Chapter Summaries

Arya trained with Syrio, while Eddard and Catelyn mourned Robb and faced the dishonor he had brought to House Stark. In King’s Landing, the Sparrows rallied behind the High Sparrow as the final election for High Septon took place.

• Arya tried to trick Syrio during their Water Dancing practice, but he saw through her trap and made her fall into the mud.
• Septa Mordane found Arya at the bathhouse and, at Catelyn’s order, made her wash before breakfast.
• Eddard asked Catelyn whether Sansa and Arya had reconciled, then accompanied her to see Robb’s effigy in the crypts.
• Eddard told Catelyn that he did not blame Robb, but would atone for his son’s sins as his father.
• The Sparrows gathered at the Great Sept of Baelor and chanted for the High Sparrow as he approached with armed followers.

The High Sparrow took control of the Great Sept and praised Davos Seaworth’s effort to evacuate starving refugees to Crabb Territory, offering septons to accompany them. As Gryn’s forces camped near the Kingsroad, Dick Crabb arrived with knights from Maidenpool and reported that Ser Mutton had impressed them.

• The High Sparrow entered the High Septon election with armed sparrows, won the position, and had the former high septons scrub the Great Sept’s floor.
• The High Sparrow encouraged Lancel Lannister to pray with him and instructed the sparrows to guide suffering people rather than extinguish their hope.
• Davos Seaworth oversaw the boarding of starving refugees bound for Crabb Territory and warned Ser Dale to handle the operation cautiously.
• The High Sparrow learned that the refugees were separated by sex and that female soldiers guarded the women and children, then offered Davos septons to comfort them on the journey.
• Davos told the High Sparrow he would relay the offer to Gryn, while Lancel questioned whether the sparrows should investigate the evacuation.
• Dick Crabb joined Gryn’s camp with knights and squires from Maidenpool and said Ser Mutton had demonstrated Crackclaw Point’s fighting strength.

Gryn urged Dick to strengthen Crabb rule in Maidenpool and ordered him to purge western Riverlands houses in King Baratheon's name. After Gryn's party reached Saltpans, the chapter shifted to Asha, who reflected on her family and planned to speak with Euron about the Iron Islands.

• Gryn learned Elyana was pregnant, then offered to help Dick deal with Sworn Knights dissatisfied with his rule over Maidenpool.
• Gryn proposed granting Dick the Antlers and a ducal title if he carried out a dangerous task, and Dick pledged to obey him.
• Gryn gave Dick a list of western Riverlands lords and ordered him to eliminate at least half of their families in King Baratheon's name.
• Gryn and Dick rode to Saltpans, crossing into the war-ravaged Riverlands and arriving four days later.
• Asha recalled her mother, Theon, and Euron's victory at the kingsmoot, then resolved to speak with her uncle.

Asha met with Rodrik Harlaw at Ten Towers and insisted she would fight to claim Balon’s Seastone Chair, despite his warnings and the uncertain support of the Ironborn. Meanwhile, Gryn Crabb staged a military display in Saltpans to reassure its residents, and the Crabb Longbow archers began their demonstration.

• Asha returned to Ten Towers, where Rodrik told her that Lannisport merchants were asking about her movements and questioned what she intended to do.
• Asha asked whether Balon had been murdered, and she and Rodrik discussed Euron’s suspiciously timed return and the weakness of Asha’s support.
• Rodrik warned Asha that she could not claim the Seastone Chair and urged her to stay with her mother, but Asha declared that she would become the Iron Islands’ first queen.
• Rodrik suggested that Theon might help Asha, calling him a possible third path.
• Gryn Crabb hosted a military display in Saltpans, where two hundred Vale knights performed coordinated maneuvers before cheering spectators.
• Three thousand Crabb Longbow archers drew and nocked their arrows as their demonstration began.

Gryn used a military display and political negotiations to strengthen House Crabb’s influence and restore the war-ravaged Riverlands. After Dick proposed pardoning the rebels, Gryn rejected the idea, while Brienne gave him a letter from Lord Selwyn; the chapter ended with word that Pentos grain merchants were nearing Saltpans.

