Chapter Summaries

Lynn chose armor and the Shire mare Storm for the Hand's tourney, then crossed paths with Jaime Lannister and Loras Tyrell as he rode from the stables. The chapter left him riding toward the grounds while the two renowned knights watched him closely.

• Lynn presented Ned Stark's authorization to Donal and selected a black suit of plate along with light armor for close combat.
• Arya sneaked into the armory, watched Lynn handle a practice sword, and asked about his tourney; Lynn lent her his Valyrian steel dagger and warned her to return to the North if danger came.
• Lynn went to the royal stables and chose Storm, a fierce Shire mare that had thrown several knights, calming her with his horsemanship.
• Lynn rode Storm past Jaime Lannister and Loras Tyrell, while Baelish hurried toward the riding grounds; Jaime and Loras watched him with curiosity and scrutiny.

Lynn saved Prince Joffrey from an assassin’s crossbow bolt and used Greensight to discover that Petyr Baelish had ordered the attack. Joffrey demanded that his father reward Lynn, while Lynn began planning to turn Baelish’s schemes against him.

• Joffrey arrived while Lynn, Arya, and Sansa were walking through King’s Landing, then had the Hound kill a drunk who bumped into him.
• An assassin fired a crossbow bolt at Joffrey, and Lynn deflected it before it could hit him.
• Lynn used Greensight to trace the bolt’s path and saw Petyr Baelish pay the assassin the night before.
• Joffrey thanked Lynn and demanded that his father reward him and make him Joffrey’s personal guard.
• Petyr Baelish arrived and concealed his role in the attack, while Lynn decided to enter Baelish’s game.

Lynn possessed the assassin who had attacked Joffrey and sent him back to the Red Keep to accuse Cersei of plotting against the royal family. Robert turned on Cersei, while Lynn planned to leave for Essos and disrupt Petyr Baelish’s schemes.

• Robert ordered a citywide search after an assassin nearly killed Joffrey, and Lynn claimed he needed rest after using a powerful secret technique.
• Lynn used skinchanging to locate and possess the assassin hiding in Flea Bottom, then directed him back to the Red Keep.
• The possessed assassin attacked Robert, but Jaime stopped him and broke his knee before the guards subdued him.
• The assassin accused Cersei of hiring him to kill Robert and Joffrey, and Jaime killed him before he could say more.
• Robert roared at Cersei as Petyr realized his plan had gone wrong, while Lynn resolved to sow distrust between the Baratheons and Lannisters before heading to Essos.

After an assassin accused Cersei of plotting against Robert and Joffrey, Robert confined her while Ned suspected Lynn had manipulated events to weaken the Lannisters. Varys visited Lynn, hinting that he knew about the scheme and wanted to discuss it.

• Robert accused Cersei of trying to kill Joffrey, but Jaime defended her and challenged Robert’s evidence.
• Ser Barristan persuaded Robert to confine Cersei to Maegor’s Holdfast while the accusations were investigated.
• Ned suspected Lynn had redirected Littlefinger’s plans and decided to ask Lynn whether he had orchestrated the events.
• Lynn reflected on how saving Joffrey could make the prince useful, then let Sansa Stark bring him supper and medicine.
• Lynn warned Sansa that appearances in King’s Landing could be misleading, and she left after hearing another knock.
• Varys visited Lynn and suggested that he knew an unseen spider had stirred up the conflict.

Varys visited Lynn to bargain over the Targaryens, revealing that Petyr Baelish had plotted Joffrey’s death and warning that Baelish now wanted Lynn eliminated. Lynn recognized that Varys wanted Daenerys spared and accepted the opening to pursue his own plans across the Narrow Sea.

• Varys questioned Lynn about saving Joffrey and disclosed that he knew the king had promised Lynn a lordship for bringing back a Targaryen’s head.
• Varys offered to help Lynn gain a knighthood and fief, and to remove Petyr Baelish, if Lynn spared the surviving Targaryen girl.
• Lynn challenged Varys’s loyalty, and Varys said his allegiance belonged to the realm and its common people.
• Varys suggested that Lynn bring the king Viserys’s head and substitute the head of a silver-haired pirate queen for Daenerys’s.

