Chapter Summaries

Theon used whistling arrows and a Communication Token to force the Flea Bottom crowd to retreat, while Jon and Tyrion demanded their surrender. The people laid down their weapons and were captured, uncertain what King Joffrey would do with them.

• Theon shot whistling arrows at the crowd and ordered them to fall back until they stopped resisting.
• Jon told Theon the crowd was calm, and Tyrion took Jon’s Communication Token to address the people.
• Tyrion ordered the crowd to put down their weapons, squat, submit to supervision, and obey the Divine Decree.
• The crowd recalled how panic and anger had led them to unite against the Gold Cloaks before the arrows drove them back.
• The people dropped their weapons and squatted as the Gold Cloaks bound them, gagged them, and covered their heads with hoods.

Joffrey ordered the purge of King's Landing to continue until its eastern half was cleared for a new holy city, while reorganizing several royal departments and expanding the Kingsguard. He left the fate of the roughly thirty thousand detained people unresolved.

• Tyrion reported that confiscated properties and royal holdings covered about a quarter of King's Landing, while worrying that the purge had angered powerful interests and threatened trade.
• Joffrey ordered the eastern half of King's Landing cleared, rewarded purge participants, and directed Tyrion and Elin to lead rotating teams as the city gates remained sealed to departing residents.
• Joffrey established the Ministry of Education and ordered Pycelle to compile a complete record of the maesters and apprentices.
• Joffrey assigned four thousand recruits to a Finance Ministry Investigation Team, placed Tyrion's people in the Kingdom Statistics Bureau, and made Elin Minister of Security.
• Joffrey expanded the Kingsguard from seven members to seventy-seven, with Barristan remaining commander.
• Joffrey turned to Tyrion and began addressing the roughly thirty thousand people in detention.

Joffrey assigned tens of thousands of people rounded up in King's Landing to new military, security, logistics, and engineering departments. He then confronted his council with dwindling supplies and warned that Renly's rebels would march in September, leaving the city one month to prepare.

• Joffrey assigned five thousand people to the army, five thousand to the Security and Statistics Bureaus, ten thousand to the Logistics Bureau, and ten thousand to the Engineering Bureau, with the remainder sent to the dungeons and Research Department.
• Tyrion reflected on how Joffrey's reforms had transformed the realm and how even Tywin and Cersei seemed unable or unwilling to restrain him.
• Tyrion reported that the treasury held more than 1.76 million Golden Dragons, weapons for ten thousand more infantry, thousands of animals, and enough grain to feed King's Landing for a year.
• Elin reported that supplies from the Crownlands were falling, shipments from the Stormlands and the Reach had nearly stopped, and the city could face tens of thousands of starving people within a month.
• Tyrion proposed importing grain from Essos, but Joffrey preferred to secure shipments from the Crownlands and Riverlands and ordered Jaime to write to the Crownlands houses.
• Joffrey declared that Renly's rebels would march in September and called on his ministers to prepare King's Landing and the Crownlands for the first steps toward building the Holy City.

Brienne of Tarth arrived in King's Landing with Lord Monford Velaryon and saw the Iron Throne’s powerful fleets and strict, divinely backed controls firsthand. The chapter ended as a knight summoned Monford and Brienne to meet the king.

• Brienne watched Dragonstone’s fleets drill and worried that their strength and House Tarth’s forced neutrality endangered Renly.
• Brienne recalled how Renly’s kindness had given her purpose, then reflected on how the siege of Griffin’s Roost had separated her from him.
• Lord Monford escorted Brienne through the Mud Gate, where Gendry registered her with the Book of the Chosen and a Dragon Glass sphere.
• Brienne and Monford rode through the city, passing repeated inspections that revealed how thoroughly Divine Grace controlled travel and commerce.
• A knight came out of the Red Keep and announced that His Majesty had summoned Brienne and Monford.

Loras was summoned to the Throne Room, where King Joffrey appointed Brienne of House Tarth to the Kingsguard and revealed that Loras could help secure mercy for Renly. Loras knelt and offered his sword, choosing to serve the king he loved.

• Loras left his unfinished Golden Rose badge behind and wore the Crowned Stag cloak as he went to answer the king’s summons.
• On his way to the Throne Room, Loras reflected on the growing strength of the Holy War Army and worried that the king might send him to fight House Tyrell.
• King Joffrey knighted Brienne of House Tarth as a Kingsguard, and Loras recognized her as Renly’s devoted admirer.
• King Joffrey told Loras that he might spare Renly if two Kingsguard pleaded for mercy.
• Loras knelt before King Joffrey and offered his sword.