• Three thousand Crabb Longbowmen fired seven volleys, impressing the spectators as Gryn courted Saltpans nobles and displaced Riverlands lords.
• Gryn inspected abandoned farmland, granted it to a deserving landed knight, and later advised Dick that the new order’s beneficiaries were more dependable supporters than pardoned rebels.
• Dick proposed pardoning the Riverlands rebels to win their loyalty, but Gryn warned that protecting those who had murdered Dick’s kin could create a lasting danger.
• Brienne handed Gryn a letter from Lord Selwyn Tarth, who wanted to learn the Red Keep’s stance toward the Stormlands nobles; Gryn began drafting a reply.
• Gryn granted unclaimed lands to displaced eastern Riverlands nobles, promised military protection, and tasked them with resettling refugees and restoring agriculture.
• Brienne told Gryn that Pentos grain merchants were expected to arrive in Saltpans before sunset.

Lord Gryn arranged grain purchases, military plans, and political appointments while the Reach army began besieging Storm's End. After finding High Septon Zari hiding from the High Sparrow, Gryn promised to protect him and proposed that he claim a High Septon's crystal crown.

• Gryn negotiated a grain deal with Pentoshi merchants, considered sending rose bread to the Riverlands, and ordered Martyn Baker to find and protect High Septon Zari near Lord Harroway's Town.
• After hearing about Ser Quincey Cox's poor health and reading Leyton's news of Aurane Waters's appointment, Gryn recommended Allard Seaworth for the Royal Fleet and wrote to Davos Seaworth.
• Gryn arranged for grain and farming tools to be bought from Reach merchants, then the Crabb army marched southwest as Mace Tyrell's forces began besieging Storm's End.
• Mace Tyrell abandoned plans for a direct assault after the Reach lords opposed it and ordered twenty trebuchets built to force Storm's End to surrender, while rumors spread of Dornish fleets near Cape Wrath.
• Gryn confronted High Septon Zari about the High Sparrow's order to return to King's Landing, and Zari confessed that he feared being killed because he knew the sparrows were gathering weapons.
• Gryn promised to protect Zari and proposed that he wear a High Septon's crystal crown.

Gryn arranged for High Septon Zari to establish a new great sept at Harrenhal, while Maester Al taught Daenerys about the Citadel’s distrust of dragons and she began planning refugee resettlement. The chapter ended with Arya sneaking toward the Duke of Winterfell’s study after Syrio Forel refused her proposed test.

• Gryn persuaded High Septon Zari to make Harrenhal the site of a new great sept and offered him support against the High Sparrow.
• Gryn presented Zari with the High Septon’s crystal crown, left more than a thousand holy knights and holy warriors with him, and continued toward Riverrun with his army.
• Maester Al told Daenerys that the Citadel had increasingly omitted records about dragons and had distrusted Maester Aemon because of his Targaryen blood.
• Daenerys assembled the Mind Knights to plan how the Vale would resettle Riverlands refugees.
• Arya tried to sneak into the Duke of Winterfell’s study after Syrio Forel rejected her proposed test for aspiring swordsmen.

Eddard gathered his children to discuss the search for Bran and Winterfell’s response to the Lannister attack on Riverrun, then received a demand from Stannis to swear fealty. The chapter left Eddard facing Stannis’s order as Catelyn worried about the decision her husband had made.

• Arya and Sansa argued outside Eddard’s study until Eddard, Catelyn, and Rickon arrived.
• Eddard told the children that Benjen had found news suggesting Bran and his companions were beyond the Wall, and promised to send men to support the search.
• Eddard held a family meeting about aiding Riverrun, and Sansa warned that the Lannisters held the Twins and suggested making peace to save Brynden.
• Catelyn told Eddard she understood his decision and asked him to consider Sansa if he could not give her time to raise Rickon.
• Maester Luwin delivered a letter from Stannis, who planned to march to the Wall and ordered Eddard to meet him and swear fealty.

Eddard considered Stannis’s summons and decided to meet him at the Wall but not bring Mya and Gendry, whose parentage Stannis had learned somehow. At Castle Black, Tyrion joked with Bronn and clashed with Theon before reflecting on his estrangement from his father.