Lynn agreed to cooperate with Varys, who revealed Littlefinger’s plan to rig the tourney joust against Ser Gregor Clegane. Lynn intended to foil the scheme and win fairly, while Joffrey arrived with news that the king would make Lynn his personal guard if he won.

• Varys offered Lynn information about Littlefinger’s plan to use a mare in heat to disrupt Ser Gregor Clegane’s warhorse and help Ser Loras Tyrell win.
• Lynn agreed to Varys’s terms and promised that the king would receive only Viserys’s head.
• Varys told Lynn that Sansa was secretly making him a black cloak embroidered with a direwolf.
• Lynn realized he had already chosen Storm, the only war mare in heat, and planned to win the tourney fairly while ruining Littlefinger’s scheme.
• Joffrey visited Lynn and said the king had agreed to knight him and make him Joffrey’s personal guard if he won the tourney.

Lynn persuaded Ned that Cersei had orchestrated the attacks to protect her children’s claim to the Iron Throne. He told Ned to stay quiet and watch as Lynn prepared to use the Hand’s Tourney to gain fame and fortune.

• After Joffrey left, Ned confronted Lynn about whether he was behind the day’s events, and Lynn denied it.
• Lynn reminded Ned of Jon Arryn’s investigation and the truth that Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen were not Robert’s children.
• Lynn argued that Cersei had tried to kill Robert and frame others to secure the throne for her children, and Ned accepted the explanation.
• Ned asked Lynn what to do, and Lynn told him to watch quietly while the king’s suspicions weakened the Lannisters’ standing.
• Lynn looked toward the grounds being prepared for the Hand’s Tourney and declared it would be his stage and their hunting ground.

Lynn rejected Petyr Baelish’s attempt to buy Storm, then accepted a hand-embroidered cloak from Sansa Stark. At the start of the Hand’s tourney, Lynn entered the lists on Storm as Littlefinger watched, confident that he had arranged Lynn’s humiliation.

• Petyr Baelish offered Lynn a chest of gold and a faster horse in exchange for Storm, but Lynn refused and demanded an impossible price.
• Sansa Stark gave Lynn a black silk cloak embroidered with a silver direwolf, and Lynn thanked her and promised he would win the tourney.
• Two days later, the Hand’s tourney began with Robert, Ned Stark, and Joffrey watching from the dais while Cersei was absent.
• Lynn entered the lists in black armor on Storm, drawing mockery from the crowd and a cold smile from Petyr Baelish.
• Lynn raised his lance toward the king’s dais and fixed his gaze on Littlefinger, who felt a chill despite believing his plan would succeed.

Lynn bet all the money he had available on himself to win the Hand’s Tourney, while the Mountain killed Ser Hugh Hammer in the opening joust. The next bout was announced as Ser Hosteen Frey against Lynn, the Nameless Black Knight.

• Lynn asked Ned to find the city’s biggest betting operation and wager everything he could spare on Lynn’s victory.
• Lynn placed a thousand Gold Dragons on himself at fifty-to-one odds and promised to deliver another two thousand six hundred.
• Petyr Baelish ordered his men to accept Lynn’s wager and anticipated that the Mountain would defeat him.
• Gregor Clegane charged Ser Hugh Hammer, and a broken lance pierced Hugh’s neck and killed him.
• The herald announced the next bout between Ser Hosteen Frey and the Nameless Black Knight.

Lynn concealed his skill and defeated Hosteen Frey in the tournament, then learned that his next opponent would be the Hound, Sandor Clegane. He prepared to keep appearing weak so he could profit from the betting and fund his planned Unsullied army.

• Lynn entered the lists on Storm as spectators and Hosteen Frey mocked his apparent inexperience.
• Lynn lost the first pass and drew the second, acting exhausted and clumsy to conceal his ability.
• On the third pass, Lynn struck the gap in Hosteen Frey's armor and knocked him from his horse.
• Arya, Sansa, Joffrey, and Ned celebrated Lynn's win, while Petyr Baelish realized his bet had lost.
• The herald announced that Lynn's next opponent would be the Hound, Sandor Clegane, and Lynn looked toward him.

