Bran Stark lies in a coma after his fall, and Maester Luwin tells Catelyn and Robb that if the boy lives he will never walk again. Catelyn refuses to leave Bran's bedside, neglecting Winterfell's affairs. Jaime Lannister expresses unease to Cersei about what Bran might remember, but Cersei dismisses the risk, confident a child's word means nothing against theirs. Jon Snow decides to join the Night's Watch and travels north with Tyrion Lannister, who wants to see the Wall for himself. Before leaving, Jon gives his younger sister Arya Stark a small sword she names Needle, and says farewell to the unconscious Bran. Ned departs Winterfell for King's Landing with his daughters Sansa and Arya, joining the royal party on the Kingsroad. On the road, Sansa and Joffrey walk together along the Trident river, where they encounter Arya sparring with the butcher's boy Mycah. Joffrey threatens Mycah with his sword; Arya's direwolf Nymeria bites Joffrey's arm in defense. Arya drives Nymeria away to save the wolf from punishment. When Robert holds court on the matter, Cersei demands a direwolf be killed, and since Nymeria has vanished, Robert orders Sansa's innocent direwolf Lady executed instead. Ned carries out the sentence himself. The Hound, Joffrey's sworn shield, hunts down and kills the butcher's boy. Across the sea, Daenerys struggles with her new life among the Dothraki, enduring painful nights with Drogo and grueling days of riding. Jorah Mormont rides alongside her and begins explaining Dothraki customs. Daenerys learns from her handmaiden how to assert herself with Drogo physically, and that night she faces him as an equal rather than a victim, beginning to shift the dynamic of their marriage. At Winterfell, an assassin enters Bran's room with a Valyrian steel dagger to kill the comatose boy. Catelyn fights the assassin bare-handed until Bran's direwolf leaps in and tears out the man's throat. The murder attempt convinces Catelyn that the Lannisters are trying to silence Bran, so she resolves to ride south secretly to warn Ned.