History Literature / AStormOfSwords

* ForWantOfANail: Oberyn Martell tells Tyrion in conversation how his elder sister Elia was smitten with young Baelor Hightower, until Baelor had [[{{Gasshole}} the misfortune to fart in the presence of the Martell siblings]] . Oberyn promptly nicknamed him "[[EmbarrassingNickname Baelor Breakwind]]" and Elia couldn't be in the same room with the poor boy without laughing at him after that, wrecking any chances of an ArrangedMarriage between the two. After hearing this story and knowing that Baelor Hightower is now a renowned knight, heir to an extremely powerful noble house and considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Westeros, Tyrion thinks that had Oberyn kept his mouth shut, Elia might still be alive and happily married to Baelor, instead of going on to marry Rhaegar Targaryen and ending up being murdered with the rest of the royal family during the final battle of the civil war her husband started when he abandoned Elia to elope with Lyanna Stark.

** Considering that in ''Literature/AFeastForCrows'', [[spoiler:Myrcella loses an ear, either HilariousInHindsight or a FunnyAneurysmMoment depending on your outlook.]]

* HeirInLaw: Lord Tywin's desire for Tyrion to go through with a marriage to another member of the [[spoiler:Stark family, Sansa]], since she's supposed to be the last heir of the family and also Tywin has no wish of ever letting Tyrion inherit Casterly Rock. [[spoiler:Robb Stark goes so far as to disinherit Sansa to stop her marriage being used as an excuse for House Lannister to rule the north, naming [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] his [[UnexpectedSuccessor heir instead]].]]

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler:Robb's numerous political mistakes catch up to him when the combination of Theon's betrayal, his marriage to Jeyne and his execution of Karstark put him at the mercy of Walder Frey.]]

* SacredHospitality: Defied by House Frey, to their ''very'' great cost. After the Red Wedding (conducted under their roof) essentially ''everyone'' in the Seven Kingdoms hates them.

* TheSecretOfLongPorkPies: "Brown", the cheap stew served at pot shops in King's Landing is made of anything the cooks can find or catch. There are rumors that this includes the occasional dead body. When Tyrion sends Bronn to kill a blackmailer, Bronn says he'll dump the guy's body into a stewpot with no one the wiser. Tyrion is slightly disturbed when he meets a mercenary who ''enjoys'' brown.

* NotSoDifferent:
** When characters come across a burnt out ruin of a village, it's explained that the lord of the area was on the wrong side, and as punishment, Hoster Tully sent soldiers to RapePillageAndBurn and basically kill everyone. It shows the moral greyness of the series that the head of the Tullys (seemingly one of the "good guys") dealt with enemies just as ruthlessly as Tywin Lannister.
** Sandor Clegane calls out the Brotherhood Without Banners in what's both an example of this as well as AtLeastIAdmitIt:

* MinorFlawMajorBreakup: Discussed by Oberyn and Tyrion and [[TearJerker definitely played for drama given the horrible consequences]] it caused. Elia Martel had been visited by numerous suitors, the best of whom was Baelor Hightower. However, her brother Oberyn had a habit of making fun of them all, and when Baelor farted in their presence, Oberyn dubbed him "[[EmbarrassingNickname Baelor Breakwind]]", and after that, Elia couldn't look at him without laughing, which put the chances of them marrying at zilch. Elia ended up marrying Rhaegar Targaryen instead, with [[FromBadToWorse negative consequences]]. In the present, Tyrion idly wonders [[ForWantOfANail how many lives were snuffed out by that fart]].

* Arya Stark introduces the Brotherhood without Banners, a band of {{Robin Hood}}-esque outlaws.

* {{Doorstopper}}: Even for this series. Martin likes to point out that its word count is similar to ''Literature/{{The Lord Of The Rings}}''. As in, ''all'' of it. In the UK it was originally published in two parts, titled "Steel and Snow" and "Blood and Gold".

* ExitPursuedByABear:
** Attempted with [[spoiler:Brienne, until Jaime breaks in to save her]].

