Chapter Summaries

Cersei learned that the High Sparrow would release her to await trial only after she completed a Walk of Atonement, and she began making plans for her possible death. Qyburn urged her to think of Tommen and Myrcella, leaving her shaken by memories of her past choices.

• Cersei told Qyburn she needed to return to the Red Keep, and he explained that the High Sparrow refused to reconcile because he considered her guilty of deicide and adultery.
• Qyburn told Cersei that the High Sparrow required her to walk through the streets to the Red Keep before she could await trial there.
• Cersei asked Qyburn for paper and a pen, then wrote a letter for him to deliver to Gryn or Jaime if she died.
• Cersei asked Qyburn to bring her a sharp, preferably poisoned, dagger the next day.
• Qyburn reminded Cersei that Tommen and Myrcella were waiting to reunite with her, and she recalled using Sansa Stark to free Jaime from the Direwolf's grasp.

Qyburn secured the High Sparrow’s promise to protect Cersei during her barefoot atonement procession, while Margaery and Mathis Rowan discussed the threat the Faith posed to royal authority. As Gryn Crabb’s army advanced toward King’s Landing, he split his forces and rode ahead with the cavalry; Jaime awoke to news that Mace Tyrell’s army was accelerating its march.

• Qyburn told the High Sparrow that Cersei sincerely repented and obtained his assurance that the Warrior’s Sons would protect her during the procession.
• Margaery learned that Cersei would walk barefoot to the Red Keep, and Mathis Rowan urged House Tyrell to get its army to King’s Landing before Gryn Crabb’s forces.
• Eleanor Mooton brought Maidenpool’s soldiers to Gryn, increasing his army to more than fifteen thousand as it marched south.
• Gryn received an urgent dispatch from King’s Landing and ordered Pell Pili to lead the infantry while he rode ahead with the cavalry.
• Jaime woke from a troubled dream and heard that Mace Tyrell had ordered the army to advance faster.

Jaime Lannister rode to King's Landing to stop Cersei's walk of atonement, but the Queen Regent's guards barred him from entering the city. Cersei endured the public walk until a runaway cart struck her in the abdomen, leaving her fate uncertain.

• Lord Mace told Jaime that the Faith planned to make Cersei parade through King's Landing, and Jaime rode ahead to reach her.
• Lord Mace ordered his army to march, while Ser Luthor Largent kept King's Gate shut under the Queen Regent's orders.
• Jaime and his Red Cloaks were refused entry at King's Gate and rode toward the Mud Gate to seek another way into the city.
• Septa Unella and the Silent Sisters shaved Cersei's head and body before the Warrior's Sons escorted her naked through King's Landing.
• The crowd pelted and mocked Cersei as she stumbled through the streets, and she broke away and ran toward the Red Keep.
• A runaway wooden cart struck Cersei in the abdomen as Jaime cried out in despair.

King’s Landing descended into fear as Gold Cloaks filled the streets after Cersei Lannister’s fate became uncertain. Gryn Crabb intercepted Margaery Tyrell and took her into his carriage, then ordered Mathis Rowan to tell Lord Mace that Margaery was in his hands.

• Gold Cloaks drove people indoors as rumors spread that Cersei Lannister might be dead and Gryn Crabb’s army was approaching.
• Margaery Tyrell and Mathis Rowan identified themselves to the Gold Cloaks and were escorted through the city by an increasingly large force.
• Gryn Crabb met Margaery and invited her into his carriage, while Blue Cloaks stopped Mathis from accompanying her.
• Margaery entered the carriage with Gryn, and Gryn told Mathis to leave the city and summon Lord Mace to the Red Keep alone.
• Mathis accused Gryn of declaring war, but Gryn warned that he would kill Mathis if he drew his sword.

Count Mathis secured permission to accompany Margaery into King's Landing as Gryn’s forces took control of the city. In the carriage, Margaery and Gryn reunited and discussed Cersei’s fall and the Faith’s accusations against her, leaving Margaery resolved to face a trial.

• Count Mathis warned Gryn that barring him from Margaery could endanger Tyrell-Crabb relations, and Gryn allowed him one horse.
• Mathis rode with Gryn’s party while the Gold Cloak captains mocked his guards for being left on foot.
• In the carriage, Margaery greeted Gryn, and they kissed before she told him her monthly bleeding had begun.
• Gryn said he had underestimated Margaery and noted that Cersei had lost quickly, while Margaery said they had both underestimated the High Sparrow.
• Gryn questioned whether the cart incident was deliberate and asked whether Margaery would cooperate with the High Sparrow’s trial; Margaery said she had no choice but to prove her innocence through the Faith.

