Chapter Summaries

At the archery contest, Suleiman won acclaim before Benedar Belmore accused Bryn of trying to assassinate him, prompting Suleiman to demand a Trial by Combat and knight Bryn. When Vale nobles condemned Suleiman in the name of honor, he challenged their claims by exposing the bloody origins of Houses Corbray and Grafton, leaving the nobles publicly shaken.

• Suleiman hit the bullseye and then split his first arrow with his second shot, impressing Robert Baratheon and the crowd.
• Benedar Belmore accused Bryn of attempting to murder him, and Suleiman admitted Bryn had once been a bandit who attacked Belmore after Belmore killed Bryn's wife and child.
• Suleiman requested a Trial by Combat and knighted Bryn, naming him Ser Bryn.
• When Vale nobles denounced Suleiman for helping a bandit, he asked Grand Maester Pycelle to explain how House Corbray had seized its lands through betrayal and murder.
• Suleiman recounted how Jarell Grafton had allegedly usurped Gulltown, imprisoned the rightful heir, and violently crushed a rebellion, publicly undermining the Vale nobles' claims to honor.

Suleiman’s account of ancient history sparked a confrontation between the Vale and the North, which escalated into a Trial of Seven after Jaime Lannister accepted the challenge. Greatjon Umber, Bryn, Rosso Brune, and Yohn Royce volunteered to fight alongside Suleiman, who later admitted to Lymond Lychester that the political fallout was not worth the risk but that events had already gone too far.

• Jarell Grafton and Leonor Corbray defended the Vale’s Andal heritage, and Corbray’s insults about the First Men enraged the northern lords.
• Leonor Corbray challenged Jaime Lannister, and the Vale called for a Trial of Seven, which Robert Baratheon approved despite Jon Arryn’s objections.
• Suleiman argued that he was only repeating Citadel history and asked the North to answer for Corbray’s insult to their ancestors.
• Greatjon Umber, Bryn, Rosso Brune, and Bronze Yohn Royce volunteered to fight with Suleiman in the Trial of Seven.
• Suleiman told Lymond Lychester that he had originally planned only to kill Benedar Belmore in a trial by combat, but the crisis had grown beyond his expectations and could no longer be stopped.

Suleiman assembled seven champions to face the Vale knights in a Trial of Seven, and the first clashes turned bloody. Jaime Lannister defeated Lyn Corbray and demanded that he reveal how he had killed Prince Lewyn Martell.

• Lyle Crakehall joined Suleiman's champions, completing their seven-man team.
• Jon Umber declared that none of their comrades should surrender, and Yohn Royce outlined the Vale knights' strengths.
• Suleiman assigned each champion an opponent, then the fourteen knights charged into battle.
• Bryn killed Benedar Belmore in a brutal fight after surviving a lance strike, and Rosso Brune killed Marwyn Belmore.
• Jaime Lannister unhorsed Lyn Corbray, defeated him on foot, and demanded that he explain how he had killed Prince Lewyn Martell.

Suleiman’s side won the trial by seven as the Vale champions fell or surrendered, but Jaime Lannister killed Lyn Corbray after the trial had ended. Robert Baratheon stopped the resulting standoff, leaving the rival kingdoms poised amid a volatile confrontation.

• Jaime Lannister exposed Lyn Corbray’s boast about killing Prince Lewyn Martell and forced him to kneel, while Suleiman continued his lance duel with Creighton Redfort.
• Suleiman killed Creighton Redfort by striking his horse and then smashing his helmet, while Jon Umber defeated Leonor Corbray on foot and accepted his surrender.
• Yohn Royce defeated Jarell Grafton, and Vardis Egen surrendered to Lyle Crakehall, prompting Jon Arryn to declare the trial by seven over.
• After Lyn Corbray taunted Jaime Lannister, Jaime cut his throat, provoking the Vale and Westerlands nobles to ready themselves for a fight.
• Robert Baratheon silenced the arena with a roar, and Suleiman watched the rival kingdoms face one another.

Suleiman rejected Rosso Frey's attempt to demand greater concessions for House Frey's support, then learned Robert Baratheon had ordered the Riverlands army to remain at home. He offered more than three hundred free knights land and a new status as Riverlands country nobles, and they eagerly pledged themselves to him.

