Recaps

Roose Bolton unleashed ten undead Blood Guard created through necromancy from the Shadow Lands, but Lynn used Greensight to uncover their origins and calmly prepared to demonstrate his own magic. The chapter ended as blue ice crystals formed in Lynn’s hand and the Banquet Hall plunged into darkness.

• Roose Bolton summoned ten Blood Guard, who shattered weapons and routed the northern soldiers until Lynn protected them with ice magic.
• Lynn used Greensight to see how warlocks from the Shadow Lands had made the Blood Guard from tortured prisoners and learned that they were an advance party for a larger organization.
• Lynn revealed that he knew the Blood Guard came from the Shadow Lands, unsettling Roose Bolton.
• Lynn unleashed a surge of energy that extinguished the hall’s candles and formed a fist-sized cluster of blue ice crystals in his palm.

Lynn transformed Roose Bolton’s Blood Guards into Winter Wights, but Ramsay discovered he could command them too and used them to kill his father. After Ramsay threatened Lynn, Lynn declared him condemned and revealed that the Winter Wights had turned to face their new master.

• Lynn froze the Blood Guards, infused them with Ice Magic, and took control of the transformed Winter Wights.
• Roslin and Miranda shielded Lynn as Roose ordered the Blood Guards to attack him, while Ramsay secretly tested whether he could command one.
• Ramsay gained control of the Winter Wights, rejected Roose’s sudden offer of inheritance, and ordered them to flay his father.
• Lynn declared Ramsay sentenced to death and said House Bolton would be erased, but Ramsay dismissed the threat and ordered the Winter Wights to kill Lynn.
• The Winter Wights turned away from Ramsay and faced him instead, their disfigured faces forming bizarre smiles.

Lynn exposed Ramsay’s apparent control over the Blood Guards as a deception, then executed him publicly and prepared to destroy House Bolton. With the North united, Lynn turned his attention to the Three-Eyed Raven beyond the Wall and planned a visit.

• Lynn revealed that the ten Blood Guards had never obeyed Ramsay, and explained that he had let Ramsay believe he could seize power until he murdered Roose Bolton.
• Lynn ordered Ramsay displayed in Winterfell’s courtyard, where he rejected Ramsay’s pleas and beheaded him before the assembled crowd.
• Ned Stark accepted that Lynn was the North’s strongest leader, while Lynn declared the North secure and sent word for Ned to take the Dreadfort with the ten Winter Wights.
• Lynn considered learning necromancy and blood magic from knowledge Jaqen might bring back from the House of Black and White.
• Lynn sensed the Three-Eyed Raven beyond the Wall and decided to visit him, intending to surprise him with his successor transformed into a White Walker.

Tywin learned that Lynn had defeated the Boltons and secured the support of the North, Riverlands, and Vale, while the Lannisters had provided no help during his war. Cersei realized her father had broken her promise to Lynn and prepared to seek his forgiveness by appealing to his desire for her.

• Tywin read that the North, Riverlands, and Vale had allied with Lynn and that House Bolton had fallen, forcing him to reconsider his plans.
• Cersei celebrated Lynn’s success and claimed the Lannisters’ support had earned his gratitude, but Tywin told her he had sent no aid during the war.
• Cersei accused Tywin of breaking her agreement with Lynn and feared Lynn would see her as a betrayer, while Tywin insisted House Lannister would not curry favor.
• Cersei begged Tywin to send grain, gold, and other help to make amends, but he dismissed her and ordered her to leave.
• Cersei returned to her bedchamber, decided she had to use herself and Myrcella as bargaining chips, and changed into a sheer black nightgown to appeal to Lynn.

Joffrey, encouraged by Liana, resolved to remove Tywin and restore Lynn as Hand of the King. At dinner, he publicly denounced Tywin, who ordered the Kingsguard to take Joffrey to his bedchamber and punish him.

• Liana praised Lynn and questioned why Joffrey had appointed Tywin instead of him, provoking Joffrey to admit that his mother had forced the choice.
• Liana soothed Joffrey and convinced him that he could one day reclaim the power to appoint whomever he wanted.
• At dinner, Tywin discussed Lynn’s growing power, but Joffrey accused him of trying to control the king and claim the Seven Kingdoms for the Lannisters.
• Joffrey insulted Tywin, calling him a cowardly opportunist and declaring him unfit to serve as Hand of the King.
• Tywin calmly ordered Ser Trant and Ser Oakheart to take Joffrey to his bedchamber and teach him to respect his elders.

