Chapter Summaries

Suleiman assessed how the Riverlands’ position left him surrounded by enemies and unable to exploit his military advantage. He considered breaking into the Vale but found the Bloody Gate impassable, then turned his attention to Dorne and The Reach.

• Bryn noticed Suleiman’s worry as he studied the map and asked what troubled him.
• Suleiman explained that Robert Baratheon, Eddard Stark, the Vale, and the Iron Islands could rebuild their armies within six months and threaten the Riverlands from every side.
• Suleiman described the barriers blocking offensives into the Westerlands, the North, and the Vale, and said he was trapped despite his superior force.
• Bryn warned that five hundred warriors could hold the Bloody Gate against an army of a hundred thousand.
• After Bryn left, Suleiman rejected direct assault, bribery, alliances, and incitement as ways into the Vale, then considered what Dorne and The Reach might demand.

Suleiman consolidated control over the Riverlands, pardoning Clement Piper and setting conditions for House Blackwood while House Smallwood’s women appealed to him as a father. He spared the Smallwoods and began planning to dismantle the Riverlands’ feudal order and govern it directly for the coming war.

• Suleiman forgave Clement Piper, seated him among the East Riverlands lords, and ordered him to leave his troops behind before departing for King's Landing.
• Jonos Bracken urged Suleiman to exterminate House Blackwood, but Suleiman challenged Bracken for arriving only after the victory and warned that Blackwood would face the same fate as Smallwood if it resisted.
• Lady Smallwood led the women of her house into Suleiman’s tent and argued that the Riverlands was a family with Suleiman as its father.
• Suleiman accepted Lady Smallwood’s appeal, spared her family, and ordered every Smallwood to go to King's Landing.
• Suleiman planned to transfer the Riverlords to new fiefs in the Crownlands, replace feudal rule with direct administration, and turn the Riverlands into a loyal military kingdom.

Suleiman told his closest subordinates he would leave the Riverlands in their hands while he went to King's Landing, and ordered them to seize control and remake its institutions. He declared his resolve to build a new world, and his followers knelt in submission.

• Suleiman announced that he would travel to King's Landing with only Rosso and Brune, leaving Bryn, Bana, Toman, Lushen, and Roslyn behind to command more than twenty thousand religious followers.
• Suleiman explained that he planned to transfer the Riverlands lords' fiefs to the Crownlands and have his subordinates seize power across the Riverlands.
• Suleiman ordered Bana to record reforms abolishing the lord-vassal hierarchy, placing everyone under his administration and law, and granting advancement through military merit or religious education.
• Bana warned Suleiman that overturning the existing order was dangerous, but Suleiman insisted he would create a new world rather than become merely another King of the Trident.
• Suleiman drove his dagger into the table and declared that his decision was final, after which Bryn, Roslyn, Lushen, and Toman knelt and pledged submission.

Suleiman named his companions heroes and prepared them to test the Riverlands lords’ response to the return of noble captives. He then approved the Sons of the Warrior’s hymn and granted them custody of commoner prisoners for a year of labor, along with Harrenhal as their permanent base.

• Suleiman called Bana, Bryn, Toman, Lushen, and Roslyn heroes after they spoke fearlessly of Robert Baratheon, then told them to act as the situation demanded when Vale captives returned.
• Theodore Wells and ten Sons of the Warrior sang Suleiman a hymn and asked him to name it; he called it “Knight, Your Salvation Shall Come.”
• Theodore Wells asked Suleiman to spare the Westerlands and Vale commoner captives, whom he said were children of the Seven.
• Suleiman gave the Sons of the Warrior custody of the commoner captives for a year of labor rebuilding the Riverlands and fighting bandits, promising to release them afterward if they behaved well.
• Suleiman offered Harrenhal as the Sons of the Warrior’s permanent base and promised to provide food and Gold Dragons for the order.

