Chapter Summaries

Gryn Crabb negotiated with Yohn Royce over his occupation of Gulltown and proposed an arranged battle to end the Vale’s hatred of Crackclaw Point. They agreed to fight in fifty days, leaving Gryn intent on defeating the Vale knights decisively.

• Gryn presented King Joffrey’s decree authorizing him to arrest Lysa Tully and execute anyone who rebelled against the king’s command.
• Yohn Royce accused Gryn of invading the Vale and destroying House Grafton, while Gryn defended his actions and refused to withdraw from Gulltown.
• Gryn warned that Crackclaw Point’s people might seek revenge and asked Yohn to help find a way to resolve the conflict and allow him to leave the Vale.
• Gryn proposed a battle between Crackclaw Point’s hunters and the Vale’s cavalry, and Yohn read the written challenge Gryn had prepared.
• Gryn and Yohn sealed an agreement for the two sides to fight at the same location in fifty days, with Lysa Tully to be handed over if Crackclaw Point lost.
• Gryn rode back toward his army and planned to spread word of the battle throughout the Vale, intending to break the Vale knights’ strength in one fight.

Bran Stark awoke after spending three days in his third-eye vision and agreed to travel beyond the Wall of the End to seek the Three-Eyed Crow. Across the North, the ironmen took Moat Cailin and Deepwood Motte, while Petyr Baelish faced Brynden Tully at the Bloody Gate and began to explain what had happened to Cat.

• Gryn Crabb shot an arrow at an eagle, and Bran awoke from his vision believing he had seen an arrow strike him.
• Jojen Reed warned Bran that using his third eye for too long could leave him trapped as an animal.
• Jojen Reed urged the group to leave Broken Tower and head beyond the Wall of the End to find the Three-Eyed Crow, and Bran agreed.
• Ser Rodrik Cassel defeated Dagmer's force at Torrhen's Square, while Victarion Greyjoy seized Moat Cailin and Asha Greyjoy captured Deepwood Motte.
• Eddard Stark sent Ser Rodrik north to retake Deepwood Motte, prepared to reclaim Moat Cailin himself, and sent ravens with letters to Riverrun, Pyke, and the Bloody Gate.
• At the Bloody Gate, Brynden Tully demanded that Petyr Baelish tell him the truth about Cat.

Petyr Baelish persuaded Brynden Tully to leave the Bloody Gate after revealing that Lysa feared he might let Ned's justice prevail, while Brynden accepted the truth about her guilt. In King's Landing, Varys told Tyrion how a sorcerer had used him in a blood-magic ritual, and Tyrion later learned that Jaime had become Stark's prisoner.

• Petyr told Brynden that Lysa remained distressed and trusted only Catelyn, and Brynden realized she feared he would open the Bloody Gate to her enemies.
• Brynden agreed to resign as Knight of the Bloody Gate, asked Petyr to protect Lysa and Little Robert, and departed the Vale.
• A raven brought Petyr Ned's letter to Brynden, which Petyr burned as he recalled Gryn's remark about good luck.
• Varys told Tyrion that a sorcerer had mutilated him in a ritual and that a voice had answered from the flames, leading him to suspect Stannis used magic to kill Renly.
• Tyrion and Varys passed masked Gold Cloaks, and Varys exchanged a discreet greeting with one of them.
• Tyrion arrived at the Tower of the Hand and learned that Jaime had become Stark's prisoner.

Gryn Crabb met Varys in secret, uncovered Varys's attempt to poison him, and killed him despite the threat of revenge by the Faceless Men. The chapter ended with a masked Gold Cloak bringing a wooden box into Tyrion Lannister's study.

• Gryn met Varys at their secluded house, where Varys accused him of taking Daenerys Targaryen and the young man known as Little Gryphon from the Targaryens.
• Varys mourned Little Gryphon and asked Gryn to help him serve Daenerys, insisting that only a Targaryen could rightfully inherit the Iron Throne.
• Gryn realized Varys had tried to poison him and pushed the tainted wine toward Varys instead.
• Varys revealed that the Iron Bank would hire the Faceless Men to avenge his death, but Gryn drew Lady Forlorn and beheaded him.
• A masked Gold Cloak entered Tyrion Lannister's study carrying a wooden box.

