[Brienne of Tarth — Characters]
The group arrives and are escorted to the Dragonpit , the location of the summit. Tyrion reconnects with Bronn, who concedes it is good to see him again. The pair greet Podrick Payne , who had arrived earlier with Brienne of Tarth . Tyrion reminds Podrick that he is no longer a Westerosi noble after killing Tywin and Bronn that he will always pay more than what Cersei will in return for his service. Bronn rebuffs this, stating that if anything goes wrong during the parley, Cersei will have Bronn to thank for delivering her enemies to King's Landing.
Cersei is present at the breakfast of Joffrey and Margaery and tells Tywin about Shae being seen leaving Tyrion's chambers. During the wedding feast , Cersei sits with the rest of the royal family. When Brienne of Tarth approaches the king and Margaery, she bows and congratulates them on their marriage.
When Arya and Sandor leave the Eyrie, they encounter Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne . At first, Brienne does not know she's speaking to Arya Stark, whom she swore to her mother Catelyn to find and protect. When Pod tells her that the man with Arya is Sandor Clegane, she realizes it's Arya and begs her to come with her. The Hound doesn't trust Brienne, as she is carrying Oathkeeper , a gift from Jaime, which is gilded with a lion's head hilt, making him thinks she's working for the Lannisters. Brienne and Sandor fight, each of them believing they should be the one to watch over Arya.
Later, Sansa asks Petyr Baelish about where Arya got the letter from, unaware that Baelish orchestrated the entire incident. Sansa tells Petyr that she is commanding 20,000 men who answer to Jon but not to her. Petyr tells Sansa that the men will trust her because she can rule. Sansa does not trust the loyalty of the Northern lords, citing their history of switching sides. She counters that the discovery of the letter will turn her liege lords and men against her. Sansa confides in Petyr about her strained relations with Arya. Petyr suggests that Sansa talk with Brienne of Tarth because she has sworn to protect both of Catelyn's daughters from harm. Trusting Baelish, Sansa accepts his advice.
Robb wins a further victory in a battle at the Yellow Fork . His prison cells are filled to overflowing with captives. When Ser Alton returns with Cersei's rejection of his terms, Robb houses him with Jaime. Talisa asks him for help obtaining medical supplies and he invites her to accompany him to negotiate the surrender of the Crag , suggesting that she restock from the castle's stores. While Robb is gone Jaime escapes, killing Alton and Torrhen Karstark . He is recaptured, but Lord Rickard Karstark threatens to behead him to avenge Torrhen. Catelyn sends her sworn sword Brienne of Tarth to exchange Jaime for her captive daughters without consulting Robb.
Meanwhile, Theon decides to part ways with Sansa as she travels north to Castle Black to be reunited with her brother Jon Snow, entrusting Sansa's safety to Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne . Although Sansa assures Theon that she will vouch for him if he comes with them, Theon cites his betrayal of Robb as one of many reasons why he fears that Jon may still kill him. When Jon and Sansa attempt to rally the support of House Glover , Lord Robett Glover refuses, citing Robb's inability to protect the North from the Ironborn because he had been distracted by a " foreign whore " and had gotten himself and all of his men killed.
Pursued by Ramsay's men and hounds, Theon and Sansa cross the river and take shelter, but their scent is picked up by the hounds. Theon urges Sansa to flee to her half-brother Jon Snow at Castle Black while he holds them off, but they see through his ruse and find Sansa. Brienne of Tarth and Podrick Payne arrive to fight the Bolton soldiers, and Theon kills the last one, saving Podrick's life. He witnesses Brienne pledge her service to Sansa, which this time she accepts.
He is defeated in the battle in the ice by Ramsay Bolton 's army, much of Stannis's own army having deserted following the burning of Shireen. Stannis is shortly thereafter found wounded by Brienne of Tarth , once Kingsguard to Renly, who kills him for the murder of his younger brother.
