A Song of Ice and Fire: the story so far

Jon Arryn, Hand of the King, died, and Robert Baratheon rode north to ask his old friend Eddard Stark to replace him. Ned took the post and his daughters south. Before he left, his son Bran climbed a tower, saw Cersei Lannister with her twin brother Jaime, and was thrown out of the window for it.

In King's Landing, Ned worked out what Jon Arryn had died for. Cersei's three children were Jaime's, not Robert's, and none of them had a claim to anything. He gave Cersei a chance to run. Robert was gored on a hunt, Joffrey took the throne, and Littlefinger, whom Ned had trusted with the City Watch, put a knife to his throat instead. Arya escaped the purge. Sansa did not.

Catelyn had already seized Tyrion Lannister on the road, which put the north and the westerlands at war. Robb Stark marched south, broke a Lannister host and took Jaime prisoner. Ned confessed to treason to keep his daughters alive, and Joffrey had his head off anyway. The northern lords named Robb King in the North.

Jon Snow took the black at the Wall, became steward to Lord Commander Mormont, and rode north with him to find his missing uncle and learn why the wildlings were gathering.

Across the sea, Daenerys Targaryen was sold to Khal Drogo by her brother Viserys, who was killed with molten gold for threatening her. Drogo took a wound that festered, and the healer she trusted to save him traded his mind and their unborn son for his body. Daenerys smothered him, built his pyre, put the witch and three petrified dragon eggs on it, and walked into the fire. She came out with three living dragons.

Four men claimed a crown beside Joffrey: Robb in the north, Balon Greyjoy in the islands, and Robert's two brothers. Stannis had the better claim and letters saying Joffrey was born of incest. Renly had the bigger army and the Tyrells behind it.

Stannis had Melisandre. When Catelyn Stark tried to broker peace between the brothers, a shadow wearing Stannis's face came out of the priestess and opened Renly's throat, and most of Renly's men went over.

Tyrion Lannister arrived in King's Landing as acting Hand, rebuilt the defences, feuded with his sister and bought the Tyrells through Littlefinger. Sansa stayed a hostage and was beaten in open court. The city starved and rioted.

Robb sent Theon Greyjoy home to buy his father's ships. Theon took Winterfell instead, lost Bran and Rickon when they ran, and burned two farm boys in their place to cover it. Then Ramsay Snow's Bolton men sacked the castle, put it to the torch and took Theon prisoner.

Arya was captured and put to work at Harrenhal, where a man called Jaqen H'ghar owed her three deaths. She spent the last of them taking the castle out from under the Lannisters, and ran. He left her an iron coin and a name to say in Braavos.

Jon Snow went beyond the Wall with Qhorin Halfhand, and when they were cornered Qhorin ordered Jon to kill him and go over to the wildlings. Mance Rayder had thirty thousand of them marching south.

Stannis brought his fleet up the Blackwater. Tyrion burned it with wildfire, chained the river, and led the sortie that held the gate, and was cut down the face by one of his own side. Tywin and the Tyrells arrived at the last moment and broke Stannis. Tyrion woke to find his father in the Hand's chair.

Catelyn freed Jaime Lannister to trade for her daughters and sent Brienne of Tarth to deliver him. Mercenaries took them both and cut off Jaime's sword hand, and Jaime went back into the bear pit for Brienne rather than leave her there.

Robb Stark had married Jeyne Westerling instead of the Frey girl he was promised, and offered his uncle Edmure in his place to mend it. At the wedding at the Twins the Freys and Boltons closed the doors. Roose Bolton put a knife through Robb, Catelyn's throat was cut, and the northern army was slaughtered in the hall. Arya watched from outside and ran. Days later the Brotherhood pulled Catelyn from the river and brought her back as something else.

Joffrey set Sansa aside for Margaery Tyrell, and Tywin married Sansa to Tyrion. At his own wedding feast Joffrey choked and died, poisoned by Olenna Tyrell and Littlefinger, who smuggled Sansa to the Eyrie, married her aunt Lysa and pushed her through the Moon Door.

