Catelyn captures Tyrion

Catelyn Stark had been traveling north from King's Landing under a false identity, accompanied only by Ser Rodrik Cassel, when they stopped for the night at the inn at the crossroads. The common room was crowded with travelers of every stripe: rivermen, farmers, merchants, sellswords, and a large party of men wearing the twin-towers sigil of House Frey. Catelyn kept her hood up and her voice low, hoping to pass unnoticed. But when Tyrion Lannister entered the inn with his servants and a black brother named Yoren, the singer Marillion called out his name, and Tyrion's mismatched eyes found Catelyn across the room. He smiled and addressed her directly: "Lady Stark, what an unexpected pleasure." The recognition was instant and public.

The Accusation and the Call to Arms

Catelyn rose slowly to her feet. She had no time to think through the consequences, only the moment and the sound of her own voice. She pointed at Tyrion and proclaimed to the room that this man had come as a guest into her house and there conspired to murder her son, a boy of seven. She held up her scarred hands for all to see. "His dagger left these scars," she declared. "The blade he sent to open my son's throat." Then she called upon the knights and lords present by name, invoking their oaths to her father, Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun. She singled out a man wearing the black bat of Harrenhal, three men with the red stallion of the Brackens, and the large party in blue and grey bearing the twin towers of Frey. One by one, they rose and drew their swords. A dozen blades answered her plea, and the room fell silent.

Tyrion's Surrender and the Journey Begins

Tyrion Lannister saw the odds against him at once. His two men, Jyck and Morrec, were no match for the armed men now surrounding them. Yoren, bound by the Night's Watch oath of neutrality, stepped aside. Tyrion spoke up loudly, trying to keep the quaver from his voice: "If Lady Stark believes I have some crime to answer for, I will go with her and answer for it." It was the only possible course; trying to cut their way out would have meant certain death. Ser Rodrik Cassel ordered their weapons taken, and the sellsword Bronn stepped forward to disarm them. Catelyn announced they would be taking Tyrion back to Winterfell. The innkeep, Masha Heddle, begged them not to kill him on her premises, and Catelyn assured her they would not. Within moments, Tyrion was bundled outside, his hands tied with coarse rope, and the party set off through the rain at a hard gallop.

The Deception and the Eastern Road

Tyrion had expected riders to be sent after them within the day, and birds to carry word to his father. He was congratulating himself on his subtlety when someone pulled a hood down over his eyes. The journey was miserable: the hood muffled sound, the rain soaked through the cloth, and the rope chafed his wrists raw. But when dawn broke and the hood was finally removed, Tyrion saw the narrow stony road, the foothills rising high and wild around them, and the jagged snowcapped peaks on the distant horizon. He realized with a shock that they were not heading north to Winterfell at all. "This is the high road," he gasped. "The eastern road. You said we were riding for Winterfell!" Catelyn Stark favored him with the faintest of smiles. "Often and loudly," she agreed. "No doubt your friends will ride that way when they come after us. I wish them good speed." She had outwitted him completely; they were bound for the Eyrie, to deliver him to her sister Lysa Arryn.

Consequences and Aftermath

The capture of Tyrion Lannister set off a chain of events that plunged the realm into war. Lord Tywin Lannister, upon hearing the news, called his banners and began ravaging the riverlands, while Jaime Lannister attacked Eddard Stark's men in King's Landing, killing Jory Cassel and wounding Ned. The abduction also forced Catelyn to confront her sister Lysa in the Eyrie, where the Imp's trial by combat—won by the sellsword Bronn—secured his release. The incident at the crossroads inn became the spark that ignited the open conflict between House Stark and House Lannister, a war that would consume the Seven Kingdoms.