Joffrey appointed thirty new Kingsguard from powerful houses to secure noble support and strengthen the throne ahead of Renly’s rebellion. He focused on building King’s Landing’s military and magical capabilities, while balancing the growth of the Holy War Army, the Magic Web, and magical research.

• Joffrey appointed thirty Divine Grace-powered members of the Holy War Army as Kingsguard, binding them to the throne with unbreakable oaths.
• Joffrey reserved half of the seventy-seven Kingsguard positions for the Stormlands, the Reach, and Dorne, intending to bring their lords under the throne after crushing Renly’s rebellion.
• Joffrey planned to use King’s Landing’s twenty thousand soldiers and its growing corps of mages to defeat Renly’s hundred-thousand-strong army and assert the throne’s power.
• Joffrey allocated weekly Rune Energy to double the Holy War Army, create one hundred Wishing Stones, and produce or store energy for other magical items.
• Joffrey’s forces developed magical tools, including Databases, High Divine Grace Cores, All-Seeing Eyes, and Books of the Chosen, to support the Magic Web, research, and security.

Fourteen-year-old Quell dreamed of becoming a knight and marrying Jenny, and planned to leave Beachhead Village to fight for the king against Renly. As a commotion erupted at the village entrance, the wandering septon Sparrow prayed for the village’s protection.

• Quell told Jenny he would become a true knight and said he planned to fight in the coming war.
• Quell recalled how the villagers had laughed at his plans and how his life as an orphan left him with little to eat or do.
• Jenny said the strengthening wind meant she had to return home, and Quell walked her back.
• A gray-haired wandering septon called Sparrow emerged from a doorway and looked coldly at Quell.
• A commotion sounded at the village entrance, and Sparrow prayed for the Mother to protect the village.

Renly’s knights seized Beachhead Village, declared the Mallery family’s lands forfeit, and requisitioned supplies while Quell sought a way to join them. The chapter ended with Jenny’s father offering her to the knights, and Quell helplessly hearing her sobs as one of them took her into a back room.

• Renly’s knights captured Beachhead Village and announced that the Mallery family had been stripped of its titles and lands after defying Renly’s decree.
• Quell recognized Old John’s severed head and wondered whether Lord Rosha Mallery or the False King could challenge Renly’s forces.
• The knights demanded food and service from the villagers, and Quell helped load supplies onto their wagons.
• Quell asked Bass and Baker to introduce him to their captain, hoping to join Renly’s army.
• Jenny’s father offered Jenny to the captain, who rejected her after learning she was not a virgin.
• A knight took Jenny into a back room as Quell watched helplessly, and the captain remarked, “Sweet as a song.”

Quell endured a night of hearing knights visit Jenny, then watched the captain blame the village for two deaths and order it destroyed. As the village burned, the captain severed Quell’s right arm.

• Quell was unable to answer the captain’s questions and lay in the corner while the captain dismissed him as a man toyed with by Jenny.
• Quell watched nineteen knights enter the inner room overnight, including Bass and Baker, and remembered their sigils.
• At dawn, the knights gathered the villagers and revealed the corpses of Bass and Baker, accusing the village of killing them.
• The knights and caravan workers took the village’s possessions, destroyed its fishing equipment, and set the village ablaze.
• The captain brought Quell before him, said, “Sweet as a Song,” and cut off Quell’s right arm.

Joffrey heard petitions from lords and refugees whose villages had been devastated by Renly’s forces, while his council reviewed the rebel armies’ movements across the region. The rebels had reached Massey’s Hook, leaving more than three hundred thousand people exposed and forcing Joffrey to decide how to respond.

• Baron Rosha Mallister and refugees described how Black Stag soldiers looted and burned villages, killed residents, and abducted a girl.
• Lord Joshua Wendwater reported that rebels had destroyed settlements in his lands, while Lord Triston Massey warned against diverting forces to defend Massey’s Hook.
• Joffrey secretly consulted his online Small Council as Elin Lantel outlined the rebel armies’ positions and their plans to approach King’s Landing.
• Elin reported that two thousand rebel cavalry had ravaged the Wendwater, driven refugees toward King’s Landing, and entered Massey’s Hook.
• Elin ended his report by noting that Massey’s Hook had more than three hundred thousand people but insufficient defenses against the rebels.

