Red Wedding

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"The Lannisters send their regards."

―Roose Bolton to Robb Stark, as he drives a dagger through his heart.

The Red Wedding is a massacre during the War of the Five Kings arranged by Lord Walder Frey as revenge against King Robb Stark for breaking the marriage pact between House Stark and House Frey. During the massacre, King Robb, his wife, Queen Talisa, his mother, Lady Catelyn, and most of his bannermen and men-at-arms are murdered following the marriage feast and bedding of Edmure Tully and Roslin Frey.

Prelude

King Robb was lulled into a sense of security by Walder Frey because he had extended Guest right to the Starks - formally eating salt and bread from the same bowl as his guests. To break guest right is to break all the laws of gods and men, thus while Robb and Catelyn were always wary of Walder Frey's intentions, they never thought that even such a despicable man as he would sink so low as to break such a sacred pact.

The Massacre

The Northern leadership with Robb Stark gathered in the main hall was fired upon with volley after volley by Frey crossbowmen who were disguised as musicians during the wedding, then set upon by armed Frey and Bolton men. Meanwhile, Frey and Bolton men turned on the other Northern soldiers in the camps who had been heavily drinking during the celebrations.

Roose kills Robb Stark

Robb's direwolf was penned up and not allowed into the castle, as it would have defended Robb during the betrayal. Instead, half a dozen Frey crossbowmen shot Grey Wind dead while he was trapped inside a pen.

Robb, while wounded with several crossbow bolts was still able to get back onto his feet. Catelyn Stark desperately took Walder Frey's eigth wife Joyeuse Erenford hostage with a knife to the throat, but Walder glibly said he could simply find another one.

Catelyn dies

At this, Roose Bolton personally killed Robb by stabbing him through the heart while saying "the Lannisters send their regards". True to her word, Catelyn slit Joyeuse's throat and let out a wail of grief. Catelyn then stared at Robb's corpse in shock and utter despair, not reacting as her own throat was slit from behind.

Aftermath

Not only was Robb Stark himself killed in the betrayal, but the entire Northern army that Robb Stark led to southern Westeros is destroyed - save only for those forces of House Karstark which had earlier abandoned Robb to return home, and the forces of House Bolton which turned on the other Northern Houses. Thus the Red Wedding ends the conflict between House Stark and House Lanniser in a decisive victory for King Joffrey Baratheon and House Lannister. The War of the Five Kings continues, however, as Balon Greyjoy and Stannis Baratheon continue to dispute Joffrey's right to the Iron Throne.

Participants

Architects and Perpetrators

• Lord Walder Frey
• Lord Roose Bolton, personally killed the injured Robb Stark with a dagger thrust to the heart.
• Lame Lothar Frey, stabbed Queen Talisa Stark to death
• Black Walder Frey, slit the throat of Catelyn Stark

Perpetrators victims

• Lady Joyeuse Frey, her throat slit by Catelyn Stark

Known victims

• King Robb Stark
• Lady Catelyn Stark
• Queen Talisa Stark
• Robb and Talisa's unborn child
• Ser Wendel Manderly
• Grey Wind, Robb's direwolf

Known captives

• Lord Edmure Tully

Known MIA

• Ser Brynden Tully

Behind the scenes

Author George R.R. Martin reveled that he was hoping to play one of the casualties at the Twins, but he his schedule prevented him.

In the books

The Red Wedding plays out somewhat differently in the A Song of Ice and Fire novels. To begin with, most of Robb's leading bannermen, all prominent members of other major Houses from the North, are all killed in the betrayal. Many of these were secondary or tertiary characters who could not realistically have all been fit into the limited running time of the TV series. Characters such as Dacey Mormont, Lucas Blackwood, or Wendel Manderly had become regular fixtures in chapters focusing on the Stark storyline - many named characters die in the betrayal. Almost every major noble House in the North loses at least one immediate family member in the massacre.

Greatjon Umber was present at the Red Wedding in the books, but Clive Mantle, who played him in Season 1 was unable to reappear for Season 2 or Season 3. Greatjon does not die at the Red Wedding, however, but is taken prisoner. Several Freys enter into drinking contests with Greatjon to try to incapacitate him when the fighting started, but he drinks them all under the table, and is still able to put up a significant fight. It takes eight men to subdue Greatjon, and even so he manages to kill one, seriously wound two more, and bite half the ear off another. Greatjon's son Smalljon Umber, however, is decapitated by Bolton men.

The Greatjon is the only head of a noble House from the North present in the Twins at the time, which is why the Lannisters wanted him taken alive as a valuable political hostage. The heads of three other major Houses are not present for the wedding: Maege Mormont, Galbart Glover, and Jason Mallister. Robb had sent the three to treat with the crannogmen of House Reed to coordinate their plan to retake Moat Cailin from the ironborn and carry a letter naming Robb's heir - as Jeyne Westerling is not known to be pregnant at the time. Lord Jason left the other two to reinforce his home castle at Seagard. Lord Jason's son and heir Patrek Mallister is present at the Red Wedding. The whereabouts of Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover, however, remain unknown.

