Mud Gate

The Mud Gate is one of the seven gates of King's Landing, a fortified river gate on the south side of the city wall where the Blackwater Rush meets the sea. It gains its most dramatic narrative significance during the escape of Ser Barristan Selmy after his dismissal from the Kingsguard, when he rides through the gate, slays a pursuer with a stolen spear, and flees along the riverbank to begin his quest for the true king.

Location and Setting

The Mud Gate is a river gate on the southern wall of King's Landing, opening onto the Blackwater Rush where it meets the sea. It is one of the city's seven gates, each serving as a controlled point of entry and exit through the massive curtain walls that surround the capital. The gate's position on the river makes it a natural exit for those seeking to flee the city by water or along the shoreline, as opposed to the landward gates that lead to the kingsroad or the Rosby road.

The Escape of Barristan Selmy

The Mud Gate is the site of Ser Barristan Selmy's dramatic escape from King's Landing after Joffrey Baratheon dismisses him from the Kingsguard. When Selmy reaches the stables after his dismissal, gold cloaks try to seize him on Joffrey's orders. He slashes one man's face open with his knife and rides through the others, spurring for the gates. Once outside the Red Keep, the congested streets prevent a clean getaway, and the gold cloaks catch him at the River Gate—the Mud Gate. The guards at the gate cross their spears to bar his way, but Selmy, though without his sword, rides one man down, wrenches away his spear, and drives it through the throat of his closest pursuer. The other pursuer breaks off once Selmy is through the gate, so he spurs his horse to a gallop and rides hellbent along the river until the city is lost to sight behind him.

Aftermath and Significance

After escaping through the Mud Gate, Selmy trades his horse for a handful of pennies and some rags, then joins the stream of smallfolk making their way back to King's Landing. He re-enters through the Gate of the Gods, with dirt on his face, stubble on his cheeks, and no weapon but a wooden staff. In roughspun clothes and mud-caked boots, he passes as just another old man fleeing the war. The gold cloaks take a stag from him and wave him through. King's Landing is crowded with smallfolk who have come seeking refuge from the fighting, and Selmy loses himself amongst them. He sleeps in septs and alleys, takes his meals in pot shops, lets his beard grow out, and cloaks himself in age. He is present in the city when Lord Eddard Stark loses his head, and afterward goes into the Great Sept of Baelor to thank the seven gods that Joffrey stripped him of his cloak. This escape sets Selmy on the path that eventually leads him across the narrow sea to serve Daenerys Targaryen.