• Suleiman agreed to marry a woman from House Frey, but refused Rosso Frey's attempt to bargain for additional rewards and told him to deliver his final offer to Walder Frey.
• Lymond Lychester told Suleiman that Robert Baratheon had ordered the Riverlands army to stay in the Riverlands instead of marching on Pyke.
• Suleiman summoned the free knights and told them they could leave for another war or remain in the Riverlands.
• Suleiman offered land to the knights in proportion to their battlefield achievements, with private ownership, inheritance, and a one-tenth tax, and named them Junkers.
• More than three hundred free knights knelt and pledged their swords to Suleiman, choosing to become country nobles of the Riverlands.

Suleiman planned to rebuild the war-torn Riverlands by estimating its land and population, attracting refugees with low taxes, and rewarding soldiers with small inherited estates under strict rules. The chapter ended with the knights pledging their swords as Suleiman set a ten-year plan to strengthen and pacify the Riverlands.

• Maester Rooney offered to resign because he believed his learning was insufficient to serve Lymond Lychester, but Lymond insisted that he stay.
• Suleiman estimated the Riverlands’ usable land and population, then proposed giving families land and attracting one hundred thousand refugees with a low tax rate.
• Suleiman announced a system for verifying military merit and awarding land, and Rosso Brune read out the verified rewards for the soldiers and knights.
• Rosso Brune received two hundred Governor Acres, while Ser Bryn Wyman received two hundred and seventy Governor Acres for his battlefield achievements.
• Rosso Brune read the eleven rules governing the new rural nobles, and the knights signed the contracts and pledged their swords to Suleiman.
• Suleiman told Lymond Lychester that his plan was to use ten years to nurture the people, expand the realm, and bring peace to the land.

At Rushmarsh, Suleiman granted military veterans Junker status and established rules for the Long Retainer Guard and the Governor’s Military Forts. After servants discovered that the stones where ironborn had burned could not be cleaned, Suleiman questioned Maester Rooney about his occult studies and Glass Candles, leaving the maester shocked and afraid.

• Suleiman made Lymond Lychester’s veteran soldiers Junkers in reward for their service and set duties for their lands and Military Forts.
• Suleiman established the Long Retainer Guard and announced that a tourney at Rushmarsh would select its first three hundred members from Junkers’ second sons.
• A servant told Suleiman that the inner keep’s burned stones could not be cleaned, but Suleiman ordered the work to continue and said he would move in within three days.
• Maester Rooney warned Suleiman that Rushmarsh might be cursed and revealed that he had studied the occult at the Citadel.
• Suleiman asked Maester Rooney whether Glass Candles could show distant scenes or let people enter others’ dreams, and Rooney reacted with shock and fear.

Suleiman ordered the scorched bricks of Oldstones preserved as a reminder of House Lychester’s bloody rise and sent all eighty-four captured Ironborn longships to the royal army. At Seaguard, the ships’ arrival ended Robert Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon’s argument over the fleet shortage and delighted Robert.

• Suleiman challenged Maester Rooney’s account of the Citadel’s glass candles and considered their value as tools for long-distance communication and rule.
• Suleiman rejected Maester Rooney’s warning about the inner keep’s ill fortune and ordered its blackened bricks laid beneath the gates of the rebuilt Oldstones.
• Suleiman told Rosso Brune to gather the men and send every captured Iron Fleet longship to Seaguard, keeping none for House Lychester.
• At Seaguard, Robert Baratheon and Stannis Baratheon argued over the lack of ships while Eddard Stark tried to calm them and suggested borrowing ships from House Lannister or House Lychester.
• A messenger reported that Governor Lymond Lychester had sent all eighty-four captured longships to the royal army, and Robert Baratheon praised him as a loyal subject.

Suleiman appointed Roslyn and Bana as governors of Lychester and Fairmarket Counties, then instructed them to resettle refugees and establish his governing system. He also appointed Olivier Chief of Staff to the Governor-General and ordered him to replace all of House Lychester’s servants.

