Chapter Summaries

Suleiman explained his land-for-military-service system to Olivier, requiring households granted public land to provide soldiers and buy their own equipment. The discussion ended when Bryn brought in Hubbard, a frightened merchant found in the refugee camp.

• Suleiman ordered Olivier to scatter refugees from the same villages and social groups among different settlements.
• Suleiman told Olivier that households receiving public land would owe military service and provide their own armor and weapons, with wealthier households furnishing better equipment.
• Suleiman explained that soldiers could purchase seized armor with their war spoils or pay for it in installments, and Olivier realized the system would bind the domain’s households to military service.
• Bryn entered the tent with the captured Hubbard, who pleaded with Suleiman that he was a merchant, not a refugee.

Suleiman recruited the bankrupt merchant Hubbard as his Monopoly Affairs Officer, explaining his plan to control the production and sale of salt, wine, iron, and sugar. Hubbard embraced the scheme and proposed adding another monopoly based on the two hundred families being settled near the Mountains of the Moon.

• Suleiman questioned Hubbard about how he ended up in the refugee camp, and Hubbard blamed House Legg's vassals for seizing his caravan.
• Suleiman offered Hubbard a job, and Hubbard learned that he would oversee monopolies on salt, wine, iron, and sugar.
• Hubbard recognized the profit and power in Suleiman's plan and accepted the appointment.
• Hubbard suggested adding another good to the monopoly and pointed to the two livestock farms and the two hundred families being settled there.

Hubbard persuaded Suleiman to replace two planned livestock farms with charcoal production using timber from the Mountains of the Moon. Suleiman ordered the refugee workers divided between charcoal kilns and a rabbit farm, and made charcoal the lord’s fifth exclusive trade good.

• Hubbard warned Suleiman that traditional animal husbandry required heavy investment, long waits, and carried serious risks.
• Suleiman admitted the drawbacks and asked Hubbard to present his solution.
• Hubbard identified the timber-rich Mountains of the Moon as a source of charcoal and argued that refugee labor could produce it cheaply for local use and export.
• Suleiman ordered the two livestock farms converted into charcoal kilns and assigned the remaining two hundred refugees to a rabbit farm.
• Suleiman designated charcoal as the lord’s fifth exclusive trade good.

Suleiman oversaw refugees setting out for new homes and defended his decision to entrust Hubbard with the lord’s monopolies despite his greed. After learning that the Ironborn had destroyed the Westerlands fleet, Suleiman expected the Riverlands to avoid immediate mobilization, but privately prepared for war to reach Seaguard.

• Olivier organized refugees into groups bound for Crossroads Town, Riverbend Town, charcoal production, and rabbit farming, while soldiers maintained order as they departed.
• Olivier warned Suleiman that Hubbard’s greed made him an unreliable choice to manage the lord’s monopoly, but Suleiman said Hubbard’s self-interest would motivate him to build the system efficiently.
• A rider delivered a raven message from Deddings Castle reporting that the Ironborn had burned the Westerlands fleet at Lannisport.
• Olivier feared that the fleet’s destruction would prompt Riverrun to call Suleiman to war, but Suleiman predicted that the Riverlands lords would wait for the king and Lannister retaliation before acting.
• Suleiman privately recognized that war in the Riverlands was approaching and that he needed to prepare at Seaguard.

Suleiman appointed Roslyn acting mayor of Crossroads Town and laid out plans for building the settlement and earning money from traffic along the Kingsroad. Roslyn accepted the responsibility, while Olivier was tasked with teaching him before leaving to buy grain and breeding stock.

• Roslyn oversaw refugees as they established a camp and began gathering timber and stone for Crossroads Town.
• Suleiman appointed Roslyn acting mayor and assigned Olivier to teach him town administration, reading, and accounting.
• Suleiman gave Roslyn three priorities: oversee construction and the Three-Chief System, collect tolls and keep the Kingsroad safe, and find ways to make money.
• Suleiman ordered passing caravans to lodge, eat, water their horses, and store goods in Crossroads Town for a fee.
• Roslyn pledged to carry out Suleiman's orders and received the town plan.

