Recaps

The chapter recounts how Aerys II’s madness turned Brandon Stark’s attempt to challenge Rhaegar into the execution of Brandon and his father, Rickard. It leaves Cersei, Viserys, and Catelyn imagining the personal happiness they might have had as the tragedy unfolds.

• Aerys II ordered Gerold Hightower to retrieve the Crown Prince, while Viserys wondered whether Rhaegar was unhappy in his marriage.
• Cersei recalled falling in love with Rhaegar and imagined that marrying him would have healed his heartbreak.
• Brandon Stark defeated Petyr Baelish in a duel for Catelyn Tully, then hurried to King’s Landing after hearing that Lyanna had been abducted.
• Aerys arrested Brandon and his companions, then executed several of their fathers and sons without trial.
• Rickard Stark demanded trial by combat, but Aerys burned him alive while Brandon watched and strangled himself trying to reach a sword.
• Aerys’s violence and laughter filled the throne room as he killed Rickard and Brandon.

After Aerys II killed Rickard Stark and Brandon Stark, he demanded that Jon Arryn surrender Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark. Jon refused and summoned the Vale’s nobles to the Gates of the Moon, where their divided loyalties became clear and the first council began.

• Aerys II burned Rickard Stark and Brandon Stark, then ordered Jon Arryn to hand over Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark.
• Jon Arryn rejected the king’s demand and sent ravens summoning his vassals to muster and discuss resistance.
• Several Vale houses pledged support, while House Grafton declared it would obey the king; other houses withheld their replies.
• More than half a month later, Jon Arryn gathered the responding nobles at the Gates of the Moon with Denys Arryn, Robert Baratheon, and Eddard Stark.
• Lady Anya Waynwood said she had visited House Malcor and House Hunter, whose leaders had made excuses for not attending.

At the Gates of the Moon, Duke Jon Arryn turned the Vale lords’ fear of Aerys II into support for Robert Baratheon’s claim to the Iron Throne. In King’s Landing, Aerys laughed off the rebellion and condemned House Baratheon’s betrayal.

• Lady Anya reported that Malcor Earl intended to support Lord Mark Grafton, while Horton Redfort said the ill Earl Corbray would send no troops.
• Earl Yohn Royce warned that Gulltown could muster at least ten thousand men, and Bennard Belmore urged the lords to delay war and negotiate.
• Steward Denys reported that as many as eighteen thousand troops had gathered at the Gates of the Moon.
• Duke Jon Arryn nominated Robert Baratheon as king, and Denys Arryn, Eddard, and the assembled lords acclaimed him as King Robert Baratheon, the First of His Name.
• After hearing that Robert had claimed the throne, Aerys II mocked the rebels and accused House Baratheon and its supporters of betraying the Targaryens.

As Aerys’s madness pushed the realm toward war, Robert prepared to lead the uprising while the Vale, North, and Riverlands forged an alliance. Titus Peake called the looming conflict the Usurper’s War and judged Robert’s side to have a strong chance of victory.

• Aerys ranted about burning his enemies as Qarlton Chelsted recalled how the Duskendale Defiance had worsened the king’s madness and left his advisers powerless.
• Robert declared himself ready for war, then left the Gates of the Moon to practice riding while Eddard Stark traveled north to summon Winterfell’s forces.
• Jon Arryn and Hoster Tully agreed that Eddard Stark would marry Catelyn Tully and Jon Arryn would marry Lysa Tully, bringing House Tully into the uprising.
• Titus Peake received news of the alliance and concluded that Robert’s side had a strong chance of winning the coming war.
• Titus Peake named the conflict the Usurper’s War.

Titus used his prediction of Gulltown’s fall to persuade Starpike’s officers and local military governors to support the rebels. Gulltown had fallen to Robert Baratheon, while the ten governors still doubted House Peake’s judgment about which side to choose.

• The rebel army marched through the Vale and reached Gulltown, where Mark Grafton called on the Shetts and Arryns to help defend the city.
• Mark Grafton recruited Lyn Corbray by knighting him, hoping to win House Corbray’s support and make use of Lady Forlorn’s symbolism.
• Robert Baratheon led the assault on Gulltown, killed Mark Grafton, and captured the city after House Malcor’s reinforcements were defeated.
• Titus gathered Starpike’s officers and ten local military governors, cited his prediction of Gulltown’s fall, and expressed confidence in the rebels.
• The ten military governors remained doubtful of House Peake’s judgment as Titus sought to align Starpike with the rebels.