• Roslyn and Bana arrived in Rushmarsh, where Suleiman appointed them governors of Lychester and Fairmarket Counties to manage returning refugees.
• Roslyn and Bana feared they could not govern thousands of people, but Suleiman encouraged them and explained the support of officers and Warriors they would receive.
• Roslyn and Bana accepted their appointments and asked to bring two hundred families each; Suleiman approved and instructed them to settle refugees, reward military service, and establish the Three-Chief System.
• After Roslyn, Bana, and the others left, Suleiman appointed Olivier Chief of Staff to the Governor-General of the Riverlands.
• Suleiman ordered Olivier to replace every one of House Lychester’s servants.

Suleiman ordered Olivier to replace House Lychester’s servants gradually and laid out appointments and intelligence plans for the Governor’s Cabinet, including a secret guard and a network of child spies. Meanwhile, Will and Colin struggled to control their bandit force, and Will agreed to raid a target of his own choosing.

• Suleiman ordered Olivier to quietly replace House Lychester’s servants with vetted people, giving each departing servant a generous severance and a plausible future.
• Suleiman appointed Bryn commander of the Governor’s Guard, dispersed Bryn’s brothers among the counties, and placed Wildlings and local recruits in a separate guard unit; he also named Rosso Brune, Toman, Hubbard, and Evelyn to key posts.
• Suleiman instructed Evelyn’s intelligence network to infiltrate Riverlands lords’ territories, establish hidden roots in King’s Landing, and train orphaned children as his personal spies and assassins.
• Will and Colin discussed their 627 bandits, their inability to control them, and the Blackfish’s refusal to leave Riverrun.
• Red Hand Dick demanded that the bandits raid a nearby miller, and Will agreed to a raid but insisted that he would choose the target.

Suleiman addressed the Governor's financial shortfall by ordering monopolies on key goods and unveiling Equitable Transport and Price Stabilization. The chapter left Hubbard eager to build the new trade system, while Rooney and Olivier recognized the scale of Suleiman's plans.

• Hubbard warned Suleiman that land taxes alone would not provide enough revenue to support the army, territory, and royal tax obligations.
• Suleiman ordered the Governor's Office to monopolize salt, iron, sugar, and alcohol, and told Hubbard to acquire merchants' businesses by any means that would not implicate the Governor's Residence.
• Hubbard described using audits, fines, pressure on merchants' families, and lower purchase offers against those who refused to sell, prompting Rooney to protest that the plan amounted to robbery.
• Suleiman argued that targeting merchants was preferable to raising taxes on farmers, which could leave households starving.
• Suleiman explained Equitable Transport and Price Stabilization: the Governor's Office would buy grain cheaply in abundant regions, store and transport goods, then sell them below market prices in shortage areas.
• Hubbard recognized the plan's profits and political benefits, while Rooney saw that it could aid farmers and disaster victims as well as enrich the Governor's Office.

Hubbard exploited merchants on Suleiman’s behalf while secretly fearing Suleiman would eventually dispose of him, and Martin Lannister arranged Corton’s family’s death to inflame anger against House Lychester. Suleiman used the panic and the flight of merchants to recruit six families, granting them exclusive rights to new trades so they could challenge outside merchants.

• Hubbard admitted to Rorl Buck that he planned to embezzle money and flee before Suleiman could turn on him, then ordered him to seize the remaining saltworks harshly.
• Martin Lannister proposed staging Corton’s family’s deaths and leaving a suicide note blaming Hubbard for forcing them into ruin.
• Olivier reported that Corton, his wife, and their four children had died in a fire, prompting merchants to panic and sell their businesses as Suleiman chose to let them flee.
• Seven days later, Suleiman summoned the six merchant families who had stayed and explained how Riverlands wealth was being drained by outsiders.
• Suleiman granted the six families exclusive trading rights in goods such as silk, spices, and gemstones, backed by House Lychester’s army and laws.

Suleiman granted six merchant families a Riverlands commerce monopoly in exchange for fees, taxes, and service to the Governor, then made Bock Hewen their guild president and directed them to help rebuild Oldstones. After the merchants left, Suleiman ordered Rore Buck assigned to Olivier and dismissed concerns about punishing the treasurer Hubbard, arguing that popular approval of a merchant family's ruin was not justice.

