Chapter Summaries

Joffrey’s party was ambushed by Wildlings, including Night’s Watch deserters and a Skinchanger riding a Snow Bear. Joffrey opened an escape route, but the attackers pursued him and the others into the forest.

• Benjen warned Joffrey that the Night’s Watch needed supplies rather than a royal visit, and Joffrey defended the kingdom’s support.
• Joffrey sensed figures surrounding the road, and thirty or forty Wildlings emerged with a Skinchanger riding a Snow Bear.
• Joffrey identified several attackers as Night’s Watch deserters and realized the party would have to fight.
• Joffrey killed the five archers with throwing knives, then led Rainwater’s charge through the encirclement with Tyrion.
• Jon, Ghost, Benjen, and Yoren escaped into the forest, while several slower men were overwhelmed.
• The Snow Bear crushed a Wildling, and the Skinchanger ordered the group to pursue Joffrey and find the lion.

Joffrey led a carefully planned ambush against the Free Folk, using his Mental Power and throwing knives to take out their archers while Rainwater and the others fought the survivors. The battle ended with the Skinchanger dead and the Snow Bear collapsed, leaving Joffrey staring at a clear sky with no ravens in sight.

• Joffrey used a shattered steel fragment to track the Free Folk and assigned Jon, Benjen, Yoren, and Tyrion their roles in an ambush.
• Joffrey's group hid as the Free Folk entered his mental domain, and he silently killed their archers with throwing knives.
• The Skinchanger transferred into the Snow Bear as Rainwater fought it, while Joffrey and Jon attacked the Free Folk on the ground.
• Joffrey's sword and Rainwater's strength overwhelmed the Free Folk, prompting some to surrender and others to flee as Benjen and Yoren pursued them.
• The Snow Bear howled, charged the Skinchanger, and shattered his body before collapsing with the strange gleam gone from its eyes.
• Joffrey stared into the clear sky and noticed there were no ravens.

Brynden Rivers sent a Child of the Forest and her companions to capture the man who had disrupted fate, hoping to restore Brandon Stark's path as his successor and resist the Great Other. Joined by Free Folk and skinchangers, the group prepared to set out for the Wall.

• Brynden Rivers told the Child of the Forest that the Great Other's servants had awakened and that Brandon Stark was meant to become the next Greenseer.
• Brynden sent her to bring back the man who had disrupted fate, gave her Dark Sister, and directed her to recruit human skinchangers with his raven.
• The Child of the Forest and six companions escaped a horde of wights on their animal mounts and followed the raven southwest.
• The raven gathered more than five hundred Free Folk and over thirty skinchangers, who prepared to travel to the Wall with the Children of the Forest.

Joffrey interrogated captured Wildlings and deserters, learning that Varamyr had forced groups to follow him and that his Snow Bear entered through an abandoned tunnel in The Wall. He executed eight prisoners to test how death affected Source Energy, confirming that it could be stored in gemstones and carried into the world by souls or thoughts.

• Joffrey questioned Stiv and Wallen, who identified Varamyr as Sixskins and described how he had forced Wildling groups to serve him.
• Osha told Joffrey and Benjen that she had seen Varamyr's Snow Bear enter The Wall through an abandoned tunnel and offered to lead them to it.
• Joffrey gathered the prisoners' belongings for the Recollection Rune and gave Tyrion the Snow Bear to communicate with.
• Joffrey sentenced Stiv, Wallen, and six Wildlings to death, then had Benjen, Yoren, Tyrion, and himself strike together.
• Joffrey sensed Source Energy after the executions and confirmed that it increased the energy stored in his Ruby.

At Khal Drogo and Daenerys's wedding, Daenerys endured the Dothraki feast in fear while Elin considered how to exploit the tension between Drogo's khalasar and Pentos. As the sun set, the celebration paused for the bride's gifts, and Viserion and Jorah presented theirs.

• Daenerys watched the armed Dothraki feast and saw a warrior die in a duel while the wedding continued around her.
• Elin reassured Viserion about the order in which the food was served and planned to use the conflict between Drogo's khalasar and Pentos.
• Elin exchanged a look with Jorah Mormont, and the two quietly left the high platform as Jorah worried about Elin's demands and the Kos.
• At sunset, Drogo stopped the celebration and helped Daenerys rise for the presentation of her wedding gifts.
• Viserion presented Irri, Jhiqui, and Doreah as Daenerys's servants, and Jorah offered her a map of Westeros.