* {{Foreshadowing}}

-->''A knight's a sword with a horse. The rest, the vows and the sacred oils and [[TheLadysFavour the lady's favours]], they're silk ribbons tied 'round the sword. Maybe the Sword's prettier with ribbons hanging of it, but it'll kill you just as dead. Well, bugger your ribbons, and shove your swords up your arses. I'm the same as you. The only difference is, I don't lie about what I am. So, kill me, but don't call me a murderer while you stand there telling each other your shit don't stink. You hear me?''

* ForWantOfANail: Oberyn Martell tells Tyrion in conversation how his elder sister Elia was smitten with young Baelor Hightower, until Baelor had [[Gasshole the misfortune to fart in the presence of the Martell siblings]] . Oberyn promptly nicknamed him "[[EmbarrassingNickname Baelor Breakwind]]" and Elia couldn't be in the same room with the poor boy without laughing at him after that, wrecking any chances of an ArrangedMarriage between the two. After hearing this story and knowing that Baelor Hightower is now a renowned knight, heir to an extremely powerful noble house and considered one of the most eligible bachelors in Westeros, Tyrion thinks that had Oberyn kept his mouth shut, Elia might still be alive and happily married to Baelor, instead of going on to marry Rhaegar Targaryen and ending up being murdered with the rest of the royal family during the final battle of the civil war her husband started when he abandoned Elia to elope with Lyanna Stark.

* WorldOfCardboardSpeech:
--> "There is much I do not understand, I have never pretended elsewise. I know the seas and rivers, the shapes of the coast, where the rocks and shoals lie. I know hidden coves where a boat can land unseen and I know a king protects his people or he is no king at all."
-->-- '''Ser Davos Seaworth'''
--> "Lord Seaworth is a man of humble birth, but he reminded me of my duty, when all I could think of was my rights. I had the cart before the horse, Davos said. I was trying to win the throne to save the kingdom, when I should have been trying to save the kingdom to win the throne."
-->-- '''King Stannis Baratheon'''

** [[BreakTheCutie Sansa]] looks like she's about to escape [[DeadlyDecadentCourt King's Landing]] and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] with Ser Dontos, who gets her off the grounds, through a forest, and to a ship, where she finds out the one behind her rescue was none other than [[spoiler:[[MagnificentBastard Littlefinger]], the closest thing the series has to a BigBad who's already given off some creepy vibes for her.]]

** The Brotherhood Without Banners puts every person they capture on trial before executing them, though it's clearly just a formality. Sandor Clegane calls them out on it during his own trial. However they do accept the decision of the TrialByCombat.

* AskAStupidQuestion: Maege Mormont asks Catelyn stark if anything is amiss. Catelyn thinks about how stupid a question that is, since she's lost her father, her husband and (supposedly) two of her sons, both her daughters are missing, and her remaining son and brother are angry with her.

* ClawingAtOwnThroat: [[spoiler: Joffrey]] does this during the Purple Wedding, shortly before his death.

* DavidVersusGoliath: Prince Oberyn vs. Ser Gregor.

* DeceasedFallGuyGambit: Tywin Lannister tries to put the blame of Elia Martell's murder on the recently deceased Amory Lorch. Oberyn Martell does not believe it [[spoiler: and is right.]]

* DecoyProtagonist: [[spoiler: Beric Dondarrion, the altruistic warrior fighting for the good of the smallfolk who has the blessing of the Lord of Light Himself, has all the markings of a major player in the series to come. Psyche! He's just there to make space for the resurrected Catelyn Stark (though we don't actually find out he died to give her life until the next book).]]
* DiabolusExMachina - [[spoiler:The Red Wedding.]]

* DiedInYourArmsTonight: [[spoiler:Joffrey]] dies in his crying mother's arms, and [[spoiler:Ygritte]] dies in [[spoiler: Jon's]] arms.

* DyingClue: [[spoiler: Hoster Tully]]'s last word is "Tansy", which all of his family is baffled by. They spend a few chapters looking around for someone named "Tansy" before giving up. Then at the end, it's revealed that [[spoiler: he forced his daughter Lysa to drink tansy tea (an abortive drug) after he found out that she was pregnant with Littlefinger's child. Lysa and Littlefinger have been lovers since the first book... which is why Lysa was the one who killed Jon Arryn and blamed the Lannisters at Littlefinger's insistance]].