Hubbard proposed using Suleiman’s administrative system to build a network of monopoly shops that would sell goods, buy local produce, issue credit notes, gather intelligence, and provide financial services. Suleiman approved the plan with safeguards and gave Hubbard two months to establish it.

• Hubbard reported that the Three-Chief System and household networks could distribute monopoly goods and track local needs across Suleiman’s territory.
• Hubbard presented records of population, land, output, and demand, then proposed opening shops in military towns, Crossroads Town, and Riverbend Town.
• Hubbard suggested that the shops buy surplus goods, issue credit notes, monitor unrest, and eventually offer loans and savings accounts.
• Suleiman approved the plan but ordered shop workers to rotate every two years and required duplicate accounts kept by shops and local Household Heads.
• Suleiman gave Hubbard two months to put the shop network in place.

Bana returned to Lion's Den after being imprisoned by House Frey and delivered a letter proposing a political marriage between Suleiman and a Frey woman. He also revealed that Bronn had robbed a caravan and was being hunted by the Lannisters, leaving Suleiman worried that the trouble might reach him.

• Lushen found the exhausted Bana outside Lion's Den and brought him to Suleiman.
• Suleiman welcomed Bana, gave him food, water, and clean clothes, and asked him to explain what happened.
• Bana said House Frey had imprisoned him, then released him with a letter offering a marriage alliance and promising to send a delegation to Lion's Den.
• Bana revealed that Bronn had robbed a merchant caravan and that a Lannister noble had died in it, so the Lannisters were hunting Bronn.
• Suleiman wondered whether the Lannisters knew Bronn worked for him and angrily hoped he would not catch Bronn.

Suleiman appointed Bana mayor of Riverbend Town and entrusted him with turning it into a profitable shipbuilding and trade center. After Bana accepted the challenge, Suleiman inspected his territory and found farmers laboriously carrying water to their fields.

• Bana told Suleiman he had retrieved the discarded equipment from Seaguard, and Suleiman ordered it repaired for the equipment buyback program.
• Suleiman appointed Bana mayor of Riverbend Town and gave him authority to make the town profitable.
• Suleiman told Bana to build a shipyard using timber from the Mountains of the Moon and outlined plans to build and sell ships and establish a merchant fleet.
• Bana accepted Suleiman's trust and vowed not to let him down.
• Suleiman inspected the fields near Lion's Den and noticed workers carrying water by hand to crops far from the river.

Suleiman designed a water-lifting wheel to irrigate his sloping domain and demonstrated the idea with a working model. The farmers and Bryn were convinced it could work, leaving Suleiman ready to build a full-sized wheel.

• Suleiman returned to the Lion's Den and summoned Bryn and several experienced farmers to help plan a way to irrigate his lands.
• Suleiman dictated a design for a water wheel that would use river currents to lift water into troughs and irrigation channels, while Bryn and Ron questioned whether it could work.
• Suleiman, Evelyn, and Bryn built a small model and tested it in a stream, where it turned and poured water into a trough.
• The farmers called the working model a miracle, and Bryn eagerly agreed that they could build a large one.

Suleiman’s enormous waterwheel began channeling river water to the parched fields, and Bryn proposed using the system to cultivate the Mountains of the Moon. Suleiman identified the challenges of raising water and retaining it on slopes, then announced that a High-Rotation Waterwheel could solve the first problem.

• Under Evelyn's direction, Lion's Den residents and the people from the four Military Forts built a massive waterwheel and elevated aqueduct, while Bryn's smithy forged the iron fittings and bearings.
• After half a month, Suleiman ordered the barrier removed, and the waterwheel began lifting water into the canal as the gathered residents cheered.
• Bryn proposed carrying water to the Mountains of the Moon so people could clear and farm the steep slopes, and Suleiman praised him.
• Suleiman explained that the mountain project required a way to lift water higher and prevent it from washing down the slope.
• Suleiman proposed upgrading the waterwheel and named the design the High-Rotation Waterwheel.

