Chapter Summaries

Viserys and Daenerys searched the Haunted Forest, where King Ghidorah destroyed a group of wights and Viserys detected the Other commanding them. They flew toward the Other, which emerged from behind a tree and looked up at the dragons.

• Viserys and Daenerys flew with their dragons over the Haunted Forest while Viserys searched for wights.
• Viserys found a clearing surrounded by wights, and King Ghidorah destroyed them with her Golden Ray and dragonfire.
• Viserys sensed an Other and discovered it standing near a thousand motionless wights and several other groups.
• Viserys told Daenerys about the Other, then directed King Ghidorah toward its location.
• The Other sensed the dragons, stepped from behind a tree, and slowly looked up as King Ghidorah flew past.

Viserys pursued a powerful Other into the Haunted Forest after it used wights and ice magic to cover its retreat. He and Daenerys continued north on King Ghidorah, entering a region of unnatural cold and oppressive darkness where Daenerys felt watched.

• The Other raised its Ice Sword, then summoned a white mist and sent more than a thousand wights to block King Ghidorah while it retreated.
• Viserys ordered King Ghidorah to ignore the wights and attack the fleeing Other, and its Golden Ray struck the ground near the Other without killing it.
• Viserys realized the Other was stronger than those he had met before and suspected the wights were bait or part of a trap.
• Viserys told King Ghidorah to keep flying north after the Other into the Haunted Forest.
• Daenerys told Viserys that the darkness and cold felt wrong and that she sensed something watching them.

Viserys and Daenerys followed the Other to ancient ruins in the forest, where a mysterious voice called Viserys “one who does not exist.” As the dragons stood guard, King Ghidorah considered humanity’s unusual nature and her curiosity about Viserys’s arrival from another world.

• Viserys sensed that ice magic was spreading through the forest and warned Daenerys that the Other had led them toward something dangerous.
• King Ghidorah and the other dragons reacted to immense, ancient energies awakening beneath the forest, and Viserys ordered them to hover above a mist-covered clearing.
• Viserys recognized the ruins as a Children of the Forest altar where the Night’s King had been created, and he told Daenerys they predated the First Men.
• A disembodied voice addressed Viserys as “one who does not exist,” alarming him and frightening Daenerys.
• Viserys warned the dragons to remain ready while King Ghidorah reflected on humanity’s unusual potential and her interest in observing him.

Viserys explored the ruins beneath the altar and learned that they held the remnants of Old Gods defeated by the Cold God and the Night's King. He discovered that the Greenseer had guided the voice that contacted him, and received a sealed fragment of memory.

• Daenerys told Viserys that the voice in her head had gone silent, and he warned her it had only retreated into the shadows.
• Viserys explored the ruins with his mental power and saw how the Children of the Forest had created the first Other and how the Cold God's power had joined with their Root Magic.
• Viserys learned that the Old Gods had been defeated and sealed beneath the land, surviving through remnants of their worshippers' faith.
• Viserys suspected the Cold God, the Night's King, the Greenseer, or the Lord of Light had revealed his identity to the voice.
• Viserys saw the Greenseer's white glow within a weirwood's roots and received a memory fragment showing the Greenseer touching an agonized human face in the roots.

Viserys learned that the Old Gods saw him as a being who could help restore balance, then negotiated with their trapped consciousnesses for knowledge in exchange for a chance at freedom and revenge. As they began showing him the Cold God's and the Night's King's weaknesses, he saw an ice throne in an eternal blizzard.

• Viserys received the Greenseer's edited memory explaining the Cold God, the Lord of Light, and his role in restoring the cycle.
• Viserys reassured Daenerys and proposed bargaining with the trapped beings for knowledge of the Cold God and Westeros's magical past.
• Viserys privately planned to weaken the Old Gods after defeating the Cold God and bring the North to worship the Lord of Light.
• Viserys demanded information about the hearts and vulnerabilities of the Cold God and the Night's King, and the beings warned him about curses and the hatred their escape could unleash.
• The beings sent Viserys a vision of an ice field beneath an eternal blizzard, where an ice throne stood.

Viserys learned that the Heart of Death sustained the Cold God and could not be destroyed without risking the world's balance. A figure of light proposed that Viserys attain godhood and help Daenerys ascend by claiming the Seven's unclaimed faith, but Viserys questioned the plan's consequences.

