Recaps

After Lynn defeated Euron Greyjoy, he examined his spoils and discovered new powers in his shadow. He ordered Robb to conquer the Iron Islands and end the Ironborn’s raiding way of life, leaving Robb to lead the campaign.

• Lynn gave Euron Greyjoy’s head to Robb and ordered him to hang it from the prow as a warning to the Ironborn.
• Lynn inspected Euron’s Valyrian Steel Armor and Dragonbinder, then discovered that Dragonbinder resonated with his Horn of Winter before the connection abruptly faded.
• Lynn’s shadow awakened with an eye like Euron’s and gained the ability to see through shadows into other rooms.
• Robb reported that the Ironborn were eliminated and their flagship and thirty-seven longships captured, while Maege Mormont admitted that no prisoners had been spared.
• Lynn ordered Robb to destroy the Iron Islands’ longships, harbors, castles, and Old Way, and to make the islands North’s fishery and mining ground.
• Robb pledged to lead the northern fleet and return with the Iron Islands replaced by the North’s western sea counties.

Lynn returned to Winterfell with Lyanna and brought a suit of Valyrian steel armor to Tobho Mott to be fitted. There he encountered Theon Greyjoy, who anxiously tried to learn what had happened on the western coast.

• Lynn left Robb Stark and Maege Mormont in charge of the war on the North's western coast and agreed to take Lyanna Mormont to Winterfell.
• Lynn rode back north with Lyanna, surveying roads, brick kilns, and other works being built across the North.
• Lynn went to Winterfell's smithies and gave Tobho Mott a suit of Valyrian steel armor to alter for him, promising him ten thousand Gold Dragons.
• Theon Greyjoy met Lynn outside the workshop and asked whether his journey west had gone smoothly.

Lynn returned to Winterfell and tested Theon by implying that Euron had nearly defeated him, while Theon privately considered betraying him. Ned welcomed Theon as a son, stirring his guilt, but Lynn cut off Ned's comforting words and left the moment unresolved.

• Lynn pretended that Euron had badly wounded him, and Theon considered claiming Lynn was defeated to seize power in the North.
• Lynn asked Theon whether he would betray him, and Theon swore his loyalty to Lynn and House Stark.
• Lynn entered Winterfell's hall, where Catelyn welcomed him warmly and Ned expressed relief at his return.
• Ned confronted Theon about running away, then told him he had always considered him a fourth son, filling Theon with guilt.
• Lynn interrupted Ned's reassurance, saying it was enough sentiment for now.

Lynn pretended that Euron had wounded Winter and exhausted his magic to test Theon Greyjoy’s loyalty. Theon believed Lynn was vulnerable, left the feast plotting to seize Winterfell, and openly vowed to take his place.

• Lynn claimed that Euron’s horn had injured Winter and left him weak, while secretly telling Ned that Euron was dead and the Iron Fleet had been destroyed.
• Ned understood that Lynn was baiting Theon and chose to play along with the story of a costly victory.
• Theon grew elated at the thought of Lynn’s supposed weakness and imagined killing Lynn and Ned to claim the North.
• Theon pretended to be concerned, then excused himself from the feast and hurried back to his room.
• Alone in his room, Theon abandoned his obedient facade and vowed to take Winterfell, the North, and Lynn’s power for himself.

The Blood Warlocks offered Theon power and Winterfell in exchange for helping them kill Lynn and the Starks, but Arya and Sansa’s kindness revived his memories of family. After they left, Theon remained torn between House Stark and House Greyjoy, and his shadow stirred beneath him.

• The Blood Warlocks revealed that they had once backed House Bolton and offered Theon Shadow Assassins and blood magic to seize Winterfell and become King in the North.
• The Blood Warlocks shaped blood into Ned Stark’s face to prove their power, but Arya and Sansa’s knock made them vanish before Theon accepted.
• Arya and Sansa told Theon that Ned did not blame him for leaving and that they considered him family.
• Remembering his childhood with the Starks, Theon broke down in shame and asked Arya and Sansa to leave him alone.
• Theon stood torn between the Starks’ love and the Blood Warlocks’ promise of power, then noticed his shadow stir.

