The tourney

The tourney, officially called the Hand's tourney, was a grand chivalric competition ordered by King Robert Baratheon to celebrate Eddard Stark's appointment as Hand of the King. Despite Ned's protests that the realm could not afford such an extravagance—the crown was already more than six million gold pieces in debt—Robert insisted, and the event was staged outside the walls of King's Landing, with a hundred pavilions raised beside the river and thousands of common folk coming out to watch. The prize purse was enormous: forty thousand golden dragons to the champion, twenty thousand to the runner-up, another twenty thousand to the winner of the melee, and ten thousand to the victor of the archery competition. The tourney drew knights and lords from all over the Seven Kingdoms, turning the city into a crowded, volatile gathering where every inn was full and the whores were "walking bowlegged and jingling with each step."

The Jousting and Its Champions

The jousting was the centerpiece of the tourney, lasting all day and into the dusk. The seven knights of the Kingsguard took the field, all but Jaime Lannister in scaled armor the color of milk, their cloaks as white as fresh-fallen snow. Ser Jaime himself wore the white cloak as well, but beneath it he was shining gold from head to foot, with a lion's-head helm and a golden sword. Other notable participants included Ser Gregor Clegane, the Mountain That Rides, who thundered past like an avalanche; Lord Jason Mallister in indigo chased with silver, the wings of an eagle on his helm; the warrior priest Thoros of Myr with his flapping red robes and shaven head; and young Lord Beric Dondarrion with his red-gold hair and black shield slashed by lightning. The Hound entered the lists as well, and so did the king's brother, handsome Lord Renly of Storm's End. The most terrifying moment of the day came during Ser Gregor's second joust, when his lance rode up and struck a young knight from the Vale under the gorget with such force that it drove through his throat, killing him instantly. The youth fell not ten feet from where Sansa Stark was seated, his life's blood flowing out in slow pulses. In the end, the jousting came down to four: the Hound, his monstrous brother Gregor, Jaime Lannister the Kingslayer, and Ser Loras Tyrell, the sixteen-year-old Knight of Flowers, who had unhorsed three knights of the Kingsguard that morning in his first three jousts.

The Melee and Archery

The melee, a chaotic free-for-all with blunted weapons, went on for three hours. Near forty men took part, including freeriders, hedge knights, and new-made squires in search of a reputation. They fought in a chaos of mud and blood, small troops fighting together and then turning on each other as alliances formed and fractured, until only one man was left standing. The victor was the red priest, Thoros of Myr, a madman who shaved his head and fought with a flaming sword that frightened the mounts of the other riders. The final tally was three broken limbs, a shattered collarbone, a dozen smashed fingers, two horses that had to be put down, and more cuts, sprains, and bruises than anyone cared to count. The archery competition was won by a boy named Anguy, an unheralded commoner from the Dornish Marches, who outshot Ser Balon Swann and Jalabhar Xho at a hundred paces after all the other bowmen had been eliminated at the shorter distances.

The Final Day and the Confrontation Between the Brothers

The final day of the jousting began with the Hound defeating Jaime Lannister, unhorsing him so violently that the Kingslayer's ornate lion helmet was twisted around and dented in his fall, and he had to be led off to a blacksmith, blind and stumbling. Then came the match between Ser Loras Tyrell and Ser Gregor Clegane. The Knight of Flowers, riding a beautiful grey mare in heat, easily unseated the Mountain, whose huge stallion was uncontrollable. Enraged, Ser Gregor killed his own horse with a single blow, then strode toward Ser Loras, knocking him from his saddle and lifting his sword for the killing blow. The Hound intervened, wrenching his brother away, and the two brothers began hammering at each other in a furious duel. The king's voice finally put an end to it, and Ser Loras, owing his life to the Hound, conceded the victory. The Hound took the champion's purse and, for perhaps the first time in his life, the love of the commons.

Political and Thematic Significance

The tourney was far more than a sporting event; it was a stage for the political dramas that would tear the realm apart. It was here that the Lannisters, according to Varys, had hoped to kill King Robert during the melee, a plot foiled only by Robert's decision not to participate. It was here that Sansa Stark first met Ser Loras Tyrell, who gave her a red rose, and where she was later confronted by the Hound, who revealed the horrific story of how his brother Gregor had burned his face. The tourney also provided the cover for the murder of Ser Hugh of the Vale, Jon Arryn's former squire, who was killed by Ser Gregor in what many suspected was a deliberate act to silence him. The event's immense cost further strained the already bankrupt royal treasury, deepening the crown's dependence on Lannister gold. In the end, the tourney, meant to honor the new Hand, instead became a showcase for the violence, ambition, and treachery that would soon plunge the Seven Kingdoms into war.