Recaps

Suleiman rejected an offer to surrender and kept the siege going, then received a Valyrian steel sword and an old book containing a prophecy about awakening a stone dragon with true dragon's blood. Roger Legg waited for reinforcements, unaware that Jarell had already been killed.

• Olivier urged Suleiman to accept the inner keep's surrender, but Suleiman insisted the war was not over.
• Bryn reported that Jarell Legg had died in an ambush, and Suleiman silently accepted responsibility for the killing.
• Bryn explained that Jarell had destroyed Foulkeep and desecrated Suleiman's ancestors' graves, giving Olivier a reason for the attack.
• Bryn presented Suleiman with a Valyrian steel sword and an old book about his ancestor, in which Suleiman found a prophecy mentioning a stone dragon and true dragon's blood.
• Roger Legg watched from the inner keep's battlements, hoping Jarell would arrive with reinforcements to attack Suleiman from both sides.

As House Legg’s lands descended into looting and disorder, Suleiman captured Willow Town and offered shelter and new farmland to the refugees. He organized them to harvest House Legg’s crops and livestock before leading them to his lands, where they would begin again.

• Suleiman ordered Olivier to send everything movable from Willow Town to Lion's Den as House Legg’s lands fell into chaos.
• Hek and his men burned and looted villages while House Legg’s vassals exploited the disorder and House Deddings reclaimed contested lands.
• At the Green Fork, Suleiman executed looters, fed and sheltered the refugees, and invited them to settle on his lands with tax relief and supplies.
• Suleiman ordered the refugees to harvest House Legg’s ripe crops and gather abandoned livestock under his soldiers’ protection.
• Lushen directed the refugees to pack their harvest and animals for transport to Suleiman’s lands, where they would receive new homes.

Brynden Tully and Robin Leger rode toward Willow Town and heard refugees describe how Suleiman’s soldiers had both displaced them and protected them from looters. They entered House Legg’s devastated lands, where Robin blamed Suleiman for the destruction.

• Brynden Tully rode with Robin Leger and a Tully force toward Willow Town after Suleiman’s rapid victory disrupted the war.
• Brynden stopped to question refugees fleeing Lord Leger’s lands, and an old farmer explained that Suleiman offered land, food, water, and an escort.
• The farmer and an old woman said Suleiman’s soldiers had protected refugees and punished the brigands who preyed on them, despite having started the war.
• Brynden listened to the refugees, then ordered the riders onward toward Willow Town.
• The riders entered House Legg’s lands and found burned villages, barren fields, and corpses as Robin accused Suleiman of destroying everything.

Brynden Tully and Robin Leger encountered Suleiman Foulkeep’s soldiers burning a village and executing men accused of robbing and killing refugees. After witnessing the soldiers decapitate the condemned and dispose of their bodies, Brynden asked Dell to take Riverrun’s envoys to see Suleiman.

• Robin Leger condemned the devastation across his family’s lands as he rode with Brynden Tully toward rising smoke.
• Brynden and Robin found Dell’s soldiers sentencing men accused of stealing from refugees and murdering a farmer.
• Dell ordered the condemned men hanged under Lord Suleiman’s law, and his soldiers cut off their heads afterward.
• Robin charged forward to stop what he called brutality and desecration, while Brynden identified himself and Robin as envoys from Riverrun.
• Dell agreed to take the envoys to Suleiman after the soldiers finished disposing of the bodies, and Brynden asked to see the Black Lion.

Suleiman’s siege of a House Legg castle continued while Olivier reported the spoils and refugees taken from Willow Town. Suleiman rewarded the newcomers and promised the soldiers a share of the castle’s wealth, deliberately encouraging their appetite for war as he prepared for future conflicts.

• Olivier reported that the raid on Willow Town had yielded wealth, weapons, armor, food, livestock, farming tools, and more than two thousand people willing to follow Suleiman.
• Suleiman ordered the newcomers settled in existing villages and distributed grain, tools, and livestock among them, despite Olivier’s advice to make them pay.
• Suleiman promised the soldiers the castle’s wealth if they breached it, on the condition that they did not harm the people inside.
• Olivier warned Suleiman that rewarding soldiers with spoils would make them abandon farming and hunger for war.
• Suleiman ignored Olivier’s warning because he wanted his soldiers to fight for their own prosperity and be ready for the wars to come.

