Twins

The Twins
Information
Type	Two castles
Location	Westeros, the Riverlands
Rulers	House Frey
Religion	The Faith of the Seven
Places of note	The West Tower The East Tower

"The Freys have held the Crossing for six hundred years, and in six hundred years they've never failed to exact their toll."

―Catelyn Stark

The Twins, sometimes known as The Crossing, is a castle in the Riverlands. It is the seat of House Frey, a vassal house of House Tully of Riverrun. It is located within the Riverlands. It consists of two near-identical towers and a fortified bridge over the Green Fork of the River Trident.

The Twins represents the only crossing point over the Green Fork for hundreds of miles in either direction. It is a major barrier to travelers and merchants traveling from the North to the western Riverlands. It lies directly athwart the main route from Winterfell to Riverrun. Moving from one castle to the other whilst avoiding the Twins requires a lengthy detour hundreds of miles to the south or hazardously traversing the bogs and swamps of the Neck to the north.

The Freys rise began three generations before the events of the series with the building of a stone bridge over the Green Fork. They grew wealthy by charging passing travelers for the use of the Crossing.

Notable residents of the castle

• Lord Walder Frey, known as "the Late Lord Frey", the ancient lord of the castle.
  • Stevron Frey, Lord Walder's firstborn son and heir.
    • • Walder Frey, known as "Black Walder", Lord Walder's great-grandson.
  • Olyvar Frey, one of Lord Frey's sons, squire for Robb Stark.
  • Roslin Frey, Lord Walder's fifth daughter.
  • Waldron Frey, another of Lord Walder's sons, bethroted to Arya Stark.
• Lady Joyeuse Frey, Lord Frey's eighth wife.

• Ser Walder Rivers, a bastard son of Lord Walder's by a milkmaid.

Lord Walder's vast brood, including sons, daughters, their spouses, grandsons, granddaughters, great-grandsons and great-granddaughters.

History

Season 1

Robb Stark needs to cross the river at the Twins to face Tywin Lannister's forces in battle, but his mother warns him that Lord Walder Frey is proud, prickly and unreliable. She negotiates on Robb's behalf and wins an alliance: in return for allowing Robb's forces to cross and for the allegiance of House Frey, Robb and Arya must marry some of House Frey's offspring. Robb accepts the deal. His army crosses the river and splits into two forces, a diversionary force to face Tywin and a larger force to ride hard and attack Jaime Lannister's forces north of Riverrun.

Image gallery

The Twins, seen from downriver

The eastern tower

The bridge and the western tower, from inside the eastern

The location of the Twins on the continent of Westeros

as shown in the title sequence

In the books

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, House Frey was a minor house of the Riverlands until six hundred years ago. The Frey's Crossing was initially defended by wooden castles at either end. Using the wealth generated by their toll they replaced the wooden castles with strong stone ones, complete with portcullises, moats and barbicans. The bridge itself is covered and wide enough for two wagons to travel abreast. The Crossing has its own tower, named the Water Tower. House Frey's rise gained them vassal houses of their own: Houses Charlton, Erenford and Haigh.

See also

• The Twins at A Wiki of Ice and Fire.

References

Template:The Riverlands