Gryn brought Margaery to Maegor’s Holdfast, where Cersei’s injuries and the shifting balance of power left the future uncertain. He placed Tommen in Margaery’s care and approached the queen mother’s bedchamber, where Pycelle awaited him with news.

• Gryn warned Margaery that Cersei might be too badly injured for Margaery to prove her innocence at a trial, and Margaery questioned him about Tommen, Jaime, and the war.
• Gryn told Margaery that the future of the Seven Kingdoms depended on her father’s choice, not Jaime’s.
• Gryn arrived at the Red Keep, where Ser Anguy had taken charge of guarding Maegor’s Holdfast.
• Gryn instructed Margaery to take Tommen to the Maidenvault and told her that Count Mathis Rowan would remain for the Small Council.
• Margaery agreed to care for Tommen and offered Gryn comfort, as the two appeared to make a tentative deal.
• Pycelle hurried to Gryn outside Cersei’s bedchamber and began to report on the queen mother’s condition.

As Cersei lay dying, she asked Gryn to avenge her and protect her children, then named him Lord Regent and Warden of the Realm in her will. She also demanded that Tommen and Margaery’s betrothal be dissolved, leaving the room stunned.

• Gryn learned from Pycelle that Cersei was near death and entered her bedchamber with the Small Council.
• Cersei asked Gryn to avenge her against the Faith and to keep Tommen and Myrcella safe, and he promised he would.
• Pycelle read Cersei’s will, which named Gryn Lord Regent and Warden of the Realm and made Myrcella Duchess of Casterly Rock and Governor of the Westerlands.
• Tommen and the Small Council confirmed and sealed Cersei’s will.
• Cersei added that Tommen and Margaery’s betrothal must be dissolved, shocking everyone and leaving Margaery on her feet in disbelief.

Cersei died after asking Gryn to wash her clean and remember her roar, while Jaime vowed to exact vengeance himself. Gryn convened the Small Council and imposed martial law in King's Landing as he prepared to bring in more troops.

• Tommen protested Cersei's command to make Margaery queen, while Cersei asked Gryn to add her final wishes to her will before losing consciousness.
• Gryn left Cersei in Qyburn's care, and Jaime stayed briefly with her before vowing to settle the debt himself.
• Jaime ordered the three hundred Lannister Red Cloaks in King's Landing to arm and march toward the Great Sept of Baelor.
• Gryn convened the Small Council in the Throne Room and ordered Pycelle to announce his appointment as Lord Regent.
• Gryn placed King's Landing under martial law and said he would bring in thousands of troops to help maintain order.

Gryn consolidated his control over King's Landing by assigning troops, reshaping the Small Council, and taking steps to address the royal fleet and treasury. The meeting ended with Mathis challenging Cersei's will over its conflict with the Tyrell-Lannister alliance, leaving Gryn to decide how to resolve the dispute.

• Gryn ordered Ser Damien to protect King's Landing and announced that Crabb's troops would reinforce the city and surround it.
• Gryn sent Humfrey Waters to the Wall of the End to investigate reports of White Walkers, promising him protection and rewards.
• Gryn agreed to transfer ships to the Royal Fleet and appoint Davos Seaworth as its commander.
• Leyton told Ser Damien that Jaime was gathering Lannister Red Cloaks to attack the Great Sept of Baelor, and Damien promised House Gote's loyalty to Crabb.
• Gryn appointed Pycelle as an adviser, learned that the royal treasury owed more than six million Gold Dragons, and assigned Rossel to assist Gyles.
• Gryn invited recommendations for two vacant Small Council seats, and Mathis formally protested that Cersei's will violated the Tyrell-Lannister alliance.

Gryn argued that the Small Council had to uphold Cersei’s will and the royal house’s honor, then proposed ending Tommen and Margaery’s betrothal while letting Tommen choose his own queen when he came of age. He tied that compromise to putting down Stannis’s rebellion and called for the Stormlands to be incorporated into Tommen’s Crownlands, leaving the council to vote.

• Gryn invoked House Crabb’s honor and warned the Small Council that mishandling Cersei’s will could undermine the royal house and destabilize the realm.
• Pycelle backed Gryn’s warning, while Harys stayed silent and Mathis argued that annulling Tommen and Margaery’s betrothal would dishonor the Reach.
• Gryn agreed that Mace Tyrell’s contributions mattered but insisted that Cersei’s will required Tommen and Margaery’s betrothal to be annulled.
• Gryn proposed that Tommen choose his own queen when he came of age, without interference, and Pycelle and Harys praised the proposal.
• Gryn said Stannis’s rebellion had to be put down and proposed incorporating the Stormlands into Tommen’s Crownlands, then asked the Small Council to vote.

