Arc 16The King in the North

Lynn conquered Slaver’s Bay, freed its slaves, and returned to Westeros with Daenerys and a vast army. He was proclaimed King in the North, then began building a new order and rebuilding the Kingsguard with living warriors and wights.

  • Stannis’s purge of worshippers of the Seven escalated into a massacre, driving Davos to resign and prompting southern nobles to submit to Stannis.
  • Lynn led Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jorah to defeat the slave armies of Yunkai and Meereen, using the Unsullied, Winter, magic, and wights to break their forces.
  • Lynn freed the slaves, executed Yunkai’s Wise Masters, abolished slavery, and established new laws before learning that the Dothraki were approaching Meereen.
  • After Meereen’s slaves opened the gates, Lynn appointed Grey Worm to command Slaver’s Bay and returned to Westeros with Daenerys and Tyrion.
  • At Winterfell, Ned gave up the title of King in the North, and Joffrey formally recognized Lynn as the independent King in the North before the northern lords.
  • Lynn treated a wounded boy with clean instruments and stitches, then knighted Brienne and began rebuilding the Kingsguard.
  • Lynn recruited Brienne, Jaime, and Sandor for the Kingsguard, gave them white cloaks, and revealed that twenty wights would serve alongside them.
Chapters 376–400 Vol. 4 Read

Ch. 376Purging the heretics

After Stannis ordered the Faith of the Seven suppressed, attacks on his soldiers prompted him to impose martial law and hunt down worshippers. His troops began abusing civilians, until a hoarse voice confronted them as they targeted a blacksmith’s family.

  • Stannis dismissed the court and ordered the High Sparrow’s remains removed, then commanded that septs be sealed and their wealth seized.
  • Stannis’s soldiers looted septs and arrested septons while fearful residents of King’s Landing grew resentful.
  • Civilians began attacking isolated soldiers, and more than fifty of Stannis’s men vanished or were killed within three days.
  • Stannis ordered martial law and searches for worshippers of the Seven, leaving soldiers to decide who was faithful and ordering severe punishments.
  • Soldiers broke into a blacksmith’s home, assaulted him, and threatened his wife and daughter before a hoarse voice accused them of committing crimes.

Ch. 377Out of Control

Davos tried to stop Stannis’s soldiers from abusing a family, but they beat him and committed further atrocities before the One-Eyed General intervened. Stannis ordered the soldiers beheaded in public, and the crowd demanded that every criminal soldier be punished.

  • Davos confronted soldiers abusing a family and accused them of rape and robbery, but they beat him and attacked the family.
  • The soldiers planned to kill Davos and blame the family, but the One-Eyed General arrived with a patrol and arrested them.
  • Stannis asked Davos to name the punishment under his laws, and Davos said the soldiers deserved beheading.
  • Stannis ordered the soldiers publicly beheaded before the Great Sept of Baelor.
  • The next day, King's Landing’s crowd denounced further abuses and demanded that Stannis execute every soldier who had committed a crime.

Ch. 378Stannis insisted on purging heretics

Stannis tried to restore order in King's Landing by creating a tribunal to punish soldiers who had committed crimes, but the people's growing demands and challenge to the Lord of Light drove him to order a citywide purge of worshippers of the Seven. The chapter ended with Stannis commanding his forces to seal the city and kill everyone still practicing the Faith of the Seven.

  • Stannis rejected calls to execute soldiers without trials and ordered Davos Seaworth to establish a tribunal for victims to present evidence.
  • After a miller proved a soldier had robbed and injured him, Stannis had the soldier executed, prompting a wave of complaints and more than a hundred soldiers to be punished.
  • Stannis used confiscated money from the Faith to compensate people whose property had been damaged, but their demands continued to grow.
  • Merchants and minor nobles demanded that Stannis reopen the septs and allow the Seven to share authority with the Lord of Light.
  • Stannis ordered the One-Eyed General to seal the Red Keep and King's Landing, search every home, and kill all worshippers of the Seven.

Ch. 379Stannis shocked the Seven Kingdoms

Stannis ordered a bloody purge of King's Landing, forcing Davos to resign and driving the southern nobles to submit. With the South pacified, Stannis prepared to march north against Lynn, who learned of the massacre in Slaver's Bay and saw it as a pretext for war.

