Ned, the new Hand of the King, travels toward King's Landing with his daughters Sansa and Arya, while Catelyn stays at Winterfell to care for the still unconscious Bran. An assassin attacks Bran, but Catelyn fends him off and Bran's direwolf, Summer, kills him; Catelyn suspects the Lannisters were behind the attempt. Jon and Tyrion Lannister travel to the Wall, where Jon joins his uncle Benjen in the Night's Watch and the two discover that the reality of the order may not match its heroic image.
On the Kingsroad, an incident threatens Ned and Robert's friendship: Prince Joffrey threatens Arya's young commoner friend, later having him killed, and Arya's direwolf, Nymeria, bites Joffrey while defending her. Cersei demands the wolf be killed, but Arya releases Nymeria into the wild, and Sansa's direwolf, Lady, is killed in her place. In Essos, Daenerys is befriended by Ser Jorah Mormont, a disgraced knight, while she focuses on learning how to please Drogo.