Joffrey heard his council debate whether to send troops to Massey's Hook, then ordered Beric Dondarrion to lead two hundred Holy War soldiers there with Thoros of Myr. The chapter ended with the possibility that Thoros might again use the Lord of Light’s power to raise the dead.

• Tyrion argued that Renly’s attacks on Wendwater and Massey's Hook were a trap and advised keeping the army near King's Landing.
• Jaime and the Hound urged Joffrey to trust the Holy War soldiers and strike back, while Hannah warned that the influx of refugees threatened the city’s food supply.
• Joffrey asked Tyrion about the delay in clearing East Half City, and Tyrion admitted that residents were resisting relocation.
• Joffrey ordered Lord Beric Dondarrion to take two hundred Holy War soldiers to Massey's Hook to punish the rioters and uphold the law.
• Joffrey assigned Thoros of Myr to assist Beric, raising the question of whether Thoros could again bring the dead back to life.

Joffrey left the Throne Room after delegating state affairs to Cersei, then unveiled a grand virtual council chamber to his ministers. He summoned Tywin Lannister and Eddard Stark, whose projections appeared before him as the chapter ended.

• Joffrey accepted Lord Dondarrion and Thoros’s agreement to lead the Holy War Army, and Lord Massey and Lord Wendwater returned to the courtiers.
• Viserys Targaryen claimed the White Hart was ill again, giving Joffrey an excuse to leave the Iron Throne and ask Cersei to handle state affairs.
• Joffrey entered the white space and created a vast domed Throne Room with a map of Westeros and seats for his ministers.
• Tyrion Lannister, Jaime Lannister, Sandor Clegane, Pycelle, Elin Lantel, Hannah, and Barristan appeared in projections and examined the new chamber.
• Joffrey summoned Tywin Lannister and Eddard Stark, and Eddard greeted him after their projections appeared.

Joffrey consulted his ministers about the northern threat and Renly’s rebel plans, then ordered forces to intercept the rebels while keeping the Westlands, Riverlands, and Crownlands from becoming battlefields. After the meeting, Viserion noted that Joffrey’s pet was still asleep.

• Eddard reported on the northern defenses, the Riverlands’ limited forces, Lysa’s hostility, and the threat posed by Balon Greyjoy.
• Tywin assessed the Iron Islands threat and explained that Renly and the Bitterbridge Rebels planned to cross the Blackwater River and attack from the north.
• Eddard urged the ministers to protect the Riverlands’ crops, while Tyrion, Jaime, Elin, and Hannah discussed the risks and merits of stopping the rebels before they crossed.
• Joffrey ordered ten thousand troops to intercept the Stormlands rebels in the Kingswood and directed forces to block or pursue the Bitterbridge Rebels according to their route.
• Joffrey assigned Kevan’s army to reinforce King’s Landing, and Tywin agreed that Kevan would serve.
• After the meeting ended, Viserion told Joffrey that his pet was still asleep.

Joffrey examined the three living Dragon Eggs and considered whether the Red Comet would restore the magical conditions needed for them to hatch. He joined the sleeping Daenerys in her Dragon Dream, hoping to learn what her visions revealed.

• Joffrey found the Dragon Eggs warm and alive, but his efforts to make them hatch had failed.
• Joffrey recalled that sacrifices using Valyrian blood had stirred the eggs without cracking their shells.
• Joffrey hypothesized that a rising tide of magic, possibly heralded by the Red Comet, was what the Dragon Eggs needed to hatch.
• Daenerys murmured fearfully about a dragon in her sleep, and Joffrey recognized that she was having a Dragon Dream.
• Joffrey lay beside Daenerys, held her, and entered her dream.

Daenerys experienced Dragon Dreams of a black dragon, three Dragon Eggs, and a future war between ice and fire dragons, but King Joffrey appeared in her dreams and challenged the idea that prophecy determined the future. She awoke beside Joffrey, left uncertain what the visions foretold.

• Daenerys dreamed that Viserion chased her before a black dragon appeared and engulfed her in Flames.
• King Joffrey told Daenerys that her dream was a Dragon Dream and might prophesy the future, leading her to wonder if the black dragon was linked to her Dragon Egg.
• Daenerys dreamed of three Dragon Eggs and questioned whether she should give up her ambition to reclaim the Iron Throne.
• King Joffrey appeared in the dream and led Daenerys toward the white Dragon Egg, declaring that he did not believe in prophecy and that she would master its dragon.
• Daenerys later dreamed of ice dragons fighting fire dragons above a land of the dead, then heard a familiar man say that humanity could shape the future before an explosion ended the vision.

