Recaps

Eddard returned to Winterfell after a long absence and learned that Catelyn had miscarried after being poisoned. As Catelyn recovered, she accused Jon Snow of poisoning her, leaving Eddard facing a murder mystery and a deepening family wound.

• Eddard left King's Landing after arguing with Robert over sparing the Targaryen siblings, and he chose not to tell Jon Arryn about Stannis's warning concerning Renly.
• After more than a month of travel, Eddard reached Winterfell and learned that Catelyn had miscarried the day before.
• Eddard reunited with the grieving Catelyn and their children, and she told him she had planned to name the unborn child Rickon if it was a boy.
• Maester Luwin told Eddard that someone had poisoned Catelyn's food, and Eddard vowed to find the culprit.
• Maester Luwin revealed that Catelyn had accused Jon Snow of poisoning her unborn child, and Eddard saw Jon sitting alone in the yard.

Renly learned that Eddard had left King's Landing before Renly could question him about Margaery, while Varys and Illyrio discussed the Easterner, House Tyrell's hidden ambitions, and the danger of the Golden Company joining the war against him. The chapter left Varys urging Illyrio to return to Essos before their plans unraveled further.

• Loras told Renly that Eddard had left King's Landing, and Renly wondered whether Eddard had discovered his plan involving Margaery.
• Renly rejected Loras's suggestion to send Margaery to court, saying she was too young and Queen Cersei might persecute her.
• Varys warned Illyrio not to give the Easterner Dragon Eggs, since he might already have a Dragon and know how to control it.
• Varys showed Illyrio a rejected portrait of Margaery and explained that House Tyrell's actions and Renly's recent activity seemed suspicious.
• Varys told Illyrio that Lys and Myr were hiring sellswords to fight the Easterner, then urged him to return to Essos and monitor the Golden Company.

Liu Qian secured Lys’s wealth and slaves, then returned to the Outpost Tower as Lys and Myr’s forces gathered against him. In the Lys camp, Treg O'Morren bargained with greedy sellsword commanders over payment and heard competing plans to attack the tower.

• Liu Qian ordered Lys’s warehouses and merchants’ property confiscated, seized about a hundred thousand young slaves, and sailed back to Crown Town with his spoils.
• At Qyburn’s construction site, Liu Qian told Qyburn to prioritize Seven Kingdoms captives for experiments and keep the Lys slaves available to have children.
• Liu Qian reached the Outpost Tower, where Chai Yi reported that Lys sellswords and slave legions were camped nearby and Myr was gathering more than ten thousand soldiers.
• Treg O'Morren scolded the Lys officers for failing to stop Liu Qian’s surprise attack, while the sellsword commanders demanded permission to plunder if their promised payment fell short.
• Treg agreed to let the sellswords plunder after the war, and Gilo Reha proposed filling the tower’s trench with slave soldiers while Prince Janyi suggested building catapults instead.

Treg prepared thirty catapults to attack the Outpost Tower, prompting Liu Qian to ready a night raid on the Lys camp. Before the raid began, the Ragged Prince sent Danzor D'Han to offer the Windblown’s allegiance to Liu Qian, who accepted.

• Treg rejected waiting for Myr’s sellsword companies and ordered the Lys forces to build catapults.
• After half a month, Treg’s forces had built thirty catapults, and Liu Qian ordered a night raid on their main camp.
• The Ragged Prince decided the Windblown should switch sides because Treg could not pay them and looting the plantations would spark conflict with other companies.
• Danzor D'Han reached the Outpost Tower and offered the Windblown’s service to Liu Qian.
• Liu Qian accepted the Windblown’s allegiance and promised to pay them after the war.

The Windblown mercenaries betrayed the Lysene coalition and opened its camp to Liu Qian’s forces in a surprise night attack. Liu Qian watched the coalition’s camp burn as its leaders and soldiers were slaughtered or scattered.

• Straw Dick and the Windblown mercenaries replaced the coalition’s sentries after plying them with wine.
• Dick’s men opened passages in the palisade, allowing the Dragon Spirit Guardians and Liu Qian’s armored infantry to enter the camp.
• The attackers split up, struck the mercenary quarters, and killed Governor Treg O'Morren and the coalition’s gathered leaders.
• The Windblown joined the assault, while the Maiden's Men, Broken Flag Company, Long Spear Company, and slave soldiers struggled to resist amid the confusion.
• Prince Janyi surveyed the burning camp as Liu Qian watched the attack consume the coalition forces.

