From Arya to Daenerys, the characters in ‘A Clash of Kings’ are accurately thought out. George R. R. Martin’s ingenuity in character creation made his story resonate on a higher level than even some of the best fantasy novels in existence.

Arya Stark

After her father gets killed by Illyn Payne, Arya gets taken out of King’s Landing by Yoren, who planned to take her back to Winterfell. On the road, she becomes friends with Hot Pie and Gendry. Though Yoren gets stopped by soldiers from King’s Landing, Arya realizes she is not at risk. 

Gendry discovers that she is a girl. Gendry’s discovery makes Arya contemplate whether to kill him or not, as she fears her cover getting blown. When he gets captured, Arya joins in with the plan to rescue him, but it fails. Yoren gets killed, and she gets taken to Harrenhal.

In Harrenhal, Arya meets Jaqen H’gar. He tells her to pick three people she wants dead. Later, she and Jaqen cause Harrenhal to fall to Roose Bolton. Jaqen gives Arya a coin and tells her to give it to any man in Braavos and say, ‘Valar Morghulis.’ Arya leaves Harrenhal after deciding it is not safe.

Davos Seaworth

Ser Davos Seaworth is a knight under King Stannis Baratheon. He got knighted by Stannis and lost his fingers for his past crimes. When Davos joins Stannis, he gets uneasy about the new priestess Stannis had as his adviser. 

After watching Melisandre survive an attempt on her life by maester Cressen, Davos keeps his head down. He later realizes that Melisandre used her dark magic by sleeping with Stannis Baratheon. 

When the battle of Black Water begins, Davos notices a chain boom but does nothing to call an alarm as there is not enough time. Soon, wildfire consumes Stannis’s fleet as both Tyrion and Stannis’s men burn. He escapes by diving into the water.

Tyrion Lannister

Tyrion Lannister is one of the primary characters in ‘A Clash of King.’ After the battle with the Starks, he returns to King’s Landing and becomes the Hand of the King. 

Tyrion notices the poor state of the city and tries to correct errors by getting rid of corrupt individuals like Grand maester Pycelle; this proved a bad strategy as he realized that people hated him for what he did. 

When Tyrion realizes that Renly was marching on King’s Landing, he begins seeking alliances to help out King’s Landing, and when Renly dies, he makes a pact with House Tyrell to get Margaery married to Joffrey. Before the plans get put into play, Stannis attacks King’s Landing. Though Tyrion tries to hold off Stannis’s men, he almost fails. His father later comes to the rescue.

Bran Stark

Bran watches as his brother, Robb, fights a war while he is unable to do anything to help. He begins having dreams where he is a wolf, and Jojen Reed tells him he has greensight. He starts walking in his direwolf Summer, and when Theon takes over Winterfell, he escapes with his brother Rickon. Bran decides to go North in search of answers to his newly discovered power.

Stannis Baratheon

When his brother, Robert Baratheon, dies, Stannis receives a letter from Ned explaining that Cersei’s children were illegitimate; this makes him claim the Iron Throne. With a small army in Dragonstone, Stannis gets help from Melisandre of Asshai. She becomes his adviser and helps him to get rid of his brother, Renly. After taking over Storm’s End, Stannis marches to King’s Landing. Though his fleet suffers a blow from Tyrion, who uses wildfire, he pushes through and nearly sacks the city. However, Tywin comes to the rescue with the Tyrells. Stannis’s troops get crushed, and he gets forced to retreat with a loss.

Jon Snow

Now the right-hand man to Joer Mormont, commander of the Night’s Watch, Jon prepares to ride out of the wall in search of his uncle, Benjen. His exploration leads to him discovering that the wildlings are gathering under a new king called Mance Rayder. 

Jon realizes that Mance Rayder was planning on marching out against Westeros. Later, he meets a wildling woman, Ygritte, and spares her life. To discover more about the new wildling king, Qhorin tells Jon to surrender when he gets captured by the wildling and do whatever they ask. 

Finally, a band of wildlings captures the brothers, and Jon gets asked to kill Qhorin as a symbol of loyalty. He does.

Daenerys Targaryen

With her husband dead and his Khalasar gone, Daenerys follows the red comet in the sky with her new dragons and tiny Khalasar. Though the journey is difficult, she and her people finally discover an abandoned city. 

Daenerys sends out her bloodriders, and Aggo returns with three warlocks from Quarth. They welcome Daenerys into their city, and Xaro asks for her hand in marriage. Though she explores the possibility of using Xaro for his riches, Jorah points to her that he wants her dragons. 

Daenerys gets taken to the House of the Undying to learn more about the mysteries surrounding her life and future. In the House of the Undying, Daenerys has multiple hallucinations and almost gets overwhelmed by ghost beings. However, her dragon comes to the rescue, and she decides to leave Quarth.

Theon Greyjoy

As the ward of Eddard Stark, Theon works with Robb Stark in the fight against the Lannisters. Robb sends Theon back to his father to request an alliance. However, Balon rejects and plans to gain control of the North. 

To gain his father’s favor, Theon hatches a plan to take over Winterfell. After Rodrick and his men go off to fight a battle in Torren’s square, Theon leads a band of men to take over Winterfell. He declares himself the new lord and tries keeping Bran and Rickon as hostages, but they escape. 

Knowing his plans are failed, Theon stages the death of Bran and Rickon with some boys. When his older sister, Asha, comes to Winterfell, she points out his stupidity to him and leaves. Later, Winterfell gets seized from Theon by Ramsay Bolton, the bastard son of Roose Bolton.