Gryn secured the Small Council’s approval to incorporate the Stormlands into the Crownlands and prepared to announce the decision as Crabb troops entered King’s Landing. After Cersei died, Gryn, Margaery, and Mathis were summoned to arrange her funeral.

• Gyles, Harys, and Pycelle backed Gryn’s proposal to incorporate the Stormlands into the Crownlands, while Mathis abstained, and the measure passed.
• Gryn announced that he would make Selwyn Tarth Warden of the East and summon Stormlands lords to King’s Landing, threatening those who failed to appear.
• Two thousand Crabb Blue Cloaks and three thousand Crabb cavalry entered King’s Landing as citizens hid and news spread that Gryn’s army was arriving.
• Gryn met privately with Margaery, who warned that the Reach might oppose his actions and asked how she could preserve their friendship.
• Mathis returned with word that Cersei had died, and Gryn, Margaery, and Mathis went to her bedchamber to discuss the funeral arrangements.

After Cersei’s death, Gryn arranged her funeral and entrusted Margaery with caring for Tommen, then prepared to confront the Faith’s armed followers. The chapter ended with Brother Lancel arriving at the Red Keep to request an audience with Gryn.

• Gryn ordered the city bells rung for Cersei and assigned her funeral arrangements to the Master of Household and Lord Gyles Rosby.
• Gryn invited Margaery to serve as Mistress of Household and care for Tommen, and she showed their apparent closeness before the court.
• Tommen sought comfort from Margaery, while Gryn offered condolences to Myrcella beside Cersei’s body.
• Gryn told Lord Mathis that the Small Council had ordered the Faith’s armed forces disbanded and warned he might use harsh laws against further unrest.
• Gryn spoke privately with Grand Maester Pycelle, who left the Throne Room pale and trembling.
• Brother Lancel approached the Red Keep as an envoy of the High Septon and requested an audience with Gryn.

Gryn received Lancel as the High Sparrow’s envoy, rejected the Faith Militant’s actions, and declared that he would destroy the sparrows. He redirected Lancel toward a mission at the Wall of the End while Jaime led the Lannister Red Cloaks toward the Great Sept of Baelor.

• Leyton reported on unrest in King's Landing, the sparrows gathering at the Great Sept, and the movements of Mace and Mason; Gryn ordered further investigation and a reward for finding Osfryd Kettleblack.
• Gryn had Lancel and his sparrow companions seized, and his guards killed the four sparrows in the Throne Room.
• Gryn challenged Lancel over Cersei’s humiliation and learned that the High Sparrow planned to end his life the next day; Gryn vowed that the High Sparrow and his followers would die.
• Gryn told Lancel about Stannis, the White Walkers, and the Night’s Watch’s need for help, then urged him to lead a mission north with support from the Crabb Trading Company.
• Jaime put on his golden lion helmet and led the Lannister Red Cloaks toward the Great Sept of Baelor.

Ser Jaime Lannister led the Red Cloaks against the sparrows at the Great Sept of Baelor while Ser Mutton ordered the shieldmen and Crabb archers to join the assault. As the massacre began, Count Mathis Rowan told Margaery Tyrell that the slaughter had started.

• The sparrows gathered to defend the High Sparrow and clashed with the Gold Cloaks surrounding the plaza.
• Ser Damien Gort agreed to proceed with the attack, while Sandor Clegane mocked the sparrows’ singing.
• Ser Jaime led the Red Cloaks into the plaza, where they fought the sparrows and slowly advanced toward the Great Sept.
• Ser Mutton sounded the horn, the shield walls advanced, and Crabb archers’ volleys killed more than half the sparrows.
• At Cersei’s vigil, Count Mathis Rowan told Margaery that the slaughter at the Great Sept had begun, and she reacted with alarm.

Margaery and Mathis assessed the danger of confronting Gryn and the Crabbs as Jaime killed the High Sparrow after the Faith Militant’s defeat. Margaery then secretly visited Gryn, and the chapter ended with her leaving his bedchamber the next morning.

• Mathis warned Margaery that the Tyrells could not easily challenge Gryn’s forces and advised her not to fear war if negotiations were unfair.
• Jaime entered the Great Sept, rejected the High Sparrow’s plea to die at dawn, and beheaded him.
• Sandor gave Jaime a horse, and Jaime rode back toward the Red Keep with the High Sparrow’s head.
• Mego distracted Anguy while Margaery entered Gryn’s bedchamber and joined him in bed.
• The next morning, Margaery dressed, kissed Gryn, and said she might visit him again that night.

Gryn and Margaery prepared for Cersei’s funeral while reassuring nobles that the alliance between Marigold and Golden Rose would hold. At the Sept, Gryn defended the Small Council’s position on the Stormlands and helped the exhausted King Tommen respond to mourners.