Jon Snow, Benjen Stark, and Samwell Tarly returned to Winterfell after the Night's Watch was disbanded, and found the North transformed under Lynn's rule. Lynn discussed a gold-rich continent with Daenerys and began addressing Jon's uncertainty about life beyond the Wall.

• The Night's Watch was disbanded after the Wall began melting and White Walkers crossed it, so Jon, Benjen, and Sam chose to return to Winterfell.
• Jon, Benjen, and Sam arrived at Winterfell and saw new construction, foreign visitors, and children studying, but neither Robb nor Ned was there.
• Lynn discussed a distant continent rich in gold with Daenerys, who wanted to claim its wealth, and said they needed ships.
• Jon, Benjen, and Sam greeted Lynn, now King in the North, and Jon admitted he felt lost after the Wall's fall.
• Lynn told Jon that he had only ever looked toward the frozen wilderness to the north.

Ned revealed that Jon was Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen’s son, not Ned’s bastard, and Lynn explained why Jon inherited Stark features. The revelation left Jon reeling, while Lynn offered to take him back to see the truth for himself.

• Ned told Jon that his mother was Lyanna Stark, who had died after entrusting him to Ned at the Tower of Joy.
• Jon realized that Rhaegar Targaryen was his father and that he might be heir to the throne; Ned assured him he would always be a Stark.
• Daenerys learned that Jon was her nephew, while Jon questioned why he had Stark features instead of Targaryen ones.
• Lynn explained that Jon inherited Lyanna’s dark hair and gray eyes because Stark traits had prevailed over Rhaegar’s.
• Jon asked Lynn whether he had known the truth, and Lynn offered to take him back to see for himself.

Lynn used greensight to take Ned, Jon, Catelyn, Benjen, and Sam back to witness the events at the Tower of Joy. As the vision began, they watched young Ned confront Arthur Dayne and the other Kingsguard.

• Ned agreed to see the past with his own eyes, and Jon nodded that he wanted to go too.
• Ned told Catelyn that Jon was Lyanna's son and described her dying request; Catelyn was overwhelmed with shame for how she had treated Jon.
• Lynn asked everyone to place their hands on the table and used his power to draw their consciousnesses into a vision of the past.
• The group arrived at the Tower of Joy, where Ned recognized the place and saw Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower guarding it.
• Young Ned and his companions faced the Kingsguard, and the battle began.

Jon and the others witnessed the truth of Ned Stark’s victory over Arthur Dayne: Howland Reed killed Dayne with a sneak attack, and Ned finished him off. They followed the young Ned into the Tower of Joy, where he found Lyanna dying after childbirth.

• Arthur Dayne overwhelmed Ned Stark and his companions, killing most of them while Jon watched.
• Howland Reed rose after being presumed dead and stabbed Arthur Dayne from behind, stopping his killing blow against Ned.
• Ned killed the wounded Arthur Dayne, and Jon understood that Ned had concealed the dishonorable details to protect his promise to Lyanna.
• A scream from the Stone Tower sent Ned rushing inside, where he found Lyanna lying in a pool of blood and barely alive.

After witnessing Lyanna reveal that Jon was her son Aegon Targaryen, Jon struggled with the loss of his identity and fled Winterfell's study. At the Godswood, Theon challenged him to admit whether he had ever hated the Starks.

• Jon watched Lyanna name the baby Aegon Targaryen and make Ned promise to protect him before she died.
• The vision ended, and Daenerys realized Jon was her nephew while Catelyn regretted how she had treated him.
• Jon left the study and wandered through Winterfell to the Godswood, wishing he could remain Jon Snow rather than become a Targaryen heir.
• Theon joined Jon and described how both of them had been treated as outsiders.
• Theon reminded Jon of Catelyn's exclusion and the nobles' insults, then asked whether Jon had ever hated the Starks.

Jon rejected Theon’s attempt to turn him against the Starks, affirming that Winterfell had made him who he was. Theon recognized his betrayal and regretted his plans, but the blood warlocks confronted him before he could decide what to do.

