Chapter Summaries

Renly’s food drops and inflammatory leaflets turned hunger in King’s Landing into riots, while the High Sparrow led a mob against the Great Sept and the Red Keep. As Tywin arranged an evacuation, the rioters broke into the Throne Room and surrounded Joffrey.

• Renly’s food sacks and leaflets inflamed the starving people of King’s Landing, and Tyrion ordered Bronn to confiscate the remaining supplies and papers.
• A messenger told Tyrion that the mob had breached the Great Sept of Baelor under the High Sparrow and killed the High Septon.
• Tyrion learned from Tywin’s letter that ships from Duskendale would evacuate the royal family and council after ten days.
• The High Sparrow led a vast mob toward the Red Keep as riots spread across King’s Landing and the city’s defenses failed.
• Joffrey refused Tyrion’s pleas to flee, and rioters broke into the Throne Room and fixed their attention on him.

Joffrey was dragged from the Red Keep and brutally executed by starving rioters before the Great Sept of Baelor, who then devoured his body. The crowd raised his abused head above the Gate of the Gods and began demanding that the gates be opened to King Renly.

• The High Sparrow’s followers seized Joffrey in the Throne Room, while Tyrion led Cersei, Tommen, and others out of the Red Keep along a wooden escape route.
• The rioters forced Joffrey before the Great Sept of Baelor, where the High Sparrow condemned him and the crowd demanded his death.
• A starving boy hacked Joffrey to death with a rusty cleaver as the rioters held him down.
• The rioters tore apart and ate Joffrey’s body, and one man urinated on his severed head before it was raised on a spear and hung above the Gate of the Gods.
• The surviving crowd battered the city gates and called for King Renly to enter, while Joffrey’s head swayed above them.

Renly entered King's Landing and found its starving people gathered around the High Sparrow, who denied that Renly was the rightful king. Renly ordered a massacre, had the High Sparrow imprisoned, and continued toward the Red Keep.

• Renly led his army into King's Landing, saw the starving dead in the streets, and ordered food distributed to the survivors.
• Renly met the High Sparrow and the gathered crowd outside the Great Sept, where the High Sparrow declared Renly was not the rightful king.
• Renly called the High Sparrow a false septon and ordered his soldiers to seize the crowd and kill anyone who resisted.
• Renly's knights attacked the believers, killing many while soldiers captured the High Sparrow.
• Renly ordered the plaza cleared and the High Sparrow locked in the Red Keep's dungeons, then rode toward the Red Keep.

Renly claimed the Iron Throne and ordered the Lannisters hunted, while Ser Parmen Crane exposed traitors in Renly’s ranks. Elsewhere, Pyromancers escaped through the sewers after placing candles near wildfire beneath the Red Keep, but one reported an unexpected complication.

• Renly sat on the Iron Throne, proclaimed his rule, and ordered Armond to bring Margaery to the Red Keep.
• Renly ordered a hunt for Tyrion Lannister, Cersei Lannister, her bastards, and the remaining Lannister loyalists before Ser Parmen Crane warned of traitors in the army.
• Ser Parmen Crane revealed a letter from Tywin Lannister implicating Earl Orton Merryweather and other nobles, then confessed he had posed as a Lannister ally to expose them.
• Renly ordered the accused nobles seized and thrown into the Black Cells.
• Children led a group of Pyromancers through the sewers to a boat, where one Pyromancer reported that they had lit candles around wildfire hidden beneath the Red Keep and discovered an unexpected complication.

A black-clad leader learned that wildfire had been planted throughout King's Landing, including the sewers, but his men had already ignited the Red Keep. Renly and the capital were consumed when the wildfire detonated across the city.

• A Pyromancer told the black-clad leader that the Mad King had hidden wildfire throughout King's Landing and that Cersei had filled the sewers with more, using promises of sex to gain the Alchemists' Guild's support.
• The leader ordered his men to sail away, leaving Cersei to take the blame after they had lit the candles beneath the Red Keep.
• Renly began appointing the Small Council in the Red Keep's Throne Room when a series of explosions shook the castle.
• Renly and the nobles rushed to a terrace and saw green wildfire engulfing King's Landing and racing toward the Red Keep.
• The wildfire swept over Renly, his followers, and the Red Keep, erasing them and the city.

Randyll Tarly watched wildfire destroy King's Landing, killing his heir and Loras Tyrell, and tried to save the fleeing Reach army as Tywin Lannister's cavalry attacked. Tywin realized the destruction would leave House Lannister blamed and facing the Reach and Stormlands.