Titus prepared Starpike and House Peake for war while waiting for Highgarden to act. In the Stormlands, Robert Baratheon won three battles at Summerhall in one day, crushing royalist opposition and gaining the support of marcher lords.

• Titus ordered Starpike placed under martial law, its supplies moved inside, and House Peake’s troops assembled while remaining formally obedient to Highgarden.
• Merchants, residents, and levies entered Starpike as its soldiers drilled and its defenses were strengthened.
• Robert Baratheon marched west with fewer than ten thousand men to seek support from the marcher lords, while Earl Fell, Lord Grandison, and Earl Cavron moved to stop him.
• Robert reached Summerhall ahead of the three lords and attacked before their forces could unite, defeating Earl Cavron and Lord Grandison and killing Earl Fell.
• Robert’s victories won over the Stormlands’ marcher lords and encouraged previously silent vassals to consider supporting him as king.

Wenda recounted Robert Baratheon’s three victories at Summerhall to Titus, who predicted that Robert would return to Storm’s End rather than invade the Reach. Robert did so, giving Titus another chance to claim foresight.

• Wenda woke from her long-distance Skinchanging and told Titus that Robert had fought with overwhelming strength at Summerhall.
• Wenda described how Robert routed Cavron’s cavalry, broke Lionel Grandison’s forces and captured him, then killed Earl Fell and secured his men’s surrender.
• Wenda praised Robert’s battle prowess and asked Titus whether he would invade the Reach.
• Titus predicted that Robert would avoid a deep invasion because his forces were too few to risk it.
• Robert returned to Storm’s End with his captives to rest and regroup after his victory.

Robert Baratheon gathered more than sixteen thousand men in the Stormlands and prepared to strike the Reach, while Highgarden's lords weighed their support for the coming war. At Whitegrove, the White brothers debated how to answer Highgarden's call, and Trumbow urged Frederick to build a wall.

• Robert won the allegiance of Lord Grandison, Earl Cavron, and Silveraxe Fell, then led an army of more than sixteen thousand toward the Reach.
• Titus Peake left a small force to defend Starpike and returned to Highgarden with his knights and troops as the Reach lords slowly assembled.
• Paxter Redwyne prepared the Redwyne Fleet, while Alester Florent considered seeking an alliance with Titus and Mathis Rowan dismissed Highgarden's letter.
• Frederick, Trumbow, and Arthur White read Highgarden's letter and agreed that House White would have to commit its strength against Robert's rebellion.
• Arthur dismissed Robert as frivolous and boasted about the Reach's numbers, while Trumbow warned that numbers alone would not make the Reach's forces effective.
• When Frederick asked Trumbow for his advice, Trumbow urged him to build a wall before it was too late.

The White brothers argued over whether to fortify Whitegrove or join the coming war, while Ser Dirk decided to secretly contact Starpike. Several days later, Titus arrived at Highgarden and found the Reach lords’ turnout disappointing, though Lord Mace took his presence as a sign of confidence.

• Trumbow White urged his brothers to focus on Whitegrove’s defenses, but Frederick and Arthur White argued that the family should prepare troops for the war.
• Trumbow stormed out after losing the argument and warned Frederick that he would regret his decision.
• Ser Dirk, a sworn knight of House White descended from a House Peake knight, decided to secretly contact Starpike as the war approached.
• Several days later, Titus surveyed a sparse gathering of Reach lords at Highgarden.
• Lord Mace complained to Titus that Randyll Tarly had been slow to arrive and treated Titus’s troops as proof of Starpike’s trust in him.

Titus Peake met Randyll Tarly, who pressed Highgarden to act against the advancing Stormlands army. Randyll assembled an eight-thousand-man Reach vanguard, with himself in command and Titus as deputy commander.