After destroying Lys, Liu Qian seized its wealth and prepared to besiege the Highland Fortress while his cavalry ravaged Myr. The chapter left Myr’s commander Tomonbu under mounting pressure as he waited several more days for mercenary reinforcements.

• Liu Qian assigned captured warhorses to his Dragon Spirit Guardians and distributed Lys’s remaining horses among officers, scouts, and transport units.
• Over the next month, Liu Qian took control of Lys’s estates and industries, sparing lesser nobles who had not openly opposed him.
• Liu Qian had slave soldiers build catapults and a rammed-earth fort opposite the Highland Fortress, then sent cavalry to raid Myr’s heartland.
• Tomonbu watched Myr’s farms and pastures burn as Liu Qian’s raiders returned with plunder, while Myr’s forces remained confined to the fortress.
• Tomonbu learned that the mercenary companies were still four or five days away and feared the continued destruction of his family’s estate.

Tomonbu welcomed the mercenary companies gathered to defend Highland Fortress, but their commanders argued over how to face Liu Qian’s forces. The mercenaries learned that the Easterner had destroyed several renowned companies, and the chapter ended with Kewo storming away before they could agree on a battle plan.

• The Stormcrows and Second Sons arrived at Highland Fortress, followed by the much larger Bright Flame and Iron Shield companies.
• Kewo urged Tomonbu to attack Liu Qian’s forces in the open, while Geluer demanded that the enemy catapults be destroyed.
• Daario recognized the returning heavy cavalry’s equipment as belonging to the Long Spear Company, prompting Mero to ask whether Liu Qian had destroyed it and other companies.
• Tomonbu confirmed the reports and warned that Liu Qian’s army, catapults, and mobile cavalry put them at a disadvantage.
• Daario mocked Kewo by recalling the Bright Flame Company’s retreat from Qohor, and Tomonbu tried to stop their argument.
• Kewo left in anger before the commanders could discuss a battle plan.

Liu Qian learned that Jon Arryn had died and prepared to reply to Mezzo as he considered his next moves in the game of thrones. At Winterfell, Eddard Stark grieved Jon’s death and learned that Catelyn intended to oversee King Robert’s welcome, apparently to target Jon Snow.

• Liu Qian received Mezzo’s letter from Tyrosh, which reported Jon Arryn’s death and his dying words, “The seed is strong.”
• Liu Qian concluded that Eddard’s journey south was now inevitable and ordered paper and a pen so he could reply to Mezzo.
• Eddard Stark mourned Jon Arryn, remembering how Jon had sheltered him and Robert and raised his banners rather than surrender them to Aerys II.
• Maester Luwin told Eddard that Robert’s procession would reach Winterfell within days and that Catelyn had insisted on arranging the welcome herself.
• Eddard realized that Catelyn’s insistence likely came from her suspicions about Jon Snow and her belief that he had caused her miscarriage.

Eddard Stark decided to send Jon to the Wall with Benjen, then welcomed Robert Baratheon to Winterfell. In the crypts, Robert appointed Eddard Hand of the King, leaving Eddard to face the king's demand despite his reluctance to go south.

• Maester Luwin advised Eddard to send Jon away, and Eddard agreed to ask Benjen to take him to the Wall.
• Eddard worried that Jon Arryn's death might be connected to Stannis's revelation about Renly and House Tyrell, and resolved to question Robert.
• Robert arrived at Winterfell, embraced Eddard, and greeted the Stark children and Catelyn.
• Robert took Eddard to the crypts and urged him to come to King's Landing as Hand of the King.
• Eddard refused, citing Catelyn's health, but Robert formally appointed him Hand of the King.

Eddard and Catelyn argued over whether he should accept Robert’s offer to become Hand and support Sansa’s betrothal to Joffrey. Before Eddard could answer, Maester Luwin interrupted with two urgent letters, one of which had appeared mysteriously in his study.

• Eddard told Catelyn he intended to refuse the king’s offer and remain in Winterfell.
• Catelyn urged Eddard to go south, citing his duty and Sansa’s possible betrothal to Joffrey.
• Eddard worried that Joffrey was cruel and that Sansa was too young, but Catelyn pressed him to agree for her sake.
• Desmond announced that Maester Luwin urgently requested an audience.
• Maester Luwin arrived with a wooden box and a worn letter, explaining that one had appeared on his desk and the other had just arrived by raven.

