Robb ambushes Jaime at the Whispering Wood

Robb Stark's ambush of Jaime Lannister in the Whispering Wood was the decisive military stroke that broke the Lannister siege of Riverrun, captured the Kingslayer, and transformed the Stark cause from a desperate defensive struggle into a war of liberation. The victory, won by a fifteen-year-old commander against one of the most feared knights in the Seven Kingdoms, established Robb's reputation as a brilliant battlefield leader and set the stage for his proclamation as King in the North.

Background and Strategy

After crossing the Green Fork at the Twins through a pact with Lord Walder Frey, Robb Stark split his army. He sent the main infantry force south under Roose Bolton to occupy Lord Tywin Lannister, while he himself led the cavalry on a swift march west to relieve Riverrun. Jaime Lannister had the castle under siege with a host of some fifteen thousand men, but he had divided his forces into three separate camps, one north of the Tumblestone, one south of the Red Fork, and one between the rivers west of the moat. Ser Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, scouted ahead with three hundred picked men, screening Robb's approach and killing any Lannister outriders who might have given warning. "Jaime does not know," the Blackfish reported. "I'll stake my life on that. No bird has reached him, my archers have seen to that." The Blackfish also noted the Kingslayer's fatal flaw: "Patience." Jaime had ridden out repeatedly to chase raiders, and Robb planned to use that impatience against him.

The Ambush

Robb sent a small force under Tully banners to raid Jaime's supply lines. As predicted, Jaime took the bait, riding out with a large part of his cavalry to pursue what he thought was a minor nuisance. The Blackfish's archers had ensured no ravens could warn him, and his own outriders had been systematically eliminated. The trap was sprung in a narrow, wooded valley near a stream called the Whispering Wood. As Jaime's column entered the defile, the northerners struck from all sides. Maege Mormont's warhorn sounded from the east, the Greatjon's horn answered from the far ridge, and trumpets from the Mallisters and Freys joined the chorus. Lord Karstark's warhorns added their deep voices from the north, where the valley narrowed. Bowmen hidden in the trees loosed their arrows into the Lannister ranks, and then the cavalry charged downhill. "Winterfell!" Robb shouted as he led his men into the fray. Grey Wind ran at his side, and the direwolf's presence threw the Lannister horses into panic. The valley rang with the clash of steel, the screams of horses, and the cries of "Lannister" and "Winterfell." The Lannisters were caught in a killing ground, unable to form properly or retreat.

The Capture of the Kingslayer

Jaime Lannister fought with desperate courage. When he saw the battle was lost, he rallied his retainers and fought his way up the valley, hoping to reach Robb Stark and cut him down in single combat. He very nearly succeeded. He killed Daryn Hornwood, splitting his skull open, took off Torrhen Karstark's hand, and drove his sword into Eddard Karstark's neck, all the while shouting for Robb. But Robb's guard—Torrhen and Eddard Karstark, Daryn Hornwood, and others—died protecting their liege lord, buying time. Finally, Jaime was pulled from his horse and taken alive. The Greatjon and Theon Greyjoy dragged him before Catelyn Stark, blood running down his face from a gash across his scalp. "I would offer you my sword, but I seem to have mislaid it," Jaime said from his knees. Catelyn replied coldly, "It is not your sword I want, ser. Give me my father and my brother Edmure. Give me my daughters. Give me my lord husband." Theon urged Robb to kill him, but Robb refused, citing his father's teaching: "My lord father never condoned the murder of prisoners after a battle." Jaime was put in irons.

Consequences

The victory was overwhelming. The Lannister army was shattered; close to a hundred knights and a dozen lords bannermen were taken captive, including Lord Westerling, Lord Banefort, Ser Garth Greenfield, Lord Estren, Ser Tytos Brax, and three Lannisters besides Jaime. The siege of Riverrun was broken. Edmure Tully was freed from his chains, and the Tully forces joined Robb's host. The northerners had won a battle that changed the strategic balance of the war, but Catelyn warned her son that they had won only a battle, not a war: "You may have lopped the head off the snake, but three quarters of the body is still coiled around my father's castle." The victory also had a profound personal cost: Lord Rickard Karstark lost both his sons in the fighting, and his grief would later have dire consequences. For Robb, the triumph in the Whispering Wood was the foundation of his legend, the deed that led his bannermen to proclaim him King in the North.