Recaps

Robb told Catelyn that Sansa and Arya were alive in King's Landing and planned to go there with Ser Wyllis Manderly. Catelyn secured his support for Jeyne and persuaded him to let her accompany him to bring their daughters home, leaving Robb to convince the Northern lords the next day.

• Catelyn questioned whether Robb could trust Viserys, but Robb assured her that Sansa and Arya were alive in King's Landing.
• Catelyn wept with relief at the news that Arya was alive, and Robb promised to bring his sisters home.
• Robb said he would travel with a few guards and Ser Wyllis Manderly, while Brynden stayed to help the Northern Army.
• Robb admitted that he loved Jeyne, and Catelyn promised to speak with the Freys and support their relationship.
• Catelyn insisted on accompanying Robb to King's Landing, and he finally agreed.
• Catelyn reminded Robb that he needed to persuade the lords to accept his departure at their meeting the next day.

Robb told Jeyne he would leave for King's Landing to negotiate with Viserys and bring his sisters home, then explained his plan to the northern lords. The lords backed a truce to give the North time to recover, but Robb made clear they would fight rather than submit to slavery.

• Robb told Jeyne to stay behind while he traveled to King's Landing, promising to marry her and bring her to Winterfell after his return.
• Robb summoned the northern lords and announced that he and his mother would leave the next day to negotiate a truce with Viserys.
• Greatjon challenged Robb's plan, but Robb said Joffrey had killed Eddard and that the North needed a pause in the fighting.
• Wyllis Manderly and Old Karstark supported seeking a truce because the North was running short of food and supplies.
• Robb said the North could discuss Viserys's demands but would fight if he tried to make northerners submit as slaves.
• Greatjon, Smalljon, and the assembled lords declared that northerners never submitted.

Robb prepared to leave the Crag for King's Landing, assigning command of the army to Earl Karstark and warning him and Brynden the Blackfish to watch Roose Bolton. As Robb rode east with Catelyn and an escort, Cersei was brought out of the Red Keep in prison clothes to face a crowd.

• Robb named Earl Karstark commander while he traveled, with Earl Jon and Brynden the Blackfish assisting him, and told them to watch Earl Bolton.
• Robb said goodbye to Jeyne, then departed the Crag with Catelyn, Dacey Mormont, the Blackfish, and an escort bound for King's Landing by way of the Riverlands.
• A crowd gathered outside the Red Keep after word spread that Cersei would be paraded through the streets.
• Unsullied escorted Cersei through the gate in a coarse prison gown, with her hair cut short, her hands bound, and her feet bare.

Cersei was forced to endure a public walk of atonement through King's Landing, where the crowd pelted and humiliated her. As the procession reached the square before the ruined Great Sept, people recounted the abuses committed by the Lannisters, and their accusations began to shake her resolve.

• Cersei emerged from the Black Cells and was jeered and pelted with rotten food as Unsullied escorted her through the streets.
• The procession passed from the Red Keep through the Mud Gate, Fish Market, Flea Bottom, and Street of Steel toward the ruined Great Sept.
• A woman dumped feces and urine onto Cersei from a window, and the crowd laughed as Cersei struggled to endure the humiliation.
• A gray-haired woman and other townspeople confronted Cersei, recounting how the Lannisters had killed or harmed their families.
• Cersei slowed as the crowd's accusations reminded her that the people who once cheered Joffrey now cursed her.

Cersei Lannister endured a violent public humiliation as she was paraded through King’s Landing and sentenced to death. Bound in the square before the ruins of the Great Sept, she faced execution in three days and wondered about her family and the prophecy that had shaped her fears.

• An Unsullied shoved Cersei, and the crowd pelted and tore at her clothes as she was marched through the streets.
• In Flea Bottom, a starving child threw mud at Cersei and blamed her for his sister’s death.
• The procession reached the square before the ruins of the Great Sept, where guards bound Cersei to a post.
• Grand Maester Pycelle read Cersei’s charges, including treason, murder, adultery, and helping Joffrey usurp the throne.
• Pycelle sentenced Cersei to be publicly beheaded in the Red Keep square in three days.
• Cersei thought of Jaime, her children, Tywin, Tyrion, and the blood witch’s prophecy as she awaited her execution.

