Chapter Summaries

After the victory on the Trident, Suleiman refused ransom for the Ironborn prisoners and forced them to choose between conversion to the Seven and death. By moonrise, a little over four hundred had survived, broken and bloodied, and Suleiman handed them to Maron Greyjoy.

• Lymond Lychester worried that his army had suffered too many casualties, while Suleiman predicted the victory would attract new recruits.
• Dennis Drumm demanded honor and ransom for the surrendered Ironborn, but Suleiman rejected his pleas and offered the prisoners conversion or death.
• Dennis Drumm refused to convert and was beheaded, after which Suleiman ordered the remaining prisoners to be given the same choice.
• Maron Greyjoy begged Suleiman to spare the prisoners, but Suleiman insisted they had to be cut off from Ironborn society to serve Maron faithfully.
• The old septon tried to convert the prisoners as knights executed those who refused, until some accepted and were forced to kill fellow Ironborn.
• By moonrise, only a little over four hundred prisoners remained, and Suleiman told Maron Greyjoy that the survivors were his.

After the Ironborn’s defeat, Suleiman urged Lymond Lychester to rally the Riverlords and seek the position of Governor of the Riverlands. He argued that King Robert would prefer a weak, dependent ruler over House Tully, and Lymond began to consider the possibility.

• Lymond asked Suleiman how their forces would grow, and Suleiman predicted the Riverlords would join to claim spoils after the Ironborn’s decline.
• Suleiman told Lymond to praise the East Riverlords in a letter, promise to seek rewards for them, and later offer returning lands to former royalist families in exchange for their support.
• Suleiman proposed that Lymond seek the position of Governor of the Riverlands, but Lymond objected that Robert would never move against House Tully.
• Suleiman explained that House Tully’s alliance with the North and the Vale could threaten the crown, while Lymond’s low standing and lack of local roots would make him dependent on the king.
• Lymond’s doubts gave way to excitement as he began to believe House Lychester might rule the Riverlands, while Suleiman withheld the next step of his plan.

Lymond Lychester gathered the East Riverlands lords, whose support and demands for restitution Suleiman turned into a political trap that bound Lymond to their ambitions. After Lymond promised to seek the return of their lands, Suleiman told him that the final step in their plan involved Hoster Tully.

• Lymond Lychester watched the East Riverlands lords and their forces arrive at Lord Harroway's Town, and Suleiman urged him to prepare a feast for his supporters.
• At the feast, the lords praised Lymond and complained that House Tully had benefited from their losses during the War of the Usurper.
• Drunk and emboldened, Lymond promised that the king would return the lords' lands after the Ironborn were defeated.
• Suleiman left the feast, recognizing that Lymond's promise had tied him to the lords and left him no path of retreat.
• After Lymond awoke, Suleiman showed him the lords' campfires and explained that they needed to prepare a replacement for House Tully and an excuse to divide the Riverlands.
• Suleiman named Hoster Tully as the final, crucial step in the plan.

Suleiman told Lymond Lychester that he would kill Hoster Tully to weaken House Tully and secure their bid for power in the Riverlands. Lymond remained horrified by the plan, while Suleiman declared that he would carry it out regardless of conscience or justice.

• Lymond Lychester realized Suleiman intended to kill Hoster Tully and cried out in horror.
• Suleiman explained that Hoster's death would leave Edmure Tully unable to control the Riverlands.
• Lymond pleaded with Suleiman to wait for the king's decision and find another way, insisting that Hoster was a good man.
• Suleiman argued that their struggle for power required violence and that the people and lords supporting Lymond would force him forward.
• Suleiman declared that he would kill Hoster even if Lymond refused, and defended his actions as righteous if they served the Riverlands' commoners and other supporters.

Lymond Lychester made vague promises to Riverlands lords while Suleiman watched, and Hoster Tully lay gravely ill in Riverrun, tormented by guilt over past atrocities. The chapter left Hoster near death as the Ironborn continued their siege.

• Lymond Lychester welcomed William Mooton and offered him friendly words without making any definite promises.
• Ser Ronald pleaded for justice for House Darry, and Lymond Lychester swore that its losses would be made right without giving a concrete commitment.
• Lymond Lychester continued courting the lords while hiding his fear, as Suleiman silently observed him.
• Hoster Tully convulsed and begged forgiveness for using moon tea to end Lysa Tully's pregnancy and marrying her to an old man.
• Hoster Tully relived his order to slaughter House Guburk's people and wept over the innocent common folk he had killed.
• The maester examined Hoster Tully and signaled that medicine could do no more.

Dying Hoster Tully read a raven’s report about Lymond Lychester’s growing influence and realized Edmure could not protect House Tully. He ordered Robin Leger to kill Lymond without a charge, then died after Robin silently agreed.

