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- "Walder Frey, you fucking traitor!"
- ―Lord Gregor Forrester during the Massacre.
The Red Wedding is a massacre during the War of the Five Kings arranged by Lord Walder Frey as revenge against King Robb Stark for breaking the marriage pact between House Stark and House Frey. During the massacre, King Robb, Queen Talisa, the King's mother Catelyn Stark and most of his bannermen, House Forrester included, are murdered following the marriage feast.
History[]
Prelude[]
King Robb was lulled into a false sense of security by Walder Frey because he had officially extended guest right to the Starks by formally eating salt and bread from the same bowl as his guests. To break guest right is to break all the laws of gods and men, thus while Robb and Catelyn were always wary of Walder Frey's intentions, they never thought that even such a despicable man would sink so low as to break such a sacred pact. The North was ready to charge towards Casterly Rock, with House Forrester as the vanguard.
The betrayal was scheduled to occur after the formal ceremony and the bedding, with Edmure and Roslin safely away in another part of the castle to consummate their marriage.
The door of the great hall was closed and barred. Meanwhile, Bolton and Frey men were to position themselves around the hall, secretly armed and armored. Very carefully, they all sat behind Stark soldiers and very few of them consumed alcohol, so as to keep their inhibitions in tact. The signal for massacre to begin was for the musicians to play an instrumental version of "The Rains of Castamere".
Meanwhile, in camps set outside the keep, the northern soldiers and Minor Lords were feasting and making toasts, celebrating their renewed alliance with the Freys and looking forward to the coming attack on Casterly Rock, the seat of House Lannister, they were completely oblivious to the coming betrayal.
Gared Tuttle, who was fetching wine for his Lord's camp during the festivities, took note of the unusual song choice for the festivity and realized that something was wrong, but before he could warn his Lord, it was already too late
The Massacre[]
The moment the song concludes, Frey and Bolton men abruptly betray the other Northern soldiers in the camps, catching them entirely off guard. The Northern men, many of whom were dulled by wine and unarmed, find themselves overwhelmed by the surprise assault.
Gared, accompanied by Bowen if saved, makes a desperate rush to Lord Forrester's son, Rodrik, the young squire makes his way through the carnage, attempting to avoid any confrontation to get to Rodrik faster, Rodrik fights valiantly, cutting down a few Freys and skillfully fighting against multiple opponents at once, but once he sees a panicked Gared calling out his name, he gets distracted and stabbed through the leg, the Forrester warrior is then crushed by a falling horse and presumed dead,
Gared returns to his camp, and sees his Lord and his surviving companions fight a group of Frey soldiers, he is speared in the side by a Frey but is helped by either Norren or Bowen. Gared informs Lord Forrester of his son's demise, clearly distraught, the Lord puts aside his feelings and tells his men to prepare to fight another group of Freys that is approaching their camp, the Lord and his men slay their opponents, but the Lord is injured further by a crossbow bolt to the shoulder.
The Forrester group splits up, with Norren and potentially Bowen heading in one direction of the camp, while Lord Forrester and his squire head into the woods, while they flee, Lord Gregor falls to his knees, bleeding profusely from his side, he knows that he can't continue, so he entrusts his family sword to Gared. He also asks Gared to deliver a message to his uncle Duncan, the Castellan of Ironrath, the message is "The North Grove must never be lost", two Freys spot the duo, and while Gared retreats into the woods with the greatsword. Gregor stays behind to fight off the two Freys, he draws his axe and catches one of his opponent's sword with his hand, but before he can strike, the Lord of House Forrester is stabbed in the back, the blade piercing his chest, the Lord collapses and dies.
Aftermath[]
The Red Wedding deals a devastating blow to House Forrester, leaving the Lord of the House dead and the heir presumed dead, their enemies, House Whitehill, take this opportunity to dominate their ancient rivals and force them to submit, leading into what will escalate into the Forrester-Whitehill Conflict.