Chapter Summaries

Suleiman sent Bronn to lure the pursuing Wildlings into a trap after they found the villages destroyed and their supplies ruined. Bronn killed the chief of the Howlers with a thrown axe, then escaped on a slow horse while demanding more money from Suleiman.

• Lushen and Roslyn left the tent, and Bronn told Suleiman he would flee if their situation turned bad.
• The Milk Snakes and Howlers followed the Flatlanders through ruined villages, finding burned supplies and polluted wells that left them hungry and thirsty.
• The chief of the Howlers grew wary and ordered scouts to inspect the river valley, while the chief of the Milk Snakes urged the group onward.
• Bronn emerged from the woods and threw an axe into the chief of the Howlers' head, provoking the Wildlings into a furious pursuit.
• Bronn escaped on a Mountain Clans warhorse as the Wildlings chased him, and he shouted that Suleiman owed him more money.

Lushen and his soldiers struggled to block the river while Bronn tried to avoid returning to Suleiman, but Toman’s bluff forced him to turn back. As the Wildlings approached Suleiman’s outnumbered fort, Suleiman killed his horse to show he would stand and die with his soldiers.

• Lushen drove stakes and hauled stone-filled sacks into the icy river as his exhausted soldiers followed his example.
• Bronn argued that his mission was over and tried to keep his five Suleiman soldiers from returning to the battle.
• Toman claimed Suleiman had put a bounty on Bronn and warned the riders that abandoning the fort would endanger their families, so Bronn turned back with them.
• Suleiman learned the Wildlings were approaching with four or five hundred fighters against his roughly hundred men.
• Suleiman killed his frightened white horse and declared he would live and die with his soldiers as Roslyn drew her sword.

Suleiman prepared his soldiers to defend their hilltop fort against hundreds of pursuing Wildlings, whose hunger and thirst fueled their desire for revenge. As the battle approached, Suleiman declared that he trusted Lushen and promised to stand and fall alongside his men.

• The Wildlings reached the fort and began searching for trees to make ladders, while the Milk Snakes' chieftain vowed to kill the attacker who had slain a chieftain.
• Suleiman rallied his frightened soldiers, told them they had nowhere left to retreat, and offered two fallen warhorses as food.
• Bronn questioned whether Suleiman trusted Lushen, and Suleiman eventually answered that he did.
• Roslyn reported that the soldiers were ready, and Suleiman ordered them to conserve arrows and spears and target climbers and the Wildlings' chieftain.
• Suleiman promised Bronn his wages if he survived and told Toman he would fall alongside him; Toman was moved that Suleiman remembered his name.
• Bronn watched Suleiman with growing curiosity as the Wildlings prepared to attack.

Suleiman and his soldiers fought off wave after wave of Wildlings at Arc Palisade until the main gate gave way. Bronn appeared alone at the gate, raging at Suleiman and demanding to know where the water was.

• Roslyn ordered the archers and soldiers to attack as the Mountain Clans charged Arc Palisade with ladders.
• Suleiman and Bronn fought atop the palisade, killing Wildlings as they climbed while the defenders grew exhausted.
• Roslyn took a Beast Blade meant for Suleiman, and Bronn tried to escape before discovering the horses were dead.
• The Milk Snakes' Wildlings battered the main gate with a tree-trunk ram as Suleiman prepared his soldiers for a final stand.
• The gate burst open, but Bronn stood there alone, shouting at Suleiman and asking where the water was.

Roslyn led Suleiman’s soldiers in a desperate defense against the Wildlings at the camp entrance. As the flood rushed down the valley, the soldiers drove the Wildlings back, climbed the wooden wall, and hailed Suleiman.

• Roslyn rallied the soldiers, who fought the Wildlings in a brutal crush at the narrow gate.
• The Milk Snakes' chieftain tried to regain control of his fighters, but Bronn killed him with a thrown dagger.
• Bronn and Suleiman urged the exhausted soldiers forward as the ground began to tremble.
• Suleiman ordered the soldiers to drive the Wildlings out, and they counterattacked as the flood approached.
• An archer spotted the torrent, and Suleiman’s soldiers climbed onto the wooden wall while the flood swept away Wildlings at the entrance.
• The soldiers raised their swords and shouted Suleiman’s name as the flood surged through the valley.

