In the last episode of Game of Thrones, we returned to the Riverlands for the first time since The Red Wedding at the end of season three. It’s hard to forget what happened there: Walder Frey slaughtered Robb Stark and all his bannermen in an act that turned control of the Riverlands over from the Tullys to the Freys.
But who exactly are all the Tullys and Freys, again? What were they up to in the earlier seasons, and where are they all now? It’s easy to get a little confused when there are so many noble houses and lords to keep track of, so we’ve prepared a little refresher to get you ready for all the carnage we’re sure is about to go down in the heart of Westeros.
House Tully
House Tully are the traditional lords of the Riverlands, and their seat is the castle of Riverrun. At the start of Game of Thrones, they were led by Lord Hoster Tully, who had three children: Catelyn, Edmure, and Lysa. Catelyn was set to be married off to Ned’s older brother Brandon Stark, but he was burned alive by the mad king Aerys leading up to Robert’s Rebellion. After that, she married Ned instead.
Lysa Tully ended up in a powerful, but less desirable marriage to the elderly Jon Arryn, Lord of the Vale. Jon was 70 at the time, but the union was considered acceptable because Lysa had been deflowered and ‘spoiled’ by Littlefinger, who was the son of a minor house in the region being fostered at Riverrun. Lysa’s marriage to Jon Arryn solidified House Tully’s alliance with the Vale during Robert’s Rebellion.
Edmure Tully
Upon the death of Hoster Tully in season two, Catelyn’s little brother Edmure became the Lord of the Riverlands. By all accounts, he’s a bit of a well-meaning f*ck up. He screwed up a trap set by Robb to capture the Mountain and initially refused to marry a Frey to salvage Robb’s alliance with their house. It was that marriage to Roslyn Frey that turned into the massacre known as The Red Wedding. Since then, he has been a prisoner of Lord Walder Frey.
Brynden ‘The Blackfish’ Tully
Brynden ‘the Blackfish’ Tully is Hoster Tully’s brother and the uncle of Catelyn, Edmure, and Lysa. A headstrong and rebellious youth, he earned his family’s ire by refusing to marry. His brother Hoster called him the black goat of the family, to which Brynden replied that a black fish would be more appropriate. The Blackfish is an experienced and deadly field commander and the most competent member of the Tully family still alive. He escaped the Red Wedding unscathed because he was outside taking a piss when it started, and he has since rallied an army to retake Riverrun from the Freys.
House Frey
The Freys are a powerful, but little loved house that derives its power from holding the only bridge across the Green Fork of the Trident river that splits the north of Westeros from the south. The castles that sit on each side of the river are known as the Twins, and anyone who wants to cross it must treat with Lord Walder Frey.
Walder Frey
Lord Frey is almost 90 years old and bitter in the extreme. He hates the Tullys for looking down on his house and jumped at the opportunity to make a deal with Tywin Lannister to usurp their power. He organized the Red Wedding that killed Robb Stark and dozens of his bannermen. He also captured Lord Edmure Tully, who was pulled from his wedding bed and thrown in a dungeon.
Walder Frey is a prolific man and has over 30 children and 100 grandchildren, many of them also named Walder.
Lothar Frey and Black Walder Rivers
The son of Walder Frey who stabbed Robb’s wife Talisa in the belly, and the bastard who slit Catelyn Stark’s throat. We possibly only know this so it’s more satisfying when these two get killed. Because you know they’re totally going to get killed.
Roslin Frey
The surprisingly attractive daughter of Lord Walder Frey offered up to Lord Edmure Tully as his bride. We haven’t seen or heard anything of Roslin since Edmure took her to their wedding bed shortly before the Red Wedding occurred.
Other Players In The Region
The Brotherhood Without Banners
Back when Ned Stark was still hand of the King, he sent a knight named Beric Dondarrion out to the Riverlands to kill Ser Gregor Clegane, who was raiding and pillaging the lands. After Ned’s death, Beric and his men continued to protect the people and became known as the Brotherhood Without Banners.
The Mountain captured and killed Beric Dondarrion several times, but he was brought back to life by Thoros of Myr, a drunken Red Priest. Thoros claims he was at the lowest point of his faith when he gave his friend the last rites of R’hllor which brought him back the first time. Beric says every time he is brought back, a little more is left behind.
In season three, Arya and her companions fell in with the Brotherhood, who promised to take her to her mother’s family in Riverrun. The Brotherhood is loyal to no lord and claims to fight for the people of the Riverlands, but they’re not above doing a few bad things to further their goals. They sold Gendry to the Red Priestess Melisandre for gold and seemed more interested in the ransom Arya would bring from the Tullys than seeing her safely returned to her family.
Arya ended up getting kidnapped by the Hound Sandor Clegane after he defeated Beric Dondarrion in trial by combat. That was the last we saw of them.
House Mallister
House Mallister is a lesser house of the Riverlands whose lands sit on the western coast. They regularly have to deal with raiders from the Iron Islands, and the support they received from the Blackfish and Hoster Tully during the Greyjoy Rebellion solidified their position as loyal vassals of House Tully. According to Lothar Frey, the Mallisters have teamed up with the Blackfish and House Blackwood to fight the Freys.
House Blackwood
House Blackwood is a minor house whose defining characteristic is a longstanding feud with their neighbors, House Bracken. There’s a good chance the only reason they’ve risen up against the Freys is because the Brackens are on the Freys’ side.
Nymeria
Nymeria is the direwolf of Arya Stark. After Nymeria bit Joffrey in season one, Arya was forced to throw rocks at her until she ran off into the forests of the Riverlands. In the books, Arya often had wolf dreams that revealed Nymeria as the leader of a large pack of man-eating wolves. Will Nymeria return in the show, as well?