Brynden Tully is not present. Robb had him stay behind at Riverrun to command their rearguard and hold the line of the Red Fork, naming him Warden of the Southern Marches. Brynden is shown leaving the main hall to relieve himself before the fighting starts in the show, however, so it is possible he escapes.

Talisa Stark is the first to die in the episode, but her book counterpart Jeyne Westerling is also not present at the Red Wedding, having been left behind at the safety of Riverrun with Brynden. Further, Jeyne isn't explicitly stated to be pregnant in the novels. According to Richard Madden (Robb Stark) the reason that the TV series has Jeyne/Talisa die at the Red Wedding is because they didn't want the audience to harbor any romantic illusions about her escaping to give birth to Robb's child who would one day dramatically return to avenge his death. This is one of the fantasy stereotypes that George R.R. Martin himself set out to deconstruct with the series, i.e. the assumption that Robb would live to dramatically avenge his father Ned's death. The TV series wanted to make it clear with the Red Wedding that, simultaneously, Robb isn't going to live to avenge his father, nor is Robb's child going to live to avenge him. As Madden said, "I think it was important for her to die because it's a full stop to that train, the story of that army. I think if there was anything left...I think it's more tragic that there's nothing left over from it. There's no possibility that Talisa's in hiding, and she's going to have a baby, and one day that baby will take over as King in the North. I think there's something tragic about it all being cut short instantly."

Catelyn doesn't slit the throat of Walder Frey's young wife Joyeuse Erenford in the books. Instead, Catelyn takes Walder Frey's mentally disabled middle-aged grandson Aegon Frey hostage. Aegon is the court fool at the Twins, derisively made to wear a jester's hat filled with bells, which is why he is more commonly known as "Jinglebell". The other Freys cruelly enjoy watching the fool caper and prance about. In their confrontation, Catelyn says she'll trade a son for a son, but Walder points out that Jinglebell is only a grandson, and has never been of much use.

The manner of Catelyn's death is also slightly different. In the books, Catelyn is so consumed by grief at the sight of Robb's death that she claws at her face, raking her fingernails across her cheeks until she has carved out long strips of flesh and is bleeding profusely. She becomes so hysterical out of a mixture of shock and grief that she goes half-mad and starts laughing uncontrollably, as the blood from her devastated face "tickles", until ultimately the Freys put her out of her misery by slitting her throat. The TV series' version just has Catelyn stare vacantly in utter, silent despair, not even reacting as Black Walder slits her throat. Another change is that in the books Catelyn's is killed by Raymund Frey, a relatively minor character who is the eleventh son of Lord Walder Frey, his sixth's son by his third wife. Meanwile, Black Walder is a great-grandson of Lord Walder, but his father Ryman is himself the eldest son of Lord Walder's eldest son, Stevron Frey, who dies at the Battle of Oxcross, making Ryan heir to Lord Walder. Black Walder is Ryman's second son, behind Edwyn Frey, but the two are jockeying for position to one day inherit the rule of House Frey.

The Frey musicians do not stop playing The Rains of Castamere during the massacre. It was the signal used to Frey and Bolton men throughout the Twins and in the camps outside to begin the attack, thus the slaughter in the main hall began soon after they started playing - Catelyn and many other Northerners instantly realize something is wrong when they start playing "the Lannister song", as opposed to in the TV series, where Catelyn sits worried and confused when the Frey musicians start playing it, all of the Northmen instantly realize upon hearing the song that this is a trap and were meant to. The musicians continue to play the song loudly as fighting breaks out in the main hall, in order to signal men further away in the camps.

Just as the music starts playing, Catelyn grabs Edwyn Frey by the arm and notices he is wearing chainmail underneath his outer clothing. She realizes this means the Freys are about to attack them, and she slaps him. This was changed to Roose Bolton in the TV version.

Another minor change is that while Arya Stark did arrive at the Twins as the Red Wedding was taking place, the betrayal began slightly before she arrived, and fighting was already breaking out in the camps. Arya thus never got close enough to personally witness the death of the direwolf Grey Wind. In both versions, however, Arya still wants to rush into the castle to try to save her family, but Sandor Clegane knocks her unconscious to prevent her from trying - saving her life in the process, as he realized any attempt to intervene at this point was suicidal.

A slight change from the books is that Roose Bolton says "The Lannisters send their regards" in the TV version, but in the books he said "Jaime Lannister sends his regards". Understandably, this is a very famous line from the books, and it is unclear why it was changed - perhaps to de-emphasize the suggestion that Jaime had anything to do with the planning of the Red Wedding, which he did not.

See also

•  The Red Wedding at A Wiki of Ice and Fire (spoilers from the books)