Suleiman explained how a High-Rotation Waterwheel and terraced fields could bring water and farming to the Mountains of the Moon, then sent Bryn to build the first terraces. Half a month later, Bryn's party approached the mountains while the Second Sons at Offshore Cliff struggled to farm the rocky slopes and began to lose hope.

• Suleiman described a chain-paddle waterwheel and stepped terraces to irrigate the mountains and prevent erosion.
• Evelyn asked whether the designs came from Valyria, and Suleiman said they were technology from Yi Ti.
• Bryn vowed to build the first Terraced Fields in Westeros, and Suleiman appointed him to lead the work.
• Half a month later, Bryn led twenty soldiers and a mule-drawn, cloth-covered cart along a mountain path.
• At Offshore Cliff, Tam and the other Second Sons despaired after rain washed away their seeds and little cleared soil, and they hoped for another war instead.

Bryn brought Lord Suleiman’s water-lifting equipment to the Second Sons and showed them how it could carry water uphill. The men built and flooded their first terrace field at Offshore Cliff, leaving them celebrating land they had made themselves.

• Bryn arrived at the Second Sons’ camp with equipment sent by Lord Suleiman and promised to make fields on the barren slope.
• Bryn and the soldiers assembled a waterwheel and bucket chain that lifted water from the rapids into a reservoir uphill.
• The Second Sons began carving the hillside into terraces under Bryn’s and the old farmers’ guidance.
• After days of work, the Second Sons completed their first terrace, and Bryn opened the reservoir outlet to flood it.
• Tam rushed barefoot into the new field, and the Second Sons joined him in celebrating their new farmland.

Suleiman explained his water-powered forging hammer to Evelyn and planned a fifth Military Town at Offshore Cliff to settle refugees and defend the Mountains of the Moon. He chose the Second Sons who had earned battlefield merit to lead the new town under the Three-Chief System.

• Evelyn asked Suleiman about his blueprint, and he explained how a waterwheel-driven camshaft would repeatedly lift and drop a hammer to forge weapons and armor.
• Suleiman proposed building a fifth Military Town at Offshore Cliff to give scattered refugees a permanent home and establish a defensive stronghold.
• Suleiman sketched a tiered fortress with a narrow winding road, defensive platforms, and a main keep atop the cliff.
• Evelyn asked how the new town would be managed, and Suleiman selected the Second Sons who had distinguished themselves in battle for leadership roles under the Three-Chief System.

Suleiman planned to bind his old and new subjects through status, land, and opportunities for marriage, while building a force of common-born heavy cavalry. The chapter ended with Bryn reporting that the knight Rosso Brune had come to swear allegiance to Suleiman.

• Suleiman rejected arranging marriages directly and said he would leave it to the Second Sons to seize opportunities among the refugee families.
• Bryn reported that the captured plate armor had been repaired, painted black, and marked with Suleiman's Black Lion.
• Lushen explained that the soldiers' families had received land managed by the Military Town, with the families earning a share of its harvest.
• Bryn warned that the soldiers were too malnourished and exhausted to endure fighting in heavy plate armor.
• Suleiman ordered four meat-rich meals a day and daily training in full armor until it felt like a second skin.
• Bryn told Suleiman that Rosso Brune, a knight sworn before the Seven, had waited at Lion's Den to swear allegiance to him.

Suleiman tested Rosso Brune, a hedge knight seeking knighthood on the strength of his fighting ability, by setting him against Colin. Rosso defeated Colin despite being wounded, and the chapter ended with Rosso looking shocked by the outcome.

• Suleiman watched the squires train at the Lion's Den before allowing Rosso Brune to approach.
• Rosso explained that Ser Brynden Tully had sent him to Suleiman, and asked to earn knighthood through his skill rather than his bloodline.
• Rosso warned that fighting Bryn could leave one of them bleeding, then offered to fight three men at once to prove his worth.
• Suleiman instead chose Colin for a one-on-one test, and Colin overwhelmed Rosso with powerful attacks.
• Rosso baited Colin into overcommitting, sidestepped his sword, and kicked him down, winning despite a chest wound.

Rosso Brune challenged Suleiman’s squires, revealing his unmatched skill in mounted combat. Suleiman accepted Rosso’s oath of fealty as a sworn knight but required him to earn land and honor through battlefield merit.

