4. The Red Wedding
SPOILER ALERT In A Storm of Swords, the third novel in the series, things are starting to go badly for Robb Stark. His forces suffered a disastrous defeat, some of his bannermen have given up and gone home, and he angered his crucial alliesthe Freysby breaking off his engagement with one of the Frey daughters. And then theres The Red Wedding. Robb tries to smooth things over with the Freys by putting his uncle in his place. Unfortunately, the Freys and the Boltonsanother Stark bannermanbetray him to the Lannisters and massacre the Starks during the wedding, including Robb and his mother. Now this isnt a case of magic, but it still felt a bit contrived. Betrayals happen, yes. But two major allies betraying the Starks at once, during a wedding no less? And it wasnt really that necessary. The tide was turning against Robb, the triumphalism surrounding his campaign in the first two novels was waning. Surely there was a more, say, realistic way to bring about his downfall? It really came off like an attempt to shock readers, rather than really develop the plot.