Chapter Summaries

After Suleiman’s victory at Grell Castle, Tytos Blackwood condemned his slaughter of the Ironborn and warned that Suleiman’s unnatural power would demand an ever greater price. Suleiman defended his actions and declared that Westeros had to move forward, while his men investigated Damon Grell’s suspicious search of the Ironborn leaders’ bodies.

• Lady Elena, Laila, and the freed servants served food and wine to Suleiman’s knights as they celebrated their liberation.
• Tytos Blackwood told Suleiman that killing the unarmed Ironborn at the feast was dishonorable, while the knights praised Suleiman as their commander and savior.
• Suleiman redirected the toast to Lord Lymond Lychester, and Ser Keke apologized for having doubted him.
• Bryn reported that Damon Grell wanted the Ironborn leaders’ bodies and had searched them for something, so Suleiman ordered surveillance of Damon’s chambers.
• Tytos warned Suleiman that his power did not belong to mortals and would demand a growing price, but Suleiman said Westeros had to move forward.

Damon Grell feared his secret oath to Balon Greyjoy would doom House Grell, but Suleiman offered a way to turn the apparent treason into a service to the kingdom. Suleiman’s plan left Damon horrified: he was to lure Ironborn commanders to a feast and kill them, violating Guest Right.

• Damon Grell learned that his knights had found no trace of the blood pact among the Ironborn dead and feared it had reached Balon Greyjoy.
• Suleiman confronted Damon with his knowledge that House Grell had pledged allegiance to the Iron Islands and offered him an opportunity to save his house.
• Damon offered Suleiman five thousand Gold Dragons, then swore that House Grell would be bound to him by blood.
• Suleiman revealed that Maron Greyjoy was in his hands and proposed that Damon invite an Ironborn commander to a feast and kill the guests.
• Damon rejected the plan in terror, warning that murdering guests would violate Guest Right and bring the gods’ curses upon House Grell.

At Castle Grell, Damon Grell proposed feigning surrender to the Ironborn and killing their leaders at a feast, then defended the plan as a sacrifice for the Riverlands. Suleiman approved trying it, while Tytos Blackwood fell silent.

• Tytos Blackwood urged the group to abandon Castle Grell and continue raiding the Ironborn in the West Riverlands.
• Damon Grell proposed pretending to surrender to Balon Greyjoy, hosting an Ironborn feast, and trapping and killing the guests while the others attacked those outside.
• Tytos Blackwood condemned the plan as a violation of Guest Right, but Damon argued that House Grell would accept infamy to protect the Riverlands.
• Damon’s speech left Tytos shaken and the assembled knights impressed by what they believed was House Grell’s selfless loyalty.
• Suleiman applauded Damon’s proposal and said they could try it.

Suleiman prepared Damon Grell and his allies for a deadly feast while persuading the captured Maron Greyjoy to seek the Iron Islands’ rule as a loyalist Warden. In the West Riverlands, Dagmer learned that Tytos Blackwood’s forces were disrupting the Ironborn and began to doubt Balon’s war strategy.

• Suleiman planned to lure the Ironborn chieftains and guards into a feast while arranging an attack on their soldiers outside, and Lady Elena agreed to attend if her daughter was kept safe.
• Suleiman confronted Maron Greyjoy about his despair and offered him a future as Warden of the Iron Islands after Balon, Victarion, and his brother were killed.
• Dagmer learned that Tytos Blackwood’s cavalry was evading the Ironborn and that armed Riverlanders were helping obscure its movements.
• Dagmer recalled how his assumptions about Riverlord surrender and support from other kingdoms had failed, and he suspected the Ironborn strategy had been mistaken from the start.

Dagmer welcomed House Grell’s public surrender as a chance for the Ironborn to win Riverlands loyalty through politics rather than plunder. At Grell Castle, he and his captains surrendered their weapons and accepted bread and salt, placing themselves under Guest Right as Maron stayed silent under the watch of a figure on the wall.

• An Ironborn messenger told Dagmer that Maron had persuaded Damon Grell to swear House Grell’s fealty to King Balon.
• Dagmer celebrated Maron’s success and argued that the Ironborn could gain land and allies by protecting Riverlords who submitted.
• Dagmer ordered his men to bring gifts and avoid plundering as they marched to Grell Castle for Maron’s feast.
• Damon welcomed Dagmer, while Maron held back from speaking after glancing at a motionless figure on the wall.
• Dagmer and his captains handed their weapons and armor to House Grell’s servants and shared bread and salt, accepting Guest Right.