• Randyll Tarly saw green wildfire consume King's Landing, including the Red Keep, and feared for his heir, Dickon Tarly, who had entered the city with the king.
• Loras Tyrell charged toward the burning city and was swallowed by the wildfire before reaching the Gate of the Gods.
• Randyll ordered the Reach army to retreat, but Tywin Lannister's cavalry charged the scattered soldiers and cut them down.
• Randyll rallied a small group of survivors and led them southwest toward the Reach.
• Tywin watched King's Landing burn and feared the Reach and Stormlands would blame House Lannister for the wildfire destruction.

After wildfire destroyed King's Landing and reports blamed the Lannisters, Cortnay Penrose proclaimed Edric Baratheon king and called the realm to war. In Ashford, Gendry defied Barristan Selmy's warning and revealed himself as Robert's son to a knight of House Cuy.

• News spread that wildfire had destroyed King's Landing, killing Renly, Joffrey, and hundreds of thousands of people, while rumors blamed Cersei and Jaime for the massacre.
• Cortnay Penrose proclaimed Edric Baratheon king at Storm's End and ordered the Stormlands to unite against the Lannisters.
• In an Ashford tavern, Barristan Selmy and Gendry heard the crowd demand vengeance against the Lannisters.
• Barristan warned Gendry to keep his identity secret because the Stormlands had already crowned Edric.
• A knight of House Cuy questioned Barristan and Gendry, and Gendry announced that he was Gendry, son of King Robert Baratheon.

Gendry accepted the Reach’s allegiance and was crowned king at Highgarden, with Barristan Selmy confirming his identity as Robert Baratheon’s son. The Reach’s lords then demanded an immediate invasion of the Westerlands, and Gendry listened as they called for vengeance against the Lannisters.

• Gendry declared that he would no longer hide, and Barristan Selmy publicly confirmed him as King Robert’s lawful son.
• A knight of House Cuy invited Gendry and Barristan to Highgarden, where Willas Tyrell offered the Reach’s wealth and armies in support of Gendry’s claim.
• Gendry accepted the Reach’s allegiance and vowed to avenge Robert and the victims of the Lannisters.
• Gendry was crowned in Highgarden’s Great Sept as nobles, knights, and soldiers acclaimed him king and called for bloodshed in the Westerlands.
• Randyll Tarly urged the council to invade and ravage the Westerlands while Tywin’s army was in the Riverlands, and the gathered lords roared their approval as Gendry listened.

Gendry and Randyll Tarly led the Reach army into the Westerlands, where they defeated the Lannisters and sacked Lannisport. As the Reach forces celebrated their victory, Robb Stark arrived with a northern army and Dothraki Screamers, then ordered an attack on Gendry's forces.

• Randyll Tarly led the Reach army as it burned and looted its way through the Westerlands toward Lannisport.
• Gendry broke through the Lannister shield wall and killed Ser Daven Lannister, causing the defenders to flee and open the city gates.
• Randyll Tarly ordered the Reach soldiers to sack Lannisport while Gendry rode to high ground outside the city.
• Gendry, Barristan Selmy, and Randyll Tarly heard horns and saw Robb Stark's northern army arrive with Dothraki Screamers.
• Robb Stark blamed the Reach and Baratheons for his father's death and ordered his troops to kill Gendry's forces.

Liu Qian learned how King's Landing had been destroyed and ordered the Targaryen siblings summoned as rival kings emerged in Westeros. He reviewed his military expansion and breeding programs, then commissioned a unified low-denomination currency and new mints for his territories.

• The returning pyromancers told Liu Qian that Cersei had ignited wildfire near Flea Bottom before their planned explosion beneath the Red Keep.
• Mezzo reported the coronations of Edric Storm and Gendry, and Liu Qian ordered him to invite the Targaryen brother and sister from Crown Town.
• Qyburn reported successful unicorn breeding and his efforts to improve the captured Dothraki warhorses through selective breeding.
• Liu Qian formed a legion of ten thousand Yidi immigrants under Rowan, who assigned a thousand Unsullied to train them.
• Liu Qian arranged for Qartheen merchants to keep transporting Yidi people west, supported by grain payments and tax revenues from the Three Daughters.
• Liu Qian ordered Qyburn to design a unified low-denomination currency and establish several mints in Crown Town, favoring locally abundant iron over scarce gold and silver.