** Jaime and Brienne's team-up [[spoiler: and [[VitriolicBestBuds eventual friendship]]; ]]
** Arya's brief stint in the company of the Hound could also qualify, since she passed up several chances to run away, and continued to help him [[spoiler: until his death seemed imminent]];
** [[spoiler: Despite hating the Lannisters Oberyn Martell]] accepts to be [[spoiler: Tyrion's champion]] in his TrialByCombat [[spoiler: because it's the only way he can avenge his sister]].

** Attempted with [[spoiler: Brienne, until Jaime breaks in to save her]].

* FiveSecondForeshadowing: At Edmure's wedding, Robb and Roose Bolton discuss the disastrous Battle of Duskendale, and Roose puts the blame for planning it on Helman Tallhart. Thanks to Arya's chapters in the previous book, we know that the entire thing happened at Bolton's orders. [[spoiler: Immediately thereafter, Roose takes part in the Freys' betrayal and murder of Robb.]]

** When Tyrion asks Bronn how he'd go about fighting Ser Gregor, Bronn answers that he'd try to wear Gregor down by constantly moving around him and/or try to knock him off his feet, but also that he'd be taking a serious risk, even then: one wrong move and Gregor would kill him. [[spoiler: This is exactly how Oberyn tries to fight him, and exactly how Oberyn dies.]]
* FrameUp: [[spoiler: Tyrion and Sansa]] are framed for [[spoiler: Joffrey's murder]].

* GlassSlipper: In the Knight Of the Laughing Tree tale, the knight mysteriously disappears as the king declares him his enemy and sends the Dragon Prince (aka Rhaegar Targaryen) to find him. He could find only his shield. [[spoiler: Though [[EpilepticTrees it's also possible that the prince covered up his identity and lied...]] ]]

* HeirInLaw: Lord Tywin's desire for Tyrion to go through with a marriage to another member of the [[spoiler: Stark family, Sansa]], since she's supposed to be the last heir of the family and also Tywin has no wish of ever letting Tyrion inherit Casterly Rock. [[spoiler: Robb Stark goes so far as to disinherit Sansa to stop her marriage being used as an excuse for House Lannister to rule the north, naming [[HeroicBastard Jon Snow]] his [[UnexpectedSuccessor heir instead]].]]

** [[spoiler:To be fair the spear was also poisoned. Also he was about to finish him off, while the spear is still in Clegane, with Gregor's own sword. So he also had no weapon.]]

** [[BreakTheCutie Sansa]] looks like she's about to escape [[DeadlyDecadentCourt King's Landing]] and [[GodSaveUsFromTheQueen Cersei]] with Ser Dontos, who gets her off the grounds, through a forest, and to a ship, where she finds out the one behind her rescue was none other than [[spoiler: [[MagnificentBastard Littlefinger]], the closest thing the series has to a BigBad who's already given off some creepy vibes for her.]]

** ''A Game of Thrones'' and ''A Clash of Kings'' largely followed Ned Stark (15 chapters) and Tyrion Lannister (15 chapters) but ''A Storm of Swords'' has Arya Stark with the most chapters (13) followed by Jon Snow (12), Tyrion (11) and Jaime (9) while the first section of the novel [[spoiler: has Catelyn Stark (7) as the DecoyProtagonist until the Red Wedding]]. Daenerys herself gets 6 chapters but since they are the only ones set in Essos, take on greater resonance.

* ILied: In the epilogue, Merrett Frey goes to ransom Petyr, relative of his from the Brotherhood Without Banners... then he sees that the Brotherhood already hanged him.

* TheImmodestOrgasm: Lysa on her wedding night to Littlefinger, loud and long enough that everyone at the feast below can hear it (in fact they can't ''not'' hear it), to their immense continuing amusement.

** Tyrion's false accusation and trial for killing [[spoiler: Joffrey]] is a dark echo of his earlier trial in ''A Game Of Thrones'' when falsely accused of killing Jon Arryn and the attempted murder of Bran. Basically, everything that went right in the latter, goes wrong the former, and in both, Tyrion "pleads guilty" of being himself (humorously in ''A Game of Thrones'' and bitterly in ''A Storm of Swords'').

