The best chapter from each book in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire series

From A Clash of Kings: Tyrion XIII (Chapter 59)

Known in every novel as a man small in stature but not in wits, Tyrion Lannister's position in his third-to-last chapter in A Clash of Kings is higly iconic. The chapter begins with Tyrion perched on top of the walls of Kings Landing (in this franchise, no one offers to find the dwarf a box to stand on), watching the hundreds of warships sailing under the flag of Stannis Baratheon burn on the Blackwater Rush after wildfire has destoryed them, just as Tyrion intended. The fire does not discriminate and King Joffrey’s ships burn too. The chain of iron links that Tyrion set the blacksmiths to forging for months -- a plotline cut from Game of Thrones -- is now being raised out of sight by Bronn, trapping everyone on the river and consigning them to a fiery doom.

However, brilliant as Tyrion's plans are, Stannis Baratheon's army still outnumbers his. Hundreds of Stannis' men land on the north bank of the river and begin battering down the King’s Gate, one of the city’s main entrances. When Tyrion reaches the gate, he finds many wounded men and the normally terrifying Sandor Clegane (the Hound) standing wounded and dispirited, terrified by the flames on the river. After the Hound refuses to ride out and engage the men attacking the gate, Tyrion realizes there is no one left to lead the counterattack. Shaming the assembled men by drawing attention to his own lack of height, he galvanizes them and rides out to fight, not even looking back to see if they are following him.

In a novel where Tyrion Lannister steals the show, this is easily his best chapter. Although he dislikes Joffrey and Cersei, he proves himself to be the hero the city requires, riding out against insurmountable odds and convincing many men that would otherwise have laughed at him to follow.