Chapter Summaries

Joffrey struggled with his humiliation over Cersei and Lynn, then mistook Cersei’s feigned submission for genuine worship and banished her to the Abandoned Lonely Tower. Lynn arrived as the guards were taking her away and questioned how she had sneaked out.

• Joffrey woke furious and distressed over Cersei being in Lynn’s power, while Liana urged him to act like a generous king.
• A guard reported that Cersei had returned, and Joffrey mocked her appearance and threatened to cast her out.
• Cersei knelt before Joffrey, praised his kingship, and begged to remain near him as a humble mother.
• Joffrey allowed Cersei to stay in the Red Keep but stripped her of her servants, jewels, and power, ordering her taken to the Abandoned Lonely Tower.
• Lynn stopped the Gold Cloaks and asked Cersei how she had sneaked out.

Lynn took Cersei from Joffrey and staged an intimate encounter where Joffrey could spy on them. Joffrey misread Cersei’s actions as a sacrifice to secure Lynn’s loyalty, leaving him resolved to use Lynn against their enemies.

• Lynn stopped the Gold Cloaks from taking Cersei and announced he was taking her with him.
• Liana gave Joffrey an excuse to let Lynn take Cersei, and Joffrey pretended the decision served official business.
• Lynn led Cersei to the Tower of the Hand and said they would wait for Joffrey to spy on them.
• Joffrey secretly followed them and watched their silhouettes together through a window.
• Joffrey convinced himself Cersei was sacrificing herself for his rule and resolved to make use of Lynn.

Cersei returned to the Red Keep after Lynn claimed her as his private slave, only to learn that Joffrey had deliberately arranged her submission to keep Lynn loyal. Over the following days, Lynn openly visited Cersei’s chambers while Joffrey watched from afar, convinced his scheme secured his throne.

• Lynn told Cersei to return to the Red Keep and remember that she belonged to him, and she obeyed.
• Joffrey welcomed Cersei back to her former chambers and told her to keep Lynn satisfied so he would remain tethered to the Crown.
• Cersei realized Joffrey had treated her as a tool to protect his rule, suppressed her hatred, and pledged obedience.
• Lynn began openly visiting Cersei’s bedchamber, and the Red Keep’s servants and guards avoided the corridor.
• Joffrey listened to the sounds from Cersei’s chambers and called the sacrifices necessary for a great king.

Joffrey ordered Tommen’s murder to protect his claim to the throne, but Lynn secretly replaced Tommen with a masked corpse. After revealing the rescue to Cersei, Lynn won her loyalty and sent her to stoke Joffrey into conflict with Stannis and Renly.

• Joffrey feared Tommen could threaten his succession and ordered Marrey to make the boy’s death look like an accident.
• The Red Keep announced that Tommen had died, and Cersei collapsed from grief while Lynn arranged for Joffrey to visit her.
• Cersei blamed Joffrey for Tommen’s death and vowed revenge, but Lynn revealed that Tommen was alive and hidden somewhere safe.
• Cersei pledged herself and her loyalty to Lynn, who instructed her to support Joffrey’s plans against Stannis and Renly and inflame conflict between them and Tywin.
• Cersei left to carry out Lynn’s plan, while Lynn anticipated the turmoil it would bring Joffrey.

Cersei convinced Joffrey that Stannis and Renly had killed Tommen, prompting him to order an army against them. When Liana’s drugged wine made her hallucinate about Lynn, Joffrey realized she had been drugging him and suspected Lynn was behind her; he ended the chapter vowing to play along with Lynn’s schemes.

• Cersei knelt before Joffrey and persuaded him that Stannis and Renly had murdered Tommen to threaten his throne.
• Joffrey ordered his guards to summon the vassals and prepare an army to crush Storm’s End within three months.
• Joffrey grew suspicious of Liana’s wine and forced her to drink it before she could refuse.
• Under the drug’s influence, Liana hallucinated Lynn and called his name, revealing her desire for him to Joffrey.
• Grand Maester Galler identified the wine as a hallucinogen, and Joffrey concluded that Liana had been drugging him and might be Lynn’s pawn.
• Joffrey wondered whether Lynn had provoked his war with Stannis and Renly, then vowed to play along and defeat him.