Sansa avoided watching Cersei’s public humiliation because it made her fear she might suffer the same fate. Cersei returned to the Black Cells, where she faced her children and resigned herself to the deaths awaiting them in three days.

• Sansa told Jeyne she did not want to see Cersei, concealing that the punishment made her imagine herself in Cersei’s place.
• Pycelle remembered Tywin’s undelivered message to Cersei and left the platform, while Varys arranged for an elderly woman who had fainted in the crowd to be taken home.
• Varys reflected on Cersei’s fall and turned away to prepare for the arrival of Daenerys and Robb Stark.
• The Unsullied escorted Cersei past Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella; Myrcella wept at her mother’s injuries, but Cersei was forced onward.
• Cersei was locked in her cell and remembered Casterly Rock and Jaime, then thought that she and her children would die in three days.

Daenerys grew impatient waiting for the fleet in Lys and decided to fly to King's Landing on Acmot, taking Arya with her. They left ahead of the ships, while Harren ordered the fleet to depart as soon as possible.

• Daenerys told Harren she would not wait three more days for the fleet to be ready.
• Daenerys learned Arya was exploring Lys and went to find her.
• Daenerys told Arya they would leave immediately by dragon, and Arya eagerly agreed.
• Daenerys and Arya mounted Acmot and flew west from Lys.
• Harren watched them disappear into the clouds and urged the fleet to hurry.

Daenerys and Arya flew to King's Landing and reunited with Viserys and Rhaenys. Arya then saw Sansa at the Red Keep entrance, and the sisters faced each other after their painful separation.

• Daenerys and Arya flew over the Summer Sea and Narrow Sea, reaching King's Landing by evening.
• Daenerys spotted Viserys on a platform near the Red Keep and had Acmot descend into the crowded square.
• Daenerys embraced Viserys and greeted Rhaenys while Arya struggled to climb down from Acmot and fell.
• Arya noticed Sansa at the Red Keep entrance, and Sansa stared at her through tears.
• Arya stood frozen as she remembered leaving King's Landing after witnessing her father's execution and Sansa fainting.

Arya reunited with Sansa and Jeyne at the Red Keep after returning to King's Landing with Daenerys. As the sisters bathed and caught up, Viserys told Daenerys that Cersei and her three children would be beheaded the next day.

• Arya ran into Sansa's arms, and she and Jeyne cried as they welcomed her back.
• Arya explained that she had cut her hair to hide in King's Landing and wore practical clothes for swordsmanship, then showed them her Valyrian steel shortsword.
• Viserys invited everyone into the Red Keep, and Daenerys sent Acmot, Vermax, and Viserion to rest outside the city.
• Sansa accompanied Arya to the baths while Jeyne waited outside, and Daenerys and Rhaenys waited in Viserys's study.
• Viserys told Daenerys that Cersei and her three children would be beheaded the next day.

After Arya cleaned up and reunited with Sansa, Viserys brought Daenerys and Rhaenys to meet them. Sansa thanked Daenerys for caring for Arya, and Daenerys welcomed her without ceremony.

• Sansa dressed Arya in a blue gown and combed her hair while Jeyne watched.
• Daenerys reflected on the deaths of the Lannister children, and Rhaenys and Viserys defended Viserys's decision.
• Viserys, Daenerys, and Rhaenys went to meet Arya and Sansa after hearing they had finished bathing.
• Arya joked with Daenerys about looking like a noble lady, and Viserys offered to have gowns made for her.
• Viserys formally introduced Sansa to Daenerys, and Sansa thanked Daenerys for reuniting her with Arya.

Daenerys reunited with Viserys and the others in the Red Keep, where they bathed and shared dinner. As the conversation turned to Lys and the planned executions, Arya said she would watch Cersei and Joffrey be beheaded, while Sansa hesitated.