Elin helped Jorah kill Khal Drogo, then manipulated Ko Pono and Ko Jhaqo into leading the Dothraki against Pentos. Elin, Jorah, and Daenerys escaped by ship as the city was sacked, but the captain and sailors confronted Elin for more money.

• A hidden dagger struck Khal Drogo, and Jorah fought him while Elin killed Illyrio and urged Ko Pono and Ko Jhaqo to act.
• After Drogo died, Ko Pono and Ko Jhaqo blamed Pentos for his murder, rallied their warriors, and fought their way to victory on the High Platform.
• Elin told Daenerys that she would return to King's Landing, while Ko Pono and Ko Jhaqo demanded that he open Pentos's gates.
• Elin's hired mercenaries attacked the eastern gate, and Jorah led Elin, Daenerys, and Viserys through it before forty thousand Dothraki riders stormed into Pentos.
• Khal Jhaqo ordered his riders to sack Pentos, while Elin and Jorah watched the city burn from their departing ship.
• The ship's captain and sailors confronted Elin and demanded more money.

Joffrey and his companions reached Castle Black, where he promised to restore the Night’s Watch’s former glory. As he entered, he sensed powerful magic in the Wall and was eager to discover its secrets.

• Joffrey told Tyrion that Pentos had hundreds of thousands of residents and reflected on the destruction he had witnessed there through runes.
• Benjen reminded Joffrey that Castle Black was half a day away, and Joffrey promised to improve the Night’s Watch after taking the throne.
• Joffrey and his companions approached the Wall and saw its immense, magical-looking blue-white expanse.
• Lord Commander Jeor Mormont welcomed Joffrey, while Benjen reunited warmly with the Night’s Watch leader.
• Joffrey promised the gathered brothers that the Night’s Watch would regain its former glory within one or two years.
• Joffrey entered Castle Black and sensed ancient, powerful magic.

Joffrey crossed the Wall’s tunnel and discovered that its ancient magic suppressed his Magic Energy while revealing several powerful Runes. After returning to Castle Black, he identified their functions and began considering the mysteries of the Wall and the Black Gate.

• Bowen Marsh unlocked the tunnel gates, and Joffrey followed Tyrion and Jon toward the far side of the Wall.
• The Wall’s magic suppressed Joffrey’s Magic Energy and caused energy to flow from his Runes into hidden patterns within the Wall.
• Tyrion’s fire magic failed, leaving him freezing, so Joffrey ordered Bowen to lead the group back.
• Joffrey identified the Extraction, Restoration, and Anti-Magic Runes and reasoned that the Wall’s magic could devastate the Others and Wights.
• Joffrey recalled that the Nightfort’s Black Gate was a talking Weirwood door and decided it was worth investigating.

Joffrey learned that Osha's secret passage might lead through the Black Gate at the Nightfort and insisted on joining Benjen's search party. He then chose Osha as an experimental subject, performed a bloody procedure on her, and left Bowen Marsh horrified by the scene.

• Tyrion's jokes eased the awkward atmosphere at the Night's Watch feast.
• Joffrey asked Old Bear about Benjen and Osha's search for a secret passage, and Maester Aemon identified the possible route as the Black Gate at the Nightfort.
• Joffrey told Old Bear he would join Benjen's expedition and asked to see Osha.
• Joffrey offered Osha his protection and power, then performed a painful procedure that placed an experimental subject in her brain.
• Bowen Marsh heard Osha's screams, saw Joffrey's blood-covered arms, and questioned his treatment methods.

Joffrey used a magical core implanted in Osha to monitor and influence her until she willingly pledged herself to him. He discovered that the cores could generate and store Source Energy beyond the limits of his own magic, leaving him with a new path to greater power.

• As they approached Nightfort, Osha feared the core Joffrey had implanted in her skull and tried to suppress her resistance.
• Joffrey sent Osha a reassuring message through his glass device, and she completed her daily task through the core’s interface.
• Osha convinced herself that the Gods had chosen her to serve Joffrey, willingly accepted the contract, and pledged loyalty until death.
• Joffrey confirmed that the contract had taken effect and that the core could run independently while generating a surplus of Source Energy.
• Joffrey concluded that human souls could provide Source Energy beyond his personal magical limits and could be harnessed through cores.