Gryn confronted Tyrion with Varys’s severed head, then helped him face the coming threat of Stannis’s army. The next morning, Gryn arranged for the Iron Bank to safeguard five hundred thousand Gold Dragons and Spider’s estate, leaving Nahor Dimittis with secret instructions and a letter for Gulltown.

• Gryn revealed Varys’s head to Tyrion and challenged him for failing to protect their alliance.
• Tyrion admitted he feared losing power and dreaded Stannis’s approaching army, and Gryn rallied him to defend King’s Landing.
• A fire broke out in the Small Council Chamber, destroying the area under the Master of Whisperers’ jurisdiction; rumors linked Grand Maester Pycelle to suspicious activity before the blaze.
• Gryn met Nahor Dimittis and arranged to deposit five hundred thousand Gold Dragons with the Iron Bank.
• Gryn gave Nahor Dimittis a letter concerning Spider’s final wishes and asked him to keep it secret.
• Gryn handed Nahor Dimittis a second letter for his steward Leyton and urged him to leave for Gulltown quickly.

Tyrion and Gryn arranged for Gryn to travel to the Reach with full authority to negotiate a marriage pact, while Tyrion tried to manage Cersei and his fears about Jaime. After Cersei unexpectedly kissed him and Tyrion met Shae, he took comfort in her company and resolved to face Stannis.

• Gryn and Tyrion discussed using Cersei’s concern for Jaime as a reason to explain Gryn’s interception and protect him from her anger.
• Tyrion told Gryn that Cersei had received a raven from the Old Lion and that discussion of Myrcella’s possible match with Robert Arryn had stopped.
• Gryn asked Tyrion for a commission bearing Joffrey’s and the Small Council’s signatures and seals, granting him full authority to negotiate in the Reach, and planned to leave that night.
• Tyrion arranged for Bronn to send a woman to his residence, then Cersei thanked him, kissed his forehead, and left him suspecting she was plotting something.
• Bronn brought Tyrion to Shae, and Tyrion offered to keep her as his companion in exchange for her exclusive company.
• After spending the night with Shae, Tyrion looked toward the city and resolved that he would defeat Stannis and become King’s Landing’s savior.

Catelyn struggled with her confinement in the Eyrie and learned that Sansa and Arya had safely returned to Winterfell. When she confronted Lysa about leaving, Lysa accused her of pursuing Petyr and revealed the history of her relationship with him.

• Catelyn recalled failing to escape the Eyrie by crossing its dangerous mountain path and prayed for her children.
• Petyr returned and told Catelyn that Brynden had taken over his mission and that Sansa and Arya had safely reached Winterfell.
• Petyr kissed Catelyn without permission, and she warned him not to do it again before leaving.
• Lysa summoned Catelyn to the hall and accused her of seducing Petyr, then recounted her past with him.
• Catelyn called Lysa a stupid, fat trout and demanded that she release her, while Lysa explained that her father had pressured her to marry Jon Arryn.

Lysa tried to push Catelyn through the Moon Door, but Petyr arrived and talked her into letting go before he shoved Lysa to her death. Catelyn tried to stab Petyr and accused him of murdering Jon Arryn, while Petyr threatened her through her nephew; near the Roseroad, Gryn Crabb then heard that Randyll Tarly was dead.

• Lysa dragged Catelyn to the Moon Door and tried to force her over the edge, accusing her of kissing Petyr.
• Petyr calmed Lysa by promising they would marry, and she released Catelyn before rushing into his arms.
• Petyr declared that he had loved only Cat, then shoved Lysa through the Moon Door as Catelyn watched.
• Catelyn tried to stab Petyr, but his chainmail stopped the dagger, and he restrained her while she accused him of killing Jon Arryn.
• Petyr claimed Lysa's death would restore House Tully's honor and warned Catelyn not to let harm come to her nephew.
• Near the Roseroad, Gryn Crabb stopped his horse after hearing that Randyll Tarly was dead.

