Original subtitles

BLACKFlSH: ln the long and glorious history of men butchering each other,

we river folk make the best meat.

How else can you explain why anyone would stay in a land of constant carnage

for thousands of years?

lf it wasn't the First Men killing the Children of the Forest here,

it was the Andals killing the First Men and then each other.

Even when the Riverlands finally united behind the kings of House Justman,

the unusual silence of peace attracted the storm lords, westermen,

and those bloody ironborn, to try and take our grain, gold and women.

The problem is, and has always been,

that the Riverlands have no natural defenses.

Unlike the North, we don't have the Neck to keep invaders waist-deep in muck.

Unlike the Vale, we don't have mountains with narrow passes,

easily defended by stable boys with slings.

Unlike Dorne, we don't have a blazing sun and. . .

Well. . . The Dornish.

My ancestors may have had a funny taste in sigils

but they knew one thing.

lf you plan on staying in the Riverlands,

you'd better have a strong castle.

My ancestor, Axel Tully,

bright man that he was,

realized that most soldiers can't swim,

and raised his castle of Riverrun

where the Red Fork and the Tumblestone rivers meet.

He built right up to the water on each side,

daring attackers to force a crossing.

lf they wore armor, they'd drown.

lf they didn't, our archers would feather them from the battlements as they paddled.

An army could still assault Riverrun from the west, however,

so my ancestors dug a wide moat along our western wall,

connecting the rivers on either side of the castle.

When any would-be conqueror showed up,

we opened a series of gates and flooded the moat,

transforming Riverrun into an island fortress,

with enough stores to last years.

As the invaders starved in their camps,

they'd watch us fish off our walls, just for variety,

and because we were bored.

Eventually, they all skulked home.

ln the thousand years that Riverrun has stood,

not once has it been taken by force.

lt's a proper castle.

You want it, you have to marry into it.

Even the damned Freys knew that much.

Upjumped toll collectors living on a bridge instead of beneath it like the rest of their kind.

But finally, a Lord of the Crossing passed off one of his brood to his liege lord.

House Tully. My nephew Edmure.

People say Lord Walder arranged the Red Wedding to punish Robb Stark.

l say he did it just as much to steal Riverrun.

They've always envied our castle.

Maybe they think two rivers can wash off the filth that coats them.

They'll never know.

The Lannisters could grant Riverrun to the Freys for a thousand years.

But that doesn't mean they can have it.

Do you think it was hard to convince Tully soldiers to turn against the Freys?

Do you think we won't enjoy watching them simper

as winter bears down on their pitiful camp?

l even carved a new fishing rod for the occasion.

When the starving Freys look up at our walls,

we'll wave our trouts at them.