Suleiman captured and stripped a series of knightly castles in House Legg's territory by offering their defenders safety in exchange for surrender and their wealth. As his soldiers eagerly gathered the spoils, Olivier worried about the greed and violence the campaign was fostering.

• Lushen organized an assault, but the first castle surrendered and its goods and civilians' possessions were inventoried and divided among Suleiman's soldiers.
• Olivier watched the soldiers celebrate their shares and worried they would no longer return to peaceful farming.
• Suleiman explained that sharing the captured wealth would keep his soldiers from slaughtering civilians and preserve his reputation as a protector of the Riverlands.
• Suleiman used Ser Gessit's surrender letter to make Gessit's castle surrender without a fight, then had his soldiers strip it bare.
• Suleiman's column repeated the tactic at more than a dozen castles, while Olivier watched uneasily as the spoils piled up.

After capturing a castle, Suleiman rewarded his soldiers and offered the commoners compensation, safe passage, or a new life on his lands. Olivier warned that the spoils would make the army dangerously warlike, but Suleiman prioritized victory and hinted that another war might come.

• Suleiman ordered Olivier to distribute the castle’s loot among the soldiers, whose cheers confirmed their loyalty to him.
• Suleiman sent the families of captured knights to Willow Town and offered the commoners land or compensation and safe passage; most chose to stay and farm for him.
• As night fell, Suleiman anticipated an envoy from Riverrun and opposition from House Legg’s vassals.
• Olivier warned Suleiman that rewarding the soldiers with plunder was creating an Ironborn-like Old Way that could threaten peace.
• Suleiman argued that he needed a loyal army to win first and asked Olivier how he knew there would not be another war.

Suleiman met Brynden Tully, the Blackfish, in Willow Town to answer Riverrun’s accusations that his war against House Legg had disrupted the Riverlands. He defended his actions and confronted Robin Leger over House Legg’s crimes, leaving Robin unable to answer.

• Messengers from Willow Town watched Suleiman’s soldiers celebrate their spoils and regretted not having joined his campaign.
• Suleiman ordered Lushen to watch House Legg’s remaining bannermen and withdraw rather than engage if they moved troops.
• Suleiman and Olivier met Brynden Tully, who challenged Suleiman to answer for breaking the king’s peace.
• Suleiman said he would stand trial at Riverrun if Roger Leger went with him, and blamed Roger for refusing peace and choosing war.
• Olivier told Brynden that Roger had rejected negotiations and insulted his wife, while Robin Leger accused Suleiman of launching a sneak attack.
• Suleiman cited his public war proclamation and House Legg’s raids and desecration of his ancestral home, then demanded Robin answer him.

Suleiman defended his war against House Legg before Brynden Tully, arguing that House Legg had started the conflict by occupying his ancestral keep. After presenting evidence and surrendering the Valyrian steel sword Lament and an ancestor’s diary to Riverrun, he agreed to accept its judgment, leaving the war’s resolution in Brynden’s hands.

• Suleiman challenged Brynden Tully to consider who had struck first, insisting House Legg had attacked his ancestral keep and desecrated his family’s tomb.
• Brynden acknowledged that House Legg had violated the laws of noble warfare, and Suleiman presented documents showing Roger Leger had ordered the occupation of Foulkeep.
• Suleiman said he would accept trial and offered Riverrun the sword Lament, which Brynden identified as House Royce’s Valyrian steel sword.
• Suleiman gave Brynden an ancestor’s diary describing the sword’s origins and his family’s history, seeking honor and recognition for his house.
• Brynden said Suleiman had proved his righteousness but insisted the war must end, and Suleiman agreed to accept Riverrun’s judgment.

Suleiman negotiated with Brynden Tully and Robin Legg, agreeing to Riverrun's involvement while demanding the return of his lands, ransom for his prisoners, and permission to rebuild Foulkeep. That night, he displayed Jarell Legg's body beneath the inner keep, and Roger Legg recognized his dead son and broke down in grief.

• Suleiman demanded the return of his lands, a ransom for his prisoners, and permission to rebuild Foulkeep, while offering to negotiate with Roger Legg under Riverrun's protection.
• Brynden Tully said he would enter the inner keep the next day to hear Roger's explanation and negotiate terms, and Suleiman accepted Riverrun's ruling.
• Suleiman ordered soldiers to display Jarell Legg's corpse beneath the inner keep and shout that the young heir was dead and his body was being returned.
• Roger Legg heard the shouts, went to look through an arrow slit, recognized Jarell's body, and cried out in grief while cursing Suleiman.