As he rests against a tree, he is found by Brienne of Tarth , who identifies herself and asks him if he used bloodmagic to murder Renly, whom she served in his Kingsguard . Stannis admits that he did and Brienne sentences him to death "in the name of Renly of the House Baratheon, the First of His Name" and asks him if he has any final words. Acknowledging that his deeds have finally caught up with him, Stannis tells Brienne to do her duty, and she beheads him with her Valyrian steel sword, Oathkeeper , in a single stroke.
Stannis has a good side and will show that if he is impressed with someone, and he is not above making personal friends. He was fond of his daughter, Shireen , defending her from his wife, Selyse . Selyse resented their daughter since birth on account of her gender and because of her Greyscale . He also made a friend of Davos Seaworth, one of his most trusted advisors and this was reciprocated fully with Davos pledging his loyalty and life to Stannis. He planned to name Davos Hand of the King after he took the Iron Throne and comforted him over the death of his son despite imprisoning him as a traitor at the time. He was obviously impressed with Jon Snow , the illegitimate son of Eddard Stark , and treated him respectfully, presumably out of regard for Jon's father who made Stannis aware of Joffrey , Tommen and Myrcella 's parentage. Before Jon turns down Stannis's offer of legitimization, Stannis was prepared to make him the official Lord of Winterfell as Jon Stark if he agreed to help his cause. Robert and Stannis were in a loveless brotherhood, which they admit to each other. This was also the same with Renly, however they appear on slightly better terms than with Robert. During negotiations he welcomed Renly to a place in his Small Council and (until he fathered a male heir) was prepared to allow him be heir to his throne if he lay down his forces. He also showed remorse over indirectly killing his little brother and he doesn't attempt to lie to Brienne of Tarth , Renly's Kingsguard , over his involvement. In the end, Stannis doesn't begrudge Brienne's intentions and simply tells her to do her duty, which was to kill him.
Brienne of Tarth is extremely noble and humble at all times, as evidenced by her confessing at several points that she was not a knight, and at one point not even a lady - even though she was inevitably a lady of Tarth as the only daughter of Lord Selwyn Tarth. This was probably motivated by her self-induced belief that she was inferior to the standards of a true knight, given that she has faced being underrated and underappreciated for her appearance and gender her whole life. The irony of the entire situation is that she exemplifies the qualities of a true knight: She is a strong and skilled fighter, is merciful and compassionate, unshakably loyal and determined, and takes her duties as a warrior sworn to a higher authority extremely seriously. The only reason she is not viewed as such by the people of the Seven Kingdoms is because she is a woman.
A short while later, Sandor and Arya meet Brienne of Tarth and her squire, Podrick Payne , who have been on a quest to find the Stark sisters. After Podrick, who had squired in King's Landing during Sandor's time there, recognizes him, Brienne demands that Sandor turn over Arya to her as she had made a vow to her mother to look after her. Sandor bluntly refuses, chastising Brienne for trying to look over Arya over some vow to her dead family and questioning her about her relationship with the Lannisters.
While talking to Jaqen H'ghar , Arya recalls the time when she robbed Sandor and left him to die after fighting Brienne of Tarth . Arya insists that she hates Sandor and wants him to suffer, but Jaqen can tell she is lying and hits her several times.
While traveling with Jon's companions, Sandor is approached by Tormund, who shows an interest in his burn scars. Though Sandor is hostile towards Tormund and accuses him of desiring him, he appears shocked when he deduces that the woman Tormund lusts after is Brienne of Tarth, and dismisses Tormund's hopes of one day ending up with her. During a snowstorm, the group see a huge bear in the distance which bursts out of the storm and kills two of their group, revealing it to be a wight. Thoros and Beric set it alight with their flaming swords, but this causes Sandor to freeze up, which results in the monstrous bear fatally mauling Thoros before it is permanently put down.
Sandor is very tall and well-built, but not outright freakishly so, the way his brother Gregor is. George R.R. Martin described Sandor as taller than Brienne of Tarth (who is slightly over six feet tall), but shorter than Greatjon Umber (who is nearly seven feet tall) - actor Rory McCann matches this well, being exactly six and a half feet tall.