  • Davos pleaded with Stannis to spare the people, then resigned as Hand and left King's Landing for Dragonstone.
  • Stannis commanded the One-Eyed General to seal the city and kill the Seven's followers, and soldiers slaughtered people across King's Landing for three days.
  • After news of the purge spread, southern nobles submitted to Stannis, and House Tyrell offered grain and access to its ports.
  • Stannis ordered his army to gather supplies and prepare to march north in three months, seeking to defeat Lynn and Joffrey.
  • Lynn reunited with Daenerys in Slaver's Bay and used greensight to learn of the massacre, recognizing it as a pretext to fight Stannis.

Ch. 380The new Unsullied Legion

Lynn returned to Astapor and reunited with Daenerys, Tyrion, Jorah, Grey Worm, and Missandei. He inspected Astapor’s newly equipped Unsullied Legion, while Tyrion warned that the slave masters of Yunkai and Meereen were becoming restless.

  • Daenerys tearfully welcomed Lynn back, and Tyrion complained about following him from Westeros to Essos before settling in Astapor.
  • Jorah, Grey Worm, and Missandei greeted Lynn, and Daenerys reported that white sugar sales had brought in immense wealth.
  • Tyrion explained that the earnings had been used to equip the Unsullied Legion with armor and weapons.
  • Grey Worm led Lynn and the others to view the assembled army and reported that Astapor had 103,600 fully equipped Unsullied.
  • Tyrion warned Lynn that the slave masters in Yunkai and Meereen had grown restless.

Ch. 381Declaring war on both fronts

Lynn ordered the Unsullied to prepare for war against both Yunkai and Meereen, dismissing concerns about their larger slave armies. As Grey Worm mustered the troops, Astapor’s Unsullied marched toward the city gates.

  • Tyrion and Jorah reported that Yunkai and Meereen were raising large slave armies, spreading rumors, and trying to blockade Astapor’s trade routes.
  • Lynn rejected Tyrion’s proposal to attack Yunkai first and ordered Grey Worm to muster the army for war against both city-states.
  • Lynn ordered Grey Worm to hang Yunkai’s Wise Masters and burn Meereen’s Great Masters’ pyramids after the cities fell.
  • Grey Worm accepted Lynn’s orders and left to muster the Unsullied.
  • Ancient horns sounded, and the Unsullied struck their spears against their shields before surging toward Astapor’s gates.

Ch. 382Mustering the Army

As Daenerys’s army assembled in Astapor, Lynn discovered that the slave masters of Yunkai and Meereen were forcing hundreds of thousands of slaves into a mass army. He declared ruthlessness the most important quality of a ruler and summoned a dragon as the enemy forces continued to grow.

  • A hundred thousand soldiers marched out of Astapor, leaving Tyrion stunned by the size of Daenerys’s army.
  • In Yunkai, Grazdan mo Graz persuaded the Wise Masters to ally with Meereen and ordered the forced conscription of slaves.
  • Overseers seized slaves along the Slazadan River and sent them toward the front with makeshift weapons.
  • Lynn told Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jorah Mormont that the enemy army already numbered over two hundred thousand.
  • Lynn told Tyrion that ruthlessness was a ruler’s most important quality, then whistled for a dragon that plunged through the clouds.

Ch. 383The customary warning

Lynn, Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jorah flew to Yunkai on Winter, where Lynn confronted the city’s forces during a battle against the Unsullied. He gave Yunkai and Meereen’s masters ten minutes to surrender or be burned.

  • Lynn helped Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jorah climb onto Winter, who flew them toward Yunkai.
  • Seven days later, Grazdan mo Graz assembled Yunkai’s huge slave army and promised freedom to those who defeated the rebels from Astapor.
  • Seventy thousand Unsullied advanced in disciplined formations, silencing the slave army and alarming Grazdan and the other masters.
  • Winter appeared over the battlefield, and the terrified war elephants broke loose and rampaged through the slave ranks.
  • Lynn announced himself to the Wise Masters of Yunkai and Great Masters of Meereen, demanding that they surrender within ten minutes or be burned to ash.

Ch. 384Then let there be war

Lynn gave the slave masters of Yunkai a chance to surrender, but they answered by ordering an attack on the Unsullied. After the Unsullied repelled a rain of arrows, Lynn ignited their spears with Old Valyrian magic and Grey Worm ordered them forward.

  • Grazdan mo Graz and the other slave masters rejected Lynn's demand and ordered tens of thousands of archers to fire.
  • Grey Worm and the Unsullied commanders ordered their soldiers to raise shields, and the formation withstood the arrows without casualties.
  • Lynn declared that the slave masters had chosen war and unleashed psychic power across the battlefield.
  • Lynn used Old Valyrian magic to set the spears of all seventy thousand Unsullied ablaze.
  • Grey Worm raised his flaming spear and shouted for the Unsullied to advance.