Joffrey’s group entered the Nightfort and descended the well to reach the black gate, while Joffrey discussed the new Magic Web Core and the possible threat of Bloodraven. The gate accepted Benjen’s Night’s Watch oath and opened its mouth for them.

• Joffrey explained that the new Magic Web Core avoided using rune energy, while Tyrion complained that his implanted core was useless.
• Joffrey warned Tyrion that Bloodraven might be tracking them and waiting beyond The Wall.
• Osha led Joffrey, Benjen, Tyrion, and the others to the deep well beneath the weirwood in the Nightfort kitchen.
• The group descended the well and found the black gate, which asked who they were.
• Benjen recited the Night’s Watch oath, and the gate told them to go before opening its mouth wider.

Joffrey and the Night's Watch tracked a Wildling camp in the Haunted Forest, where traitors and the Children of the Forest ambushed them. Joffrey unleashed Fire Magic beneath the enemy and left the battlefield engulfed in steam, ice, and blood.

• Joffrey, Benjen, Tyrion, Jon, and the Night's Watch emerged into the Haunted Forest and found the mutilated bodies of at least five brothers.
• Benjen led the group northwest after rangers picked up the trail, and they found a Wildling camp within half a day.
• Night's Watch traitors attacked Benjen's men, then joined the Wildlings surrounding Joffrey and his companions.
• Joffrey identified Brynden Rivers as the lord beyond The Wall, while the Wildlings and Children of the Forest demanded that he surrender someone who should not exist.
• Joffrey sent 150 units of Fire Magic Energy into the ice beneath the Wildlings and beasts, causing a vast eruption of superheated steam and bloodied ice.

Joffrey persuaded Leaf and two other Children of the Forest to serve him, offering his protection and a home in the south. After returning to the Nightfort, he learned how many Children remained and turned his thoughts to returning to King's Landing.

• Leaf surrendered to Joffrey on behalf of the Children of the Forest, and he offered to protect them from the coming Long Night.
• Tyrion proclaimed Joffrey's grand titles, and Joffrey offered the Children of the Forest a home and protection under the Iron Throne.
• Jon presented Joffrey with Dark Sister, which Joffrey gave to Jon to hold as a possible gift for his grandfather.
• Leaf and two companions agreed to serve Joffrey, while three others stayed behind to return to their people.
• At the Nightfort, Leaf told Joffrey that more than sixty singers and thousands of other Children of the Forest remained.
• Joffrey planned to house Leaf and her companions in the Red Keep's Godswood and return south, where the king was approaching Moat Cailin and Varys's intentions remained uncertain.

Varys learned that Daenerys and Viserion were sailing toward Westeros with Elin and Jorah Mormont, and suspected Petyr might have orchestrated the destruction of Pentos. At the Small Council, he revealed their approach and secured agreement to send a fleet to meet them, while continuing to wonder whether Petyr or Joffrey was responsible.

• Varys read a report saying Viserion, Daenerys, Elin, and Jorah Mormont had sailed west from Pentos.
• Varys suspected Petyr might have targeted the Targaryen siblings, though he remained uncertain of Petyr's role in Pentos's destruction.
• Varys told Petyr, Renly, and Grand Maester Pycelle that the Targaryen siblings were alive and heading toward Westeros.
• Varys proposed sending a fleet to meet the Targaryens, and the Small Council unanimously approved.
• Varys watched Petyr leave and wondered whether Joffrey, rather than Petyr, was behind the events.

Simon was executed at Castle Black despite insisting that the White Walkers were real, while Joffrey returned with Leaf and warned Jeor Mormont about the Others and Mance Rayder. Joffrey planned to leave for the south and sent Hannah the signal to act in seven days.

• Simon begged Jeor Mormont to spare him, claiming he had seen the White Walkers, but Jeor beheaded him.
• Joffrey and Benjen returned to Castle Black with Leaf, and Joffrey reported that Wildlings had attacked them near the secret passage.
• Joffrey warned Jeor that Mance Rayder was gathering a large army and that the Others might be real, and promised at least five hundred reinforcements within half a year.
• Leaf introduced herself to Jeor, and the Night's Watch brothers erupted with excitement after seeing a Child of the Forest.
• Joffrey told Jeor he would leave the next morning to catch up with the king, then sent Hannah the signal to act in seven days.