Roger Legg, shattered by his son’s death and the loss of Willow Town, refused Brynden Tully and Robin Legg’s plea to negotiate with Suleiman. Brynden left after Roger threatened him, leaving Roger committed to a final fight.

• Roger Legg wandered Willow Town’s walls, grieving his dead heir and cursing Suleiman and the Seven Gods.
• Robin Legg and Brynden Tully arrived at the inner keep to mediate for the Governor of the Riverlands, and Roger ordered the gates opened.
• Brynden urged Roger to negotiate with Suleiman because the Ironborn threatened the Riverlands, while Robin warned that Roger had too few soldiers to resist.
• Roger blamed Brynden, House Tully, and House Frey for his son’s death and declared that he would never negotiate with Suleiman.
• Roger drew his sword and ordered Brynden and Robin to leave, so Brynden departed after warning that Riverrun would remember Roger’s fate.

Suleiman told Brynden Tully that Roger Leger had rejected negotiations and that he would end the siege that night, while agreeing to spare Roger’s life. After Brynden studied Suleiman’s detailed map, they concluded that the Ironborn fleet was likely targeting Lannisport and the Westerlands’ fleet rather than Seaguard.

• Suleiman showed Brynden Tully and Robin Leger a long-held letter revealing that starving defenders inside the city had offered to open the gates if their lives were spared.
• Suleiman said he would end the siege that night, and Brynden agreed not to interfere on the condition that Roger Leger’s life was spared.
• Brynden discovered Suleiman’s detailed map and asked him to give it to House Tully for the Riverlands’ defense against the Ironborn.
• Brynden asked Suleiman where he thought the Ironborn fleet would strike, and Suleiman argued that Seaguard was a feint and Lannisport was the true target.
• Suleiman explained that the Ironborn aimed to destroy the Westerlands’ fleet before the Royal Fleet could assemble, and Brynden praised his insight.

After Brynden Tully advised Suleiman to let House Deddings handle negotiations with House Legg, Suleiman’s forces entered Willow Town and took the inner keep with little resistance. Roger Leger demanded a Trial by Combat against Suleiman to the death, and Suleiman agreed.

• Brynden Tully told Suleiman to negotiate with House Legg through Lord Balon Deddings and took the map with him.
• Suleiman’s soldiers entered Willow Town’s inner keep after the gate was opened, and most of the defenders surrendered without a fight.
• Brynden Tully ordered the remains in the inner keep cleared and concealed, but the soldiers waited for Suleiman’s approval before obeying.
• Suleiman’s soldiers broke into Roger Leger’s barricaded room after Robin Leger failed to persuade him to surrender.
• Roger Leger demanded a Trial by Combat against Suleiman to the death, and Suleiman accepted.

Suleiman faced Roger Legg in a Trial by Combat at Willow Town, despite warnings from Brynden Tully and Olivier. He outmaneuvered Roger until exhaustion brought him to his knees, then killed him before the stunned witnesses.

• Suleiman refused to appoint a champion and insisted on fighting Roger Legg himself in a Trial by Combat.
• Brynden Tully announced the trial, and Roger entered in full plate while Suleiman wore light leather armor and carried only his sword.
• Roger charged and swung repeatedly, but Suleiman dodged every attack and taunted him as his strength faded.
• Roger fell to his knees from exhaustion, and the onlookers expected Suleiman to spare him.
• Suleiman stabbed Roger through the gorget and cut off his head.

Suleiman prepared to negotiate with Gyles Leger after ordering the release of Gyles and his family, the withdrawal of most troops from Willow Town, and the return of the dead. Brynden Tully planned to leave for Runestone with House Royce’s sword Lament, while hinting at further support for Suleiman’s certifications through the Hand of the King.

• Brynden Tully questioned Suleiman’s execution of Roger Leger, and Suleiman said he showed mercy only to those loyal to him.
• Brynden read Lord Balon Deddings’s letter promising support for Suleiman’s claims and compensation in the negotiations.
• Suleiman ordered Gyles Leger and his family released, most of the army withdrawn from Willow Town, its former servants freed, and Roger and Jarell Leger’s bodies returned.
• Brynden told Suleiman he would escort Lament to Runestone and said Robin Tully would report the events and Suleiman’s certifications; he also hinted at certification from the Hand of the King.
• Gyles Leger met Suleiman, who reminded him that Roger had lost Trial by Combat and urged him to negotiate for his family’s future rather than take up a sword.