Ch. 385Blizzard

Lynn summoned a blizzard over Slaver’s Bay, leaving the slave army lost and freezing as the Unsullied advanced through the storm and slaughtered them. When the snow began to clear, the Unsullied appeared before Grazdan and aimed a flaming spear at him.

  • Lynn raised his hand and brought a sudden, unnatural chill and snowfall over the battlefield.
  • The snow became a blizzard that disoriented the slave soldiers and cut Grazdan and the other slave masters off from their army.
  • The Unsullied kept their formation and marched through the storm, using flaming spears to slaughter the helpless slaves.
  • Grazdan killed a young Wise Master who tried to flee and ordered the remaining slave masters to stay and watch.
  • As the blizzard eased, the Unsullied emerged across the bloodied snow, and their leading soldier aimed his spear at Grazdan.

Ch. 386Epilogue

Lynn turned the battlefield into a spreading horde of wights, causing the slave army to collapse and flee. As the Unsullied surrounded Grazdan and the other slave masters, Grey Worm announced their punishment on Lynn’s orders.

  • Grazdan offered a reward for anyone who killed the lone Unsullied, but the mercenaries were too afraid to attack.
  • Lynn snapped his fingers, and corpses across the battlefield rose as blue-eyed wights that attacked the living.
  • The wights’ attacks sparked a panic that broke the two-hundred-thousand-strong slave army into a deadly rout.
  • Grazdan and the other slave masters were abandoned as the fleeing army and wights swept past their platform.
  • The Unsullied surrounded the platform, and Grey Worm told the slave masters they would be hanged from the Harpy statue by their own entrails.

Ch. 387The liberator

Lynn stopped the blizzard and confronted the surviving slave soldiers after Winter blocked their escape. He offered to free Slaver's Bay if they would fight for their freedom, and a young slave began to answer.

  • Lynn ended the blizzard, revealing the slaughtered battlefield and the motionless Wights.
  • The surviving slave soldiers fled, but Winter landed in their path and forced them to kneel.
  • Lynn told the slaves that the masters had lied about granting them freedom and offered to liberate Slaver's Bay.
  • Lynn asked the slaves to fight for their freedom, then waited as the young slave with the wooden club raised his head and moved his lips.

Ch. 388The assault on Yunkai

Lynn led the newly armed freed slaves and his wight army toward Yunkai, where they breached the city walls and began killing its defenders. As the slave soldiers poured into the city, Lynn ordered that no one inside Yunkai be left alive.

  • The freed slaves rose up, armed themselves from the battlefield, and formed an army that marched toward Yunkai with Lynn, Daenerys, Tyrion, and Jorah Mormont.
  • The slave masters on Yunkai’s walls saw the approaching wights and freed slave soldiers and panicked over the loss of their forces.
  • Lynn ordered the wights to pile up against the walls, forming a ladder of corpses despite the defenders’ arrows and burning oil.
  • The freed slave soldiers climbed the corpse ladder, broke through the defenses, and charged into Yunkai under the boy’s lead.
  • Lynn ordered his forces to leave no one alive inside Yunkai.

Ch. 389The conquest of Yunkai

Lynn’s forces conquered Yunkai, and he ordered the Wise Masters executed as the city’s slaves took revenge. He declared the former slaves his soldiers and announced that they would march on Meereen in three days.

  • The newly armed slaves stormed Yunkai, killing slave masters and avenging their past abuses.
  • A boy found the overseer who had conscripted him and killed him in a frenzy.
  • Lynn arrived at the central square, where Grey Worm’s Unsullied brought Yunkai’s Wise Masters before him.
  • Lynn ordered the Wise Masters’ intestines removed and their bodies hanged from the Harpy statue.
  • Lynn declared Yunkai’s food and wealth spoils of war, named the former slaves his soldiers, and ordered preparations to march on Meereen in three days.

Ch. 390Reinforcements for Meereen

After conquering Yunkai, Lynn abolished slavery and imposed sweeping reforms, winning the freed population’s devotion. Meereen’s Great Masters planned to hire the Dothraki against him, and Lynn sensed the riders were coming.