Suleiman granted the Sons of the Warrior custody of thousands of Westerlands and Vale prisoners for a year of labor, then announced he would spend 500,000 Gold Dragons building twelve thousand sanctuaries. He left the Riverlands lords alarmed and the Faith’s followers acclaiming him as a saint, while his plan to make village monks part of a royal religious bureaucracy remained hidden.

• Theodore Wells asked Suleiman to release the prisoners, and Suleiman assigned them to the Sons of the Warrior for a year of work rebuilding the Riverlands and fighting bandits.
• Arwood Halton objected to releasing the prisoners and demanded that their sword fingers be cut off, but Suleiman silenced him.
• Bana called for septs throughout the Riverlands, and Suleiman pledged 500,000 Gold Dragons to build twelve thousand sanctuaries.
• The monks and Sons of the Warrior hailed Suleiman as a saint, while Arwood Halton grew suspicious of his intentions.
• Suleiman declared that each village would have a sanctuary and Barefoot Monk to lead worship, teach, and mediate disputes.

Suleiman tested the Riverlands lords and knights by ordering increasingly extreme acts against the Vale prisoners. The chapter ended with six knights frozen as Suleiman commanded them to boil Morton Waynwood and his son alive.

• After Theodore Wells and the monks left, Arwood Halton realized Suleiman had been desensitizing the Riverlands lords with his earlier demands.
• Rosso Brune brought Morton Waynwood and the other captured Vale nobles into the tent.
• Morton Waynwood refused to kneel to Suleiman and argued that the demand insulted Westerosi customs.
• Arwood Halton urged Suleiman to let the Vale nobles save face and kneel to the Targaryens in King's Landing instead.
• Suleiman ordered Morton Waynwood and his son boiled alive and their flesh fed to livestock, leaving the six Riverlands knights who held Morton motionless.

Suleiman tested whether the Riverlands knights would obey his order to torture Vale nobles, then used their complicity to bind the Riverlands lords to him. After news arrived that the Reach and Dorne had joined his cause, he demanded the Vale prisoners’ executions and declared that war meant taking everything from the defeated; the chapter ended with three lords agreeing to plot against him.

• Suleiman stayed silent while six Riverlands knights hesitated over his order to boil Morton Waynwood alive, and Robert finally summoned a pot and firewood, prompting the other knights to act.
• The knights dragged Morton Waynwood and his son away as the Riverlords looked on, and Horton Redfort condemned Suleiman and demanded his own execution.
• A messenger announced that the Reach and Dorne had mustered armies and wanted to negotiate the restoration of the Targaryens, lifting the Riverlords’ spirits and crushing the Vale nobles’ hopes.
• Suleiman again asked who would kill the prisoners, and Lymond Guburk and William Mooton led the Riverlords in taking the Vale nobles outside to execute them.
• Suleiman told the Riverlords that their enemies had broken the rules first and promised them power if they remained loyal to him.
• After Suleiman left, Arwood Halton, Walter He An, and Gyles Leger agreed that he was a threat, and Walter He An vowed to eliminate him with House Legg’s help.

At Highgarden, Olenna Redwyne rejected Mace Tyrell’s idea that Suleiman was Rhaegar Targaryen’s ghost and argued that Suleiman’s rebellion was a consequence of the order Robert Baratheon and the other Usurpers had destroyed. She left Willas Tyrell with a warning that Suleiman was not Maegor Targaryen, but a pure-blooded Andal.

• Mace Tyrell wondered whether Suleiman was possessed by Rhaegar Targaryen’s ghost, but Olenna Redwyne dismissed the idea and urged him to learn what Suleiman wanted before sending him away from court.
• Willas Tyrell warned that Suleiman was more dangerous than Tywin Lannister and said the Tyrells could not work with him.
• Olenna explained that the Targaryens had ended the wars between Westeros’s kingdoms and that their overthrow had broken the order restraining ambitious lords and knights.
• Olenna argued that Baratheon, Stark, Arryn, Lannister, and Tully—not Suleiman—had broken the rules by overthrowing the Targaryens.
• Willas compared Suleiman to Maegor Targaryen among the Andals, but Olenna called him a pure-blooded Andal.