• Arya teased Viserys about admiring Sansa, and Daenerys sincerely praised Sansa's beauty.
• Viserys sent Daenerys and Rhaenys to bathe before dinner, and Rhaenys playfully invited him to join them.
• Viserys, Daenerys, Rhaenys, Sansa, Arya, and Jeyne ate together in a small dining room in the King's Tower.
• Viserys asked Daenerys about her journey and her impressions of Lys, and Rhaenys warned her that Kinvara had told them to avoid the Temple of the Red God there.
• Arya asked whether Sansa would watch the beheadings, then declared she wanted to see Cersei's and Joffrey's heads fall, while Sansa fell silent.

Daenerys learned that Rhaenys had become Viserys's lover and talked through her unease about his other partners and Sansa's feelings for him. At dawn, Viserys, Daenerys, and Rhaenys watched as Cersei was brought out of the Red Keep in chains.

• Daenerys told Viserys she wanted to attend the execution, and he agreed while warning her to stay away from the platform.
• Rhaenys told Daenerys that she and Viserys were together, and Daenerys questioned her about Sansa's feelings for him.
• Rhaenys reassured Daenerys that she and Rhaenys would always hold the highest place in Viserys's heart.
• Daenerys asked whether Myrcella would die, and Rhaenys confirmed that she would.
• Before dawn, Viserys, Daenerys, Rhaenys, Arya, Sansa, and Jeyne gathered above the Red Keep's square as Cersei was escorted through the gate.

Cersei and her children were paraded before the people of King's Landing and bound to execution blocks as Grand Maester Pycelle read House Lannister’s crimes. Ser Ayn Waters began the executions by beheading Joffrey with Ice, while Cersei watched helplessly.

• Cersei, Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella were marched through the hostile crowd, which pelted them with rotten food and stones.
• Arya watched from a tower as Joffrey wet himself and remembered his role in Eddard Stark’s execution, while Sansa tried to comfort her.
• The Lannister children were bound to execution blocks as Pycelle read their family’s crimes and the crowd demanded their deaths.
• Ser Ayn Waters raised Ice, and Joffrey broke free briefly before pleading with Cersei to save him.
• Ayn beheaded Joffrey, and his head rolled into the crowd, where people gathered around it.

Arya watched Viserys order the execution of Joffrey, Tommen, and Myrcella, while Daenerys struggled with Myrcella’s fate. The chapter ended with Aen Waters raising his sword over Myrcella as she prepared to die.

• Arya watched Joffrey’s head roll through the cheering crowd and reflected on her changed view of Viserys and Sansa.
• Aen Waters beheaded Tommen after Joffrey, and Cersei recalled her gentle son as she struggled to contain her hatred.
• Myrcella calmly faced the crowd and asked Aen to make her death quick, while Cersei pleaded with her not to go.
• Daenerys tugged Viserys’s sleeve, but he told her Cersei would never have spared her and urged her to accept how the world worked.
• Viserys nodded to Aen, who raised his sword as Myrcella closed her eyes and settled her head on the block.

Cersei and her children were executed, leaving Arya with little satisfaction despite her enemies’ deaths. Three days later, Robb Stark and Catelyn arrived in King’s Landing after an attack that Viserys knew had been carried out by House Bolton.

• Ayn Waters executed Cersei after she swore revenge on Viserys and the Targaryens.
• Viserys led Daenerys and Rhaenys away from the execution, while Joffrey’s and Cersei’s heads were displayed on the walls.
• Arya watched the heads and reflected that her father’s death could not be undone, then left with Sansa.
• Varys informed Viserys that Robb Stark and Catelyn had arrived with fewer than twenty wounded survivors.
• Viserys revealed that he had monitored the road through the weirwoods and knew House Bolton had attacked Robb’s party.

Robb and Catelyn Stark arrived in King's Landing, where Viserys's men welcomed them and displayed the heads of Cersei and Joffrey. After settling into guest rooms in the Red Keep, they and the Northerners saw Viserys's three dragons circling overhead.