• Hoster Tully awoke and read Robin Leger’s report about Lymond Lychester rallying the East Riverlands’ lords with promises.
• Hoster saw Edmure’s fear and judged that his young heir could not control the Riverlands or defend House Tully.
• Hoster sent Edmure from the bedchamber and ordered Robin Leger to kill Lymond Lychester without a charge.
• Robin Leger silently agreed to carry out the killing for House Tully, and Hoster died.

Suleiman met secretly with Walter Hean, who urged him to abandon Lymond Lychester and support Viserys III’s claim to the Iron Throne. Suleiman ended the pitch by asking how many soldiers the true dragon had.

• Suleiman calculated his expenses and learned that Walter Hean had requested a late-night audience.
• Suleiman dismissed his guards so Walter could speak privately, then cut short the old lord’s flattery.
• Walter warned Suleiman that Hoster Tully would punish him for scheming behind Lymond Lychester and offered him a way to survive.
• Walter revealed that he wanted Suleiman to support Viserys III and help restore the Targaryen king to the Iron Throne.
• Suleiman asked Walter how many soldiers the true dragon had.

Walter Hean proposed that Suleiman help Lymond Lychester lure Robert Baratheon’s army into a feast at Harrenhal and slaughter it, clearing the way to restore a Targaryen king. Suleiman judged the plan feasible but deadly, and wondered who was really directing Walter.

• Walter Hean urged Suleiman to support the exiled Targaryen king, but Suleiman challenged him over the king’s lack of money and sold crown.
• Walter Hean warned that Hoster Tully’s survival would doom Lymond Lychester and Suleiman, then offered Suleiman a chance to become a kingmaker.
• Walter Hean proposed that Lymond lead the Riverlands army in an attack on Robert Baratheon’s forces during a feast at Harrenhal.
• Walter Hean promised that killing Robert and raising the Targaryen banner would win Suleiman’s house lasting royal favor.
• Suleiman considered the plan’s potential and its likely consequences, then wondered who stood behind Walter Hean.

Suleiman rejected Walter Hean's proposal to plunge the realm into chaos, then told Lymond Lychester that he had killed Hoster Tully and intended to pursue power without restraint. Lymond chose to remain Suleiman's ally as Suleiman prepared to march west and destroy the Ironborn.

• Suleiman dismissed Walter Hean's plot to exploit Robert Baratheon's death and warned him that he would remember whoever was behind it.
• Suleiman asked Lymond Lychester for seven thousand men to march west and occupy Raventree Hall, cutting off the Ironborn's route to the sea.
• Suleiman confessed that he had killed Hoster Tully and had originally planned to kill Edmure Tully as well.
• Suleiman warned Lymond that he would pursue power by methods the old man might not accept, and asked whether they would still work together.
• Lymond chose to ally with Suleiman, and Suleiman cautioned him about the scheming Riverlords before leaving for Raventree Hall.

Suleiman announced a spoils-sharing law to rally his diverse army before battle, promising soldiers and knights a substantial share. Meanwhile, Victarion Greyjoy remained trapped near Riverrun, anxious to retreat but unwilling to disobey Balon Greyjoy.

• Suleiman summoned the knights and common-born officers and ordered all captured spoils to be inventoried.
• Suleiman announced that he would take three shares, the knights four, and the soldiers three shares of the spoils.
• The knights and officers pledged themselves to Suleiman, and the soldiers cheered when they learned they would receive a share.
• Victarion Greyjoy studied the tightening enemy encirclement and recognized that retreat was his only chance of survival.
• Victarion Greyjoy stayed in his camp because he feared Balon Greyjoy would regard an unauthorized retreat as cowardice and treason.

Victarion Greyjoy received Balon Greyjoy’s order to retreat to Seaguard, but Riverlander forces blocked the Iron Fleet’s escape by filling the waterways with felled trees. The chapter left Victarion facing the choice of abandoning his longships or trying to clear the river as the enemy closed in.

• Rodrik Harlaw urged Victarion Greyjoy to retreat before Riverlander forces cut off the Ironborn’s route home.
• Victarion Greyjoy received a letter from Pyke and ordered his army to strike camp and retreat to Seaguard.
• Nute the Barber reported that six or seven thousand Riverlanders were marching toward Raventree Hall to intercept them.
• Victarion Greyjoy said the longships could outrun the Riverlander army by traveling downstream.
• Nute the Barber revealed that the Riverlanders had felled trees and filled the waterways and anchorage with logs, threatening to trap the fleet.
• Rosso Brune watched the trees enter the river and praised Suleiman for devising the plan.

Suleiman reached Raventree Hall, where he won Tytos Blackwood’s trust by keeping his army outside the castle and away from its godswood. After blocking the Ironborn fleet with chains, he forced Victarion Greyjoy to consider negotiating a passage home, and Rodrik Harlaw set out to speak with the Riverlanders.