Suleiman negotiated ransom and compensation from Gyles Legg and the captured knights, then required them to swear they would not trouble House Deddings’ lands. The captives agreed to pay three thousand Gold Dragons before Suleiman would release them and withdraw from Willow Town.

• Suleiman initially demanded three hundred Gold Dragons per captured knight, then lowered the ransom to one hundred and fifty per knight, fifty per family member, and ten per young child.
• Suleiman demanded one thousand Gold Dragons from House Legg for the destruction of Foulkeep, and threatened to make the knights rebuild it if they refused.
• Gyles Legg offered three thousand Gold Dragons as a single payment to settle all ransom and compensation, and Suleiman accepted.
• Gyles Legg and the vassal knights signed a treaty promising payment, the release of the captives, and Suleiman’s withdrawal from Willow Town.
• Suleiman ordered Olivier to take the knights to the square, where they had to swear publicly never to cause trouble on House Deddings’ lands.

After paying Gyles Legg a ransom of three thousand Gold Dragons, Suleiman withdrew his army from Willow Town and returned it to House Legg. Inspired by a roasted rabbit, he unveiled a plan to make rabbit farming widespread across his lands and provide meat and income for his people.

• Gyles Legg paid Suleiman three thousand Gold Dragons, and Suleiman ordered his army to leave Willow Town and release the prisoners.
• Suleiman's soldiers withdrew from the town and camped outside while negotiations continued between House Deddings and House Legg.
• Bryn brought Suleiman a roasted rabbit, prompting Suleiman to realize rabbits could provide meat, fur, and fertilizer.
• Suleiman summoned Olivier and proposed giving every household a pair of breeding rabbits and teaching people how to raise them.
• Suleiman planned to buy surplus rabbits and organize the processing of their skins and fur into goods, promising his people they would not go hungry.

Suleiman settled his territorial boundary with House Legg and heard Lord Yorks explain Lord Balon’s support for him. As his army withdrew, Blackfish Brynden warned him against using force in disputes with the Vale, and Suleiman ended their exchange by declaring that he was a lion, not a trout.

• Lord Yorks told Suleiman that the river would permanently mark the boundary between his territory and House Legg’s, regardless of changes in its course.
• Lord Yorks explained that Lord Balon had prepared to send troops after Suleiman captured Willow Town and had defended him against criticism, then said House Deddings would always support him.
• Suleiman ordered his army to withdraw after the terms of his agreement were settled.
• Blackfish Brynden inspected Suleiman’s covered wagons and offered to help negotiate any territorial dispute with a lord of the Vale, warning him not to use force.
• Suleiman asked why Brynden was helping him, and Brynden said they were alike because neither fit in or cared much for rules.
• Suleiman told Brynden he was still a trout like Hoster Tully, while Suleiman was a lion, and Brynden warned him that his luck would not last forever.

Suleiman rode with Brynden Tully toward the Vale to negotiate with House Moore, rejecting Blackfish’s proposal to recruit Vale knights by granting them land. They encountered the monk Meribald and a group of refugees being brutalized by a House Moore knight, who killed a man seeking Suleiman’s help.

• Suleiman sent most of his troops back to Lion's Den and rode toward the Vale with Brynden, Bryn, and twenty riders.
• Brynden urged Suleiman to recruit Vale knights by granting them land, but Suleiman said only those who bled for him deserved a share.
• Suleiman asked Brynden why the Targaryen dynasty had been overthrown, and Brynden rode ahead without answering.
• Suleiman and Brynden found Meribald standing between refugees and a House Moore knight who accused them of fleeing their lord’s lands.
• A refugee ran toward Suleiman’s party for help, but the House Moore knight shot him dead before he could reach them.

Suleiman challenged a knight of House Moore to a Trial by Combat to save refugees condemned for fleeing their lands. After the knight questioned his standing, Suleiman declared that he would represent the smallfolk themselves.

• A knight of House Moore told Brynden Tully and Suleiman that the refugees were runaway serfs sentenced to death under their lord's law.
• Brother Meribald condemned the execution, but Brynden prepared to leave because House Moore had the legal right to punish its smallfolk.
• Suleiman dismounted, asked how the refugees could be released, and accepted the knight's suggestion of a Trial by Combat.
• The knight mocked Suleiman, then recognized him as the Black Lion and argued that he could not represent the Faith without being a knight by patent.
• Suleiman clarified that he was not representing the Faith and declared that he would represent the kneeling refugees.