Stannis captured the Golden Rose army’s supplies at Bitterbridge, while Tywin defeated Roose Bolton’s ambush and Jaime Lannister’s escape attempt failed. Gryn accepted Brienne as his sworn guard after promising not to stop her from seeking revenge on Stannis, while Tyrion ordered the Alchemists’ Guild to make more Wildfire.

• Gryn’s scouts reported chaos at Bitterbridge, where Stannis’s cavalry attacked the Golden Rose army after Randyll Tarly died; Stannis seized its provisions and gained more than 30,000 infantrymen.
• Roose Bolton attacked Tywin Lannister’s army near High Heart, but Kevan Lannister and Tywin counter-ambushed the Northerners, forcing Roose to retreat with only a little over 8,000 survivors.
• Tyrion’s envoys helped Jaime escape from Riverrun, but Edmure Tully caught the group and confined Jaime in a dungeon with heavier restraints.
• Gryn met the wounded Brienne by the Mander River, agreed not to prevent her from taking revenge on Stannis, and accepted her oath of service as his guard.
• Tyrion inspected the Wildfire stores beneath the Alchemists’ Guild and ordered Guildmaster Hallyne to increase production without allowing defective jars or accidents.

Tyrion Lannister prepared King's Landing's defenses by ordering Wildfire jars, clearing buildings outside the city wall, and commissioning a massive chain while learning that Stannis had taken command of tens of thousands more infantry. The chapter ended at Longtable Hall, where Gryn Crabb greeted the safe Margaery Tyrell.

• Tyrion asked Master Hallyne to secretly produce as many empty Wildfire jars as possible and arranged for Ser Jacelyn Bywater to collect them.
• Tyrion learned that Stannis had surprised the Golden Rose camp at Bitterbridge and gained tens of thousands of infantry, then sent word to his sister.
• Tyrion ordered Ser Jacelyn to train scorpion crews with paint and oil jars before using Wildfire, and told Bronn to clear the buildings between the riverbank and the city wall.
• Tyrion directed King's Landing's smiths to make a thousand long chains and promised Ironbelly and the other smiths protection from the Queen's threatened punishment.
• At Longtable Hall, Gryn Crabb expressed relief that Margaery Tyrell was safe, and Margaery asked him to call her Lady Margaery.

Lord Gryn offered Margaery the crown of the Seven Kingdoms on behalf of the King and Small Council, and she promised to relay his goodwill to Lord Mace. In Stannis’s camp, Davos confronted Melisandre about the cost of her shadow magic, and she spoke of a war between opposing forces.

• Margaery welcomed Lord Gryn and reassured Brienne that she believed in her loyalty and innocence.
• Lord Gryn told Margaery that House Crabb sought influence in Crackclaw Point, the Vale, and King's Landing, and she agreed to convey his goodwill to Lord Mace.
• Lord Gryn proposed that Margaery could claim the crown of the Queen of the Seven Kingdoms with the support of the King and Small Council.
• Davos worried about Stannis’s aging and remembered the shadow magic surrounding Randyll Tarly’s death.
• Melisandre told Davos that Stannis’s fire was weakening and offered to use Davos’s life force to make him a terrifying monster.
• Melisandre described the world as a war between opposing forces, including life and death, ice and fire, and evil and justice.

Melisandre told Davos that Stannis was Azor Ahai reborn, while Davos remained suspicious of her magic and loyal to his king. Stannis removed Davos as Lord Admiral, planned separate land and sea campaigns, and revealed his determination to claim the Iron Throne before ordering Davos to kneel.

• Melisandre told Davos that the war was between R'hllor and the Great Other, and declared Stannis Azor Ahai reborn.
• Devan summoned Davos to Stannis, and Davos warned his son to keep the king’s condition secret.
• Stannis asked Davos about treason, then appointed Imry Florent Lord Admiral and planned to divide his forces between a sea attack on King's Landing and a land march along the Kingsroad.
• Stannis explained that he sought the Iron Throne out of duty and promised justice for Westeros, while Davos confessed that he had wanted to kill Melisandre to protect him.
• Stannis told Davos that Melisandre acted on his orders, showed him the map of the Seven Kingdoms, and ordered him to kneel.