After Tywin whipped Joffrey for defying him, Joffrey lashed out at Cersei by revealing he knew about her relationship with Jaime. Liana comforted him, and Joffrey decided he would make her his queen while vowing revenge on his family; the chapter ends by noting that the Tyrells of Highgarden were also active.

• Tywin had Ser Trant and Ser Oakheart restrain Joffrey and whipped him in the banquet hall for his disrespect.
• Joffrey returned to his bedchamber, where Cersei demanded that he apologize to Tywin.
• Joffrey told Cersei he had seen her with Jaime in the Red Keep gardens, and she slapped him before fleeing the room.
• Liana comforted Joffrey, and he embraced her and decided he would make her his queen and have her bear his heir.
• Joffrey vowed to make Tywin and Cersei kneel before him, while the Tyrells of Highgarden were also bustling with activity.

At Highgarden, House Tyrell debated Tywin Lannister’s offer to marry Margaery to Joffrey and Loras to Cersei. Olenna dismissed the alliance as a dangerous bid to bind the Tyrells to a failing power and sent Margaery north to assess Lynn and his ambitions.

• Mace Tyrell received Tywin Lannister’s letter proposing marriages between Margaery and Joffrey, and Loras and Cersei.
• Olenna warned that Tywin feared Lynn’s growing power and that Joffrey would make Margaery a captive queen.
• Olenna ordered Mace to answer Tywin politely, delay Margaery’s decision, and allow Cersei and Loras to meet.
• Olenna told Margaery to travel north, see Lynn’s food-storage method for herself, and ask him what he wanted.
• Margaery agreed to go north, while Loras objected to marrying Cersei.

Cersei tried to flee King's Landing rather than be married to Loras Tyrell, but Tywin caught her and ordered her locked in Maegor's Holdfast again. Meanwhile, Lynn reached the Wall with Miranda and addressed the Old Crow, having prepared Robert Arryn's face as a gift for him.

• Cersei disguised herself as a maid, took jewels and gold, and escaped through a secret passage toward the docks to find a ship north.
• Tywin confronted Cersei at the docks, called her unfit to be a political pawn, and had his guards seize her.
• Tywin ordered Cersei returned to the Red Keep and confined in Maegor's Holdfast, telling Highgarden that the wedding would be postponed because she was unwell.
• At the Wall, Miranda asked Lynn if they were really crossing beyond it, and Lynn confirmed they were going into the Haunted Forest.
• Lynn sensed the Old Crow watching from the forest and spoke to him, revealing that he had found an heir wearing Robert Arryn's face.

Lynn returned to Castle Black with Robert Arryn’s Winter Wight, and the Three-Eyed Raven tried to take the body. Lynn defeated the Raven’s psychic attack and forced him to honor their bargain by giving up Harmonic Magic and Nature Magic.

• The Night’s King sensed the ancient consciousness in the cave vanish and rode toward the Wall, where he felt a new power awakening.
• Lynn arrived at Castle Black and sensed the Night’s King watching him from beyond the Wall.
• The Three-Eyed Raven transformed into black smoke and tried to possess Robert Arryn’s Winter Wight, but Lynn stopped him with Ice Magic.
• Lynn demanded the Three-Eyed Raven teach him Harmonic Magic and Nature Magic before taking the body, and the Raven attacked him psychically.
• Lynn overpowered the Three-Eyed Raven and threatened to destroy him and find the Children of the Forest unless he surrendered the knowledge.
• The Three-Eyed Raven yielded and agreed to give Lynn all the knowledge he demanded.

Lynn forced the Three-Eyed Raven to share the seeds of Harmonic Magic and Nature Magic, then let him possess the Winter Wight wearing Robert Arryn's face. Lynn revealed that he controlled the body and compelled the Raven to kneel, leaving the ancient spirit trapped as his new slave.

• The Three-Eyed Raven offered Lynn introductory seeds of Harmonic Magic and Nature Magic and promised to teach him more after possessing Robert Arryn's body.
• Lynn accepted the Raven's offer and absorbed a flood of ancient magical knowledge while the Raven exhausted most of his soul's essence.
• The Three-Eyed Raven left the raven's body and entered the Winter Wight wearing Robert Arryn's face, believing he had escaped his prison.
• The Raven threatened Lynn, Miranda, and Lynn's dragon, but Lynn revealed that he controlled the Winter Wight's body.
• Lynn used his dominion to force the Three-Eyed Raven to kneel and declared him his new slave.