Lynn defeated Sandor Clegane in the joust after a splinter from his lance struck Sandor’s horse in the eye, leaving Sandor thrown from the saddle. As Loras Tyrell prepared to face Gregor Clegane, Lynn noticed that both Loras’s horse and his own mare Storm were in heat.

• Joffrey ordered Sandor Clegane to let Lynn win, threatening to kill him if he unhorsed Lynn.
• Sandor warned Lynn that he would lose his head in their next bout, while Lynn acted exhausted and nervous before his family.
• Lynn and Sandor jousted twice without either knight falling, and Sandor began to suspect that Lynn was hiding his skill.
• On their third pass, Lynn’s lance struck Sandor’s horse, and a splinter pierced its eye, causing it to rear and throw Sandor.
• The herald announced Loras Tyrell’s bout against Gregor Clegane, and Lynn noticed that Loras’s mare and Storm were both in heat.

Loras Tyrell unhorsed Gregor Clegane when the Mountain’s stallion became distracted by Loras’s mare, but Gregor’s rage turned the joust into a bloody brawl with Sandor. After Lynn advanced through the remaining rounds, he was matched against Jaime Lannister in the semifinals and rode out to face him.

• Loras Tyrell struck Gregor Clegane twice and unhorsed him after Gregor’s stallion veered toward Loras’s mare.
• Gregor killed his stallion and charged Loras, but Sandor Clegane intervened and fought his brother until the Kingsguard separated them.
• Robert ordered the fight stopped, and the herald declared Loras the winner as Gregor left the field.
• Lynn continued advancing through the tourney by feigning weakness and winning through apparent luck.
• The herald announced that Lynn would face Jaime Lannister in the semifinals, and Lynn prepared to reveal his true strength.
• Lynn noticed Margaery Tyrell watching him before he rode into the lists and pointed his lance at Jaime.

Lynn revealed his hidden skill and defeated Jaime Lannister in two jousting passes, leaving Petyr Baelish facing ruin if Lynn won the final. The chapter ended as the herald announced Lynn’s final against Loras Tyrell.

• Jaime underestimated Lynn, but Loras recognized that Lynn had adopted his own jousting technique.
• Lynn used Ice Magic and overwhelming strength to withstand Jaime’s first charge and shatter his shield.
• Jaime charged again, and Lynn struck first, denting Jaime’s armor and knocking him from his horse.
• The crowd cheered Lynn’s victory as Robert praised him, Ned realized Lynn had concealed his skill, and Petyr feared losing his fortune.
• The herald announced that Lynn would face Loras Tyrell in the final.

Lynn used Greensight to learn Garlan Tyrell’s jousting technique before facing Loras Tyrell in the final joust. He defeated Loras in three passes, leaving Petyr Baelish collapsing in the stands.

• Lynn returned to his tent and used Greensight to observe Garlan Tyrell training at Highgarden.
• Lynn acquired Garlan-style jousting and raised his horsemanship to expert proficiency.
• Lynn faced Loras in the final joust and won the first two passes by deflecting Loras’s attacks and striking with precise timing.
• Loras lost confidence during the third pass, and Lynn unbalanced him and sent him crashing to the ground.
• Petyr Baelish slumped out of his chair as the crowd fell silent.

Lynn won the tourney by defeating Loras Tyrell, and King Robert knighted him before the gathered crowd. Arya declared she wanted to marry Lynn, and Ned agreed to consider it when she was older.

• Lynn removed his helm as the crowd hailed him as the Black Knight, while Petyr Baelish stared in shock and Garlan Tyrell watched in disbelief.
• Arya told Ned that she wanted to marry Lynn, and Ned agreed that she could when she was older.
• Sansa quietly envied Arya and wondered why she could not marry Lynn instead of Joffrey.
• Robert left the royal dais, praised Lynn for his victory, and knighted him as Ser Lynn of the Seven Kingdoms.

After Lynn was celebrated as the Black Knight for winning the tourney and rescuing merchants in the Wolfswood, he collected Petyr Baelish’s assets and warned him to stop plotting against House Stark. Baelish feared Lynn but resolved to turn the king and the Lannisters against each other instead.