• Suleiman introduced Colin and Anguy, then explained that two young squires had inherited their fathers’ duties and honors through their families’ battlefield merit.
• After recognizing the squires’ battle experience, Rosso insisted on fighting three of them at once on horseback, and Suleiman granted his request.
• Rosso defeated all three riders in separate charges, demonstrating a clear advantage in mounted combat.
• Rosso asked Suleiman to knight him, and Suleiman agreed while explaining that Rosso would have to earn land through battlefield merit.
• Rosso swore fealty to Suleiman, who accepted him as a sworn knight, and the soldiers cheered.

Bronn was cornered by Damon Lannister after ambushing a merchant caravan and learned that his victim was Gerion Lannister, Tywin Lannister’s youngest brother. Damon explained that Gerion had been escorting a shipment of Spectacles from the Black Lion’s territory when the caravan disappeared.

• After escaping House Frey at The Twins, Bronn was hunted down until he stood alone, wounded and surrounded by Lannister soldiers.
• Bronn tried to persuade the soldiers that he and his men were harmless mercenaries, but Damon Lannister identified him as the attacker of Roderick’s caravan.
• Bronn accepted that he was unlikely to survive and asked Damon who the supposed guard captain he had killed really was.
• Damon revealed that the dead man was Lord Gerion Lannister, Tywin Lannister’s youngest brother.
• Damon explained that Gerion had led elite soldiers disguised as caravan guards to collect Spectacles from the Black Lion’s territory, but they vanished on their journey back to the Westerlands.

Bronn was captured after killing Gerion Lannister and realized the Lannisters intended to punish everyone connected to the death, including Suleiman Foulkeep. Damon Lannister ordered Bronn taken alive as he invoked the family’s promise of retribution.

• Bronn laughed over killing Gerion Lannister, then decided he would rather die than be tortured in Casterly Rock.
• Damon Lannister asked Bronn whether Suleiman Foulkeep had ordered the attack and threatened Suleiman with the Lannisters’ vengeance.
• Bronn stayed silent instead of accusing Suleiman, despite considering whether doing so might save himself.
• Damon said Bronn’s silence confirmed what he needed to know and declared that everyone involved in Gerion’s death must die.
• Bronn realized his past connection to Suleiman had put Suleiman in danger as Damon prepared to order Bronn taken alive.

Bronn survived the Ironborn attack by posing as a sailor from Lonely Light Island and was forced to join Roderick Greyjoy’s expedition. He persuaded Roderick to raid the Riverlands and spread false reports of a vast Ironborn force, while continuing to plan his escape.

• An Ironborn ambush killed Damon Lannister and overwhelmed his unarmored soldiers, while Bronn fought fiercely to survive.
• Bronn claimed to be Hadwin, a sailor from Lonely Light Island, and Roderick Greyjoy accepted him into his crew.
• Bronn discovered that the Ironborn had hauled their longships overland and planned to attack Seaguard from behind while Victarion’s fleet attacked from the sea.
• Bronn urged Roderick to raid riverside settlements and use survivors and staged troop movements to make the Ironborn seem far more numerous.
• Roderick approved Bronn’s plan, promised him a longship as a reward, and led the Ironborn down the Blue Fork.

Suleiman paid the charcoal workers their first month’s wages and considered ways to expand the territory’s income. When a rider reported that House Vypren was pursuing Olivier’s caravan near the Green Fork, Suleiman mounted a rescue mission.

• Suleiman watched Hubbard pay the charcoal workers, who thanked their lord after receiving their wages.
• Hubbard suggested selling charcoal in King's Landing and training the workers’ women to make furniture, and Suleiman ordered Bryn to organize the carpentry work.
• Hubbard proposed burning the ancient forest, but Suleiman weighed the potential gains against the damage to his land.
• A rider reported that men of House Vypren were chasing Olivier’s caravan near the ferry bridge on the Green Fork.
• Suleiman ordered Rosso, Bryn, and every rider to accompany him to the Green Fork ferry bridge.