Suleiman and House Grell prepared to massacre the Ironborn during a feast, despite Raymun Darry’s fears that the plot would violate Guest Right. As the Ironborn celebrated, a young man confronted Maron Greyjoy and declared that everyone in the hall was about to die, signaling the attack.

• Raymun Darry questioned whether the planned slaughter was wrong, while Ser Ronald worried that Suleiman was prepared to abandon House Grell if the plot was exposed.
• Suleiman told Rosso and Bryn to proceed according to plan, leaving Raymun to wrestle with his conscience.
• Bloody Hair Hal and the Ironborn celebrated in the Lord's Hall, and Dagmer praised Maron Greyjoy for becoming a true Ironborn.
• A young Riverlands man took the cup from Maron Greyjoy, told the gathered Ironborn they were about to die, and dropped the cup as murderous intent rose around them.

Suleiman’s plan to destroy the Ironborn reached its bloody conclusion as House Grell massacred the chieftains at a feast and attacked their camp. Tytos Blackwood pleaded for mercy, but Suleiman insisted that their enemies had to be wiped out completely.

• Damon Grell ordered House Grell’s soldiers to ambush the Ironborn guests, and archers and hidden knights began slaughtering them in the hall.
• The Ironborn fought back with whatever they could find, while Bloody Hair Hal watched his men die and Cleftjaw Dagmer confronted Maron Greyjoy.
• A Grell knight stabbed Dagmer from behind before he could hear why Maron had betrayed him, and Maron vomited as the massacre ended.
• Suleiman watched the Ironborn camp burn as House Grell’s soldiers killed survivors and blocked the exits.
• Tytos Blackwood urged Suleiman to spare wounded Ironborn who surrendered, but Suleiman argued that every future threat had to be eliminated.

After House Grell’s massacre of more than two thousand Ironborn, Suleiman challenged Tytos Blackwood’s sense of honor and secured his promise to support House Lychester in a future vote. Tytos returned to Raventree Hall, rejecting Suleiman’s methods, while Suleiman insisted he would eventually seek his help.

• Tytos Blackwood prayed over the battlefield and repented for the massacre committed under the protection of bread and salt.
• Suleiman argued that House Grell’s ruthless attack had saved Riverlanders from future Ironborn raids, deepening Tytos’s doubts about his principles.
• Suleiman predicted the Ironborn would abandon their sieges because their losses left them unable to hold their conquered lands.
• Tytos promised to support House Lychester in a future vote, then said he would return to Raventree Hall to rebuild and care for his people.
• Tytos told Suleiman that House Blackwood would no longer seek his help, but Suleiman confidently predicted that Tytos would come back to him.

After House Grell massacred Dagmer’s army and violated Guest Right, Victarion Greyjoy faced a united, hostile Riverlands and calls for retreat. He refused to withdraw from the war, instead ordering troops to gather at Riverrun and attack House Grell, while Rodrik Harlaw feared they were doomed.

• Aeron Greyjoy told Victarion that Dagmer’s army had been destroyed in a massacre at Grell Castle, where Maron Greyjoy was accused of betraying them.
• Victarion defended Maron, insisting the Riverlanders had captured him, but recognized that the massacre had made cooperation with the Riverlords impossible.
• Nute the Barber reported that Lymond Lychester was gathering an army in Lord Harroway’s Town and calling on the eastern Riverlords.
• Rodrik Harlaw urged Victarion to abandon the Riverlands and return to the Iron Islands before the North, Vale, and royal armies arrived.
• Victarion refused to ask Balon Greyjoy for permission to retreat and ordered the other sieges lifted, their troops gathered at Riverrun, and House Grell’s people killed.
• Rodrik Harlaw told his sons that they would die without even a grave.

Suleiman revealed that he had secretly found and burned House Grell’s Blood Oath, then declared Maron Greyjoy his ally rather than his prisoner. He urged Maron to seek the Iron Islands through royal backing and support from Ironborn who worship the Seven, while admitting he aimed to rule the Riverlands himself.

• Suleiman ordered Bryn to burn the Blood Oath he had found on an Ironborn corpse.
• Damon Grell asked to take Maron Greyjoy to the Westerlands and present him to Lord Tywin, but Suleiman ignored the request.
• Suleiman announced that Maron was his friend, an ally of the Riverlands, and a Greyjoy loyal to the Iron Throne.
• Suleiman privately promised that Maron could become Warden of the Iron Islands with the king’s trust and support, despite lacking popular approval.
• Suleiman told Maron that Ironborn who worship the Seven could support him, and revealed that he also wanted to rule the Riverlands.