• Suleiman met Tytos Blackwood at Raventree Hall and promised his troops would camp outside and avoid the godswood.
• Tytos provided provisions for the Riverlanders, while Rosso Brune reported that the Ironborn were slowly clearing obstacles from the river rather than abandoning their ships.
• Suleiman explained that the Ironborn would fight to protect the plunder aboard their longships, then ordered Bryn to link Raventree Hall’s iron chains across a narrow stretch of river.
• Aeron Greyjoy reported that the Riverlanders had blocked the river with chains, prompting Ironborn captains to argue over whether to fight or negotiate.
• Rodrik Harlaw proposed offering Gold Dragons and abandoned lands in exchange for passage, and Victarion Greyjoy sent him to learn the price of a way home.

Rodrik Harlaw negotiated with Suleiman on behalf of the Ironborn, offering their withdrawal, compensation, and safe passage in exchange for clearing the river. Suleiman rejected the terms and demanded the heads of Victarion Greyjoy and Aeron Greyjoy, leaving the Ironborn to choose between surrendering them or fighting.

• Suleiman summoned Rodrik Harlaw, who arrived under a flag of truce and was brought blindfolded into the commander’s tent.
• Rodrik offered to return the Ironborn-occupied lands except Seaguard, give up half their spoils, and promise not to raid the Riverlands’ inland waterways if Suleiman cleared the river chain.
• Rodrik warned that six thousand Ironborn warriors were ready to fight if Suleiman refused.
• Suleiman weighed the offer and decided that accepting it would weaken his authority and fail to secure a decisive victory.
• Suleiman demanded the heads of Victarion Greyjoy and Aeron Greyjoy and ordered Rodrik to tell the Ironborn he would not clear the river without them.

Suleiman refused to meet the Ironborn in the field, letting time and frustration weaken them before confronting Dunstan Drumm and declaring that House Drumm and the Ironborn would be annihilated if they continued to invade. His terrifying threat silenced both armies, while the Riverlanders rallied behind him and the Ironborn’s confidence faltered.

• Rodrik Harlaw delivered Suleiman’s demand for the heads of Victarion Greyjoy and Aeron Greyjoy, and Victarion ordered the Ironborn to feast before battle.
• The Ironborn formed up outside the Riverlander camp, but Suleiman kept his forces behind the defenses and refused to begin the fight on their terms.
• Dunstan Drumm rode out to insult Suleiman and challenge him over the death of Dennis Drumm.
• Suleiman admitted that he fought behind fortifications, mocked Dunstan’s grief, and threatened to destroy House Drumm and eradicate the Ironborn.
• Dunstan returned to his ranks in fear, while Victarion recognized Suleiman’s words as a genuine threat and the Ironborn’s battle fervor weakened.
• The Riverlanders raised their swords and chanted Suleiman’s name as the Ironborn watched in alarm.

Suleiman refused to attack the Ironborn and explained how their limited choices all led to defeat, while Victarion Greyjoy and The Reader Rodrik Harlaw recognized the danger of their position. Tytos Blackwood understood Suleiman’s strategy but worried that feeding the allied army was draining Raventree Hall’s stores.

• Victarion Greyjoy withdrew the Ironborn to camp and warned that Suleiman’s threat could bring disaster to the Iron Islands.
• Suleiman ordered the Riverlands army to wait and described four losing options available to the Ironborn.
• The Reader Rodrik Harlaw told the Ironborn council that their forces had food for only three days, or five with strict rationing.
• The Ironborn lords and captains fell silent, and they kept their distance from Dunstan Drumm and his second son.
• Tytos Blackwood questioned why Suleiman would not attack, then learned that waiting would reduce Riverlands casualties.
• Tytos Blackwood realized that the allied army’s supplies were exhausting Raventree Hall’s stores.

Suleiman promised the Riverlanders a share of the Ironborn’s plunder to rally them and prepared a trap for the Ironborn retreat. Victarion Greyjoy split his force, sending Aeron Greyjoy with the younger men toward the western forest as he led the rest into battle against Suleiman’s camp.

• Suleiman ordered Tytos Blackwood to bring sacks of dirt and sand into camp, then promised every knight 120 Gold Dragons and every soldier five if they won.
• Tytos Blackwood agreed to lead a separate force after Suleiman stopped him from warning about the political risks of dividing the plunder.
• Facing starvation and dwindling morale, Victarion Greyjoy decided to split the Ironborn, allowing the young men to leave while the rest fought the Riverlanders.
• Rodrik Harlaw rallied the warriors to survive in humiliation for the Iron Islands and promised they would return for revenge; Aeron Greyjoy volunteered to lead the departing men.
• Victarion Greyjoy advanced with more than four thousand Ironborn while about two thousand headed west, and Suleiman ordered volleys and alerted Tytos Blackwood that the trap had been sprung.
• Suleiman taunted Victarion Greyjoy from the wooden wall, declaring that the Ironborn’s war was ending and that his own war would begin on the Iron Islands.