At the Citadel, Maester Perestan explained why he considered Suleiman a return to the ruthless Andal conquerors of old. The chapter left Mollander confronting the idea that modern Andals feared the very violence their ancestors had used to conquer Westeros.

• Mollander found Suleiman's name added beside the legendary Andal king Erreg in Maester Perestan's history of the Andal conquest.
• Perestan told Mollander that Suleiman resembled an archaic Andal conqueror whose authority rested on force, discipline, and distributing spoils.
• Perestan described original Andal chivalry and faith as codes that rewarded loyalty and sanctified violence against the First Men.
• Perestan annotated the book with examples of conquest-era brutality, including extermination, trophies, torture, and broken surrender agreements.
• Perestan concluded that modern Andals had become like the First Men they conquered, while Suleiman embodied their original conqueror ancestors.

Jon Connington and Varys realized Suleiman’s victory had stripped the Golden Company of leverage, so Varys planned to seek support in the Stormlands while three plots against Suleiman took shape. Meanwhile, Suleiman’s envoy arranged ships to carry the Ragged Prince and thousands of mercenaries from Essos to the Vale, and the fleet set sail.

• Jon Connington and Varys discussed Suleiman’s victory and concluded that Viserys Targaryen and his sister were their only bargaining chips.
• Varys revealed that three assassination plots were brewing against Suleiman, including one involving the Riverlords and a likely plot by the Reach.
• Varys told Jon Connington they would sail to the Stormlands rather than King's Landing and seek the Dornish’s support.
• Polly Hewen arrived at the Andalos Coast and announced that Suleiman had paid one hundred thousand Gold Dragons for Braavosi ships to transport the mercenaries to the Vale.
• The Ragged Prince and the mercenary companies boarded the ships, and the Ragged Prince ordered the fleet to set off.

After the Westerlands army was destroyed, Tyrion returned to Deep Den and found Tywin alive and commanding the surviving lords. Tywin disowned him as heir but ordered him to reform the Westerlands before being sent to the Wall, while Tyrion warned that Suleiman had reasons to release the captured lords.

• Tyrion rode alone toward Deep Den, fearing the Westerlands lords would blame him for the army’s destruction.
• At Deep Den, Tyrion found the surviving lords gathered in order before Tywin, who had survived his grave wounds.
• Tywin condemned Tyrion’s defeat, declared Jaime would inherit Casterly Rock, and ordered Tyrion to take the black after completing his final service to the family.
• Tywin instructed Tyrion to seize lands left by dead knights, grant them to commoners who would fight, and hold the captured lords’ families as hostages.
• Tyrion agreed to reform the Westerlands and warned Tywin that Suleiman might release the lords to keep them from surrendering the region to the Iron Throne.
• Tywin decided to negotiate for the captured lords and lamented that Suleiman had not been born into the Lannister family; Tyrion left into the night.

Arianne Martell urged Doran Martell to let her marry Suleiman after reading Oberyn's report of his overwhelming victories, but Doran refused and revealed his plan for her to marry Viserys Targaryen. Doran sent Oberyn to meet Suleiman and determine whether he intended to rule as a warlord or serve House Targaryen.

• Arianne Martell read Oberyn Martell's letter describing Suleiman's destruction of one hundred thousand enemy troops in two months.
• Doran Martell acknowledged that Suleiman had accomplished in two months what he had spent more than ten years preparing to do.
• Arianne Martell demanded to marry Suleiman so Dorne could join the winning side, but Doran refused and warned that Suleiman would control her.
• Doran Martell claimed Suleiman would die within three months and revealed that Arianne was betrothed to Viserys Targaryen, who would make her queen.
• Doran Martell decided Oberyn should meet Suleiman and judge whether he sought power for himself or remained loyal to House Targaryen.

Sealord Ferrego Antaryon and the Iron Bank's keyholders considered Suleiman's offer to assume the Targaryen debt in exchange for a Braavosi small council seat and a trade monopoly in the Riverlands. They weighed backing his reforms against the risks, then ordered Tychus Nestor to warn Suleiman that assassins were targeting him.