After enslaving the Three-Eyed Raven, Lynn spent experience to raise Ice, Nature, and Harmonic Magic to legendary rank and demonstrated his new powers. He sensed the Night's King approaching the Wall after discovering the Three-Eyed Raven was gone.

• Lynn dismissed the Three-Eyed Raven's fear, then used experience points to raise Ice Magic to legendary rank.
• Lynn raised Nature Magic and Harmonic Magic to legendary rank and reviewed his new abilities.
• Lynn made grass and Winter Roses grow through the snow, then healed Miranda's hand.
• Lynn used a soothing melody to calm Miranda and a despairing tune to break the Three-Eyed Raven further.
• Lynn demanded that the Three-Eyed Raven reveal everything he knew, then sensed the Night's King's icy will approaching the Wall.

Lynn forced the Three-Eyed Raven to reveal his meditation technique, mastered it, and killed him. As the Night's King arrived with an army of Wights at the Wall, Lynn turned the entire army against its former master.

• Lynn used his mental power to break the Three-Eyed Raven's resistance and uncover the meditation technique that had sustained his strength and immortality.
• Lynn learned the technique and used experience points to raise it to Legendary, greatly increasing his Spirit.
• Lynn killed the Three-Eyed Raven, who had possessed Robert Arryn's body, with Dark Sister, and his body and soul vanished.
• Lynn sensed the Night's King approaching, and the Night's Watch sounded the alarm as a vast army of Wights advanced on Castle Black.
• Lynn snapped his fingers, causing the Wights to turn away from the Wall and face the Night's King.

Lynn took control of the wight army from the Night's King and learned that the Night's King had been Brynden Rivers, while the Three-Eyed Raven had been consumed by Lynn. After receiving the Weirwood Godbow, Lynn followed the Night's King toward the Lands of Always Winter to see where his story began.

• Lynn used his power to turn the wights against the Night's King, then showed him that the Three-Eyed Raven was dead and had been consumed by Lynn.
• The Night's King let go of his fury and acknowledged that Dark Sister no longer belonged to him.
• The Night's King gave Lynn the Weirwood Godbow, a legendary weapon that amplified magic and generated enchanted arrows.
• Lynn invited the Night's King to see a world without the Three-Eyed Raven and led him and the wights away from the Wall.
• The Night's King asked Lynn to follow him to the place where he had begun.

Lynn claimed the Night's King's vast undead treasury, raised hundreds of thousands of wights, and established Eastwatch-by-the-Sea as a hidden stronghold. After returning to Dragon's Landing Castle, he learned that Margaery Tyrell was heading north to meet him and welcomed the coming intrigue.

• The Night's King showed Lynn and Miranda a vast corpse pit in the Lands of Always Winter and gave Lynn control of the dead amassed there over eight thousand years.
• Lynn tried to awaken every corpse in the pit but exhausted himself, raising several hundred thousand wights before ending the effort.
• The Night's King merged with the Cold Gods' Sacred Tree, warned Lynn against gathering every divine authority, and stayed behind as Lynn left with Miranda and the undead army.
• Lynn led the army on a long detour to abandoned Eastwatch-by-the-Sea, where the wights began repairing the fortress as his temporary base.
• Lynn returned to Dragon's Landing Castle and received a message from Liana warning that Margaery Tyrell was traveling north and advising him to beware Lady Olenna.
• Lynn decided to meet Margaery's arrival with interest while planning to rest, prepare canned food, and later travel to Essos.

Lynn expanded and organized his undead army while Eastwatch-by-the-Sea was rebuilt, then confronted Margaery Tyrell after she arrived to offer House Tyrell's support. He rejected her bid to become his queen and demanded that the Tyrells pay a higher price for an alliance.

• Lynn meditated, recovered his mental power, and selectively awakened giants and wildling warriors from the Corpse Pit to organize his undead legion.
• Over the next month, Lynn practiced his new powers while reports described Tywin Lannister consolidating power, Joffrey sinking into indulgence, Sansa expanding her soap business, and Daenerys trading for Unsullied armor.
• An ornate ship bearing the Golden Rose Banner reached White Harbor, and Margaery Tyrell was brought before Lynn at Dragon's Landing Castle.
• Lynn accused House Tyrell of abandoning him during the war and treating their promises of alliance as empty words.
• Margaery admitted her family had been wrong and offered Highgarden's wealth, southern granaries, knights, and herself in return for Lynn's favor.
• Lynn rejected Margaery's attempt to become his queen and told her that House Tyrell would have to pay twice the stakes to secure a place at his side.