Suleiman’s Riverlanders defeated Victarion Greyjoy’s assault with a deadly trap inside their camp, while Tytos Blackwood’s forces struck the Ironborn from behind. With the surviving Ironborn surrounded, Lord Harlaw appealed to Tytos to accept their surrender and protect them.

• Victarion Greyjoy led the Ironborn against the Riverlander camp, but its defenders repelled their assault with volleys of arrows and held the walls.
• The Ironborn tore open the gate and charged into a narrow passage, where the floor collapsed beneath them into a stake-filled pit that the Riverlanders set ablaze.
• Suleiman rallied the defenders as they drove back the Ironborn scaling the walls, while Victarion Greyjoy died under a hail of crossbow bolts and arrows.
• Tytos Blackwood led four hundred knights and three thousand infantry in a surprise attack that shattered Aeron Greyjoy’s shield wall and routed the Ironborn.
• Surrounded at the forest’s edge, Lord Harlaw offered surrender and urged Tytos Blackwood to swear that he would spare the survivors.

After Tytos Blackwood accepted the surrender of young Ironborn prisoners and promised their safety, Suleiman ordered the captured Ironborn nobles and any who refused conversion executed. Tytos tried to stop him, but Suleiman turned the army against him and drove him from the camp.

• Tytos Blackwood accepted the surrender of the Ironborn at Raventree Hall and promised to protect them until their ransoms were paid.
• Ser Old Lopin reported the Riverlands victory, Victarion Greyjoy's death, and the capture of nobles from many Iron Islands houses; Suleiman ordered the leaders' heads sent to Lord Lymond Lychester.
• Suleiman ordered Dunstan Drumm and his son Donnel executed, then commanded that the captured noble sons be killed and Ironborn prisoners who refused to convert be put to death.
• Tytos confronted Suleiman and demanded that he spare the prisoners because Tytos had guaranteed their safety, but Suleiman rejected the promise as Tytos's alone.
• Suleiman relieved Tytos of command and persuaded the Riverlands knights to carry out his orders, leaving Tytos isolated as the prisoners were dragged away.
• Tytos watched helplessly as the captives cursed him and Suleiman, then left the camp in anger and sorrow.

Suleiman divided the Ironborn spoils generously among his soldiers and promised support for the families of the fallen, earning the title “Little Father of the Riverlands' people.” As he prepared to destroy the Ironborn, the survivors at Seaguard argued over whether to hold out, and Sawane Botley provoked Harras Harlaw by pointing out that he could inherit House Harlaw's holdings.

• Suleiman publicly divided the spoils, awarding seven Gold Dragons to each soldier and 135 to each participating knight.
• Suleiman promised the fallen warriors' families their rewards, additional compensation, and care on his lands, and the soldiers hailed him as “Little Father.”
• Suleiman ordered Rosso Brune to send goods worth five thousand Gold Dragons to Lord Tytos Blackwood, then resolved to crush the Ironborn rather than seek compromise.
• At Seaguard, Sawane Botley argued that the Ironborn should hold out for reinforcements, while Harras Harlaw insisted they must not abandon the post.
• Sawane Botley taunted Harras Harlaw that he was now the sole surviving member of his bloodline and could claim Harlaw Island, prompting Harras to erupt in anger.

Suleiman besieged Seaguard and tested whether faith protected Aeron Greyjoy from his power, then ordered him burned to challenge the Drowned God. A sudden rain appeared to save Aeron and embolden the Ironborn, but Suleiman killed him with Nightfall and declared that no one could save those he wanted dead.

• The Riverlands army surrounded Seaguard and sealed its harbor with a huge iron chain, trapping the Ironborn inside.
• Suleiman ordered Lymond Lychester to take Maron Greyjoy to Harrenhal, prepare for Robert Baratheon's arrival, and present the rebel lords' heads and swords as a gift.
• Suleiman brought Aeron Greyjoy before him, exposed his secret about Euron Greyjoy, and discovered that Aeron's protection disappeared when his faith wavered.
• Suleiman declared war on the Drowned God and ordered Bryn to burn Aeron alive before the Ironborn at Seaguard.
• A sudden storm extinguished Aeron's pyre, and Aeron survived, proclaiming that the Drowned God had protected him as the Ironborn cheered.
• Suleiman rode forward and beheaded Aeron with Nightfall, then raised his sword and declared that no one could save the people he wanted dead.