• Titus observed the visiting Reach knights, including Frederick White, Lorance Roxton, and Aegon Leywell, before Randyll Tarly arrived at the banquet.
• Randyll greeted Titus and asked him to support his leadership in the coming war, citing the troops he had gathered for Highgarden's muster.
• Titus agreed with Randyll's call to act, and Randyll went to press Lord Mace to move against the Stormlands army.
• Randyll persuaded Lord Mace to mobilize, and an eight-thousand-man vanguard formed from troops of House Tarly, House Peake, White of Whitegrove, Roxton of Ringlet, and Leywell of Darkdell.
• Randyll took command of the vanguard, while Titus became its deputy commander.

The Reach vanguard reached Cider Hall, where Titus Peake secured provisions and support while Randyll Tarly organized a battle plan against the advancing Stormlands army. Titus approved of Tarly’s arrangement, which placed Tarly’s men at the front and Peake’s force in reserve, and considered whether he could capture Robert Baratheon.

• Mace Tyrell privately asked Titus Peake to quietly hamper Randyll Tarly, and Titus readily agreed.
• The Reach vanguard marched to Cider Hall, where Alyn Cuy welcomed the army and offered provisions and three thousand soldiers.
• Titus declined Alyn’s offer of extra troops but accepted supplies and promised House Peake would help defend Cider Hall town if the battle went badly.
• Titus argued with Frederick White during battle-planning meetings, while Ser Derk defended Frederick and was promoted to captain of his personal cavalry escort.
• Randyll Tarly planned to lead three thousand men at the front, with Lorance Roxton and Aegon Leywell guarding the flanks and Titus’s Peake Army and Whitegrove’s troops held in reserve.
• Titus approved of Tarly’s plan and considered capturing Robert Baratheon as the Stormlands army advanced from the east.

Titus assessed House Tarly’s elite archers as the Stormlands army approached the Reach vanguard at Cider Hall. Randyll Tarly ordered a deadly volley against Robert I’s charging troops, leaving the Stormlanders’ formation in chaos.

• Titus observed Randyll Tarly’s three thousand soldiers and recognized the skill and strength of Horn Hill’s archers and scouts.
• Robert I led eight thousand Stormlanders against the Reach vanguard of sixteen thousand, while Randyll Tarly and Alyn Hunter formed the front line.
• Robert I charged before his army had fully deployed, and Randyll Tarly ordered his archers to loose their arrows.
• The Horn Hill archers’ volleys pierced Stormlanders and their shields, killing many and breaking the infantry’s formation, while Robert’s cavalry pressed on under fire.

Robert led the Stormlands cavalry into the Reach army at Cider Hall, where Randyll Tarly’s archers and troops turned the charge into a costly fight. After Robert was thrown from his horse, Randyll advanced with Heartsbane to confront him.

• Robert urged the Stormlands cavalry to charge the Reach front, but Horn Hill’s hunters revealed themselves and unleashed coordinated volleys of arrows.
• The archers killed many Stormlands riders, though the surviving cavalry broke through the lines and attacked Horn Hill’s militia.
• Robert led the scattered cavalry in repeated charges, helping the men regroup while Randyll ordered his forces to surround him.
• Randyll sent Ser Alyn Hunter and Ser Hyle Hunter to join Earl Titus, then led his guards toward Robert.
• Arrows and spears wounded Robert’s horse, which collapsed and threw him to the ground.
• Randyll attacked the Stormlands soldiers with Heartsbane as Robert fought on foot with his warhammers.

Titus Peake betrayed Randyll Tarly during the battle, seized Horn Hill’s archers, and confronted Randyll after he wounded Robert Baratheon. The chapter left Randyll demanding an explanation as Titus prepared to fight him.

• Randyll Tarly gravely wounded Robert Baratheon, but Earl Cavron intervened and gave Robert’s men time to carry him away.
• Titus Peake rescued Earl Cavron and challenged Randyll, who realized Starpike had betrayed him.
• Earlier, Titus had captured Ser Alyn Hunter and Ser Hyle Hunter after they relayed Randyll’s orders to him.
• Titus’s forces attacked the Horn Hill Hunters from behind and forced the archers to surrender.
• Titus took a thick shield and two broadswords, rejecting Gino’s offer to face Randyll in his place.

Titus Peake led the attack on Randyll Tarly, while Wenda and Ser Dirk secured Whitegrove and killed Frederick White. Randyll learned Frederick was dead just as Titus drew Orphan-Maker, leaving their duel poised to resume.