Margaery toured Dragon's Landing Castle and witnessed Lynn's dragon destroy a mountain and his bow transform frozen ground into a wheat field. Convinced of his power and the wealth it could bring, she decided to bind House Tyrell to him and went to his bedchamber to offer her stakes.

• Margaery asked for time to consider Lynn's doubled stakes, and he gave her three days to inspect his army and lands.
• Lynn sent Miranda to show Margaery around, where she saw Wildlings training and their families living with food, shelter, and hope.
• Winter unleashed freezing dragonfire that made a snowy mountain vanish, and Margaery realized Lynn's demand concerned House Tyrell's full commitment rather than its army.
• Lynn used the Weirwood heart bow to turn frozen ground into a flourishing wheat field, leaving Margaery convinced that his power surpassed her ambition to become queen.
• Margaery dressed in a black silk nightgown and went to Lynn's bedchamber, saying she was ready to pay her stakes.

Margaery Tyrell tried to secure Lynn’s favor through a calculated seduction, but he saw through her schemes and asserted control. The next morning, he offered her a chance to become queen if she proved herself and House Tyrell supported his conquest of Westeros.

• Margaery offered Lynn her body and loyalty while proposing a way to avoid becoming pregnant, but Lynn recognized her attempt to keep an escape route.
• Lynn carried Margaery to bed, then rejected her attempt to control the encounter and tore open her black silk gown.
• The next morning, Miranda watched as the exhausted Margaery was escorted into the Council Hall, where Lynn called her one of his women.
• Lynn demanded House Tyrell’s food stores, fleet, wealth, and knights for his army, promising to let Highgarden flourish under his rule.
• Lynn told Margaery she could compete with Arya, Myrcella, and Daenerys for the queenship if she and House Tyrell proved useful, and Margaery agreed to show her sincerity.

Margaery earned Lynn’s respect by winning the Wildlings’ affection through kindness and understanding. Lynn invited her to see how canned food was made, while privately considering whether he needed more than one queen.

• Margaery dressed plainly and comforted Gilly after Tormund bullied her, then urged the children to protect one another.
• Over the next few days, Margaery shared treats and hand balm with Wildling children and women, gradually becoming one of their own.
• Lynn watched Margaery’s efforts and reflected on what Daenerys, Sansa, Arya, Ygritte, and Myrcella each offered as potential queens.
• Lynn summoned Margaery and told her that her worth lay in inspiring his people’s love, not in her beauty or House Tyrell’s wealth.
• Lynn invited Margaery to see how canned food was produced, honoring their agreement.

Lynn showed Margaery the Workshop and explained how Wildlings preserved food in sealed clay jars using fermenting fruit to produce heavy gas. He said the method would let food last beyond the coming Long Night, and planned to preserve surplus food throughout Dragon's Landing Castle and the North.

• Margaery followed Lynn and Miranda to his Workshop, where thousands of Wildlings worked in an organized food-preservation operation.
• Lynn showed Margaery how Wildlings made thick clay jars and fermented crushed fruit to produce yeast and heavy gas.
• Wildlings poured the gas into a pit to displace the air, then held their breath while sealing the filled jars with clay lids.
• Wildlings coated the jar lids and jars with tree milk, which hardened into an airtight seal.
• Lynn showed Margaery an old, frost-covered jar and said the food could last for years, then announced plans to preserve surplus food across Dragon's Landing Castle and the North.

Margaery realized Lynn’s preserved food gave him decisive power over Westeros during the coming Long Night. Lynn offered House Tyrell canned food in exchange for half its grain, and Margaery sailed south to report his terms to her grandmother.

• Margaery understood that Lynn’s food stores could determine who survived the Long Night and feared Highgarden’s supplies would run out.
• Margaery pleaded with Lynn to help House Tyrell, but he said her loyalty and personal safety did not entitle her family to aid.
• Lynn offered to preserve food for Highgarden if House Tyrell supplied grain, iron, and craftsmen, demanding half the grain as his fee.
• Lynn told Margaery to bring his offer to her grandmother and warned that the terms could become worse if they delayed.
• Three days later, Margaery boarded a ship at White Harbor and sailed south without looking back.

Varys recognized Lynn’s preserved food as a means of survival during the Long Night and plotted to use Joffrey to plunge the south into chaos. A month later, Jaqen brought Lynn Balon Greyjoy’s head, warned that the House of Black and White feared Lynn’s power, and suggested his food could help him obtain forbidden knowledge.