• Catelyn and Maester Luwin discussed whether Stannis wanted northern forces for his claim or to confront the threat beyond the Wall.
• Eddard decided to visit Stannis for Robert’s sake and Stark honor, but to protect Mya and Gendry by refusing to bring them and asking Stannis to conceal their parentage.
• At Castle Black, Tyrion and Bronn joked about the cold, the Wall, and Bronn’s mercenary origins as they walked through the fortress.
• Tyrion reminded Bronn to stay vigilant, then watched Theon instruct new recruits at the training ground.
• Theon told Tyrion to practice swordsmanship, but Tyrion pointed out that Lord Commander Mormont had assigned him to Maester Aemon; Theon backed down.
• Tyrion told Bronn he was a fugitive from his father and said his father would always be ashamed of him.

Tyrion spoke with Lord Commander Mormont about the Night’s Watch’s dwindling strength and the growing danger from White Walkers and Wildlings. Mormont appointed Tyrion as his Steward, and Tyrion proposed capturing a Wight and offering a bounty to the Wildlings as King Stannis’s visit approached.

• Tyrion shared breakfast with Bronn, sent him to Mole’s Town, and later provoked several Night’s Watchmen into a fight.
• Lord Commander Mormont summoned Tyrion and explained that the Night’s Watch had fewer than a thousand men, most of them unfit to fight.
• Maester Aemon reported that fishermen had seen white demons on the eastern coast and that the King-Beyond-the-Wall was leading the Wildlings south, possibly fleeing the White Walkers.
• Tyrion proposed capturing a Wight to convince the nobles of the Seven Kingdoms, and Mormont assigned Benjen to lead the effort.
• Mormont appointed Tyrion as his Steward after citing Lord Crabb’s recommendation, and Tyrion suggested offering a bounty to the Wildlings.
• Mormont told Tyrion that King Stannis would visit Castle Black within a week and expected him to help receive the king.

Jaime confronted Lancel about abandoning his family and betrothal, learning more about Lancel’s affair with Cersei and his guilt over the former High Septon’s death. In the Riverlands, Gryn ordered Martyn Baker to demand Seaguard’s surrender, then received word that envoys from Daven Lannister had arrived.

• Jaime entered Lancel’s sept after the Sparrows blocked him and urged Lancel to leave the faith, claim Darry Castle, and marry Lady Arlie Frey.
• Lancel confessed that he had loved Cersei and that the former High Septon had advised him to hide their affair; Jaime realized Cersei had likely arranged the High Septon’s death.
• Jaime left after warning Lancel not to play with axes, and Lancel told a Sparrow that Jaime would soon leave King’s Landing.
• At the Crabb camp, Gryn learned that Riverrun had provisions for at least two years while Daven Lannister prepared siege engines and awaited Frey reinforcements.
• Gryn ordered Martyn Baker to give Jason Mallister one month to surrender Seaguard and told Ser Anguy to send two “fruits” with him.
• Ser Brienne informed Gryn that riders bearing the Lannister banner had arrived as envoys of Daven Lannister.

Gryn rejected Daven Lannister’s request to join forces against Riverrun, pressed him to provide grain, and expanded Crabb authority in the Riverlands as his army prepared to advance. In King’s Landing, Cersei dismissed complaints about Crabb’s actions and suspended Crown debt payments before setting out to confront the High Septon.

• Ser Forley Prester asked Gryn to join Daven’s army in a war council beneath Riverrun, but Gryn refused and questioned Daven’s qualifications to command him.
• Gryn demanded that Daven set aside Riverlands grain for the Crown and reminded him of Cersei’s deadline to take Riverrun.
• Gryn’s forces executed captured bandits, proclaimed Crabb protection to nearby villagers, and Gryn invested nineteen landed knights on unclaimed Riverlands lands.
• After receiving news from Storm’s End, Gryn ordered Ser Brienne to have Ser Geoffrey hire carpenters so they could build trebuchets at Riverrun; days later, Crabb’s forces marched toward the city as the Lannister siege began.
• At the Small Council, Cersei heard complaints about Dick Crabb’s grain seizures and executions, then said she would write to Gryn and suspended payments to the Faith and the Iron Bank.
• Qyburn warned Cersei that the High Sparrow might oppose the highborn, but Cersei dismissed the concern and left to visit the Great Sept of Baelor.