• A keyholder warned Sealord Ferrego Antaryon that Robert Baratheon's imminent fall threatened the Iron Bank's three million Gold Dragons in unpaid debt.
• Naho Demetis revealed that Suleiman had promised to assume Robert Baratheon's debt and appoint a Braavosi to the small council under a Shadow Pact.
• Naho Demetis outlined Suleiman's offer of exclusive Braavosi trading rights in the Riverlands and his request for help carrying out civic reforms.
• Naho Demetis argued that Suleiman had the money, popular support, and military strength to pursue reform, while the keyholders debated the agreement's risks.
• A frail keyholder reported that Braavosi swordsmen had accepted contracts to assassinate Suleiman, though hiring the Faceless Men would cost far more.
• Sealord Ferrego Antaryon ordered Naho Demetis to have Tychus Nestor warn Suleiman that he must stay alive until Braavos achieved its objectives.

After the Blackwater Rush disaster, Renly Baratheon learned that Stannis was presumed dead and turned to Melisandre and the Red God for power. Convinced that a prophecy promised Suleiman’s eventual downfall, Renly left Dragonstone with Melisandre and the surviving fleet for the Vale.

• Morford Velaryon told Renly Baratheon that Stannis was presumed dead in the Blackwater Rush explosion, while Davos Seaworth had survived.
• Renly Baratheon ordered Melisandre killed, but her words and the flames that suddenly engulfed his sword convinced him to seek the Red God’s aid.
• Renly Baratheon demanded power from Melisandre and promised to replace the Seven with the Red God’s worship if she helped him reclaim the throne.
• At Renly Baratheon’s tacit approval, nobles destroyed and burned Dragonstone’s sept, while Maester Cressen was injured trying to stop them.
• Morford Velaryon advised Renly Baratheon to flee to the Vale, and Renly interpreted Melisandre’s prophecy about snow in the desert as a prediction that Suleiman would fall.
• Renly Baratheon sailed from Dragonstone with Melisandre and the remnants of his fleet, while Melisandre privately recognized the prophecy as Renly’s fate.

Robert Baratheon learned that Balon Greyjoy was exploiting the royal army’s defeats and that Jaime Lannister had deserted, then received Suleiman’s challenge to battle. Eddard Stark persuaded Robert to avoid a likely defeat, and Robert decided to regroup while Eddard returned to The North.

• Barristan Selmy reported that Balon Greyjoy demanded The North, the Riverlands, and Iron Islands independence, while Robert Baratheon raged at the terms.
• Robert Baratheon learned that Jaime Lannister had fled toward The Westerlands with nobles and soldiers, but Eddard Stark stopped him from pursuing Jaime.
• Balon Greyjoy continued stalling with more demands, including marriages involving Theon Greyjoy and Asha Greyjoy.
• Suleiman’s envoy delivered a letter challenging Robert Baratheon to meet him in battle in the Riverlands, and Robert ordered his forces to assemble.
• Eddard Stark warned Robert Baratheon that his exhausted army could not defeat Suleiman’s forces, and urged him to avoid battle and regroup.
• Robert Baratheon accepted Eddard Stark’s advice, decided not to go to Seaguard, and told Suleiman’s envoy he would remember the challenge for now.

Euron Greyjoy sailed away from Pyke toward Valyria, abandoning Balon Greyjoy’s plan to trap Robert Baratheon. Facing defeat and unrest, Robert admitted the Crown’s failures, rallied his lords with vows to reform and abstain from drinking, and prepared to leave for the Westerlands to rebuild and fight Suleiman.