Stannis raised Davos Seaworth to Earl of the Rainwood and made him Hand of the King despite Davos's protests. In the Reach, Gryn Crabb met Margaery Tyrell and Lord Mace, discussed his fiancée Rhaella, and prepared for an arranged battle between Crackclaw Point and the Vale.

• Stannis knighted Davos as Earl of the Rainwood and appointed him Hand of the King, dismissing his concerns about his birth and illiteracy.
• Gryn worried that Lannister defeat in the Riverlands would leave House Tyrell dominant, and decided to help the Lannisters while seeking an alliance with the Golden Rose.
• Gryn listened to "The Bear and the Maiden Fair" repeatedly at Longtable Hall and ordered Brienne to reward the singer with a Gold Dragon.
• Margaery invited Gryn to dinner, teased him about the song, and learned that he had a fiancée named Rhaella, an exiled princess he had met in Essos.
• Mace Tyrell arrived at dinner, praised Gryn's work in the Vale, and warned him to be cautious in the arranged battle between Crackclaw Point and the Vale.

Gryn negotiated an alliance between the Red Keep and House Tyrell while Lord Mace and Margaery weighed the threat from Stannis. After the alliance was signed, Gryn left Longtable Hall to prepare for war.

• Lord Mace and Lord Gryn discussed the threat of Stannis’s army and House Golden Rose’s grievances against the Lannisters as they considered an alliance.
• Gryn told Margaery and Lord Mace that he represented the king and Small Council, while Margaery learned her grandmother had left the negotiations in her father’s and her hands.
• Lord Mace asked whether Joffrey would be a good husband for Margaery, and Gryn replied that Joffrey was still a little boy.
• Ello Tyrell confessed her love to Gryn, learned he had a fiancée, kissed his cheek, and left.
• Gryn and the Tyrells negotiated for ten days before agreeing on military support, marriage arrangements, Small Council seats, and food supplies for King’s Landing.
• Gryn departed Longtable Hall the night the alliance was signed, despite Lord Mace urging him to stay.

Robb learned that Ned had returned safely to Winterfell but decided to hide the news and continue the campaign against the Lannisters. Meanwhile, Tyrion dealt with unrest and petitioners in King's Landing before meeting Lord Gryn Crabb, who reported on his mission to House Tyrell.

• Robb read Ned's letter, told Edmure that Ned was alive, and ordered him to keep the news secret so the northern lords would remain in the campaign.
• Robb rejected Edmure's suggestion to negotiate peace and sent him to hold Riverrun while the army continued into the Westerlands.
• Robb's army bypassed Golden Tooth and raided Ser Stafford Lannister's camp, killing Stafford; Stevron Frey later died of his wounds, and Daven Lannister gathered the survivors at Lannisport.
• Tyrion heard a prophet denounce the royal family and learned that commoners were petitioning for protection amid violence and unrest in King's Landing.
• Tyrion met Lord Gryn Crabb at the Parris Inn, where Gryn reported that the young ladies of House Tyrell were charming.

Gryn declined Tyrion’s offer of the title Warden of the East and sought the Red Keep’s support for his campaign against the Vale, while secretly preparing a wildfire-equipped Burning Legion. At the Eyrie, Petyr pressured Maester Colemon to keep Robert Arryn manageable, and Colemon agreed to try giving him Sweetsleep.

• Tyrion offered Gryn the title of Warden of the East, but Gryn declined and asked for support in his campaign against the Vale.
• Gryn and Tyrion discussed their coming battles, and Gryn arranged for the Alchemists’ Guild to establish a branch at the Whispers.
• Gryn told Tyrion he was preparing defenses at Mermaid Harbor and planned to form a wildfire-wielding Burning Legion.
• At the Eyrie, Robert Arryn demanded eggs, threw food at Petyr and Maester Colemon, and suffered a fit of shaking sickness.
• Petyr questioned Maester Colemon about treating Robert and suggested adding a little Sweetsleep to his milk; Colemon agreed to try it.