• Jon told Theon that Ned, Robb, Sansa, and Arya had given him a home, and that he remained a direwolf despite his Targaryen blood.
• Jon reminded Theon of the Stark family’s kindness and urged him not to become the kind of Ironborn who burned, killed, and plundered.
• Theon remembered his bond with the Starks and the blood warlocks’ plan to enslave Sansa, then retched in shame as Jon offered him a handkerchief.
• Jon returned to Winterfell, while Theon stayed behind, torn between his loyalty to the Starks and his duty to House Greyjoy.
• Three blood warlocks emerged from Theon’s shadow and demanded that he choose.

Theon rejected the Blood Warlocks’ offer and fought to defend Winterfell, but they marked him with magic and began to take control of him. Lynn’s Shadow emerged, consumed their magic, killed the lead warlock, and captured the other two alive as sacrifices for Sounding Dragonbinder.

• Theon refused the Blood Warlocks’ offer of power and told them to leave Winterfell.
• Theon drew his sword against the Blood Warlocks, but their rune bound the blade and marked his body with painful magic.
• As a Blood Warlock moved to erase Theon’s consciousness, Lynn’s Shadow rose from the ground with a dark eye like the one Euron had lost.
• Lynn’s Shadow swallowed the blood-red runes, killed the lead Blood Warlock, and captured the other two alive for Sounding Dragonbinder.

After Theon confessed his betrayal and repented, Lynn revealed that Euron had hired the Faceless Men to murder Balon Greyjoy and sent Theon to Braavos to investigate them. Theon accepted the mission as his chance to atone, while Lynn returned to the Main Keep and turned his attention to Stannis's assembled army.

• Lynn confronted Theon in the Godswood, and Theon confessed that he had planned to kill Lynn and the Starks to seize Winterfell.
• Lynn told Theon that Euron had hired a Braavosi assassin from the Faceless Men to kill Balon Greyjoy.
• Lynn gave Theon a coin bearing a Three-Headed Great Dragon and ordered him to find the House of Black and White and learn the Faceless Men's position and strength.
• Theon swore to fulfill Lynn's mission and left with a renewed resolve to avenge his father and atone for his betrayal.
• Lynn returned to the Main Keep, told Daenerys that Jon needed time to process events, and asked whether Stannis's army had finished assembling.

After Stannis declared himself king and called for war against Joffrey, Lynn dismissed his claim and dictated a counter-proclamation to the lords of Westeros. He left the North preparing to wage a war of words, warning Stannis’s supporters that his dragons could reduce their castles to ruins.

• Ned Stark told Lynn and the others that Stannis would declare war after learning Joffrey was not Robert’s son.
• Maester Luwin brought Stannis Baratheon’s proclamation, in which Stannis claimed the throne and branded Joffrey a false king.
• Lynn burned Stannis’s proclamation and told Ned that strength, not inheritance, decided who ruled.
• Lynn dictated a message accusing Stannis of heresy, kinslaying, and madness, while urging the lords to remain neutral.
• Lynn warned that the North would show no mercy to Stannis’s supporters and ordered Maester Luwin to send the proclamation to every castle.

Stannis Baratheon ordered his army to march toward the Trident despite Davos Seaworth's warning that Lynn's proclamation had united the North and left Stannis without allies. After Stannis condemned Davos to death, Salladhor Saan offered to help him escape, and Davos chose to travel north and meet Lynn.

• Stannis Baratheon rallied his followers with the Red Priestess's promises and ordered his army to march toward the Trident.
• Davos Seaworth warned Stannis that the North's climate, winter, and Lynn's proclamation made the campaign unwinnable, but Stannis dismissed his counsel and ordered him beheaded.
• Stannis had Davos thrown into the Black Cells, where Davos concluded that the king he had served had become a zealot.
• Salladhor Saan visited Davos and offered to help him escape from the Black Cells.
• Davos accepted Salladhor Saan's help and asked him to take him north so he could meet Lynn.

Tywin Lannister marched the Westerlands army north to seize Riverrun and join Stannis, while Lynn sent Mance Rayder to intercept him with a vast army of wildlings and wights. Lynn then flew toward Harrenhal on Winter to confront Stannis Baratheon, leaving Daenerys to guard Winterfell.