• Titus entered the encirclement and fought Randyll, using a heavy shield to exhaust him before drawing spare swords.
• Starpike's coordinated shouts signaled the attack, and Roxton and Leveille's troops retreated toward Cider Hall.
• Parker, Bowen, Wenda, and Ser Derk Norris took control of Whitegrove's soldiers and captured Frederick White.
• Wenda slit Frederick White's throat and ordered Ser Dirk to take his head and handle what came afterward.
• Titus told Randyll that Frederick was dead and drew Orphan-Maker, prompting Randyll to curse House Peake.

Titus Peake defeated and killed Randyll Tarly, taking Heartsbane as the Stormlands forces withdrew from the battle. Robert learned that Titus had saved him and resolved to turn back and fight alongside him.

• Titus gained the upper hand in his duel with Randyll and trapped Heartsbane against his armored arm.
• Titus stabbed Randyll through the chest, took Heartsbane, and heard Randyll vow that House Tarly would never fall under his rule.
• Titus beheaded Randyll with Heartsbane as the Stormlands army withdrew and the Reach forces held their formations.
• Stormlands scouts returned with news of Titus and the slogan “Make House Peake great again!”, leaving the nobles puzzled about Starpike’s actions.
• Robert learned that Titus had saved him, stopped the retreat, and declared that he would return to support Titus.

After defeating Randyll Tarly and absorbing more Reach forces, Titus Peake joined the injured Robert Baratheon and the Stormlands army. Titus and Robert reunited in the command tent with a blunt declaration against the Targaryens.

• The Stormlands lords camped to tend Robert’s wounds while Ser Lorance Roxton persuaded Ser Aegon Leywell to join Earl Titus’s advancing forces.
• Titus took command of the Ringlet and Glenvale troops, bringing his army to more than 4,600 men, and prepared to recruit loyalists from the captured House Tarly forces.
• Titus marched to join the Stormlanders, who welcomed the former Reach vanguard despite their losses in battle.
• Titus learned Robert had awakened, then went with Ser Derk Novis, Lorance, and Aegon to meet Robert and the Stormlands lords.
• Titus greeted Robert with the words, “Fuck the Targaryens!”

Titus Peake joined Robert Baratheon's forces after rescuing him and defeating Randyll Tarly, then secured promises to restore House Peake's lost castles and grant it Horn Hill. The armies prepared to split, with Robert marching north and Stormlander troops returning to defend their lands, while Titus's influence in the Dornish Marches grew.

• Titus Peake's declaration against the Targaryens won over the Stormlander lords, who welcomed him and his 4,600 soldiers after he rescued Robert and killed Randyll Tarly.
• Robert decided to send 5,000 Stormlanders back to defend their lands and lead the remaining 6,000 north with Titus's men.
• Robert promised to restore House Peake's claim to its two lost castles once King's Landing was taken.
• Bryce Caron pointed out that Dunstonbury lay in ruins and that Titus's guards had already killed Frederick White, who occupied Whitegrove.
• Titus displayed the severed heads of Frederick White and Randyll Tarly, and Robert offered House Peake the Tarly lands and Horn Hill.
• Titus secured a promise to restore three castles and a claim to Horn Hill, while Lorance Roxton and Aegon Vyrwel feared his growing power.

After the fall of Horn Hill, Titus Peake summoned the captive Hunter brothers and used Earl Randyll Tarly’s severed head to pressure them into surrendering. Alyn and Hyle faced the choice of serving House Peake or risking death for themselves and their men.

• Ser Quinn blamed Randyll Tarly for trusting House Peake, while Hyle Hunter defended the dead earl and condemned Titus Peake’s decisive betrayal.
• Guards summoned Alyn Hunter and Hyle Hunter from the prisoners’ tent and escorted them to Titus’s tent.
• The brothers saw Titus cleaning Heartsbane beside Randyll Tarly’s severed head.
• Alyn vowed that he and Hyle would never surrender, but Titus warned that their lives and their soldiers’ lives depended on his mercy.
• Titus offered to let the Hunter brothers keep commanding troops under House Peake if they surrendered, and threatened to use them as cannon fodder if they refused.