** Tyrion is again put on trial for murdering [[spoiler: Joffrey]], and on this occasion the judges either hate him or have a political interest in the affair. Although the trial is conducted according to custom, all of the evidence against him is either circumstantial, half-truths or lies told by bribed witnesses [[spoiler: and the reader is aware that he's innocent]].

** [[spoiler:Tywin's]] death just oozes this. His [[spoiler:abuse and contempt for Tyrion as well as his near suicidal refusal to see beyond his son's whoring, boozing exterior]] finally comes back to kill him in the most embarrassing way possible; and believe it or not, it only got worse for [[spoiler:Tywin afterward]].

** After having been gloating about [[spoiler: the Red Wedding]] for most of the book [[spoiler: it's deliciously satisfying seeing Joffrey dying at ''his own wedding'', when he thought to be the winner]].

* LaughingMad: Tyrion after [[spoiler:Ser Gregor kills Oberyn]] and Catelyn after [[spoiler: Robb is killed at the Red Wedding]].
* LetMeTellYouAStory: Meera and Jojen tell Bran about The Mystery Knight at Harrenhall and they're very surprised that Bran has never heard this story at Winterfell. [[spoiler: Probably because of a certain She-Wolf of Winterfell and a Dragon Prince...]]

* MercyKill: A recurring motif in [[spoiler: Arya's arc with Sandor]]. "The gift of mercy," most notably given by Sandor Clegane to a mortally wounded soldier. Arya refuses to give it to [[spoiler:Sandor himself after one of his battle wounds festers. She abandons him to his suffering]].

** Once again, Lysa and Cersei. [[spoiler: The moment Sansa is reunited with her aunt Lady Lysa, the latter wastes no time dispensing with sentimentality and critically appraises her beauty and suitability as a wife, and arranges for Sansa to marry her own [[MyBelovedSmother badly pampered]] RoyalBrat of a son. When Sansa demurs, Lysa goes into a {{motive rant}} about how she had suffered an abysmal {{arranged marriage}} with a man she loathed, so Sansa will just have to live with hers. Lysa then proceeds to explain all the things her son likes and how he's been accustomed to [[SpoiledBrat always getting his way]], so Sansa will have to learn to be a "grateful and obedient wife." Wait, has Sansa been reunited with her aunt and betrothed to her cousin, or is she still back under the guardianship of Cersei and betrothal to Joffrey?]]

* PitySex: Inverted with [[spoiler: Tyrion's]] wedding night with [[spoiler: Sansa]], where pity is described as being "[[MomentKiller the death of passion.]]" Though this might be partly due to his past experience.

* PromotedToScapegoat: House Frey gets promoted to scapegoat by [[spoiler:Roose Bolton and Tywin Lannister as a "reward" for the Red Wedding]]. To a lesser extent, [[spoiler:Roose Bolton is also Promoted To Scapegoat by Tywin, who makes him Warden of the North so he'll have to deal with the Ironborn invaders and Stannis Baratheon and probably die in the effort-- which will conveniently leave leadership of the North open for Tyrion and Sansa's future sons in the spring]].

* RealityEnsues: [[spoiler: Robb's numerous political mistakes catch up to him when the combination of Theon's betrayal, his marriage to Jeyne and his execution of Karstark put him at the mercy of Walder Frey.]]

* RewardedAsATraitorDeserves: Littlefinger gives this to Sansa as an excuse for killing [[spoiler: Ser Dontos]], who was [[TheMole Littlefinger's spy]] pretending to be her confidant. [[spoiler: To a more cynical reader it's because HeKnowsTooMuch about Sansa's whereabouts.]]
* RhetoricalRequestBlunder: It is revealed that [[spoiler:the attempt to kill Bran after his injury in the first book]] may have resulted from one of these. King Robert, while drunk, remarked how Bran would be better off {{mercy kill}}ed instead of living as a comatose cripple. [[spoiler:Hearing that, Joffrey, (who looks up to his supposed father) sent a sellsword to kill Bran, viewing it as an act of kindness.]]
* RuleOfThree: There's a detailed description of how Robb bids farewell to Jeyne Westerling thrice before departing to his uncle Edmure's wedding, [[spoiler: which turns into the Red Wedding, making it the last time the couple bid farewell to each other.]]