Eddard and Catelyn received conflicting letters accusing Cersei and Renly of murdering Jon Arryn. Convinced by Stannis’s secret warning that Renly had the strongest motive, Eddard agreed that he had to go to King’s Landing to uncover the truth.

• Catelyn read a secret letter from Lysa accusing Cersei of murdering Jon Arryn, then burned it.
• Maester Luwin gave Eddard an unsigned letter whose cryptic message accused Renly of killing Jon Arryn.
• Eddard explained that Stannis had privately told him Renly planned to depose Cersei and make Miss Tyrell queen.
• Eddard rejected Lysa’s accusation as potentially manipulated and concluded Renly had the strongest motive to kill Jon Arryn.
• Maester Luwin urged Eddard to investigate in King’s Landing, and Catelyn persuaded him to go.
• Eddard looked out over the northern city with damp eyes, as though saying farewell to his home.

After discovering that Robert’s children were bastards and fleeing to Dragonstone after Jon Arryn’s death, Stannis received a coded letter from Eddard Stark proposing an alliance. Stannis decided he could not afford to refuse the North’s support against the Lannisters and other rivals.

• Stannis and Jon Arryn investigated Eddard Stark’s suspicion and found genealogical evidence that Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen were Cersei’s bastards.
• Jon Arryn died just as he prepared to reveal the evidence, so Stannis secretly fled King’s Landing for Dragonstone with Davos.
• Maester Cressen brought Stannis an unsigned letter from Eddard, asking whether Jon Arryn’s death was connected to the secret and offering to be his ally.
• Stannis recognized Eddard’s coded reference to their night in Tyrosh and understood that Eddard was seeking a political alliance.
• Stannis weighed his isolation and the powerful enemies surrounding him, then concluded that he needed to unite with the Starks.

After Lady’s execution, Renly showed Eddard a portrait of Margaery Tyrell and tested whether she resembled Lyanna Stark. Eddard concluded Renly was plotting against Cersei and resolved to seek evidence in King’s Landing, while Catelyn prepared to travel there secretly with Ser Rodrik Cassel.

• Eddard returned to his quarters after killing Lady and grieved over the injustice of the judgment against her.
• Renly visited Eddard with a portrait of Margaery Tyrell and asked whether she resembled Lyanna Stark.
• Eddard denied the resemblance, and Renly left after revealing that someone had compared Margaery to Lyanna.
• Eddard connected Renly’s questions to his plan to replace Cersei with Margaery and suspected Renly was behind Jon Arryn’s murder.
• Eddard decided he needed evidence before accusing Renly and resolved to investigate in King’s Landing.
• Catelyn decided to sail secretly from White Harbor to King’s Landing with Ser Rodrik Cassel to tell Eddard about the attack on Bran.

Liu Qian reviewed his plans to drive House Stark, Renly, and House Tyrell into conflict while his campaign against Myr stalled at the Highland Fortress. He returned to Crown Town and visited the Alchemists' Guild, where more than a hundred pyromancers were making wildfire for use against the fortress.

• Liu Qian learned that Eddard Stark had traveled south to become Hand of the King and judged that his schemes had set House Stark and House Tyrell against each other.
• Chai Yi delivered Mezzo's warning that Volantis's triarchs viewed Liu Qian's presence in the Disputed Lands as a threat to western Essos.
• Liu Qian considered the siege's setbacks as Myrish fortifications blunted his catapults and cavalry, then told Chai Yi and Jelena to remain at the front while he returned to Crown Town.
• Liu Qian rode south with Dragon Spirit Guardians and saw that Conqueror's Holdfast's main marble building had been completed.
• Liu Qian summoned Qyburn and visited the Armory's Alchemists' Guild workshop, where over a hundred pyromancers were producing wildfire for his planned assault on the Highland Fortress.

Liu Qian watched Qyburn and the Pyromancers demonstrate the destructive power of their newly made wildfire, then visited Janice and the rapidly growing dragons. He left the river-valley camp after playing with the dragons, hoping they would become strong enough to fight before the Red Comet arrived.