Cersei blamed Tyrion. Oberyn Martell fought for him against Gregor Clegane, had won, leaned in too close and had his skull crushed, though his poisoned spear killed Clegane slowly. Jaime and Varys got Tyrion out of the cell, and on the way Jaime admitted Tyrion's first wife had truly loved him and that Tywin had her raped for it. Tyrion killed Shae in his father's bed and put a crossbow bolt in Tywin, and left Westeros.

Jon Snow rode with the wildlings and with Ygritte until he broke away, and she died attacking the Wall he was defending. Stannis landed and shattered Mance Rayder's host. The Night's Watch elected Jon Lord Commander.

Daenerys bought the Unsullied with a dragon and took the dragon straight back, sacked Astapor, took Yunkai and Meereen, and chose to stay and rule.

With Tywin dead and Tommen crowned, Cersei ruled as regent and made a ruin of it. She packed the council with men she could bully, defaulted on the crown's debt to the Iron Bank, and armed the Faith Militant to cancel what the Faith was owed. Then she tried to have the High Sparrow arrest Margaery Tyrell for adultery, and the Faith arrested Cersei instead, on charges that happened to be true.

Jaime went to the riverlands and ended Robb Stark's war without a battle, talking Edmure Tully into surrendering Riverrun to spare his men. The Blackfish slipped away. When Cersei wrote asking Jaime to champion her, he burned the letter and did not go.

Brienne crossed a wrecked country looking for Sansa, learned Arya had got out of King's Landing alive, and was taken by the Brotherhood Without Banners. Lady Stoneheart, who had been Catelyn Stark, sentenced her to hang unless she agreed to kill Jaime.

Sansa lived in the Eyrie as Alayne Stone, Littlefinger's bastard daughter, learning his trade. He meant to marry her to Harry the Heir, wait for the sickly Robert Arryn to die, and then produce her as Sansa Stark with the Vale behind her.

Arya reached Braavos and gave herself to the Faceless Men, and could not stop being Arya. She killed a Night's Watch deserter for her own reasons rather than the god's, and woke blind.

Sam took Gilly, a baby who was really Mance Rayder's, and old Maester Aemon towards Oldtown. Aemon died on the way, certain Daenerys was the prophecy. At the Citadel, Archmaester Marwyn told Sam the maesters had spent centuries strangling magic.

In Dorne, Doran Martell jailed Oberyn's daughters and hinted at a longer game. On the Iron Islands, Euron Greyjoy won the kingsmoot by promising dragons.

Jon Snow made the bargain nobody at the Wall wanted, letting Tormund bring the wildlings through and settle them south of it, because every man left outside was one the Others would raise. Stannis marched on Winterfell and stalled in the snow. Then a letter came claiming Stannis was dead and demanding hostages Jon did not have, and Jon called the Watch to ride south with him against Ramsay Bolton. His own officers put their knives in him for it.

Ramsay had married a girl the north was told was Arya Stark, and she was Jeyne Poole. Theon Greyjoy, broken and renamed Reek, got her over the castle wall into the snow, where Stannis's men found them.

Bran went beyond the Wall to a cave under a weirwood and learned to see through the trees from an old man rooted into them.

Tyrion was smuggled east and found that Varys and Illyrio had been hiding a boy they called Aegon Targaryen, Rhaegar's son, raised to be king. Tyrion talked him into sailing for Westeros at once instead of waiting for Daenerys. Then Jorah Mormont kidnapped Tyrion, and the pair were shipwrecked, sold as slaves, and ended up in a sellsword company outside Meereen.

Daenerys held Meereen and could not hold it. The Sons of the Harpy killed her freedmen in the streets, her dragons grew too dangerous to leave loose, and she chained two of them in a pit and married Hizdahr zo Loraq for peace. Quentyn Martell came to marry her, was refused, tried to take a dragon and burned. At the reopened fighting pits Drogon came down out of the sky, Daenerys climbed onto him, and he carried her off. She woke on the Dothraki Sea with a khalasar riding towards her.

In King's Landing, Cersei confessed enough to be released and was made to walk naked through the city to the Red Keep.