  • Lynn proclaimed laws in Yunkai abolishing slavery, confiscating former slave owners’ wealth, establishing an elected council, setting labor protections, and providing free education.
  • Lynn ordered Grey Worm and Jorah to carve the laws on stone tablets and open the granaries to feed the city’s people.
  • Yunkai’s freed slaves saw the laws and received food, then cheered for Lynn and hailed him as their liberator.
  • Meereen’s Great Masters, led by Zhasdar zo Loraq, decided to offer their wealth and borrowed gold to hire the Dothraki against Lynn.
  • Lynn used greensight to see messengers from Meereen approaching a vast khalasar and told Daenerys that the Dothraki were coming.

Ch. 391Tyrion's oath of fealty

Lynn told Daenerys and Tyrion that the Dothraki would fear his power and described his vision of a society without hereditary nobles or religious rule. Convinced by that vision, Tyrion swore fealty to Lynn.

  • Daenerys feared the Dothraki, but Lynn assured her they would respect his strength and would not attack him.
  • Tyrion warned Lynn that the Dothraki could be hired to attack and asked what Lynn planned to do after uniting Slaver's Bay.
  • Lynn explained that he wanted to replace Westeros's hereditary order with an educated and empowered people who could govern themselves.
  • Lynn argued that Westerosi commoners would welcome his cause, leaving the nobles and kings to face their people's resistance.
  • Tyrion admired Lynn's vision, knelt before him, and swore to serve him faithfully until death.

Ch. 392The Great Masters Fled

After the Great Masters fled Meereen, Lynn arranged for Jorah and Grey Worm to secure Slaver’s Bay while he, Daenerys, and Tyrion prepared to return to Westeros. He summoned ships from Illyrio, who hurried to ready Pentos’s harbor.

  • A messenger told Lynn that the Great Masters had fled Meereen and the slaves had opened the gates.
  • Lynn ordered Jorah to help Grey Worm suppress rebellions and appointed Grey Worm supreme military commander of Slaver’s Bay.
  • Lynn told Daenerys and Tyrion they would return to Westeros with him, and said Illyrio would provide the ships.
  • Lynn ordered Grey Worm to lead thirty thousand Unsullied across the Dothraki Sea to Pentos while the rest prepared to sail.
  • Illyrio heard Lynn’s summons in his mind and ordered his men to ready every ship in the harbor.

Ch. 393The return journey

Illyrio mobilized Pentos’s ships for Lynn after news of his victories terrified the magisters, while Lynn brought Daenerys back to Westeros and confessed he had other wives. Daenerys forgave him after hearing his explanation, but arriving at Winterfell and seeing a crowd of women waiting for Lynn left her stunned.

  • Illyrio ordered Pentos’s ships gathered and persuaded the magisters to support Lynn by warning them of his power and the wealth he had brought them.
  • During the flight to Westeros, Lynn told Daenerys he had other wives, and she angrily confronted him.
  • Lynn explained that his marriages had been political alliances, and Daenerys forgave him and asked to be introduced as his queen.
  • Lynn stopped at White Harbor for supplies, then traveled with Daenerys up the White Knife River to Winterfell.
  • Daenerys entered Winterfell and saw Sansa, Arya, Myrcella, Ygritte, Melisandre, Cersei, Margaery, and other women waiting for Lynn, leaving her shocked.

Ch. 394Ned stepped down

Daenerys arrived in Winterfell and found Lynn surrounded by many women, while Tyrion reunited uneasily with Cersei. At a banquet, Ned gave Lynn Ice and declared him King in the North; later, Daenerys awaited Lynn in his bedroom, hurt and resentful.

  • Daenerys saw Lynn's many companions and warned him that they would talk that night.
  • Tyrion discovered Cersei in Winterfell, and the siblings exchanged barbed words before acknowledging that Lynn had brought her there.
  • Ned announced that House Stark would give up the title of King in the North and presented Ice to Lynn.
  • Lynn accepted the title as the people of Winterfell hailed him, and Ned wrote to the northern lords asking them to swear fealty.
  • Daenerys waited for Lynn in his bedroom and confronted him about his return.

Ch. 395A good student seeking her reward

Daenerys confronted Lynn about his other women, then demanded to bear his heir and spent the night with him. After Cersei advised Sansa to make Lynn desire her, Sansa arrived in a maid’s outfit to ask him for a reward while Ned was in the room.

  • Daenerys accused Lynn of betraying her with other women, but he comforted her and she demanded to bear his heir.
  • Sansa went to Lynn’s bedroom, heard Daenerys inside, and froze outside the door.
  • Cersei found Sansa and advised her to make Lynn desire her rather than wait passively for his attention.
  • Ned discussed Stannis’s forces and Robb’s campaign in the Westerlands with Lynn.
  • Sansa entered wearing a maid’s outfit, approached Lynn, and asked him for her reward without noticing Ned nearby.