Suleiman’s forces flooded the battlefield and finished off the Wildlings, while Bronn demanded payment and claimed he had killed three clan chiefs. At the High Mountain Clans’ camp, Timett Son of Timett realized the Flatlanders had deceived him and that a large part of his people had vanished.

• Suleiman ordered his soldiers to kill the Wildlings caught in the flood, then collapsed from exhaustion and Roslyn caught him.
• Bronn planted his sword before the soldiers and demanded payment for their lives, including Suleiman’s.
• Bronn leaped into the water, killed three Wildling clan chiefs, and returned with their heads.
• Timett Son of Timett grew uneasy as his warriors failed to take Valleydeep Town and his raiding parties disappeared.
• Chella daughter of Chek warned Timett Son of Timett that the Flatlanders had deceived him, and he angrily cut down a tree, realizing he may have lost more than five hundred people.

Timett Son of Timett ordered the remaining Burned Men into a desperate assault on Valleydeep Town, while Lofor of Valleydeep struggled to hold the walls as his exhausted defenders faced defeat. A distant metal horn sounded, interrupting the battle at a critical moment.

• Timett Son of Timett learned that only about six hundred Burned Men remained and ordered them all to attack the castle.
• Shagga son of Dolf led the Stone Crow Tribe away from the camp, while Chella daughter of Chek gave Timett Son of Timett a strange smile.
• Lofor of Valleydeep and Heluo of Valleydeep prepared their starving, depleted soldiers to repel another Wildling assault and worried that Suleiman of Foulkeep had not arrived.
• The Wildlings stormed Valleydeep Town, overwhelming the defenders, battering the gates, and breaking through onto the walls.
• A piercing metal horn sounded in the distance, causing the attackers and defenders to stop and turn toward it.

Timett Son of Timett abandoned the attack on Valleydeep Town after mistaking Suleiman’s dust-making deception for a huge Flatlander army. Suleiman sent Bronn to keep the Wildlings retreating, leaving Valleydeep safe for the moment.

• Timett Son of Timett saw a vast dust cloud rising from the eastern woods and ordered his clansmen to retreat from Valleydeep Town.
• Lofor, Lord of Valleydeep, and Heluo of Valleydeep celebrated the apparent reinforcements, but Lofor refused to pursue the Wildlings.
• Suleiman’s soldiers and livestock churned up dust in the woods to make his small force look like a huge army.
• Bronn explained Suleiman’s deception to Lushen, then considered the fame he might gain from the campaign.
• Suleiman ordered Bronn to get ahead of the retreating Wildlings and keep them from turning back.

Timett Son of Timett fled through the mountains with the battered remnants of the Mountain Clans while Flatlander forces pursued them. After capturing four Vale ironclad men, he learned that the Riverlands had sent no army and that Suleiman, a sixteen-year-old noble with only three hundred peasant farmers, had defeated them.

• Timett Son of Timett refused to let his exhausted, wounded clansmen stop as the Flatlander vanguard pursued them through the mountains.
• A Burned Men warrior told Timett Son of Timett that the Stone Crow Tribe and the Black Ears Tribe had deserted during the siege and taken their share of the spoils.
• Timett Son of Timett learned that fewer than four hundred Mountain Clan survivors remained, down from the more than one thousand warriors who had descended from the mountains.
• A scout warned Timett Son of Timett that four Vale ironclad men on horseback were blocking the path, and Timett ordered his clansmen to capture them and burn them alive.
• The captured leader told Timett Son of Timett that the Riverlands had sent no reinforcements and that Suleiman, a sixteen-year-old noble, had led only three hundred peasant farmers.

Timett Son of Timett discovered that only a little over twenty men were tracking his Wildlings, confirming that Suleiman had bluffed him into fleeing. Bronn then kept his small force near the Wildlings and sent word to Suleiman about their true numbers, preparing to continue his maneuver.

• Timett Son of Timett ordered scouts to check the pursuers after the captured Flatlanders insisted their story was true.
• The scouts confirmed that only a little over twenty men were tracking the Wildlings, and Timett Son of Timett realized Suleiman had tricked him into fleeing.
• Timett Son of Timett killed one captive and released the other three, telling them to report that the Burned Men needed food to survive the winter.
• Bronn explained to Toman that he had deliberately let the Wildlings discover his force's small numbers and ordered two men to tell Suleiman there were only a little over three hundred Wildlings.
• Bronn watched three knights of the Vale ride away from the Wildlings and ordered his soldiers to follow him.