• Varys welcomed Robb and his party through the King's Gate, where Cersei and Joffrey's heads hung on the wall.
• Robb and Catelyn remembered Eddard as they passed the heads and the bloodstained square, then followed Varys to the Red Keep.
• Varys gave Robb and Catelyn separate guest rooms and quartered their guards downstairs.
• Catelyn found blue cornflowers in her room and saw the Targaryen banner and dragons from her window.
• Robb, Catelyn, and the other Northerners watched the three dragons circle above the Red Keep.

Robb Stark met Viserys in King's Landing to negotiate the North's relationship with the Iron Throne. Viserys accepted the North's autonomy and granted it five years without sending troops south, while requiring it to obey the Iron Throne afterward.

• Catelyn joined Robb, who told her he had counted at least six dragons outside, and they set out with their guards to meet Viserys.
• Varys escorted Robb and Catelyn to the Council Hall, where Robb entered with Catelyn, Dacey, and Ser Wyllis and addressed Viserys without kneeling.
• Robb told Viserys that the North would accept allegiance only if the Iron Throne left its laws, faith, and internal affairs alone, and Viserys agreed.
• Robb demanded that the North be exempt from sending troops to southern wars, citing its losses and his need to consolidate control.
• Viserys granted the North five years without sending troops beyond its borders, after which it would have to obey the Iron Throne's commands.

Robb Stark negotiated with Viserys, learned more about the threat from the Others, and swore House Stark’s fealty to the Iron Throne. Viserys allowed Robb to remain in the Red Keep with his sisters, and Sansa reunited with Catelyn.

• Robb asked Viserys to let Sansa and Arya return to the North, and Viserys said they were free to leave whenever they wished.
• Viserys confirmed that the Others and wights threatened the North, explained Benjen’s condition, and urged Robb to support the Night’s Watch and settle the wildlings south of the Wall.
• Robb negotiated a two-year tax reduction, then knelt and pledged House Stark’s loyalty to the Iron Throne.
• Viserys invited Robb to stay in the Red Keep with his sisters before returning north, and Sansa entered the hall and embraced Catelyn.

Catelyn reunited with Sansa and Arya in King's Landing, while Robb questioned Viserys about the attack on his family. Viserys withheld what he knew, leaving Robb suspicious that Roose Bolton might not be the true mastermind.

• Catelyn embraced Sansa and Arya, and Arya explained that she was studying swordsmanship with Viserys.
• Viserys, Daenerys, and Rhaenys watched the Stark family reunite, and Viserys drew Rhaenys into his arms.
• Catelyn thanked Viserys, who sent her and her children to spend time together before the banquet.
• Robb suspected Roose Bolton had arranged the attack, but Viserys neither confirmed nor denied it.
• As the family left, Robb noticed that Viserys had reacted to Roose Bolton's name, and Arya called him a liar when he said he was thinking about nothing.

Robb, Arya, and Sansa reunited with Catelyn and Jeyne in the Red Keep, where the family shared an emotional embrace. Sansa admitted she wanted to return North but felt reluctant to leave King's Landing, while Robb considered the threats awaiting him.

• Arya asked Robb what he thought of Viserys, and Robb said the king seemed calmer and more honest than expected.
• Sansa assured Robb that Viserys kept his promises and would not betray them after they returned North.
• Catelyn asked Jeyne why Viserys had helped her, and Arya explained that she had asked him to rescue Sansa and Jeyne.
• Catelyn embraced Sansa, Arya, and Jeyne, while Robb watched from the doorway and thought about Bolton, the North, the Wall, and the unborn child.
• Catelyn asked whether Sansa wanted to stay in King's Landing, and Sansa said she wanted to return North but did not want to leave.

Sansa and Arya settled into life in King's Landing while Catelyn accepted that they would stay there. Viserys discussed the North's future with Robb, then confirmed that Mace Tyrell and Loras would die and that he would reject Renly's surrender.