Ch. 396A little awkward

Sansa’s attempted seduction of Lynn was interrupted by Ned, leaving both men mortified, while Joffrey’s humiliation in Winterfell deepened after Tyrion and Cersei struck him. Meanwhile, northern forces gathered along the Trident as their lords rode back to Winterfell to pay homage to their new King.

  • Sansa tried to seduce Lynn, but Ned walked in and caught her with her hand on Lynn’s belt.
  • Sansa fled in shame, and Ned awkwardly advised Lynn to show restraint until he married Sansa.
  • Joffrey watched Lynn’s women laughing together, then took out his anger on an attendant.
  • Tyrion slapped Joffrey twice and warned him that he had no power in Winterfell, prompting Joffrey to run crying to Cersei.
  • Cersei slapped Joffrey, ordered him back to his room, and left him alone.
  • Northern forces gathered along the Trident while the northern lords returned to Winterfell to pay homage to their new King.

Ch. 397The legitimacy of the King in the North

The northern lords gathered at Winterfell and accepted Lynn as their leader, trusting his power and plans to prepare for winter and the Long Night. Joffrey was forced to recognize Lynn as the independent King in the North, and the hall acclaimed Lynn as their king.

  • The northern lords agreed with Ned Stark’s decision to support Lynn, citing his strength and the undead building roads.
  • Lynn announced plans for two eastern port cities and promised trade and supplies, revealing that he commanded another five hundred thousand warriors like the wights.
  • Lynn had the guards bring Joffrey into the hall to secure royal recognition of his rule.
  • Under Lynn’s control, Joffrey recited his titles and formally recognized Lynn as the independent King in the North on behalf of the Iron Throne.
  • The northern lords cheered as Lynn raised Ice and declared him the King in the North.

Ch. 398An envoy from the Citadel

Lynn saved a farmer’s son by cleaning and stitching his wound with boiled tools and strong liquor, defying the Citadel’s traditional methods. After the boy recovered, Maester Archibald recognized Lynn’s treatment as a medical revolution and wrote to the Citadel about it.

  • A farmer brought his badly wounded son to Winterfell, where Maester Luwin prepared to treat him with leeches and bloodletting.
  • Lynn rejected Maester Luwin’s methods and silenced Maester Archibald, an envoy from the Citadel who challenged his authority.
  • Lynn sterilized his hands, cloth, needles, and thread, cleaned the boy’s wound with strong liquor, stitched it, and bandaged it.
  • The boy recovered without fever or pus and was walking by the seventh day, disproving Archibald’s predictions.
  • Archibald discarded the Citadel’s teachings and wrote to Oldtown that Lynn had revealed the dawn of a new age.

Ch. 399Brienne's reward

After Brienne’s loyalty and courage had been overlooked, Lynn honored her by knighting her in Winterfell’s Godswood. He then announced that he would rebuild the Kingsguard, leaving Brienne sworn to serve him.

  • Lynn remembered that Brienne had protected Margaery on the perilous journey from Highgarden to King's Landing.
  • Lynn led Margaery and Brienne to the Godswood and praised Brienne’s loyalty, bravery, and honor.
  • Lynn knighted Brienne with Ice, naming her Ser Brienne of Tarth despite her fears that a woman could not be a knight.
  • Brienne pledged her sword, life, and everything she was to Lynn until death.
  • Lynn told Ser Brienne that he had decided to rebuild the Kingsguard.

Ch. 400Lord Commander of the Kingsguard

Lynn began rebuilding the Kingsguard to protect the women in his family, appointing Brienne as its first member, Jaime as Lord Commander, and Sandor Clegane as another member. He revealed that the remaining twenty members were wights who would serve under Jaime.

  • Lynn named Brienne the first member of the rebuilt Kingsguard and set out to recruit the finest warriors.
  • Lynn offered Jaime the position of Lord Commander, reminded him that he had killed Aerys to save King's Landing, and persuaded him to reclaim his honor.
  • Lynn recruited Sandor Clegane to protect his family, promising him food, lodging, wine, and permission to kill knights for legitimate reasons.
  • Lynn summoned Jaime, Brienne, and Sandor to the cellar and revealed twenty wights as the rest of the Kingsguard.
  • Lynn gave the three warriors white cloaks and told them they could command the wights.
Arc 16 of 19