Sansa Stark

After her father’s death, Sansa is kept hostage in King’s Landing. She begins to loathe everyone in the city with each passing day. When she gets a letter from an unknown person stating she should come to the godswood, Sansa gets excited, thinking she is close to freedom. 

She gets disappointed to meet Dontos, a drunk knight whom she had saved from getting killed by Joffrey. Dontos swears loyalty to Sansa and begins giving her information about King’s Landing. 

When Sansa learns that Stannis is marching on King’s Landing, she begins hoping that Joffrey gets killed in the war. 

The battle of Black Water ensues, and King’s Landing is almost lost. Believing that Joffrey is dead, she celebrates for joy. However, Dontos tells her the city got saved by Tywin. She gets sad but later learns Joffrey was marrying Margaery Tyrell; this makes her happy as she realizes she is free from Joffrey.

Catelyn

With Robb as the King, Catelyn tries her best to help in every way she can. Robb sends her to Renly Baratheon to try and get common ground with him. On getting to Renly, Catelyn meets Brienne, a female knight. Renly tells her that for there to be peace, Robb needs to bend the knee to him. 

Later, Renly gets sieged by Stannis. Catelyn tries to make peace with both brothers but fails. When Renly dies, Brienne gets accused of his death, and Catelyn helps her escape. 

Catelyn gets word of the alleged death of her sons Bran and Rickon; this greatly saddens her, and she gets Jaime drunk to get the truth out of him. She learns that he was the one who threw Bran from the tower.

Melisandre of Asshai

Melisandre is the Red Priestess of R’hllor and an advisor to Stannis Baratheon. She worships the God of light and uses dark magic to help Stannis against his opposition. Her dark powers cause the death of Renly Baratheon and the fall of Storm’s End.

Joffrey Baratheon

After Joffrey ascends the throne, he gets worse. When news of his illegitimacy reaches people, the resentment towards him only intensifies. On returning to his castle, a riot ensues when he tells Sandor to kill people who tried opposing. 

On reaching the castle, he gets slapped by his uncle Tyrion for his stupidity. He later joins the fight at Black Water but gets taken back when the war is almost lost.

Gendry

Gendry gets taken out of King’s Landing along with Arya. On the way, some soldiers try to take him back to Cersei as he was the bastard child of Robert Baratheon. He realizes that Arya is a girl but gets captured. When Yoren dies, Gendry and Arya get taken to Harrenhal, but they free the castle and later escape.

Cersei

After she kills her husband, Robert Baratheon, Cersei arranges for Joffrey to ascend the throne. However, her brother, Tyrion, shows up and becomes the Hand of the King, taking away her influence. When Stannis’s letter of her infidelity reaches King’s Landing, Cersei becomes angry and tries to suppress the news.

Hodor

Hodor is a giant in Winterfell who helps carry Bran. When Winterfell gets sacked, Bran, Rickon, Osha, Jojen, Meera, Hodor, and maester Luwin escape. He becomes a crucial part of the team carrying Bran up north to learn about his powers.

Joer Mormont

As the Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Joer sends out men to investigate the disappearance of Benjen Stark. As the men begin investigating, they discover the wildling villages deserted; this makes Joer meet Craster, a man who married his daughters. From Craster, Lord Mormont learns that the wildlings have a new king, Mance Rayder, and he is marching against King’s Landing. Joer and Jon realize that Mance was planning to break the wall.

Ygritte

Ygritte is a wildling girl who Jon and his men caught. After scouting areas beyond the wall, Jon and some men of the Night’s Watch stumble across a camp of three wildlings. As the men get to killing the others, Jon sees that the last is a woman. She tells him her name is Ygritte and narrates a story about one of Winterfell’s Lords to him. Later, Jon lets her go. When Jon and his brothers get captured, he sees Ygritte.

Asha

Asha is the older sister of Theon Greyjoy. She becomes a strong warrior after her brother gets sent to Winterfell as Eddard Stark’s ward. When Theon returns home, he gets surprised to see that his unattractive sister has become beautiful. When Theon takes over Winterfell and stages the death of Bran and Rickon, Asha travels to Winterfell but refuses to help Theon.

Sandor Clegane

Sandor Clegane is a member of the King’s guards and works as the protector of Joffrey. When Joffrey returns from seeing his sister off, feces get thrown at him; this makes him angry as he requests that Sandor kill the people responsible. However, a riot breaks out, and Sansa gets left behind with Sandor, who saves her from the mob. When the battle at Black Water begins, Sandor refuses to fight as the wildfire triggers his fear of fire.

Edmure Tully

Edmure Tully is the son of Lord Hoster Tully and his heir. He is Catelyn’s brother and becomes a help in Tywin’s defeat and the sacking of Harrenhal. After Tywin leaves, Edmure marches into battle against Gregor Clegane and wins; this lands a severe blow on Tywin’s army and leads to Roose Bolton gaining the ground against Harrenhal, leading to its fall.

Other characters in the novel include Jorah Mormont, Aggo, Brienne, Jaqen H’gar, Renly Baratheon, Robb Stark, Ramsay Bolton, Shireen, Selyse, Varys, Petyr Baelish, Samwell Tarly, Doreah, Xaro Xhoan Daxos, Meera, Jojen, Weese, Chsiwyck, Green, Qhorin.

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