* SympathyForTheDevil: While Tyrion and Sansa suffer more horrific and relentless abuse under Joffrey than anyone else in King's Landing, they feel perhaps more genuine pity for [[spoiler: his death]] that anyone else (except his mother), as they realize during [[spoiler: his dying moments, as he's choking to death]] that in the end he's just a spoiled, helpless 13-year-old boy.

* ThanatosGambit: Tyrion arranges for one although [[spoiler: he doesn't actually die. Tywin arranged for House Tyrell and House Martell to be his chief allies despite the fact that they'd been at war for centuries. The way Tyrion arranged it, Tyrell and Martell would be at war again regardless, and either Tyrion would live (and piss off House Tyrell) or he would die (and piss off House Martell). Either way, he shoots a hole through Tywin's alliance.]]

* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler: Tywin Lannister dies with his last pooping.]]

* VillainBall: [[spoiler: Tywin Lannister]]. His death was akin to someone walking towards a banana peel, then thinking "other people might slip on it and fall, but never me!". And then he steps on the banana peel. And he falls and breaks his neck. [[spoiler:Telling the son he's always shunned and outright reviled (while said son is holding a crossbow, no less) that his first wife was a whore even after Tyrion warned him not to wasn't particularly clever for a master strategist.]]

** [[spoiler: Robb and Catelyn are betrayed and slaughtered, along with their entire army, at the Red Wedding.]]
** [[spoiler: Joffrey is poisoned and killed at the Purple Wedding.]]
** [[spoiler: It is revealed that Littlefinger and Lysa were behind John Arryn's murder. Littlefinger then kills Lysa.]]
** [[spoiler: Catelyn is resurrected as Lady Stoneheart.]]
** [[spoiler: Tywin is killed by Tyrion, who goes on the lam]].

--->[[spoiler: She was no whore. I never bought her for you. That was a lie that Father commanded me to tell. Tysha was... she was what she seemed to be. A crofter’s daughter, chance met on the road.]]
* WidowedAtTheWedding: [[spoiler: Joffrey is murdered at his wedding, leaving a widowed Margaery]].

** Seems that Sansa is going to marry a Tyrell and finally run away from King's Landing. [[spoiler: She ends up marrying Tyrion Lannister.]]

* BothSidesHaveAPoint: Invoked by Kevan on the night before Tyrion's scheduled execution. While telling Tyrion that he completely understands why Tyrion has always hated his father, Kevan reminds him that Tyrion restored the family's reputation, which Tysha Lannister had allowed to decline in his later years, and Tyrion himself benefited from that.

* BathtubBonding: Brienne and Jaime's bath in Harrenhal, where a delirious Jaime reveals things to Brienne that he's never told anyone. Namely, he reveals that he killed Aerys II Targaryen (an act which earned him the derisive moniker "Kingslayer") because the Mad King intended to burn the city to the ground out of his love for fire and to see the rebels utterly decimated.

* MinorFlawMajorBreakup: Discussed by Oberyn and Tyrion and [[TearJerker definitely played for drama given the horrible consequences]] it caused. Elia Martel had been visited by numerous suitors, the best of whom was Baelor Hightower. However, her brother Oberyn had a habit of making fun of them all, and when Baelor farted in their presence, Oberyn dubbed him "[[EmbarrassingNickname Baelor Breakwind]]", and after that, Elia couldn't look at him without laughing, which put the chances of them wedding at zilch. Elia ended up marrying Rhaegar Targaryen instead, with [[FromBadToWorse negative consequences]]. In the present, Tyrion idly wonders [[ForWantOfANail how many lives were snuffed out by that fart]].

** Also Oberyn and Tyrion before his duel with Gregor. He tells Tyrion after its over that he can come to Dorne and involve himself in some kind of conspiracy with Doran, with the implicit promise of being made Lord of Casterly Rock added as a cherry on top.

* OneThingLedToAnother: Robb, injured after a difficult battle and grieving after hearing of Bran and Rickon's supposed deaths, is "[[IsThatWhatTheyreCallingItNow comforted]]" by Jeyne Westerling.