• Viserys saw the Heart of Death and learned it was the source of death magic and the Cold God's power.
• The figure of light explained that the Heart of Death could not be destroyed, and said someone would need to master the death rule to control it.
• The figure revealed that the Many-Faced God had once tried and failed to master the Heart of Death, and that the Stranger was his only surviving incarnation among the Seven.
• The figure proposed that Viserys become a god and transfer the Seven's unclaimed faith to Daenerys so she could ascend as well.
• Viserys questioned why the Lord of Light or the Many-Faced God had not claimed the faith already, while the figure dismissed the risk of religious conflict and urged him to replace the Stranger.

Viserys learned that the Old Gods hoped he would defeat the Cold God and control the Heart of Death, but he suspected they still concealed parts of their agenda. The apparition explained how the Night's King became the Cold God's failed vessel and warned that Viserys would need to become an even more perfect vessel to control death.

• Viserys concluded that the Old Gods wanted him to defeat the Cold God and control the Heart of Death, and the apparition admitted this was one of their aims.
• Daenerys worried that the Old Gods were manipulating them, but Viserys said he would use their information and take control of the bargain after defeating their enemies.
• The apparition revealed that the Heart of Death had corrupted the Cold God by exploiting his desire to defeat the Lord of Light and gain power.
• The apparition explained that the Cold God made a First Men leader with Stark blood into the Night's King as a vessel for the Heart of Death, and that the Others carried fragments of its death energy.
• The apparition told Viserys he was a more perfect vessel than the Night's King and warned him to be colder than death and more ruthless than oblivion when seeking to control it.

After learning the Cold God’s weakness and gaining the ability to absorb spiritual power from the blue beings, Viserys set out with Daenerys and the Dragons to find the Greenseer and ask about the Horn of Winter. An Other attacked King Ghidorah as they prepared to leave, and she responded with Frost Breath.

• Viserys decided to keep searching for the Greenseer and learn whether they knew where the Horn of Winter was.
• Viserys used his new power to extinguish the approaching blue lights, while he warned Daenerys that the Cold God might target them.
• An Other formed an ice spear and hurled it at King Ghidorah, but it shattered against her scales without hurting her.
• The Other threw two more ice spears toward King Ghidorah’s outer heads, and her left head unleashed Frost Breath at one of them.

Viserys and King Ghidorah defeated an Other, but Viserys realized it had tried to send the Night's King information about their strength. He and Daenerys set out for the Greenseer's domain to seek the Horn of Winter and turn the Greenseer's hidden resources against the Old Gods.

• King Ghidorah destroyed the Other's ice spears and killed it with Frost Breath and dragonfire, leaving half its body preserved in ice.
• Viserys noticed that a thread of blue light had escaped the Other and explained that Others could transmit their final memories to the Night's King.
• Viserys warned Daenerys that the Night's King would likely send more Others, but might wait to learn their hidden strengths before attacking.
• Viserys decided to find the Greenseer's domain and use its unknown fallback measures against the Old Gods.
• Daenerys trusted Viserys as they set out toward the Heart of the Tree in search of the Horn of Winter and information from his old friend.

Viserys and Daenerys flew with their dragons to the Greenseer’s hidden refuge beyond the Wall, overcoming a trap guarding the frozen lake. The Greenseer awakened in the ancient weirwood and warned Viserys that the presence he had brought was troublesome.

• Viserys told Daenerys that death could be a tool in his hands but would never become his master.
• Viserys sensed Others attacking a direwolf and hurried toward the weirwood grove before the next snowstorm.
• Viserys found the Greenseer’s island refuge behind a barrier of Root Magic and warned the dragons that the surrounding energies could disrupt their flight.
• Pale arms and faces in the trees attacked Viserys and the dragons, but Viserys’s mental power forced them to retreat and shattered the faces.
• The Greenseer opened its eyes as Viserys and the others landed, then warned him that the presence he had brought was troublesome.

Viserys and Daenerys entered the weirwood to meet the Greenseer, Brynden Raven, after he invited them inside to hide from the cold. They found Brynden fused to the tree’s roots, where he watched them with his three-eyed crow.

