brave and beautiful that no one would ever laugh at them.” Then she leaves.

The next morning, maester Vyman gives Jaime a letter from Cersei "Help me. Save me. I need you now as I have never needed you before. I love you. I love you. I love you. Come at once". Jaime muses that even if he has gone back, he could not hope to save her: as far as he knew, Cersei was guilty of every treason laid against her, and he was short a sword hand. After a long silence, Jaime hands the letter to his squire to burn it.

Aftermath
Although Jaime is upset that Brynden escaped, he is content for resolving the siege of Riverrun without actually ever taking up arms against the Starks or Tullys, thus keeping his oath to Catelyn. Now all is left for him to do is travel to Raventree Hall, the last stronghold in the Riverlands that has not surrendered yet, and make Lord Tytos Blackwood yield to the Iron Throne.

Jaime wonders what he'd do next after returning King's Landing. He wants to be a father figure to Tommen, to winkle him from Cersei's clutches before the boy became another Joffrey. He also contemplates about assmbling a new small council for Tommen, one that does not consist of Cersei and her henchmen.