Suleiman persuaded Maron Greyjoy to consider an ambitious alliance, then revealed a plan to deceive the Ironborn and strike their forces from behind. The Riverlanders prepared to carry out his risky strategy, though its success depended on Suleiman secretly moving hundreds of cavalrymen across the open Riverlands.

• Suleiman declared that he wished to become Lord of the Riverlands, and Maron Greyjoy laughed before warning him that his name and bloodline would win him no supporters.
• Suleiman clasped Maron’s hand and let him leave freely, insisting that Maron was his friend and ally; Suleiman told Rosso he knew Maron would stay.
• Suleiman persuaded Damon Grell to lend his knights in exchange for escorting Damon and his family safely to the Westerlands.
• Suleiman explained that his forces would pretend to flee west, then secretly march back to the East Riverlands and attack the Ironborn from behind while Lymond Lychester’s coalition blocked them at the Trident.
• Raymun Darry warned that hundreds of cavalrymen could not cross the open Riverlands without being spotted, but Suleiman confidently promised he could do it.

Suleiman provoked the Ironborn at Seaguard into sending Harras Harlaw out for a duel, then defeated him and claimed his Valyrian steel sword, Nightfall. Harras was left bleeding as Suleiman displayed the sword to both armies.

• Harras Harlaw refused to let his Ironborn ride out when Suleiman’s cavalry taunted them outside Seaguard.
• Suleiman’s men burned Ironborn corpses and soiled a Greyjoy banner, and Suleiman’s insult drove the furious defenders to demand a fight.
• Harras left the castle to challenge Suleiman to a duel, and Suleiman ignored his knights’ protests and accepted.
• Suleiman outmatched Harras with precise swordsmanship and taunted him, distracting him long enough to sever his sword hand.
• Suleiman picked up Nightfall and declared that the sword was his.

After defeating Harras Harlaw at Seaguard, Suleiman offered his life in exchange for Jason Mallister’s remains. The Mallister knights recovered and honored their lord’s body, then pledged their gratitude to Suleiman as Riverlander knights silently paid him their respect.

• Suleiman defeated Harras Harlaw and learned from Rosso that Lord Grell’s troops were waiting at the Westerlands border.
• Suleiman spared Harras and offered to exchange him for Jason Mallister’s remains.
• The Ironborn agreed, and both sides exchanged Jason’s remains for the gravely wounded Harras.
• The Mallister knights cleaned and wrapped Jason’s remains, then apologized to Suleiman and thanked him for restoring their lord’s dignity.
• Suleiman praised the Riverlander knights, and hundreds of them removed their helmets to honor him.

Suleiman crossed into the Westerlands after driving off the Ironborn scouts and asked Gawen Westerling to keep cavalry riding under his banner while he prepared to return to the Riverlands. A betrothal dispute at Gawen’s feast ended with Maron Greyjoy insulting House Westerling, and Suleiman left Maron with a warning to destroy a system that could not be changed.

• Rosso told Suleiman that the Ironborn scouts had turned back after seeing his banners cross the border.
• Gawen Westerling welcomed Suleiman’s party, offered refuge at the Crag, and agreed to ride cavalry along the border under Suleiman’s banner.
• At the feast, Gawen proposed that Suleiman marry Jeyne Westerling, but Lady Sybell scorned his humble birth and named Maron Greyjoy as a better match.
• Maron rejected Lady Sybell’s proposal by declaring that Jeyne was unworthy of the Greyjoy name, ending the feast in awkwardness.
• Maron urged Suleiman to swear fealty to him in exchange for an island and lordship if he became Warden of the Iron Islands.
• Suleiman told Maron that people were not great because of their birth and advised him to destroy a system he could not benefit from.

Suleiman returned to Lord Harroway’s Town and urged Lymond Lychester to lead six thousand men against the Ironborn advancing toward Riverrun. He offered his family’s ten thousand Gold Dragons to reward the soldiers, leaving Lymond with the means to carry out the risky plan.

• Valion Roote celebrated the arrival of six thousand troops, while Lymond Lychester worried that the force consisted mostly of peasants and inexperienced recruits.
• Suleiman arrived in secret and told Lymond that the Ironborn marching south from Harrenhal were advancing toward Riverrun.
• Suleiman proposed that Lymond meet the Ironborn at a Trident crossing while Suleiman’s cavalry attacked from behind.
• Lymond objected that his inexperienced army would break against the battle-hardened Ironborn, and Suleiman explained why they could not wait for other kingdoms’ armies.
• Suleiman proposed paying two Gold Dragons for every Ironborn head, but Lymond said his treasury could provide only a thousand.
• Suleiman pledged his family’s ten thousand Gold Dragons to fund the rewards, insisting that the money should be put to use.