• Qyburn reported that the Pyromancers had produced several hundred jars of wildfire and showed Liu Qian how they had stored them safely.
• Liu Qian ordered a test, and the Pyromancers detonated a jar of wildfire that left a molten crater in the testing ground.
• Liu Qian praised the Pyromancers, concluding that wildfire could overcome the Highland Fortress.
• Liu Qian rode to the river-valley camp, where Janice watched Blooddance, Duskwraith, and Silverfall play by the forest and river.
• Janice told Liu Qian that Blooddance had stopped picking fights with the other dragons after he disciplined it.
• Liu Qian played with the dragons alongside Janice, then made an excuse to leave.

Liu Qian visited Lynesse Hightower in the camp and spent the night with her. The next morning, he agreed to bring her to the Central Heights and remembered that he still had use for the imprisoned Jorah Mormont.

• Liu Qian found Lynesse reading in her cabin and embraced and kissed her.
• Liu Qian and Lynesse spent the night together.
• The next morning, Lynesse asked to accompany Liu Qian to the front, and he agreed to take her to the Central Heights.
• Liu Qian recalled that Jorah Mormont had been imprisoned and decided it was time to get more value from him.

Liu Qian launched jars of wildfire from three specially modified trebuchets at the Highland Fortress. The jars struck the fortress and drenched its defenders in strange green liquid, leaving the mercenaries mocking the attack as the danger remained unclear.

• Liu Qian and a group of Pyromancers returned to the Central Heights with wildfire.
• Liu Qian ordered three trebuchets to launch the jars into the Highland Fortress.
• The sentries raised the alarm, and Kewo urged the mercenaries to prepare for a familiar stone attack.
• Daario Naharis recognized the incoming projectiles as dangerous and warned the defenders to find cover.
• A jar shattered on the main keep's tower, splashing green liquid over soldiers and the stonework.
• Geluer and Mero mocked the liquid as harmless while Daario sniffed it and tried to recognize its smell.

Prince Janyi ignited the wildfire coating Highland Fortress, unleashing a spreading emerald inferno that devastated the mercenary camps and sent the defenders fleeing. As the fire consumed the fortress, Tomonbu caught fire and plunged from the wall into the flames.

• Prince Janyi fired a flaming arrow into the green liquid coating Highland Fortress, triggering explosions and a sea of emerald fire.
• The wildfire swept through the eastern mercenary camp, killing soldiers and defeating attempts to extinguish it with water or shields.
• Kewo watched the Bright Flame Company burn as Geluer ordered his troops to retreat, while Mero and Daario Naharis fled the inferno.
• The flames and explosions panicked the Myrish slave legion, whose soldiers feared they were trapped and doomed.
• Tomonbu watched the fortress defenses collapse, then caught fire when the flames reached his section of the western wall and fell into the inferno.

Liu Qian’s wildfire bombardment destroyed the Highland Fortress, and his forces entered the smoking ruins to search. In King’s Landing, Catelyn revealed that she had told Littlefinger the Starks’ suspicions and secret letters, leaving Eddard alarmed and unsure of Littlefinger’s loyalties as an unseen figure watched them leave.

• Prince Janyi and the Windblown mercenaries watched in horror as Liu Qian’s wildfire catapults burned the Highland Fortress.
• After the fire consumed the fortress for a day and night, Liu Qian led the Dragon Spirit Guardians and soldiers into the ruins, followed by the Windblown mercenaries.
• Catelyn told Eddard that she had shared their suspicions about Jon Arryn’s death and the secret letters with Littlefinger.
• Littlefinger used Catelyn’s revelations to consider how he could intensify the conflicts among Stark, Lannister, Tyrell, and Renly while continuing to direct Stark suspicion toward Tyrion.
• Eddard left Littlefinger’s brothel uneasy about Catelyn’s trust in him and uncertain whose side Littlefinger was on, while an unseen figure slipped past the windowsill.

Volantis’s triarchs argued over whether to confront Liu Qian, the Easterner who had conquered Tyrosh and Lys and was advancing on Myr. A proposal from Braavos persuaded the Elephant Party triarchs to consider a costly plan that would keep Volantis out of direct combat while eliminating the threat.

• Malaquo Maegor Ya urged Volantis to act against Liu Qian, warning that he would eventually threaten the city.
• Nysso Visama and Dofas Pennymen opposed an intervention, citing profits from trade and Volantis’s defenses.
• Malaquo presented the triarchs with a sealed proposal from Braavos.
• Dofas and Nysso read the proposal and were shocked by its plan and expense.
• Malaquo argued that Braavos’s plan would let Volantis avoid direct fighting, and Dofas and Nysso tacitly agreed to consider it.