Liu Qian offered to support Viserys’s campaign to reclaim his kingdom in exchange for marrying Daenerys, and Viserys eagerly agreed. After Viserys left, Liu Qian comforted Daenerys and took her to meet his family and see the dragons.

• Liu Qian told Viserys he would support his campaign to reclaim his kingdom if Daenerys married him.
• Viserys ordered Daenerys to accept, and she agreed despite feeling hurt at being traded by her brother.
• Viserys left Daenerys in Conqueror's Holdfast and was promised an army after a few months of preparation.
• Liu Qian reassured Daenerys that she could consider Conqueror's Holdfast her home and praised her beauty.
• Liu Qian took Daenerys's hand and offered to introduce her to his family and show her the dragons.

Liu Qian introduced Daenerys to the women living in Conqueror's Holdfast, where she met the Valyria Sisters and discovered House Belerys still existed. After Blooddance frightened her away from the dragon, Liu Qian explained that dragons were bound by blood magic, then ordered preparations for a Dothraki campaign and stronger defenses against Volantis.

• Liu Qian brought Daenerys to meet the women of Conqueror's Holdfast and urged her and Myrcella to get along despite their families' feud.
• Jelena and Janice Belerys welcomed Daenerys and revealed that their House Belerys descended from Valyrian Dragonlords.
• Three dragons descended, and Daenerys tried to touch Blooddance, which roared at her until Liu Qian ordered it to stop.
• Liu Qian explained that his dragons were bound through blood magic and that Daenerys's Targaryen blood could not command them.
• Liu Qian ordered Jelena to prepare a trip to the Dothraki Sea to replenish the captives available to Viserys.
• Liu Qian instructed Mezzo to send Rowan and ten thousand Yidi Legion soldiers to guard the border with Volantis.

Liu Qian and Jelena led their dragons and army into the Dothraki Sea and destroyed Khal Zheko’s khalasar at the ruins of Uj Samui. They captured survivors and learned the location of Vaes Dothrak.

• Liu Qian and Jelena marched east with ten thousand heavy cavalry and a thousand Dragon Spirit Guardians, riding Blooddance and Silverfall.
• Khal Zheko dismissed reports of Khal Drogo’s death and the dragons, then prepared to lead his khalasar toward Qohor.
• Liu Qian and Jelena attacked Khal Zheko’s khalasar from the air, setting fire to its escape routes and scattering the Dothraki.
• Blooddance killed Khal Zheko and his Bloodriders, while the heavy cavalry and Dragon Spirit Guardians surrounded and defeated the fleeing survivors.
• Liu Qian’s forces took captives, women, children, and horses, and Liu Qian learned the location of Vaes Dothrak by interrogating a captive.

Liu Qian and Jelena destroyed the Dothraki leadership and defeated the khalasars gathered at Vaes Dothrak, taking a vast number of prisoners. During the return march, Liu Qian embraced Jelena and promised to marry her and build a future people and realm with her.

• Liu Qian and Jelena attacked the Woven-Grass Residence at Vaes Dothrak with their Great Dragons, killing the gathered Dosh Khaleen and Khals.
• Liu Qian ordered his cavalry to surround the scattered Horsemen, and his forces defeated the khalasars with Dragonfire and repeated charges.
• Liu Qian's army captured the surviving Dothraki warriors and escorted the prisoners toward the Three Daughters.
• At the canyon camp, Jelena approached Liu Qian and asked him to rest with her in the tent.
• Liu Qian embraced Jelena, promised to marry her as his Queen, and told her they would create a people together.

Liu Qian returned to Conqueror's Holdfast with a vast haul of Dothraki prisoners and horses, then used Blooddance to terrify Viserys and send him toward the Stormlands. That night, Janice found Liu Qian and Jelena together, and Liu Qian invited her into their embrace.

• Liu Qian returned to Conqueror's Holdfast with Jelena, eighty thousand Screaming Warriors, and three hundred thousand horses.
• Liu Qian offered Viserys thirty thousand Screaming Warriors as a wedding gift, but Viserys asked for a dragon as well.
• Blooddance scorched Viserys's hair with a blast of dragonfire, and Liu Qian sent the terrified prince away to the Stormlands.
• Liu Qian visited Jelena in her room, where they began kissing.
• Janice entered with a hot drink, saw Liu Qian and Jelena together, and felt hurt.
• Liu Qian invited Janice into his embrace, and she joined him and Jelena.