• Viserys addressed the Greenseer as Lord Brynden and said his arrival had freed him from the tree’s dream and the cold god’s influence.
• Brynden invited Viserys and Daenerys into the weirwood, and Viserys opened a passage through its barrier.
• The Children of the Forest let Viserys and Daenerys pass after receiving a summons from within the tree.
• Viserys reassured the wary Daenerys as they followed the passage into an underground cavern.
• Viserys and Daenerys saw Brynden Raven fused into the weirwood roots, with a three-eyed crow on his shoulder and dried corpses nearby.

Viserys negotiated with Brynden for the Horn of Winter, offering to free him from the weirwood and help him pass his legacy to Bran Stark. Brynden remained wary, but Viserys proposed a plan to protect him and the horn as the Others closed in.

• Brynden welcomed Viserys and Daenerys, recalling their previous encounters and King Ghidorah's destruction of his avatar.
• Viserys asked for the Horn of Winter and offered to sever Brynden's connection to the Old Gods and free him from the tree in exchange.
• Brynden refused, warning that the horn could bring down the Wall and fall into the Others' hands.
• Viserys argued that the Night's King was already hunting Brynden and Bran Stark was not ready to take over his role.
• Viserys offered to break the Others' blockade and provide Brynden a route to Winterfell so he could complete Bran's training.

Viserys negotiated with the Greenseer for the Horn of Winter and promised that Bran would guard the lands north of the Wall after the Cold God was defeated. He left with Daenerys to fight the Others, while the Greenseer warned that Daenerys needed to embrace her Targaryen bloodline.

• The Greenseer explained that he distrusted Viserys because he could not see through his hidden past or future, and identified Viserys's desire to control the Horn's power.
• Viserys promised that Bran could remain beyond the Wall as its guardian, and the Greenseer gave him the Horn of Winter while warning him of its deadly cost.
• The Greenseer told Viserys that the Night's King's minions were probing the barrier, and Viserys agreed to buy time while asking the Children of the Forest to watch the Haunted Forest and send warnings.
• The Greenseer warned that Daenerys's power had not fully awakened and that she needed to embrace her Targaryen bloodline for the Dragon Horde to aid the coming war.
• Viserys led Daenerys out of the cavern, leaving Brynden Raven alone on his root throne.

Viserys and Daenerys left the Greenseer’s cavern and flew south after destroying the nearby Others and wights. On the way back to the Wall, Viserys explained that Daenerys had a deeper power to awaken if she was to truly command her dragons.

• Viserys led Daenerys and the dragons away from the weirwood and searched the forest for the Night's King's spies.
• King Ghidorah and Daenerys's dragons burned the hidden Others and the approaching wights.
• Viserys confirmed that no spies remained and guided the group south toward the Wall.
• Daenerys asked Viserys what the Greenseer meant when he said her power had not fully awakened.
• Viserys explained that Daenerys needed to awaken the Targaryen magic of blood and fire to truly resonate with and command her dragons.
• Daenerys recalled Vermithor's hesitation and watched Viserion fly close to her.

Viserys explained that Daenerys needed to deepen her bond with her dragons and overcome the distance caused by her awe of them. He identified Acmot’s possessiveness as the obstacle and told Daenerys to choose one dragon as her primary mount, leaving her to consider whether she could bring Acmot fully under her command.

• Daenerys tried to sense Viserion’s emotions but could only feel its wild delight, and Viserys said her fear and awe kept their bond from deepening.
• Viserys explained that Acmot’s possessiveness was blocking Viserion and Vermithor from connecting with Daenerys.
• Daenerys asked whether she should drive Acmot away, but Viserys told her to choose one primary dragon and let him command the other two for now.
• Daenerys hesitated to relinquish direct control of obedient Viserion and young Vermithor, but Viserys warned that divided attention weakened all three bonds.
• Viserys said that if Daenerys chose Acmot, she would need to conquer and make Acmot submit before placing the other dragons under Acmot’s command.

Viserys urged Daenerys to choose one Dragon to deepen her bond with, while promising to help her with the others. He then flew with Daenerys and the three Dragons to Castle Black, where Jeor Mormont and Mance Rayder waited to welcome them.