Lynn entered Joffrey’s bedchamber and used his power to take control of Joffrey’s body, leaving the king terrified and humiliated. Lynn carried Liana away and ordered Joffrey to announce preparations for war against Stannis and Renly the next morning.

• Lynn ignored Joffrey’s protests and declared that he had come to take back what belonged to him.
• Lynn reminded Joffrey that he had dragons and knew the secret that could cost Joffrey his head.
• Lynn seized control of Joffrey’s body and forced him to slap himself repeatedly while explaining that he would keep him alive as a puppet and blood bag.
• Lynn stopped the forced slapping, ordered Joffrey to stand, and carried the delirious Liana out of the room.
• Lynn commanded Joffrey to tend to his injuries and announce preparations for war against Stannis and Renly in the King’s name.
• After Lynn left, Joffrey saw his swollen face in a mirror, slapped himself again, and realized he had lost control of his life and throne.

Lynn controlled Joffrey and forced him to listen as Liana cried out for Lynn in the room next door, using the humiliation to break Joffrey’s will. He returned Joffrey to his bedchamber and ordered him to bathe and prepare to preside over the Small Council.

• Joffrey tried to kill himself with a decorative sword, but Lynn seized control of his body and stopped him.
• Lynn forced Joffrey to kneel outside Liana’s room and listen to her call out for Lynn.
• Joffrey begged Lynn to spare him, but Lynn made him listen until Liana’s cries fell silent.
• Lynn returned Joffrey to his bedchamber, made him look at his reflection, and ordered him to bathe and change for the Small Council.

Joffrey accused Stannis and Renly of murdering Tommen and ordered them to face judgment in King's Landing. At Dragonstone, Stannis weighed his choices as Melisandre offered a prophecy that promised him the crown in exchange for a shadow.

• Joffrey appeared before the Small Council with Lynn and Cersei, then declared Tommen had been murdered by Stannis and Renly.
• Joffrey ordered his uncles to come to King's Landing and submit to his judgment, threatening anyone who challenged his decision.
• Stannis learned of Joffrey's decree and rejected Renly's offer that he swear allegiance in exchange for titles and a council seat.
• Stannis asked Davos what he should do, but Melisandre arrived and offered to show him the future.
• Melisandre told Stannis that his enemies would die and he would be crowned king if he gave up one little shadow.

Stannis agreed to Melisandre’s fire ritual, but Lynn intercepted her prayer and falsely claimed Stannis was not the prophesied prince, directing her toward Lynn in King's Landing. Melisandre hid the revelation from Stannis and promised to use a shadow to kill his enemies while preparing to seek the true king.

• Stannis overcame his distrust of magic and agreed to follow Melisandre’s ritual before the flames.
• While playing cards with Cersei and Liana in King's Landing, Lynn felt Melisandre’s prayer and found himself appearing to her as the Lord of Light.
• Lynn told Melisandre that Stannis was not the prophesied prince and hinted that the true king was in King's Landing, had come through winter, and had a dragon.
• Lynn ended the connection, and Melisandre told Stannis that he would defeat Renly and Joffrey while concealing the rest of the revelation.
• Melisandre decided to go to King's Landing to find the true king and asked Stannis to let a shadow eliminate his enemies.

Melisandre demanded a sacrifice of Stannis’s child, Shireen, to gain the Lord of Light’s power. Stannis agreed despite Davos’s protests, and as Melisandre began the ritual, she said the Lord of Light needed flames.