• Margaery sailed from White Harbor carrying Lynn’s message, while Miranda questioned whether the Tyrells would be persuaded.
• Varys learned that Lynn’s canned venison stayed fresh and decided that Lynn needed to unite Westeros quickly, so he sent a boy to inflame Joffrey’s resentment and urge him toward war.
• Jaqen arrived at Dragon's Landing Castle with Balon Greyjoy’s head and told Lynn he believed he might be the figure named in prophecy.
• Lynn said he wanted wealth, power, and divine power, and Jaqen explained that the House of Black and White would not share forbidden knowledge while it considered Lynn and his dragon a threat to death’s balance.
• Jaqen suggested Lynn offer the preserved food as a gift, then departed for Braavos hoping Lynn would keep more people alive.

Joffrey learned Tywin planned to marry Cersei to Loras Tyrell and led the Gold Cloaks to free her, confronting Tywin at the sept. The chapter ended with Joffrey aiming a crossbow at Tywin, who warned him he had made a grave mistake.

• Lynn dismissed Jaqen’s warning and decided to wait while Varys stirred up trouble in King’s Landing.
• Joffrey heard that Tywin planned to marry Cersei to Loras Tyrell and ordered the Gold Cloaks to bring her out of the sept.
• Joffrey’s forces faced Tywin’s guards at the sept, and Joffrey demanded that Tywin let Cersei go.
• Tywin argued that the marriage served the family and kingdom, while Joffrey accused him of treating Cersei like a bargaining chip.
• Joffrey aimed a crossbow at Tywin, who calmly warned him that he had made a mistake even Aerys would not have dared make.

Liana stopped Joffrey from shooting Tywin and persuaded him to dismiss Tywin as Hand and accuse him of treason. Tywin retreated from the courtyard, while Joffrey named Liana his queen and celebrated his apparent victory.

• Liana approached Joffrey during the armed standoff and urged him to use his royal authority against Tywin.
• Joffrey dismissed Tywin as Hand and removed him from the Small Council, prompting many Lannister guards to surrender.
• Tywin ordered his remaining loyal guards to withdraw, and the Gold Cloaks made only a brief pursuit.
• Joffrey embraced Liana, declared her his queen, and ordered the sept doors opened for Cersei.
• Joffrey hugged the bewildered Cersei and claimed he had saved her while Liana watched Tywin's retreat.

After Joffrey drove Tywin from court and chose Liana as his future queen, Sansa used Lynn’s secret instructions to turn his anger toward House Tyrell. Joffrey ordered an investigation into Highgarden’s taxes and threatened the Tyrells with demands and treason charges, while Sansa wondered whether Lynn would reward her.

• Cersei despaired over Tywin’s departure, Joffrey’s reckless rule, and Myrcella’s continued presence in Lynn’s hands.
• Sansa burned Lynn’s message and went to meet Joffrey, ready to exploit the power vacuum in the Red Keep.
• Sansa flattered Joffrey over his supposed victory against Tywin, then suggested that Tywin had granted House Tyrell unfair tax concessions.
• Joffrey accused Tywin and the Tyrells of betrayal, demanded the ledgers, and ordered Sansa to recalculate Highgarden’s taxes and demand double payment.
• Joffrey ordered House Tyrell to renounce Tywin publicly and threatened any noble who secretly contacted him with treason charges.
• Sansa calmly watched the orders go out and wondered whether Lynn would be pleased and grant her a reward.

After Tywin withdrew from King's Landing, Lady Olenna chose to appease Joffrey and stake House Tyrell's future on Lynn. At Dragon's Landing Castle, Lynn strengthened his defenses and equipped his army while deciding to draw Renly and Stannis into the conflict.

• Tywin recognized that Lynn had engineered his removal from power, ordered a message sent to Mace Tyrell, and returned to Casterly Rock.
• Mace and Loras urged resistance to Joffrey's demands, but Lady Olenna warned that opposing Joffrey meant opposing Lynn.
• Lady Olenna ordered House Tyrell to pay double taxes, denounce Tywin publicly, and offer its wealth and southern granaries to Lynn.
• Lynn used Nature Magic to reinforce Dragon's Landing Castle with vines and rapidly grow crops for its canning workshop.
• Lynn inspected newly forged weapons for his army and resolved to involve Renly and Stannis in the turmoil.