Hannah assessed the factions and hidden forces in King's Landing while preparing to carry out the Crown Prince's orders. She remained uneasy about the risky plan to seize control of the city, but learned that the Hound had arrived.

• Hannah observed the court's power struggles and concluded that King's Landing would descend into chaos and King Robert would die within a week.
• Hidden Deer told Hannah that Melisandre had appeared in the city and reported the Crown Prince's forces and the suspected strength of Littlefinger, Varys, and Renly.
• Hidden Deer reported that the fleet had failed to find the ship carrying the False King on the route from Pentos.
• Hannah received the Crown Prince's plan to arrest the former Master of Coin and Varys, purge traitors from the City Watch, secretly dispose of Renly, seal the city, and summon Lord Tywin.
• Hidden Deer told Hannah that the Hound had arrived in King's Landing, and Hannah ordered him to go.

Joffrey rushed toward Winterfell to warn the North about the danger from The Great Other, while monitoring the Children of the Forest’s debate over whether to seek help from humans. He arrived in Winter Town with Leaf and her companions and demanded an immediate meeting with Lady Catelyn.

• Tyrion collapsed from exhaustion during the journey, and Joffrey gave him Recovery Rune magic before they continued.
• Joffrey and Leaf watched the Children of the Forest debate leaving their home, and a singer led seven others south after Bloodraven stayed silent.
• The group reached Winterfell, and Joffrey urged Leaf to put the greater good first as they approached Winter Town.
• Rainwater and Snowball carried the group into Winter Town, where the Children of the Forest and giant beasts frightened the residents.
• Ser Rodrik Cassel came out to meet them, and Joffrey insisted that he be taken to Lady Catelyn at once.

Joffrey convinced Catelyn, Robb, and their companions that Bloodraven threatened Bran and the party traveling south, and urged Winterfell to act before it was too late. Catelyn sent a warning toward Riverrun, while Robb stayed at Winterfell and sent Theon and Ser Rodrik south with a hundred soldiers.

• Joffrey told Catelyn and Robb that Bloodraven had targeted Bran and was responsible for Maester Luwin's death, and Leaf confirmed his account.
• Joffrey demonstrated his power with living fire and warned that Bloodraven might attack the travelers heading south, including Lord Eddard.
• Catelyn panicked for her family, and Jon urged Robb to act, citing Bloodraven's danger and the threat to Lord Eddard.
• Catelyn took Joffrey's prepared message and hurried to the rookery to send a raven to Riverrun.
• Robb chose to remain at Winterfell as ordered and sent Theon with a hundred soldiers, while Ser Rodrik volunteered to accompany them.

As Joffrey traveled north, he used the Rune to spy on Varys and Petyr Baelish as they uncovered his likely plans against King's Landing and the king. The two men formed a wary alliance, while Petyr resolved to exploit the coming chaos and reach for the Iron Throne.

• Theon led a hundred armored knights out of Winterfell after Joffrey and the giant beasts departed ahead of them.
• Joffrey told Tyrion that the king would receive his letter only after the operation in King's Landing, then used the Rune to search the Red Keep.
• Varys and Petyr Baelish met before the Iron Throne and suspected that Joffrey had taken the dragons and was behind the new faces in King's Landing.
• Varys warned that their agents sensed an imminent move, and he and Petyr realized the king might suffer an accident within two days.
• Petyr dismissed Varys's concerns about the Lannister guards and the City Watch, claiming he had brave allies and climbing the Iron Throne steps.

The Hound carried out Joffrey’s operation against the Gold Cloak barracks, cutting down spies and fighting through a bloody internal clash. When a force of Gold Cloaks claimed the Red Keep was in rebellion, he blinded them with Light Magic Energy and charged with Flames.

• Joffrey ordered the Hound to begin the operation, and the Hound left the inn for the Gold Cloak barracks near Dragon Gate.
• The Hound noticed and killed a Little Bird following him, then fought through several groups of attackers on the way to the barracks.
• An accomplice helped lure the watchmen from the gate, but the Hound spotted three Gold Cloaks killing their companions and climbed over the wall to stop them.
• The Hound opened the gate as rival factions inside the barracks fought, leaving the barracks in flames and its surviving men gathered under armed officers.
• An officer ordered the Hound to clear the way so the Gold Cloaks could support a claimed rebellion at the Red Keep, and the Hound blinded the force and attacked with Flames.