Daenerys reflected on how her life as Joffrey's captive had replaced her hopes of restoring the Targaryen dynasty with a quieter existence shaped by the king's Divine Grace tasks. The chapter ended with Joffrey changing her daily greeting task to a good-morning kiss.

• Daenerys recalled that the lords of Westeros supported Joffrey and that she had neither the swords nor the dragon power needed to reclaim the throne.
• She considered how her self-running Divine Grace Light Screen assigned her morning greetings, gifts for Joffrey, and bedtime stories.
• Daenerys compared her current life as Joffrey's pet with her former life as an asset used by the Free Cities' magisters and princes.
• Joffrey woke and asked Daenerys for her morning greeting, and she performed it automatically.
• Joffrey thanked Daenerys and told her that from the next morning her greeting would be a good-morning kiss.

Sansa learned that Daenerys had moved into Joffrey's bedchamber and feared that her betrothal and imagined future as queen were falling apart. After Sansa confronted Joffrey, he claimed he was enduring Daenerys and others for world peace and human unity, leaving Sansa bewildered.

• Jeyne Poole tried to comfort Sansa after she heard that Daenerys had spent the night in the king's bedchamber.
• Sansa recalled the love and future she had imagined with Joffrey, along with the Winter Roses crown he had given her.
• Sansa asked Jeyne to help her go to Joffrey and admitted that she could not pretend nothing had happened.
• Joffrey dismissed his attendants and listened as Sansa voiced her fears and doubts about Daenerys, their love, and their betrothal.
• Joffrey insisted that he was enduring Daenerys and others for world peace and human unity, leaving Sansa confused.

Joffrey persuaded Sansa that Daenerys’s dragons and Targaryen lineage could help unite the realm against rebellion and the coming apocalypse. Sansa accepted his offer to become his Visenya and rule beside him.

• Joffrey told Sansa she would become Queen of the world and urged her to consider how Daenerys could help prevent suffering and rebellion.
• Sansa reasoned that Daenerys’s bloodline could pacify Targaryen loyalists and save lives.
• Joffrey showed Sansa the three Dragon Eggs and explained that Daenerys could hatch dragons to strengthen the Iron Throne against Blackfyre.
• Joffrey showed Sansa a vision of the army of the dead and warned that they had to unite against the Evil God and the final winter.
• Joffrey asked Sansa to become his Visenya, and Sansa agreed.

Jeyne wrestled with her guilt over hiding her relationship with Joffrey from Sansa, then accepted the idea that she could become his queen and remain close to her friend. Joffrey turned to his reports and found an unusual one from Hallyne, president of the Alchemists' Guild.

• Joffrey ordered Hannah to deal with whoever had upset Sansa, while Jeyne tried and failed to leave his bedchamber.
• Jeyne reflected on how Joffrey's advances had ended her hopes of marrying someone else and forced her to keep a secret from Sansa.
• Jeyne weighed her loyalty to Winterfell and Sansa against her growing place at court, and persuaded herself that concealing the king's infidelity protected Sansa.
• Jeyne imagined becoming Queen Jeyne Poole and surrendered to Joffrey's embrace.
• Joffrey reviewed reports on his phone and noticed an unusual one signed by Hallyne, president of the Alchemists' Guild.

Hallyne welcomed King Joffrey to the Alchemists' Guild, hoping to restore its dwindling fortunes, while Joffrey inspected the Guild's Wildfire stores and entered its underground hall. On the way down, Joffrey told Tyrion that Daenerys and others would earn their positions through loyalty and service, hinting at his dissatisfaction with the Starks.

• Hallyne waited with the Guild's five other Wise Men to greet Joffrey and hoped the king would help revive the declining Alchemists' Guild.
• Joffrey arrived on the fire-snorting White Hart and asked whether the Guild had prepared ten thousand jars of Wildfire.
• Hallyne said the Guild had gathered enough Wildfire, explaining that Divine Grace Power had increased its production.
• Hallyne led Joffrey, Brienne the Beauty, Barristan the Bold, and Tyrion toward the Guild's underground hall, where Joffrey's gemstone filled the tunnel with White Light.
• Tyrion asked what position Joffrey intended to give Daenerys, and Joffrey replied that the most loyal and useful people deserved the best positions, prompting Tyrion to recognize his dissatisfaction with the Starks.