Liu Qian secured the lands south of the Myr River and ordered preparations for an invasion of Myr. In King's Landing, Littlefinger shocked Renly by claiming that Eddard Stark believed Renly had murdered Jon Arryn.

• Liu Qian admired Myrish lace and thought of Lynesse Hightower as Chai Yi reported that the estate and its enterprises had been taken over.
• Chai Yi wondered whether she could become one of Liu Qian's wives and help restore the Yellow Dynasty through their child.
• Liu Qian ordered his army to rest for three days before crossing the river and marching on Myr.
• Littlefinger visited Renly Baratheon in his tourney tent and told him that Eddard Stark suspected him of murdering Jon Arryn.
• Renly jolted in shock and spilled wine onto the carpet.

Littlefinger revealed that Eddard suspected Renly of plotting to replace the Queen, alarming Renly and prompting him to seek a way to stop Eddard. Littlefinger proposed working together to remove Eddard as Hand, and Renly accepted in exchange for Littlefinger’s support.

• Littlefinger told Renly that Eddard suspected him of conspiring to replace the Queen with Margaery and had linked him to Jon Arryn’s death.
• Renly learned that Eddard had not yet told Robert and blamed Stannis for passing on information about his plan.
• Renly decided Eddard had to be stopped, and Littlefinger warned that confronting him directly would put Renly at risk.
• Littlefinger proposed undermining Eddard and advancing Lord Mace to the Hand’s seat while Renly maintained the alliance between the Stormlands and the Reach.
• Littlefinger asked for land and a title, and he and Renly sealed a verbal alliance with a toast.

Eddard Stark approached Mace Tyrell to probe House Tyrell’s involvement in Renly’s plans, but Mace took his warning as an insult and angrily dismissed him. Eddard left convinced the Tyrells were conspiring with Renly and feeling increasingly isolated in King’s Landing.

• Eddard wandered near the Tyrell camp and decided to ask Mace Tyrell what House Tyrell knew about Renly’s plans.
• Eddard warned Mace to be careful about how he offered support to the king, and Mace reacted with anger, accusing Eddard of questioning House Tyrell’s loyalty.
• Eddard interpreted Mace’s outburst as evidence that the Tyrells were involved with Renly and warned him that attempts to disrupt the realm’s order would bring disaster.
• Mace complained that Eddard was jealous of the Tyrells, while Garlan worried that his father had overreacted.
• Eddard walked away from the tourney grounds, troubled by the dangers around him and the fact that he seemed to be fighting alone.

Liu Qian besieged Myr and ordered more wildfire production and intelligence gathering as the city’s governors resisted with slave soldiers. In King’s Landing, Renly persuaded Mace Tyrell to join a plan to remove Eddard Stark as Hand of the King.

• Liu Qian learned that at least thirty thousand slave soldiers were defending and repairing Myr’s walls, and he suspected the governors were waiting for reinforcements.
• Prince Janyi judged that other Free Cities and sellsword companies were unlikely to rescue Myr, so Liu Qian ordered Qyburn to produce wildfire urgently and Mezzo’s network to watch for military movements.
• Mace Tyrell recounted his confrontation with Eddard Stark to Renly Baratheon, who revealed that Eddard knew of their conspiracy to replace the queen.
• Renly warned that Eddard could expose their plot to the king and proposed that they remove him as Hand of the King.
• Mace hesitated, then agreed to Renly’s plan.

At the Small Council meeting, Eddard Stark opposed Robert's order to kill the Targaryen children and was accused by Renly and Littlefinger of protecting them. Eddard resigned as Hand of the King and left the chamber, while Robert ordered Renly escorted out.

• Robert demanded that the Small Council send assassins to kill the Targaryen siblings in Tyrosh, and Eddard objected on grounds of honor and the danger of retaliation.
• Renly accused Eddard of protecting the children, and Littlefinger claimed Eddard had blocked the assassination attempt in Tyrosh.
• Robert demanded an explanation and threatened to replace Eddard if he would not obey the order.
• Eddard removed the Hand of the King badge, resigned, and left the Council Chamber.
• Renly mocked Robert and suggested he find a more obedient Hand, so Robert ordered Ser Barristan Selmy to escort Renly out.