• Euron Greyjoy turned the Silence east toward Valyria instead of returning with a fleet to aid Balon Greyjoy.
• Balon Greyjoy learned Euron had sailed south, banished him, and demanded negotiations with Robert Baratheon for Iron Islands independence and Maron’s return.
• Robert Baratheon rejected his nobles’ calls for an immediate counterattack, listed the military and political reasons they could not defeat Suleiman, and accepted blame for the kingdom’s crisis.
• Robert Baratheon chose to negotiate with Balon Greyjoy and lead his forces to the Westerlands, but refused Balon’s envoy’s demand to hand over Maron Greyjoy.
• Robert Baratheon smashed his wine jug, swore off drinking until the war was won, and pledged to reform the government; Stormlands, Northern, and Crownlands nobles then swore to fight for him.
• Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark clasped hands and resolved to fight together again.

Walter He An and Gyles Leger plotted to kill Suleiman by raising a mutiny, while Arwood Halton pretended to agree. Arwood left the Seven Swords Inn to warn Suleiman of the rebellion plot.

• Gyles Leger and Walter He An argued that Suleiman’s influence would die with him and justified killing him as serving the crown.
• Arwood Halton proposed poison or assassination, but Walter He An and Gyles Leger pushed for a swift mutiny with other Riverlords.
• Arwood called the two men fools and silently let them believe he had accepted their plan.
• Walter He An and Gyles Leger left the inn, and Arwood ordered a knight to tell Suleiman they were plotting a rebellion.

Walter Haigh tried to persuade his household knights to rebel against Suleiman, but they rejected him and chose to report his plans. In Brownfort, Taicho Nestoris urged Suleiman to deposit a vast fortune with the Iron Bank while confirming that Braavos was likely to accept Suleiman’s trade alliance proposal.

• Walter Haigh told his twelve household knights that Suleiman planned to seize the throne and ordered them to launch an uprising and kill him.
• Ser Derrick and the other knights refused, arguing that Suleiman had never shown rebellious intent and that the Riverlands depended on him.
• Walter Haigh drew his sword and declared that he would act at once, so the knights left his tent in opposition.
• Ser Derrick decided to report Lord Hean to Lord Suleiman, and one knight rode to Duskold Town while the others affirmed their loyalty to the Riverlands and its people.
• Taicho Nestoris asked Suleiman about his wealth, and Suleiman said he had access to two and a half million from Faith donations and Crownlands nobles’ property.
• Taicho Nestoris proposed that Suleiman deposit the money in the Iron Bank and said Braavos would likely accept his trade alliance proposal.

Suleiman revealed his plans to use Braavosi trade and soldiers’ wealth to transform the Riverlands, then learned that Walter He An and Gyles Leger were plotting a rebellion. He greeted the news with exhilaration, seeing betrayal as proof that his changes were reshaping the world.

• Suleiman rejected Taicho Nestoris’s praise of his reforms and bluntly described the oppression underlying both Westeros and Braavos.
• Suleiman agreed to a proposed price for 30,000 warhorses, then clarified that he planned to distribute 600,000 Gold Dragons among his soldiers so they could buy goods from Braavos themselves.
• Suleiman proposed that Braavos and the Riverlands jointly manage the Targaryen Dynasty’s treasury, leaving Taicho Nestoris stunned.
• Rosso Brune reported that Walter He An and Gyles Leger were plotting a rebellion, with lords and knights supplying information against them.
• Suleiman laughed at the report and told Taicho Nestoris that the changes he had made to the world made his heart race.

Suleiman used a troop withdrawal and a sudden summons to provoke Walter He An into revealing his planned rebellion. Walter He An ordered House Whent’s forces to attack Duskendale and kill Suleiman, despite his knights’ desperate attempts to stop him.

• Suleiman refused Rosso Brune’s request to arrest the conspirators and ordered most of the troops moved out of Duskendale to lure the nobles into acting.
• Walter He An hesitated as the Riverlords withdrew their support and his knights urged him not to rebel.
• Suleiman ordered messengers to summon Walter He An and Gyles Leger urgently without explaining why.
• After receiving Suleiman’s summons, Walter He An feared that the plot had been exposed and decided to rebel immediately.
• Walter He An ordered his troops to attack Duskendale and kill Suleiman, ignoring Ser Derrick and the other knights as they tried to restrain him.