• Melisandre told Stannis that royal blood was needed for a sacrifice and named Shireen.
• Davos begged Stannis to spare Shireen, but Stannis kicked him aside and agreed to Melisandre’s demand.
• Stannis ordered Selyse to bring Shireen, and Selyse laid the sleeping child on a bed.
• Melisandre lit Black Candles, scattered strange powder, and chanted around Shireen as Stannis watched and Davos knelt in despair.
• Melisandre stopped chanting, approached Stannis, and said the Lord of Light needed flames.

Melisandre persuaded Stannis and Selyse to perform a dark ritual that created a shadow assassin in Stannis’s likeness. She sent it to kill Renly Baratheon and then turned her attention to Joffrey.

• Melisandre told Stannis that Shireen’s sacrifice was only the spark and that he had to provide his life flame through Queen Selyse.
• Selyse agreed to serve as the ritual’s furnace, and Stannis ordered Davos out before reluctantly proceeding.
• Melisandre chanted as black flames appeared and Selyse’s belly swelled, then a shadow with Stannis’s face emerged from her body.
• Melisandre commanded the shadow to kill Renly Baratheon, and it vanished through the wall.
• Selyse lost consciousness and Stannis collapsed, while Melisandre declared that Renly’s time had come and that Joffrey was next.

Melisandre explained that Stannis’s shadow assassin could kill Renly, then urged him to sacrifice Shireen to create stronger shadows for killing Joffrey and Tywin. Stannis refused to harm his daughter and struck Melisandre, who called him too weak to become a true king.

• Melisandre told Stannis that the shadow was an unstoppable assassin and would kill Renly.
• Stannis planned to use another shadow to kill Joffrey, but Melisandre said the sacrifice would need king’s blood.
• Melisandre named Princess Shireen as the sacrifice needed to create stronger shadows.
• Stannis refused to sacrifice Shireen, slapped Melisandre, and warned her never to touch his daughter.
• Melisandre told Stannis that his inability to sacrifice Shireen made him too weak to become a true king.

Melisandre urged Stannis to sacrifice Shireen to awaken Dragonstone’s stone dragons and create a stronger shadow assassin. Tempted by the promise of dragons and the throne, Stannis asked how certain she was that the dragons would awaken.

• Stannis struck Melisandre and forbade her from speaking Shireen’s name.
• Melisandre claimed Stannis’s Targaryen blood could awaken the stone dragon statues on Dragonstone.
• Stannis imagined using dragons to defeat his enemies and claim the Iron Throne.
• Melisandre said Shireen had to be burned completely to awaken the dragons and create another, stronger shadow assassin.
• Stannis wrestled with the choice between Shireen and the throne, then asked Melisandre whether the dragons would truly awaken.

Stannis rejected Melisandre’s demand to sacrifice Shireen and drove her from Dragonstone. At Storm’s End, a shadow resembling Stannis killed Renly, and the guards accused Brienne of the murder.

• Stannis refused to sacrifice Shireen, threatened Melisandre, and ordered her off Dragonstone.
• Melisandre left for King’s Landing to seek the man with dragons who she believed had been chosen by the Lord of Light.
• At Storm’s End, Renly mocked Stannis while celebrating his army and support from the southern nobles.
• A shadow that looked like Stannis appeared in Renly’s pavilion and stabbed Renly through the heart before vanishing.
• Loras rushed to Renly, while the guards mistook Brienne’s bloodstained sword as evidence that she had killed the king and ordered her seized.

After Renly's death, Loras stopped the guards from killing Brienne and secretly helped her escape. Brienne rode into the night, swearing to find Stannis Baratheon and avenge Renly.

• The guards accused Brienne of killing Renly, but Loras said he had seen a shadowy monster with Stannis's face stab Renly from behind.
• Loras ordered the guards to arrest Brienne for questioning and invoked Stannis as a possible mastermind to keep them from executing her.
• Loras secretly freed Brienne from the dungeon and led her through a hidden passage to the stables.
• Loras urged Brienne to leave and find Renly's killer, and Brienne agreed to pursue Stannis Baratheon.
• Brienne rode away into the night and swore to pass judgment on Stannis with her sword.