• After learning that Stannis's allied army had left King's Landing for the Trident, Tywin ordered the Westerlands army to march north and attack Riverrun.
• Lynn told Mance Rayder to intercept Tywin on the River Road with wildlings, giants, mammoth riders, two hundred thousand Wight Archers, and the Frost Giant.
• Mance swore to bury Tywin's army as his combined force of living warriors and wights marched south.
• Lynn entrusted Winterfell to Daenerys, mounted Winter, and flew toward Harrenhal to face Stannis Baratheon.

A Frost Giant massacred Tywin Lannister’s vanguard on the River Road while Mance Rayder and the wildlings joined the attack. Stephen Haytall fled to carry news of Lynn’s power to Lord Tywin, as a vast wight army gathered in a hidden valley nearby.

• Stephen Haytall dismissed his scouts’ warnings about an unexplained icy mountain as the Lannister vanguard marched toward Riverrun.
• A Frost Giant rose from the earth and froze and crushed the Lannister soldiers despite Stephen’s order to attack.
• Stephen ordered a retreat, but the Frost Giant unleashed a rain of ice spikes that shattered the Lannister formation.
• Mance Rayder arrived with wildling warriors and ordered them to pursue the fleeing soldiers while the Frost Giant stopped attacking.
• Stephen fled with his Personal Guards, resolved to report the massacre and Lynn’s power to Lord Tywin.
• Hundreds of thousands of wights gathered silently in a hidden valley north of the River Road.

Mance Rayder’s forces lured Tywin Lannister’s army into dismissing the Frost Giant attack as a trick, then ambushed Amory Lorch’s troops in a narrow valley with Wight archers. The chapter ended with mammoths and giants blocking the escape route as the Lannister army faced annihilation.

• Stephen Haytall escaped the Frost Giant’s attack and reported the slaughter to Tywin Lannister, who dismissed the story as exaggeration and suspected Lynn of using a fear tactic.
• Tywin ordered Amory Lorch to lead fifteen thousand men north along the River Road and meet him beneath Riverrun.
• Three days later, Amory’s army entered a narrow valley, where Wight archers concealed on the cliffs unleashed volleys of arrows.
• Amory tried to lead the surviving heavy cavalry out of the valley, but a second arrow volley struck as the troops fled.
• Mammoths carrying Wildlings and a dozen giants blocked the valley’s mouth, trapping the Lannister army in the ambush.

Amory Lorch’s Lannister force was annihilated in a valley by Wight archers, giants, mammoths, and Wildlings. Mance Rayder then watched the slain soldiers rise as undead loyal to Lynn, and ordered the new army to advance.

• Amory Lorch ordered his surviving heavy cavalry to charge, but a second volley from the Wight archers destroyed the Lannister force’s remaining organization.
• Giants, mammoths, and Wildlings blocked the valley’s exit and attacked the trapped soldiers.
• Amory Lorch charged a giant and was crushed, prompting the surviving Lannister soldiers to flee before being killed.
• Mance Rayder and Tormund surveyed the aftermath, and Mance said the real show had only just begun.
• The dead Lannister soldiers rose again with eerie blue eyes, and Mance ordered the undead army to advance.

Lynn ordered Mance Rayder to lead the newly raised undead army west and capture Casterly Rock while Brynden Tully held Tywin Lannister in place. After learning that Amory Lorch’s force had been destroyed and raised as undead, Tywin realized the target and ordered his army to retreat to defend the Westerlands.

• Mance Rayder reported that the undead army had wiped out fifteen thousand Lannister soldiers, and Lynn ordered him to abandon Riverrun and march on Casterly Rock.
• Lynn revealed that Brynden Tully was keeping Tywin occupied, and Mance led the undead army west.
• A messenger told Tywin that Brynden Tully had cut the supply lines and destroyed the Crakehall troops escorting provisions.
• A scout reported that Amory Lorch’s force had been wiped out and that its dead soldiers had risen and headed west.
• Tywin realized Lynn was targeting Casterly Rock, bloodied the map as he collapsed in shock, and ordered his forces to return to defend it.

Mance Rayder used the Army of the Dead to besiege Casterly Rock, intending to lure the Westerlands’ lords into a prepared ambush rather than storm the fortress. The defenders’ fear deepened when an arrow failed to move a wight, while Tormund wondered whether Lynn would turn them into the dead as well.