• Viserys explained that Daenerys needed to focus on bonding with one Dragon, and Daenerys hesitated over whether to choose Acmot, Viserion, or Vermithor.
• Viserys told Daenerys to think it over before they returned to King's Landing and promised to help her strengthen her bonds with the other two Dragons.
• Viserys urged King Ghidorah toward the Wall, while Acmot struggled to keep close and Viserion and Vermithor followed behind.
• Viserys considered the Horn of Winter, the Others, and the preparations needed before winter, then guided King Ghidorah down to an open stretch of snow outside Castle Black.
• Jeor Mormont and Mance Rayder waited to greet Viserys, who dismounted with Daenerys as the four Dragons landed.

Viserys and Daenerys arrived at Castle Black, where Jeor Mormont briefed them on the tense situation at the Wall and the Others’ movements. They met the newly appointed First Ranger, Beric Dondarrion, as the chapter ended before he shared his discoveries.

• Daenerys sent Acmot and Viserion to rest, finding Viserion’s calm presence brought her a sense of tranquility.
• Jeor Mormont welcomed Viserys and Daenerys and said the North had grown more tense since their departure.
• Viserys warned Mance Rayder to honor their agreement, and Mance promised the Free Folk would fight alongside him.
• Jeor Mormont led Viserys and Daenerys toward Castle Black’s council chamber and said the new First Ranger had found important evidence about the Others.
• Viserys and Daenerys entered the council chamber, where Night’s Watch commanders and southern prisoners, including Lord Mace of Highgarden, awaited them.
• Jeor Mormont introduced Beric Dondarrion as the new First Ranger.

At the Night's Watch council, Beric Dondarrion reported finding Free Folk sacrificed beneath blood-red runes, along with signs that the Others were awakening. Viserys concluded that the Night's King was trying to raise a powerful army of intelligent Others.

• Viserys and Daenerys entered the council chamber, where Lord Commander Jeor Mormont briefed them on the Others’ increased activity.
• Jeor reported that Beric’s ranger patrol had found fresh Free Folk remains and unfamiliar blood-red runes near an abandoned camp.
• Beric described the bodies arranged in a ring, the runes branded on severed limbs, and the victims’ expressions of fervor and satisfaction.
• Beric said his deputy developed a fever and repeated ominous words after seeing the runes, while touching one with his sword showed him visions of darkness and awakening Others.
• Viserys concluded that the Night’s King was using human sacrifices to awaken an army of intelligent and powerful Others.

Viserys convened the leaders at the Wall to reinforce defenses and prepare for the Others and the Night’s King. The meeting ended with patrols, intelligence gathering, research into blood-colored runes, and the western castles’ fortifications assigned, as the threat from the north continued to grow.

• Viserys ordered Jeor Mormont to strengthen night patrols and defenses, while Mormont reported stockpiled obsidian and wildfire and Free Folk scouts aiding the Rangers.
• Viserys warned Mance Rayder to suppress Free Folk radicals and ordered the castles to cancel unnecessary patrols beyond the Wall.
• Viserys tasked Beric with leading a small elite party beyond the Wall to gather intelligence and return without unnecessary losses.
• Viserys ordered Mace Tyrell to send his men to strengthen western castles, where the Others were most active.
• Viserys directed Jeor Mormont to have Maester Aemon and Samwell Tarly investigate ancient rites and records related to the blood-colored runes.
• Viserys ended the meeting, ordering Beric’s party to depart at dawn the day after and telling all leaders to report new discoveries.

Viserys and Daenerys visited Maester Aemon at Castle Black, where the old maester welcomed Daenerys and recalled hearing of her birth and the fall of House Targaryen. Aemon confessed that his vows and blindness had kept him from helping his family during their struggles.

• Viserys warned Daenerys that southern lords were loyal only while it served their interests and said he would use them as needed.
• Viserys promised Daenerys that he would take her to see Grandfather Aemon the next day.
• Viserys and Daenerys visited Maester Aemon in the Maester's Tower, where Samwell Tarly was sorting old scrolls.
• Aemon recognized Daenerys as a Targaryen and welcomed her, saying he had heard of her birth on Dragonstone during a storm.
• Daenerys told Aemon she had long wanted to meet him and had wondered whether any of their kin remained alive.
• Aemon recalled wanting to aid his family after the Usurper's rebellion and Rhaegar's death, but said his vows and blindness had kept him at the Wall.