After Renly’s death, Stannis prepared to claim Storm’s End and ordered Melisandre silenced, while Lynn let the southern nobles’ divisions deepen. Melisandre arrived in King’s Landing and told Lynn that the flames had revealed him as the Prince That Was Promised.

• Loras let Brienne escape, so Renly’s guards arrested him as an accomplice and planned to execute him.
• Stannis learned Renly was dead, ordered his army to march on Storm’s End, and told Davos to find and silence Melisandre.
• Lynn heard of Renly’s death and refused to intervene as Stormlands nobles and Renly’s guards turned against one another.
• A priestess arrived at the Tower of the Hand, and Melisandre told Lynn that the flames named him the Prince That Was Promised.

Melisandre declared Lynn the true Prince That Was Promised and offered him her loyalty, while Lynn discovered that her ruby could grant him Eternal Youth and Flame Resurrection if disassembled. The chapter ended with Melisandre removing the ruby that sustained her life and offering it to Lynn as proof of devotion.

• Melisandre told Lynn she had left Stannis and found the true light in him.
• Melisandre revealed that her ruby kept her young and alive, and that similar gemstones could be found in Asshai.
• Lynn's system identified the ruby as a fragment of the Lord of Light's authority that could yield Eternal Youth and Flame Resurrection.
• Lynn hesitated to disassemble the ruby because doing so would kill Melisandre, whom he considered a useful ally.
• Lynn questioned Melisandre's loyalty, and she knelt, offered herself as his servant, and handed him the ruby that sustained her life.

Lynn learned the limits of Flame Resurrection and confirmed that he possessed an extraordinarily powerful kingly bloodline. After disassembling Melisandre’s ruby to gain Eternal Youth and Flame Resurrection, he killed her and began the resurrection ritual.

• Lynn questioned Melisandre about Flame Resurrection and learned it required the Lord of Light’s approval and King’s Blood as fuel.
• Melisandre sensed both Old Gods power and the Cold Gods’ presence within Lynn, but declared him a born King and the strongest bloodline she had encountered.
• Lynn tested his bloodline and concluded he could serve as fuel for resurrection.
• The ruby lost its glow as Lynn disassembled it, and he gained Eternal Youth and Flame Resurrection.
• Lynn stabbed Melisandre through the heart with Longclaw, then placed a hand on her forehead and cast Flame Resurrection.

Lynn resurrected Melisandre after killing her, using king’s blood at the cost of some of his own vitality. Cersei, Liana, Sansa, and the Gold Cloaks mistook the miracle as proof that Lynn was a god, while he prepared to speak with Melisandre privately.

• Lynn resurrected Melisandre and felt his vitality drain as the magic drew on his blood.
• Cersei, Liana, and Sansa entered the hall and watched Melisandre’s wound heal before she woke.
• Melisandre remembered Lynn killing her and stared at him in fear and confusion.
• Cersei, Liana, and Sansa knelt before Lynn, believing he was a god, and a returning Gold Cloak joined them.
• Lynn told Melisandre to meet him privately, collected the blood-replenishing herbs, and heard the Gold Cloaks whisper that he was divine.

After reviving Melisandre, Lynn revealed that she had lost her immortality and offered to restore it through his Eternal Youth skill. Melisandre refused, explaining that she longed to die after centuries of loneliness, but Lynn urged her to live for herself instead.

• Lynn brought Melisandre into a private room while Cersei, Liana, Sansa, and a kneeling Gold Cloak wondered if Lynn was a god.
• Lynn discovered that Eternal Youth could link him to someone else and share immortality, and decided to offer Melisandre the first link.
• Lynn told Melisandre that reviving her had cost her immortality, then offered to make her immortal again.
• Melisandre refused, calling immortality a curse and describing her long life, loneliness, faith in the Lord of Light, and disappointment in Stannis.
• Melisandre said she wanted to serve Lynn, help end the catastrophe, and then die peacefully, but Lynn urged her to live another thousand years for herself.