• Fifteen thousand wights in Lannister armor reached Casterly Rock and silently halted outside its walls.
• Ser Damon Lannister ordered the gates closed, forbade the defenders from firing, and sent ravens to warn Tywin that Amory Lorch’s dead army had besieged the fortress.
• Mance Rayder explained to Tormund that the siege was bait meant to draw the Westerlands’ lords to Casterly Rock, where Lynn’s forces could ambush them.
• A frightened young soldier fired an arrow into a wight’s eye socket, but the wight remained standing and the defenders lost hope.
• Tormund asked Mance whether Lynn would turn them into wights if they died.

The Army of the Dead and Mance Rayder’s Wildlings destroyed the Westerlands relief force that came to save Casterly Rock, while Tywin Lannister learned that his allies had been wiped out and his supplies burned. Mance chose to wait before raising the new dead, hoping to lure every remaining Westerlands fighter into his trap.

• Damon Lannister ordered his men to hold their positions as the Army of the Dead continued its silent siege of Casterly Rock.
• Earl Lefford led more than twenty thousand Westerlands soldiers, including five thousand knights, toward Casterly Rock and charged the wights.
• The wights absorbed the knights’ charge and overwhelmed them, while Mance Rayder’s Wildlings, giants, and mammoths attacked from ambush and slaughtered the relief force.
• A giant crushed Earl Lefford, and the surviving defenders at Casterly Rock watched the allied army fall.
• Tywin Lannister received news that the Westerlands army had been destroyed and that Brynden Tully had burned his last granary, then collapsed in anger and despair.
• Tormund asked Mance whether they should raise the newly dead, but Mance said they would wait for more Westerlands fighters to arrive.

The Army of the Dead and Mance Rayder’s Wildlings overran Casterly Rock after starving, desperate defenders opened its gates. A raven carried the news to Tywin Lannister, who was left broken and afraid of Lynn.

• Damon Lannister ordered the wine cellars opened as soldiers inside Casterly Rock began killing themselves and losing hope.
• Tyberth led a drunken mob to open the Lion’s Mouth, and Mance Rayder sounded the horn to begin the attack.
• The wights crushed Tyberth’s men, broke through the gate, and flooded Casterly Rock as the Wildlings, giants, and mammoths joined the assault.
• Damon retreated to the Main Keep, where Mance Rayder confronted him, and Damon chose to take his own life.
• Kevan Lannister gave Tywin a raven’s message announcing Casterly Rock’s fall, and Tywin spat blood and feared Lynn.

Tywin Lannister led his battered army back to Casterly Rock, where Mance Rayder’s overwhelming forces defeated them and captured him. As the Free Folk executed Lannister prisoners, Mance told Tywin that Lynn intended to shatter the old order so a new one could take root.

• Tywin ordered the Westerlands army to retreat toward Casterly Rock, while Brynden Tully harassed them and cost them nearly ten thousand men.
• Tywin charged Mance Rayder’s forces at Casterly Rock, where Kevan died saving him and wildlings captured Tywin.
• Mance ordered the Lannister prisoners to kneel to Lynn or die, and Roland Crakehall refused and was executed.
• Mance told Tywin that true power meant defining the rules and that the old order had to be destroyed before a new one could take root.

Tywin Lannister faced his children in the conquered Casterly Rock, where Cersei and Tyrion confronted him over the lives he had ruined and Jaime urged him to submit to Lynn. Tywin refused, and Mance Rayder delivered Lynn’s judgment: Tywin would be executed at sunrise while Myrcella became the new Warden of the West.

• Cersei mocked Tywin and accused him of treating her as a bargaining piece for House Lannister.
• Tyrion reminded Tywin of what he had done to Tysha and told him that Lynn had found her and provided for her family.
• Jaime begged Tywin to swear allegiance to Lynn, but Tywin refused to kneel and chose death over surrender.
• Mance Rayder had the Wildlings remove Jaime, Cersei, and Tyrion, then showed Tywin Lynn’s written judgment and announced his execution at sunrise atop Lion’s Rock.
• Mance told Tywin that Lynn intended to appoint Myrcella as the new Warden of the West.