Daenerys asked Samwell about the White Walkers after a disturbing dream and decided she might need his help investigating the Citadel; Gryn returned to her briefly before riding on. Meanwhile, Bran’s party continued toward the Three-Eyed Crow, and Jojen warned Bran against using his third eye without guidance.

• Samwell told Daenerys that legends described the White Walkers’ powers and possible weaknesses, including fire, dragonglass, and dragonsteel.
• Daenerys asked Samwell to help her learn more from the Citadel in Oldtown because she feared the White Walkers might be real.
• Gryn surprised Daenerys in her bedchamber, and the two spent the night together before he left at dawn.
• Bran told Jojen that he had dreamed of his father and sisters at Winterfell, prompting Jojen to ask whether he had opened his third eye.
• Jojen warned Bran that uncontrolled use of his third eye could make him lose touch with reality, and Bran promised not to experiment with it again.

Gryn Crabb tightened his grip on Gulltown, prepared the Thorn Legion to counter Vale cavalry, and assessed Petyr Baelish’s plans for the coming battle. The chapter ended with Tyrion visiting Cersei in Maegor’s Hold and narrowly dodging a fork after provoking her.

• Gryn recognized that Gulltown’s people had been deliberately frightened, and ordered Russell Brune to arrest the instigators and execute them for treason.
• Three days later, executions stained Gulltown’s largest square, after which Gryn hired townsfolk to repair the city and held feasts to win their goodwill.
• Gryn taught Ser Amparo Thorns and Lena how the Thorn Legion could use sharpened stakes as a moving wall against Vale cavalry, and they planned to use wooden mallets to plant them.
• Gryn and Ser Pell Pili discussed troops loyal to Lady Lysa and concluded that Petyr Baelish hoped both sides in the arranged battle would destroy each other, leaving him to reclaim Gulltown and control the Vale.
• Gryn told Ser Pell to care for more than two thousand cattle, which he said would be their dinner after the war.
• Tyrion entered Maegor’s Hold with Pod while Bronn guarded outside, then dined with Cersei; after joking that she might be pregnant, he ducked the fork she threw at him.

Tyrion and Cersei clashed over the defense of King's Landing, Gryn's loyalty, and Tyrion's position as Hand of the King. Tyrion left after threatening to marry Cersei off under the terms of the Lannister-Tyrell alliance, then hurried away with Podrick.

• Cersei cried over Jaime's captivity and feared for her children as Tyrion assured her that Tywin would arrive in time to defend King's Landing.
• Cersei urged Tyrion to bring Gryn back, but Tyrion refused because he suspected Gryn had ties to Dragonstone and might open the city gates to Stannis.
• Cersei slapped Tyrion and threatened to tell Tywin about Shae, while Tyrion recognized that she had not yet found Shae and warned Cersei that he could arrange her marriage to a cripple.
• Tyrion told Cersei that she had exhausted his patience, advised her to review the Lannister-Tyrell alliance's terms, and left despite her order to stop.
• Tyrion put on a haughty air for the Kingsguard, then quickened his pace through the corridor as Podrick hurried after him.

Tyrion arranged to protect Tommen and Shae as war approached, then learned Bronn could help find Shae a safer place in the Tower of the Hand. In the North, Eddard Stark and Howland Reed retook Moat Cailin and executed Victarion Greyjoy.

• Tyrion learned that Cersei planned to send Tommen to Rosby and ordered Ser Jacelyn to escort the prince there safely.
• Tyrion warned Shae that Cersei and his father might discover her, struck her after she mocked his father, and confessed what had happened to his former wife, Tysha.
• Tyrion asked Bronn to bring Shae into the Tower of the Hand disguised as a kitchen helper, but Bronn warned that the kitchens were unsafe and suggested placing her as Lady Loriss's maidservant.
• Tyrion learned that Lancel planned to join the vanguard and considered Bronn for the role of a trusted knight.
• Eddard Stark and Howland Reed led their forces in a pincer attack, retook Moat Cailin after five days, and Eddard executed Victarion Greyjoy.