• Suleiman offered the six merchants a regional monopoly, required franchise fees and 40 percent of annual profits, and promised the guild master a seat in the Governor's cabinet.
• Olivier presented businesses seized by the Governor's Office, and the six merchants bid against one another until every listed business had a new owner.
• Suleiman appointed Bock Hewen the first guild president and ordered all six families to relocate to Oldstones to support the city's rebuilding.
• Bock Hewen pledged that the families would contribute to Oldstones' construction, and the merchants departed as agents of the Governor.
• Olivier asked whether Hubbard would be punished, and Suleiman ordered Hubbard's son, Rore Buck, transferred to Olivier as a clerk.
• Suleiman told Olivier not to concern himself with public opinion, saying commoners would cheer a merchant's destruction without regard for justice.

Suleiman ordered House Lychester to shape public opinion against the Cotten family and devised a plan to break outside merchants’ hold on the Riverlands through debt defaults and Warden-backed lending. At Fairmarket, Bock Hewen burned the debt records before indebted farmers, winning their gratitude for the governor and House Lychester.

• Olivier reported that Robert Baratheon's forces had landed on Pyke, Harlaw Island, and Great Wyk, while Riverrun had refused to send Edmure Tully to Rushmarsh.
• Suleiman ordered his officials to spread accusations that the Cotten family had exploited the poor and died while facing justice, despite Maester Rooney’s protest.
• Suleiman told Olivier to spread a story about a just governor’s judge, then ordered Bock Hewen to encourage farmers and knights to default on usurious loans and prohibited his six houses from making such loans.
• Suleiman directed the Warden to offer lower-interest loans to commoners and knights, aiming to bankrupt rival merchants and absorb their businesses.
• At Fairmarket, Bock Hewen burned the debt ledgers before indebted farmers and declared that the Riverlands would no longer shelter predatory creditors.
• The farmers knelt and praised House Lychester, Lord Lymond, Lord Suleiman, and the governor.

Roslyn enforced the Warden’s protection of Riverlands commoners by punishing a merchant’s guard for violently collecting a debt, while still recognizing the debt contract. In King’s Landing, Petyr Baelish recognized that House Lychester was using the ruling to drive out old merchants and establish a new monopoly guild, leaving him wary of its ambitions.

• Roslyn ruled that Jon Yorl’s debt contract was valid but ordered Ser Homan to cut off the guard’s left hand for breaking Donnar’s leg.
• Roslyn required Jon Yorl to pay Donnar two Silver Stags in compensation, and the merchants fled as the crowd cheered.
• News spread that Governor Roslyn would protect Riverlands people from violent debt collection, provoking panic among merchants in the Riverlands and King’s Landing.
• Oswell Kettleblack warned Petyr Baelish that merchants might leave the Riverlands and commerce could collapse.
• Petyr Baelish explained that House Lychester meant to clear out the old commercial order and had authorized six Riverlands merchants to form a monopoly guild.

Suleiman backed the monopoly guilds’ predatory acquisitions despite dozens of merchant suicides, prompting Maester Rooney to resign and deepening the Riverlands’ conflict with outside merchants. As Suleiman considered how to train administrators without provoking the Citadel, Olivier proposed military education for the governor’s attendants, and Suleiman was left weighing the dangerous system it could create.

• Olivier reported that the monopoly guilds had bought up struggling merchants’ businesses and that forty-seven merchants had died by suicide; Suleiman praised Bok Hewen and ordered a rumor spread to intensify hatred of merchants.
• Maester Rooney condemned the policy, removed his House Lychester sigil, and left to request that the Citadel send a replacement maester.
• Martin Lannister and Rod Lanni discussed how debts had become worthless and how merchants were selling their Riverlands holdings, then recognized they might have to accept losses and leave.
• Suleiman and Olivier discussed the Citadel’s opposition to independent schools and the governor’s need for trained administrators.
• Olivier proposed educating the governor’s attendants in military subjects so they could also serve as bureaucrats, and Suleiman considered how such a military-administrative system could transform the Riverlands.

Suleiman secured the Riverlands lords’ support for a monopoly guild that would seize merchants’ businesses and property, then Bock Hewen began enforcing the plan in Maidenpool. After joining William Mooton in exploiting Lude’s family and celebrating his new power, Bock showed interest in Lude’s wife, whom Mooton had made a servant.