• Margaery asked Gryn to have Princess Myrcella help receive condolences, and Gryn assured her that their political alliance would remain firm.
• Gryn warned Ser Anguy to behave himself as Borona and Osana were due to arrive, while Margaery pressed Mego Tyrell to maintain a good relationship with him.
• Margaery and Megga joked about Gryn and discussed Margaery’s future as queen as they rode to the funeral.
• At the Sept, Gryn greeted the assembled nobles and declared that anyone opposing the Stormlands’ incorporation into the Crownlands would be treated as a traitor supporting Stannis.
• Jaime Lannister stood guard by Cersei’s coffin with the High Sparrow’s severed head at his feet, while mourners offered condolences to Tommen and Myrcella.
• Seeing Tommen exhausted, Gryn had the Master of Household explain that the king had prayed through the night and announce that Tommen would host a feast after the funeral.

After Cersei’s funeral, Gryn spoke with Jaime about his vengeance, removing his white cloak, and the threat of the White Walkers. As Tommen and Myrcella mourned with Margaery, Crabb forces arrived in King’s Landing and the Sand Snakes received an unexpected visitor.

• Gryn comforted Tommen and Myrcella at Cersei’s funeral, then Jaime left the Sept to meet with him.
• Gryn told Jaime that he would have to surrender his white cloak and described the Night’s Watch’s evidence of White Walkers; Jaime agreed to go north in a black cloak.
• Margaery encouraged Tommen to eat and suggested he meet with Gryn and the Small Council, while Tommen grieved and asked whether he could pardon Stannis if he were captured.
• Count Davos Seaworth’s Crabb Fleet arrived in Blackwater Bay, and several thousand Crabb Soldiers entered King’s Landing.
• Obara and Nymeria Sand watched the Crabb Soldiers from a window until a long-haired woman entered their room.

Arianne Martell reunited with Obara and Nymeria in King's Landing, while Lord Regent Gryn managed the king's education and prepared for the arrival of Lord Mace's army. After hinting that the West needed a prestigious Warden and an acting lord of Casterly Rock, Gryn welcomed Princess Arianne as Dorne's envoy.

• Arianne reunited with Obara and Nymeria and explained that Prince Doran had sent her to King's Landing as Dorne's representative.
• At dinner, Gryn let Tommen attend Small Council meetings to learn about governing, despite Pycelle's objections, and promised him a Valyrian Steel dagger if he discovered a flaw in the kingdom's affairs.
• Gryn ordered Ser Anguy to keep the Tyrell army outside King's Landing, allowing Lord Mace Tyrell to enter alone if he wished.
• Gryn told Harys Swyft that the West needed a prestigious Warden of the West and an acting lord of Casterly Rock.
• Gryn personally welcomed Princess Arianne Nymeros Martell outside the Throne Room.

Lord Regent Gryn hosted Princess Arianne and the Dornish envoys, defending the Kingslayer and arguing that Dorne belonged in the Seven Kingdoms. He proposed that Prince Doran join the Small Council, but Arianne sought a marriage alliance involving Myrcella, leaving Gryn questioning whether it was Doran’s condition for negotiation.

• Gryn welcomed Arianne and the Dornish nobles at a banquet, where Arianne challenged him over the High Septon’s death and the Kingslayer’s title.
• Lord Harmen Uller and Ser Ryon Allyrion questioned Gryn, who argued that the High Septon was no god and accused him of conspiring against the royal house.
• After the banquet, Gryn proposed that Prince Doran serve as Master of Laws on the Small Council to help govern the realm.
• Arianne said she wanted a marriage alliance involving Myrcella, and Gryn warned that her marriage could provoke turmoil.
• Gryn asked Arianne whether Myrcella’s marriage was Prince Doran’s condition for negotiation.

Gryn tightened his control over King's Landing while negotiating with Arianne and preparing to receive Mace Tyrell. After Mace entered the city under Crabb’s bread-and-salt hospitality, he approached Gryn at the Iron Throne.

• Gryn rejected Arianne’s initial attempt to negotiate on her own, prompting her to summon the Dornish lords and knights.
• Crabb Soldiers entered King's Landing, Gryn restored Archbishop Ollidor to office and ordered the Faith disarmed, and Jaime Lannister was stripped of his Kingsguard title and sent to the Wall of the End.
• Arianne accepted Gryn’s goodwill on Prince Doran’s behalf, and Gryn hinted that his compensation concerned loyalty and the realm’s need for Dorne’s contribution.
• Mace Tyrell marched toward King's Landing after receiving Margaery’s advice, while privately considering how to strengthen his standing in the coming negotiations.
• Davos Seaworth offered Mace bread and salt on Gryn’s behalf; after eating a small piece, Mace entered the city and approached Gryn beneath the Iron Throne.