Cersei tried to pressure the High Sparrow into blessing Tommen and removing the armed sparrows from King's Landing, but he calmly disputed her demands. The chapter ended with the High Sparrow saying the time to bless Tommen had not yet ripened.

• Cersei ordered Tommen to dine with her and asked Osfryd about Osmund's injury and Osney's efforts to get close to Margaery.
• Cersei promised to protect Osfryd's family, urged him to help Osney, and learned that more than a thousand Gold Cloaks had been arranged to accompany her to the Great Sept of Baelor.
• Cersei's carriage was delayed by sparrows in the road, and she ordered Osfryd not to provoke another riot.
• Armed sparrows blocked Cersei's party from entering the Great Sept with weapons, and Cersei initially turned away before the High Sparrow stopped her.
• Cersei entered the sept with the High Sparrow and threatened to reject his position and treat the armed sparrows as rebels unless he blessed Tommen and expelled them.
• The High Sparrow told Cersei that he was not refusing to bless Tommen, but that the time was not yet ripe.

Cersei secured the High Sparrow’s support by authorizing the Faith’s armed orders in exchange for forgiving the Crown’s debt, then crossed paths with Margaery and hinted at a plan against her. At Riverrun, Jaime joined Ser Daven’s stalled siege and learned that the western lords and Duke Crabb were making the campaign harder.

• Cersei persuaded the High Sparrow to restore the Faith’s armed orders, promising a royal pardon in exchange for the Faith forgiving the Crown’s debt and blessing Tommen.
• Cersei encountered Margaery returning from the Kingswood, refused her request to take Tommen along, and privately resolved to use the Faith against her.
• Jaime arrived at the Lannister siege of Riverrun with Ser Balon Swen and reunited with Ser Daven.
• Daven told Jaime that two assaults had cost the Lannisters hundreds of men while the Tullys suffered few casualties, and that western lords were avoiding further attacks.
• Daven showed Jaime Duke Crabb’s letter demanding that the Lannisters surrender their camp on the south bank of the Red Fork.

Jaime joined Ser Daven at the siege of Riverrun, urged him to keep the title of Warden of the West, and visited Lady Genna in the Frey camp. Their conversation turned to Tywin’s death and Cersei’s strained relationship with Kevan, leaving Jaime to consider what Cersei would do for Kevan’s heirs.

• Ser Daven complained about Duke Crabb, but Jaime urged him to respect the duke and keep his position as Warden of the West.
• Jaime learned that Blackfish had rejected negotiations and intended to defend Riverrun to the death.
• Jaime and Daven inspected the camp, then crossed the Tumblestone River to visit Lady Genna in the Frey camp.
• Lady Genna welcomed Jaime and dismissed Lord Aenys so she could speak with her nephew privately.
• Jaime confirmed that the rumors about Tyrion, Joffrey, and the young king were true, though Tyrion was innocent.
• Lady Genna recalled Tywin’s rare smiles and asked Jaime what Cersei would do for Kevan’s heirs.

Jaime heard Genna explain her love for Tywin and her fears for the Lannisters, while Gryn met with Guildmaster Hallyne to discuss the pyromancers’ new home and their use of wildfire against Riverrun. The chapter ended with Hallyne proposing tests to find the largest clay jars that could be launched without igniting prematurely.

• Jaime asked Genna whether she had loved Tywin, and she recalled how he had defended her from a forced betrothal when they were children.
• Genna warned Jaime that Tyrion resembled Tywin more than he did and admitted that Tywin’s surviving son worried her.
• At Gryn’s war council, he ordered the septons among the refugees sent to Harrenhal for High Septon Zari to reassign.
• Guildmaster Hallyne told Gryn that the pyromancers had faced the Faith Militant in King’s Landing, and Gryn confirmed House Crabb would sponsor a city for them at Crackclaw Point.
• Gryn watched the Lannister camp near Riverrun, while Lucion Lannister chose to report his presence to Ser Daven rather than pursue him.
• Hallyne explained that larger wildfire-filled clay jars could damage Riverrun and proposed testing different sizes for use with catapults.