Bronn’s men ambushed three knights sent by Lord Benedar Belmore to contact the Mountain Clan wildlings, then killed them after learning their mission. When a lion roared nearby, Bronn saw a chance to give Lord Suleiman a grander title and ordered his men to fetch black dye.

• Bronn and his soldiers surrounded three knights from Strong Song and demanded their horses and weapons.
• Bronn interrogated the knights and learned they were carrying intelligence to the Mountain Clan wildlings on Lord Benedar Belmore’s orders.
• Bronn killed the older knight, and his soldiers stabbed the other two knights to death.
• A lion roared in the forest, and the soldiers wanted to capture it for Lord Suleiman.
• Bronn proposed giving Suleiman a more resounding title and ordered the soldiers to get black dye.

Timett Son of Timett rallied the surviving Wildlings to attack Suleiman, while Suleiman secured Lord Lofor’s help in disguising his departure to pursue them. After Heluo Valleydeep insulted him, Suleiman struck and threatened Heluo, then left Valleydeep Town with his soldiers.

• Timett Son of Timett learned that only three hundred Wildlings remained and ordered the surviving warriors to attack Suleiman and reclaim their spoils.
• Suleiman asked Lord Lofor for soldiers to pursue the Wildlings, but Lofor refused and Heluo accused Suleiman of looting House Valleydeep.
• Suleiman defended his actions and offered to return half the spoils if Lofor would make it seem that Suleiman’s force remained at camp.
• Heluo insulted Suleiman again, so Suleiman knocked him down, held a dagger to him, and forced him to apologize.
• Lord Lofor ordered Suleiman to leave Valleydeep Town, and Suleiman departed with his soldiers.

Suleiman launched a surprise night attack on the Mountain Clans’ savage camp, using burning livestock to set the tents ablaze before advancing in tight formations. Timett Son of Timett rallied the Burned Men and ordered them to kill Suleiman as the encirclement closed in.

• Suleiman led his soldiers toward the camp while Valleydeep Town’s troops kept bonfires burning to make it appear his army remained outside town.
• Suleiman and Lushen set fire to grease-soaked livestock and released them into the camp, igniting the tents and throwing the savages into chaos.
• Timett Son of Timett rallied the Burned Men and tried to steady the savages, while several tribal chiefs fled toward the mountains with their clansmen.
• Suleiman rallied his soldiers and sent two tight formations forward from the flanks as Lushen sounded the horn.
• Timett Son of Timett led the Burned Men against the soldiers’ spear-and-shield formations, then roared for them to kill Suleiman.

Suleiman's army fought the Mountain Clans Wildlings until flames behind the lines shattered the soldiers' formation and Timett led a counterattack. As Roslyn's flank collapsed and Timett advanced toward Suleiman, a terrifying black figure emerged from the forest.

• Suleiman ordered his troops to hold formation and compress the Wildlings, while Timett led a desperate charge against the shield wall.
• Lushen personally filled a breach and rallied his soldiers as the fighting grew fiercer.
• Warning horns sounded when flames rose from the army's rear, causing Suleiman's formation and morale to falter.
• Lushen regrouped his own troops, but Timett overran Roslyn's disordered right flank and drove toward Suleiman.
• A black figure leaped from the forest, stopping the battle and leaving Suleiman stunned.

A black, upright lion appeared on the battlefield and helped Suleiman’s soldiers rout the Wildlings, who believed Suleiman had summoned a supernatural servant. After the battle, Suleiman learned the lion was Bronn and played along as it knelt before him and departed into the forest.

• The black lion killed a Wildling, then Suleiman’s soldiers charged and rallied around the creature.
• The soldiers shouted that Suleiman was the Black Lion of the Riverlands, while the terrified Wildlings broke ranks and fled.
• Timett, Son of Timett, abandoned the collapsing battle and led some Wildlings into the forest.
• Toman told Suleiman that the black lion was Lord Bronn and had demanded payment for his performance.
• The black lion knelt before Suleiman, who praised it, and then vanished into the woods as his soldiers knelt before their lord.