• Suleiman and Hubbard presented the Riverlands Monopoly Guild plan, and the lords discussed how to confiscate merchants’ wealth.
• Suleiman promised powerful bannermen forty percent of the guild’s profits, while Quincy Cox agreed to surrender his saltworks in exchange for lordship over Saltpans.
• The nobles finalized plans to plunder merchants, and Bock Hewen resolved to become a noble after hearing their greed.
• Bock arrived in Maidenpool as guild president and accepted William Mooton’s offer to buy Lude’s confiscated shops, warehouses, property, and spices for five hundred Gold Dragons.
• At Mooton’s feast, Bock drank and reveled in his newfound status, then indicated his interest in Lude’s wife, now serving as a maid.

Suleiman considered the consequences of Boke Hewen’s harsh rule as the Faith praised his campaign against merchants and offered him an ancient sword to bind him to the Faith. Meanwhile, Bock Hewen forced the Monopoly Guild’s great houses to repay House Lychester within a month, leaving Rodley Tarl wary of the power they served.

• Olivier reported that the Monopoly Guild was profiting but that Boke Hewen had driven at least seventeen merchants to ruin or death through extreme retaliation.
• Brother Arlan told Suleiman that the Faith approved his actions and intended to preach his campaign against merchants as a holy cause.
• Brother Arlan presented Suleiman with an ancient sword said to belong to a Son of the Warrior, and Suleiman accepted it, recognizing that the Faith had come seeking a champion.
• Bock Hewen ordered the heads of the six great houses to repay their debts to House Lychester within one month and threatened to seize their property and families if they failed.
• Rodley Tarl warned Bock Hewen not to drive the merchants into a corner, but Bock insisted that his new power would make people treat him as a person.
• After Bock left, Rodley Tarl wondered whether the Riverlands’ powerful were also merely sheep beneath its one lion.

Petyr Baelish found King's Landing swept up in a violent religious movement praising Suleiman and urging the slaughter of heretics, while the Small Council traced the crisis to the Faith and suspected hidden sponsors. Jon Arryn ordered preparations to contain the unrest and sent warnings and commands to Stannis, Tywin, Winterfell, and Suleiman, whose ties to the Faith now threatened the crown.

• Petyr Baelish crossed King's Landing as septons urged crowds to kill heretics and praised Suleiman as the Sword of the Seven.
• Petyr Baelish reached the Small Council, where Varys explained that the Faith's gathering had endorsed Suleiman's actions and helped inspire a growing crusade against the Iron Islands and other heretics.
• Petyr Baelish warned that the Faith's story about Suleiman receiving a holy sword had spread suspiciously fast, and Varys said the Faith sought to reclaim power while the royal army was away.
• Jon Arryn ordered Pycelle to prepare ravens and Varys to investigate who was inciting and funding the unrest, while Petyr Baelish was tasked with raising an army.
• Jon Arryn sent letters ordering Stannis to halt the Iron Islands campaign, Tywin to prepare forces, and Winterfell to guard the Neck against zealots.
• Jon Arryn ordered Suleiman to explain whether he had promised the Faith anything, keep the Riverlands clergy in line, and remember that his sword belonged to the king.

Jon Connington learned how Varys planned to manipulate Suleiman and the Faith into war, while Varys prepared the Golden Company’s return. In Myr, a House Lychester envoy secured Viserys Targaryen’s signature on an agreement that tied his claim to the Faith, the Reach, and Dorne.

• Varys told Jon Connington that he had shaped the information reaching Suleiman and Jon Arryn to push the realm toward conflict and promised the Golden Company would wait until the Seven Kingdoms were exhausted.
• Varys instructed Jon Connington to tell Myles Toyne to prepare and said Illyrio would arrange ships and supplies.
• A House Lychester envoy found Viserys Targaryen and Daenerys Targaryen in Myr and offered Viserys allegiance and a path to reclaim the Iron Throne.
• Viserys Targaryen read an agreement making Lymond Lychester regent, restoring armed orders to the Faith, arranging his marriage to Margaery Tyrell, and betrothing Daenerys Targaryen to Quentyn Martell.
• Viserys Targaryen signed the agreement and ordered the envoy to tell his master that he wanted an army and his crown.