• Arya teased Sansa about her feelings for Viserys, and Sansa asked Robb whether Viserys would be a good king; Robb said that depended on what he did next.
• At the welcoming feast, Arya told Catelyn she wanted to remain in King's Landing with Daenerys, and Robb explained the challenges awaiting him in the North.
• Catelyn followed Sansa to her room, having decided to respect her daughters' choice to stay in King's Landing.
• Olenna's letter told Viserys that she controlled the Reach soldiers at Storm's End and awaited his orders to attack.
• Viserys told Clinton that Mace Tyrell and Loras must die, and that he would not accept Renly's surrender.

Renly prepared Storm's End for an expected siege by the Reach and Dornish armies, while privately trying to give Loras and his allies a chance to survive. When Dornish scouts appeared in the fog, Renly ordered Loras to help command the north gate's defense.

• Loras told Renly that the Reach and Dornish armies, numbering at least eighty thousand, were closing on Storm's End, while the castle held thirty thousand defenders and ample provisions.
• Renly reassured Loras that Storm's End could withstand a siege, and Loras said he did not regret staying by Renly's side.
• Renly ordered Mace Tyrell and Loras to move the Reach troops to the north gate, despite Mace's warning that many of his men were restless and seeking contact with the Reach.
• Renly privately accepted that Storm's End could not stop dragons and placed Loras and the others where they would have a better chance to survive.
• After scouts spotted Dornishmen near the west gate in thick fog, Renly ordered the castle to prepare for battle and sent Loras to help Mace command the north gate's defense.

Renly learned that Lady Olenna had turned most of the Reach forces at Storm’s End, leaving Mace Tyrell with only two thousand men, and prepared for an attack by Randyll Tarly’s army. As the Reach army assembled outside, Tyrell soldiers inside the northern wall watched Renly’s defenders and an officer took position above the gate.

• A Stormlands lord reported Dornish banners and Oberyn Martell outside Storm’s End, and Renly said the Dornish might target the castle for revenge.
• Loras reported that Randyll Tarly’s Reach army, including Tyrell banners, had arrived at the north gate, and Renly inspected the walls while encouraging the defenders.
• Mace told Renly that Lady Olenna had turned all but two thousand of the men he could command, and Renly told Mace to protect himself and surrender with Loras if defeat became unavoidable.
• Loras vowed to hold the wall rather than surrender, and Renly embraced him.
• Randyll Tarly ordered his army to prepare to charge through the gate when it opened, while Reach soldiers inside the castle watched the defenders and an officer took position above the gate.

Alyster Fossoway opened Storm's End's north gate for Randyll Tarly's army, leaving Loras Tyrell and fewer than two thousand loyal soldiers to defend the castle. Loras refused to surrender, and the vastly larger Reach army began its assault.

• Alyster Fossoway obeyed Highgarden's order and had the north gate opened as Randyll Tarly's army approached.
• Randyll Tarly's forces entered Storm's End and found Loras Tyrell leading two thousand loyal soldiers in formation on the avenue.
• Randyll offered Loras safety if he surrendered, but Loras raised his sword and rallied his soldiers for King Renly and Baratheon.
• Randyll ordered his army to attack, and Loras struck down a leading horse as the opposing forces clashed.

Loras fought to defend Storm's End until Randyll Tarly's forces overwhelmed him, and he surrendered in hopes of seeing Renly and Mace. Mace hid in the inner ward and was captured by Randyll, while Renly remained inside the castle and his fate was still uncertain.

• Loras refused to retreat as Randyll's forces broke his formation and killed or scattered most of his men.
• After seeing Mace's banner lowered, Loras surrendered to Randyll on the condition that he could see Renly and his father.
• Mace learned that Randyll's men had broken through and that Loras was surrounded, then fled into the inner ward with his guards.
• Randyll's soldiers defeated Mace's remaining guards and found Mace hiding in a room.
• Randyll confronted Mace for hiding while Loras fought for his life.