After the battle, Suleiman addressed his soldiers and heard Bronn’s account of how he had used a lion’s hide to help create the Black Lion legend. Roslyn took responsibility for the right flank’s collapse and ordered the soldiers to lash him, leaving his back badly wounded as he sought to remember his failure.

• Suleiman ordered Lushen, Roslyn, and the soldiers to clear the battlefield and count the casualties.
• Bronn emerged from the woods, described killing and skinning one of two lions, and joked about inventing a wolf-raised origin story when he became a noble.
• Suleiman assembled the troops and heard Roslyn confess that the right flank had scattered and some Wildlings had escaped.
• Roslyn stripped off his armor, took a cane, and ordered each soldier to lash him under military law.
• The soldiers struck Roslyn one by one, and his back was left mangled and bleeding while he knelt upright.

Suleiman used Roslyn’s punishment to explain why strict discipline mattered and to reaffirm his plan to build a military nobility whose fortunes depended on him. He promised the soldiers food, land, wealth, and noble titles as he vowed to lead them across Westeros.

• Suleiman planned to replace hereditary lords in his territory with military nobles and independent farmers whose land and livelihoods depended on him.
• After punishing Roslyn, Suleiman removed his robe and offered to share responsibility for Roslyn’s failure as commander.
• Roslyn begged Suleiman not to punish himself, then tried to kill himself, but Suleiman kicked away his sword and questioned his leadership.
• Suleiman told Roslyn and Lushen that commanders had to discipline their soldiers and prepare to lead much larger forces.
• Suleiman promised the soldiers food, land, Gold Dragons, houses, and future knighthoods and noble titles, and vowed to lead them across the Seven Kingdoms.

Heluo Valleydeep returned with stolen spoils, but Lord Lofor learned of his raid and tried to surrender himself to Suleiman. Suleiman accepted Lord Lofor’s submission, then killed Heluo and Lord Lofor, leaving his soldiers to slaughter the disarmed Valleydeep force.

• Heluo Valleydeep returned toward Valleydeep Town with stolen goods, and Lord Lofor intercepted him and beat him for raiding Suleiman’s lands.
• Suleiman and his hidden soldiers surrounded the Valleydeep party, and Lord Lofor offered to stand trial and take the black in exchange for his son’s life.
• Suleiman ordered Lord Lofor to kneel on both knees and surrender his sword, then made him order his soldiers to cast down their weapons.
• A soldier slit Heluo’s throat despite Suleiman’s oath to spare him, and Suleiman killed Lord Lofor after revealing he did not believe in the Seven Gods.
• Suleiman walked away as his soldiers began slaughtering the disarmed Valleydeep troops.

Suleiman rejected Lady Lorna’s offer of marriage, despite her lands and town, because he intended to pursue greater power and avoid suspicion. After she left in despair, he told Bronn he had a task for him, planning to bring Lorna under his control another way.

• Bronn gave Suleiman a dark crimson sigil bearing a black lion’s head, while Suleiman questioned whether the fierce design suited him.
• Lushen reported that more than four hundred Wildling heads had been gathered and piled up.
• Bronn urged Suleiman to marry Lady Lorna and seize her estate, then offered to marry her himself when Suleiman refused.
• Suleiman summoned Lady Lorna, who begged him to marry her and protect her lands, but he rejected her proposal.
• Lady Lorna left in tears, and Suleiman told Bronn he had something for him to do.

Suleiman hired Bronn to isolate Lady Lorna and discover who remained loyal to House Valleydeep. In King's Landing, Jon Arryn received reports of a young Riverlands noble's astonishing victory over the Wildlings and realized the story was spreading across the Riverlands and the Vale.

• Suleiman told Bronn to make Lady Lorna feel abandoned and assess the loyalty of House Valleydeep's people.
• Bronn agreed to cause Lady Lorna trouble and promised to appear as her savior.
• Ravens carried news of the forest battle throughout the Riverlands and the Vale.
• Maester Colemon gave Jon Arryn a letter from the Eyrie describing a sixteen-year-old noble who led three hundred farmers to defeat more than two thousand Wildlings.
• Jon Arryn noted that reports of the young general and the Black Lion were spreading, and predicted the boy's name would resound through the Riverlands and the Vale.