Robb's army attacks a Lannister force at Oxcross and claims another victory, and he meets a healer named Talisa Maegyr in the aftermath. In response, Joffrey publicly abuses Sansa as revenge for Robb's victories until Tyrion intervenes; attempting to restrain the king's cruelty, Tyrion sends him two prostitutes, but Joffrey forces one to brutally beat the other as a warning not to interfere. Catelyn attempts to broker a peace between Stannis and Renly, but Stannis demands Renly's loyalty to him as king. Littlefinger visits Catelyn and relays Tyrion's offer to trade Jaime for her daughters. Davos witnesses Melisandre giving birth to a shadow creature. Tyrion releases Pycelle and dismisses him from the Small Council, and after discovering Cersei's incestuous relationship with their cousin Lancel, blackmails Lancel into spying on her.
Arya and Gendry arrive as captives at Harrenhal, a great castle now under Lannister occupation, where prisoners are systematically tortured to death until Tywin arrives and demands they be used as labor; impressed by Arya's feistiness, Tywin makes her his personal cupbearer without deducing her true identity. After an exhausting journey through the desert, Daenerys and her followers arrive at the prosperous city of Qarth, admitted after Xaro Xhoan Daxos of the Council of Thirteen persuades his fellow councilmen to let them enter.