Suleiman fought Ser Qyburn Moore in a Trial by Combat for the Riverlands refugees, defeating him with speed and taunts. After Qyburn fell, Suleiman killed him while insisting the trial was not over, leaving the Moore soldiers stunned.

• Suleiman accepted Ser Qyburn's challenge to represent the escaped slaves in a Trial by Combat, and Qyburn killed one refugee before the trial began.
• Septon Meribald presided as Qyburn and Suleiman declared what they were fighting for, then began the duel.
• Suleiman evaded Qyburn's powerful attacks and wounded him repeatedly, provoking him until he charged recklessly.
• Suleiman cut the tendons behind Qyburn's right knee, sending him crashing to the ground and apparently ending the fight.
• As Qyburn's attendants approached, Suleiman pierced him with his sword and said the Trial by Combat was not over.

After killing Ser Qyburn Moore in a Trial by Combat, Suleiman used the refugees’ release to build support among commoners and the Seven’s servants. At House Moore’s castle, he challenged Lord Horne Moore to another Trial by Combat to settle their land dispute, prompting Brynden Tully to leave in anger or dismay.

• Suleiman killed Ser Qyburn Moore in a Trial by Combat and declared the refugees innocent and free to leave.
• Suleiman promised Meribald food, shelter, and travel money for Barefoot Monks, offered to care for homeless orphans, and distributed spoils to the refugees.
• Lord Horne Moore welcomed Brynden Blackfish and asked about Ser Qyburn, then proposed negotiating the land dispute for money.
• Qyburn’s squire told Horne Moore what had happened, and Horne demanded to know how Suleiman intended to negotiate.
• Suleiman challenged Horne Moore to a Trial by Combat to settle their land dispute.
• Brynden Tully overturned his chair and strode out of the castle without saying anything.

Tyrion Lannister heard Daisy recount Suleiman the Black Lion’s victories and his defense of runaway serfs, then learned Suleiman was only sixteen. Tyrion laughed off his envy, but his mood changed when he saw the harbor burning.

• Tyrion asked Daisy what had been exciting people in Lannisport, and she told him stories of Suleiman, the Black Lion.
• Daisy described Suleiman defeating Wildlings, taking Willow Town, and winning Trials by Combat against knights of Houses Legg, Moore, and Wayn.
• Daisy said House Enford had refused to accept a Trial by Combat, prompting Tyrion to laugh at the Frey bannermen.
• Daisy told Tyrion that Suleiman was only sixteen, and Tyrion joked about being known as Lannisport’s drunk and dwarf.
• Tyrion went to the window with a glass of wine and saw a towering blaze rising from the harbor as alarm bells rang.

Bana the Beggar was brought before Walder Frey at the Twins, where Walder revealed he knew of Suleiman’s victories and offered him a Frey bride. Bana was sent back to tell Suleiman to consider the marriage proposal.

• House Frey soldiers captured Bana and his companions while they tried to cross the river, but Bronn escaped.
• Walder Frey summoned Bana from the dungeon and claimed the arrest had been a misunderstanding.
• Walder praised Suleiman’s victories and the recovery of his lands.
• Walder offered to marry one of his daughters or granddaughters to Suleiman, Lord of Foulkeep.
• Walder ordered Bana to return and tell Suleiman to consider the offer.

Suleiman returned to his fief after reclaiming disputed lands through Trial by Combat and learned that a flood of refugees had pushed the territory into crisis. More than three thousand newcomers lacked land, food supplies were nearly exhausted, shelters were overcrowded, and violence threatened to spiral into riots and plague.

• Suleiman recalled defeating the proxy knights of House Horne and House Wayn in Trial by Combat, while House Enford refused to yield its lands.
• A scout told Suleiman that Olivier, Lord Lushen, and Lord Roslyn were waiting with their troops at the mountain pass.
• Olivier reported that more than three thousand people had arrived, leaving at least a thousand families without land and food supplies that would run out in half a month.
• Lushen warned that overcrowded refugee shelters were filthy and could lead to a plague when the weather warmed.
• Roslyn said thefts, brawls, and a killing over shelter had brought law and order close to collapse, so Evelyn had kept the army patrolling the fief.