• Robert knighted Lynn as Ser Lynn, and the crowd hailed him as the Black Knight.
• At the victory feast, the rescued merchant praised Lynn for killing the Wolfswood bandits and refusing payment, deepening the nobles’ admiration for him.
• News spread that Petyr Baelish had gone bankrupt after owing nearly two hundred thousand gold dragons on Lynn’s tourney victory.
• Lynn entered Baelish’s hall, collected his deeds and ledgers, and warned him that he knew about his schemes involving Brandon, Joffrey, Lord Arryn, and Lady Lysa.
• Baelish accepted that he could no longer target House Stark, then decided to provoke a deadly conflict between the king and the lion.

Lynn took over Littlefinger’s properties and earned more than two hundred thousand gold dragons from the tournament, then Robert ordered him to sail for Essos and kill the surviving Targaryens. Lynn agreed to leave within a fortnight and reaffirmed his agreement with Varys.

• Littlefinger’s former steward reported that Lynn’s properties were worth about fifty thousand gold dragons and that the tournament had brought Lynn and Ned a net profit of two hundred and thirty-four thousand.
• Lynn told Arya to study the accounts and explained to Sansa that understanding money and power would help protect Arya from deception.
• Robert praised Lynn for stripping Littlefinger of his wealth, then ordered him to set sail immediately for Essos and bring back the Targaryens’ heads.
• Lynn promised Robert he would leave within a fortnight and return with the surviving Targaryens’ heads.
• Varys reminded Lynn of their agreement, and Lynn confirmed he had not forgotten it.

Lynn exposed Janos Slynt’s corruption and persuaded Ned Stark and King Robert to place the City Watch under Ned’s command. After Janos was arrested, Lynn began purging the Watch’s officers.

• Robb gave Lynn evidence detailing Janos Slynt’s bribes and other crimes.
• Lynn urged Ned to remove Janos and rebuild the City Watch with loyal northern soldiers.
• Robert authorized Ned to take temporary full command of the City Watch and ordered Janos arrested.
• Ned dismissed Janos as Lord Commander and had him taken to the Black Cells.
• Lynn announced Ned’s command to the Gold Cloaks and ordered the northern soldiers to arrest every officer of captain’s rank or higher.

Lynn and Ned Stark seized control of the City Watch through a swift, bloody purge, prompting Cersei to summon Lynn and try to recruit him. Lynn exposed how little power she had and hinted that he knew the secret of her children’s parentage before departing to hunt the Targaryens.

• Lynn ordered the northern guards to kill the City Watch officers who resisted, and the surviving Gold Cloaks surrendered.
• Lynn ordered the bodies removed and the Gold Cloaks assembled, then told Ned Stark to address them.
• Cersei raged over losing control of the City Watch and summoned Lynn to Maegor’s Holdfast.
• Lynn surrounded the Holdfast with Gold Cloaks, entered Cersei’s chamber, and rejected her offer of gold, land, and women.
• Lynn told Cersei that the king suspected her and that she had little leverage, then implied he knew Jaime was the father of her children.
• Lynn said he intended to hunt the Targaryens and warned Cersei to behave while he was away, pointing to her children’s uncertain bloodline.

Lynn confronted Cersei with his knowledge of her schemes, Jon Arryn’s death, and House Lannister’s financial weakness, then demanded that she submit to him in exchange for protecting her family. He left Cersei alone to decide whether to accept his bargain before his return that night.

• Lynn revealed that he knew about Cersei’s plan to use Lancel to endanger Robert during a boar hunt and discussed Jon Arryn’s investigation and death.
• Lynn told Cersei that House Lannister’s gold mines had run dry and Tywin had borrowed heavily from the Iron Bank, undermining her confidence in her family’s power.
• Cersei proposed strengthening her position through a marriage between Joffrey and Margaery Tyrell, but Lynn explained why the plan would fail.
• Lynn demanded that Cersei submit to him and threatened to expose her secrets if she refused, while promising to protect her and her children if she cooperated.
• Lynn left Cersei to consider his offer and said he would return that night; Cersei collapsed in fear and cried.