After Robb recovered from his wounds at the Crag, he and Jeyne Westerling became lovers, and her pregnancy forced him to break his betrothal to Walder Frey's daughter. Edmure agreed to marry a Frey daughter in Robb's place, while Jaime Lannister vanished from Riverrun's dungeon after Catelyn confronted him, leaving suspicion to fall on her.

• Robb recovered at the Crag under Jeyne Westerling's care, and the two fell in love; Jeyne then told Robb she was pregnant.
• Robb asked Edmure to marry a Frey daughter to preserve the alliance, and Edmure reluctantly agreed.
• Catelyn visited Jaime Lannister in Riverrun's dungeon and accused him of killing kings and bringing disgrace on House Lannister.
• A Dreadfort soldier opened Jaime's cell, and Jaime escaped before dawn.
• Riverrun learned that Jaime had vanished, and suspicion turned toward Catelyn, the last person known to have seen him.

Catelyn denied freeing Jaime as suspicion spread, while Robb executed Rickard Karstark for murdering two prisoners and denouncing Robb's rule. At Edmure and Roslin Frey's wedding feast, the music changed to “The Rains of Castamere,” leaving the celebration ominously interrupted.

• Catelyn told the gathered lords she had visited Jaime but had not released him, though they doubted her.
• An attendant reported that Rickard Karstark had killed Tion Frey and Willem Lannister.
• Karstark accused Robb of betraying his oaths and making disastrous choices, and Robb sentenced him to death and beheaded him.
• At the Twins, Edmure married Roslin Frey and was led with her to their bridal chamber.
• During the wedding feast, the musicians began playing “The Rains of Castamere.”

Roose Bolton betrayed Robb Stark at the Twins, forced northern lords to stab their king, and killed Robb and Catelyn after revealing he had caused her miscarriage. Amid the massacre, Chai Yi rescued Edmure and Roslin from the Wedding Chamber Tower and disappeared with them.

• Catelyn discovered Roose Bolton wearing armor as Walder Frey ordered the hall sealed and the massacre began.
• Frey and Dreadfort soldiers overwhelmed the northerners, while Roose Bolton demanded that the captured lords stab Robb to prove their repentance.
• Galbart Glover and other lords stabbed Robb, and Roose Bolton finished him by driving a dagger into his heart.
• Roose Bolton confessed to causing Catelyn's miscarriage and having Domeric die, then a Frey soldier killed Catelyn.
• Chai Yi entered Edmure and Roslin's chamber, knocked them unconscious, and carried them away through the castle.

Tywin blamed Cersei for the wildfire destruction of King’s Landing and ordered a strike on Highgarden while planning to marry Tommen to Sansa Stark. At Tyrion’s trial in Brown Castle, Cersei and Varys accused him of treason and responsibility for the disaster, and Shae was brought forward as a witness.

• Tywin confronted Cersei over the devastation of King’s Landing as Varys reported the rival kings, the Dothraki’s rampage, and Gendry’s retreat from the Westerlands.
• Tywin ordered Ser Damion Lannister and Ser Addam Marbrand to attack Highgarden and declared that Tommen would marry Sansa Stark.
• Tywin put Tyrion on trial, accusing him of negligence, spreading rumors, and plotting the wildfire destruction of King’s Landing.
• Cersei accused Tyrion of helping the mob abduct Joffrey and deliberately burning the city, while Varys cited Tyrion’s wildfire orders and failure to protect Joffrey.
• Shae was brought before the court as a witness, avoiding Tyrion’s gaze.

At his trial, Tyrion denounced Cersei, Tywin, and Littlefinger, then demanded trial by combat. In the dungeon, a figure disguised as Tywin revealed that Tysha had truly loved Tyrion and that Tywin had made Jaime lie to him.

• Shae accused Tyrion of spreading rumors about Cersei and Jaime and plotting to use wildfire, and Tyrion denounced her testimony.
• Tyrion blamed Cersei for the wildfire disaster and accused Tywin of sacrificing him to protect her.
• Tyrion accused Littlefinger of provoking the Stark-Lannister war and sabotaging King's Landing's food supply, but Littlefinger denied it.
• Tyrion demanded trial by combat, and Tywin granted his request.
• In Duskendale's dungeon, a figure appearing as Tywin told Tyrion that Tysha had not been a whore and that Jaime had lied at Tywin's command.