Gore Goodbrother led five thousand Ironborn toward a Riverlander force defending a Trident crossing, and arranged a pincer attack with Roderick Greyjoy. As the Ironborn advanced, Gore mocked Sawane Botley over his son’s death and defeat by the Black Lion.

• Gore Goodbrother mocked Sawane Botley for losing his son and most of his crew to the Black Lion.
• Roderick Greyjoy joined Gore’s host and said he was heading to Riverrun to join Victarion against Robert Baratheon.
• A scout reported that Lymond Lychester had brought about six thousand Riverlanders to defend the Trident crossing.
• Gore ordered Roderick to take five hundred crewmen and circle behind the Riverlanders while Gore attacked from the front.
• Roderick left with his men, and Gore boasted to Sawane that he would crush the Riverlanders and take the Black Lion’s head.

Suleiman ambushed Roderick Greyjoy’s fleet on a narrow river and led his forces to victory. Patrick Morrison killed Roderick and was celebrated as a hero of the Riverlands.

• Roderick praised Hadwin for the battle plan while Hadwin sensed that the quiet riverbanks concealed danger.
• Suleiman signaled his knights and peasants to rain arrows, boulders, and burning logs onto the Ironborn ships.
• Roderick ordered the surviving Ironborn ashore, where Suleiman’s knights met them in a disciplined battle line.
• Roderick nearly killed Patrick Morrison, but Bryn shot Roderick beneath the arm and Patrick struck off his head.
• Suleiman raised Patrick’s arm before the survivors, and Patrick dedicated his honor to Suleiman, who told him he had earned it.

After Bronn returned from hiding on an Ironborn ship with spectacles stolen from House Tyrell’s caravan, Suleiman avoided killing him by arranging for Maron Greyjoy to hire him instead. Maron defeated none of Bronn’s cunning swordsmanship and took him on as a paid ally, leaving Suleiman free of the dangerous connection.

• Suleiman let the knights and farmers claim Ironborn heads and armor for rewards, overruling Raymun Darry’s objections.
• The knights brought Bronn to Suleiman, and Suleiman ordered him killed for taking his advance and disappearing.
• Bronn revealed the spectacles he had taken from House Tyrell’s caravan, and Suleiman realized killing him could implicate him in the theft.
• Suleiman urged Maron Greyjoy to hire Bronn, then allowed them to test Bronn’s skill in a duel.
• Bronn disarmed Maron, who offered him double pay to fight for him, and Suleiman watched as Bronn accepted.

Lymond Lychester and Suleiman’s troops held the narrow bridge against Gawde Goodbrother’s repeated Ironborn assaults, turning the crossing into a bloody war of attrition. As Suleiman prepared to strike, a Riverlander force appeared behind the Ironborn with Roderick Greyjoy’s severed head, leaving Gawde ambushed from the rear.

• Lymond Lychester prepared the bridge defenses and relied on Suleiman’s soldiers to hold the front while the levied peasants gained courage.
• Gawde Goodbrother ordered his Ironborn to charge, but Suleiman’s soldiers held the narrow passage under a storm of crossbow bolts and close combat.
• Gawde committed more Ironborn as the fighting bogged down, while Suleiman waited for their strength and momentum to fade.
• Suleiman drew Nightfall and prepared to act when the Ironborn’s assault began to weaken.
• A horn sounded behind Gawde, and three hundred Riverlander knights charged with Roderick Greyjoy’s head displayed on a lance, followed by nearly five hundred armed peasants.

Suleiman's cavalry and the Riverlands forces trapped the Ironborn on the stone bridge and crushed their resistance in a bloody battle. By dusk, the surviving Ironborn had surrendered, while the river ran red with the dead.

• Lymond Lychester heard Suleiman's horns and led the Riverlands soldiers in a counterattack as Goodbrother faced the oncoming cavalry.
• Sawane Botley fled with more than a dozen leaders, while Goodbrother charged Suleiman's cavalry and Rosso Brune killed him with a lance.
• Suleiman's cavalry and armed peasants routed the Ironborn rear ranks and blocked their escape from the bridge.
• Lymond Lychester and the Riverlands soldiers attacked from the bridgehead as the Ironborn fought desperately against enemies at both ends.
• Suleiman watched as the battle continued until dusk, when the exhausted Ironborn began surrendering.