Gryn Crabb brought more than ten thousand soldiers and Pyromancers beneath Riverrun, while Brynden Tully prepared for the threat of Wildfire and rejected aid that might endanger others. Gryn told Jaime he intended to seize Riverrun after the Tullys and Lannisters weakened each other, but would first let Daven Lannister try to take it.

• Gryn arranged for President Hallyne and the Pyromancers to stay near Riverrun, then camped his army beside the Lannisters and drove away their patrols.
• Lucion Lannister challenged Ser Mutton at the Crabb camp, lost the contest, and was carried back to his men, leaving the small Lannister camp watched by Gryn’s forces.
• Ser Patrek Mallister told Brynden Tully that his father had surrendered Seaguard after seeing Wildfire, and Brynden ordered Patrek to return home and protect his family.
• Brynden read Ned Stark’s letter about sending the North’s army by sea to support Riverrun and decided to tell him Seaguard could no longer help.
• Brynden and Maester Vyman discussed Wildfire and Gryn’s possible designs, then began preparing Riverrun against fire while Brynden considered the Crabb army’s intentions.
• Jaime visited Gryn, who revealed he would let Daven Lannister attempt to take Riverrun first and would take over the siege if Daven failed by Cersei’s deadline.

Gryn tried to secure Jaime’s promise to protect the Riverlands’ people, then challenged him to a swordfight and left after declaring Jaime the winner. The Lannister army withdrew, while Gryn’s forces began preparing trebuchets against Riverrun and planned to resettle displaced villagers.

• Gryn told Jaime he would gather displaced people and restore abandoned farms, then challenged him to protect them from Lannister soldiers’ plundering.
• Jaime reflected on how he had betrayed his knightly ideals for Cersei and thanked Gryn for helping him recover some of them.
• Gryn and Jaime fought with swords; after Jaime tired, Gryn called the bout in Jaime’s favor and departed.
• The Lannister army broke camp, and Crabb’s soldiers tested a trebuchet, with one stone striking Riverrun’s wall and another falling into the Red Fork.
• Gryn ordered the trebuchet crews to train before sizing up their weapons and rode out to inspect abandoned villages and farmland for resettlement.

Gryn settled refugees and awarded land to knights in the Riverlands before meeting Beric Dondarrion and Thoros, whose account of Beric’s resurrections led them to swear fealty and join Gryn’s Burning Legion. Meanwhile, the Lannister-Frey army attacked Riverrun, and Tyrion waited at Castle Black for King Stannis’s arrival.

• Gryn visited a rebuilt village, heard the refugees’ petitions, demonstrated his authority, and arranged a joust where three knights won land.
• Gryn learned that Beric Dondarrion and Thoros had been captured while serving the Brotherhood Without Banners, and questioned them about Beric’s resurrections.
• Gryn told Beric and Thoros about the Night’s Watch’s reports of Wights and White Walkers, then invited them to join the Burning Legion.
• Beric and Thoros swore fealty to Gryn and agreed to fight alongside him for the living.
• Lannister and Frey forces launched a joint assault on Riverrun, then withdrew after a day of heavy fighting and casualties.
• Tyrion waited with the Night’s Watch at Castle Black for King Stannis, joking with Bronn, Old Bear, and Maester Aemon.

Stannis arrived at Castle Black and confronted the Night’s Watch over its defenses, the Wildling threat, and control of the Gift. He offered to rebuild the abandoned castles and garrison the Wall, leaving the Watch to consider his demands as Melisandre warned of a war between the living and the dead.

• Old Bear stopped Alliser Thorne and Tyrion from turning their argument about southern politics into a dispute over the Night’s Watch’s traditions.
• Stannis arrived at Castle Black with Melisandre and demanded an immediate account of the Wall’s defenses.
• Tyrion and Bronn discussed Melisandre’s danger and Stannis’s unusually aged appearance, and Tyrion ordered Bronn to stay close to him.
• Stannis learned that Mance Rayder was leading a vast Wildling force south and that only 721 Night’s Watchmen guarded the Wall.
• Stannis promised not to involve the Watch in his war for the Iron Throne, but demanded the Gift and the abandoned castles so he could rebuild and garrison them.
• Melisandre warned the Night’s Watch that the coming conflict was a war between the living and the dead, and that the world would perish if Stannis failed.