Titus Peake persuaded Hyle and Alyn Hunter to join him by promising them command of Horn Hill’s archers and the chance to rule a castle, then had them prove their loyalty by killing Ser Quinn. After consolidating his growing army, Titus arranged for Alyn Cuy to send Highgarden a deceptive request to attack Starpike, while Mace Tyrell misunderstood the situation and approved it.

• Titus Peake offered Hyle and Alyn Hunter protection, command of Horn Hill’s archers, and the prospect of ruling a castle if they joined him.
• Hyle Hunter and Alyn Hunter returned to the prisoners’ tent and killed Ser Quinn to prove their allegiance to Titus.
• Titus gave the Hunters command of Horn Hill’s surviving thousand archers and reorganized the troops under his control into a six-thousand-man force.
• Wenda Storm told Titus that Alyn Cuy would receive a letter offering terms, and Alyn Cuy later wrote Highgarden that he would attack Starpike.
• Mace Tyrell was baffled by Alyn Cuy’s letter but approved his request to attack Starpike, then planned to invade the Stormlands after the Reach lords assembled.

Alyn Cuy led three thousand troops to Starpike but was awed by its formidable mountain defenses and chose to camp well away from the castle. At Starpike, David Robinson watched the supposed attackers retreat, while Titus’s combined army continued east of the Shipwright’s River.

• Alyn Cuy surveyed Starpike’s sheer mountain walls and realized his siege engines could not breach them.
• Alyn Cuy found the castle’s northern entrance sealed by a thick wall lined with more than twenty catapults.
• Alyn Cuy ordered his troops to camp two leagues away and keep watch, fearing a sudden cavalry attack from Starpike.
• David Robinson saw the troops inspect Starpike’s defenses and withdraw, then planned to drill the castle’s soldiers and Gawen Tarth.
• Titus’s combined Stormlands-Starpike army advanced east of the Shipwright’s River, having anticipated that Alyn Cuy would feign a siege at Starpike to avoid fighting in the Stormlands.

Titus consolidated his influence over the rebel army by commanding its cavalry and knighting loyal warriors, then ordered his forces to attack Bitterbridge rather than cross the Mander by boat. The chapter ended as House Caswell’s castle spotted Titus’s thousand-strong cavalry charging from the south.

• Titus cultivated ties with Stormlands lords while his scouts and Wenda’s white falcon helped the rebel army avoid detection on its march north.
• Robert I gave Titus command of half the Stormlands cavalry, making him the rebel army’s cavalry commander and strengthening his position as second-in-command.
• Titus rewarded loyal and distinguished warriors by knighting them with Orphan-Maker, earning their devotion and making even Gulian Swann more deferential.
• When Wenda reported that the army could find boats to cross the Mander, Titus instead decided to cross at Bitterbridge and settle old scores.
• A fisherman spotted Titus’s thousand-strong cavalry advancing toward Bitterbridge, and the alarmed House Caswell realized an army was coming from the south.

Titus Peake’s rebel army seized Bitterbridge, and Aerys II dismissed Owen Merryweather as Hand of the King and replaced him with Jon Connington. The rebels headed for Stoney Sept while Jon took up the task of stopping Robert Baratheon.

• Titus Peake’s cavalry stormed Bitterbridge, scattered House Caswell’s guards, and captured the fortress.
• Lady Wenda killed Old Caswell and his son while Ser Duncan searched the Caswell storehouses for wealth.
• Titus’s forces divided the spoils and left Bitterbridge, continuing northwest toward Stoney Sept.
• Owen Merryweather declared the rebellions treasonous and secretly offered rewards for rebel leaders, but Aerys II accused him of failure and dismissed him.
• Aerys II stripped Owen Merryweather of his titles and lands and exiled his family to Essos.
• Aerys II appointed Jon Connington as Hand of the King and charged him with stopping Robert Baratheon.

Jon Connington marched a larger royalist army toward Stoney Sept, where Titus Peake prepared the town for a defense against him. The Crownlands troops arrived two days later, and the bells rang to signal the start of the Battle of the Bells.

• Jon Connington took command of sixteen thousand royalist troops and set out to confront the southern rebels in the Riverlands.
• Titus Peake celebrated the rebel army's arrival in Stoney Sept by rewarding his soldiers with coins taken from House Caswell.
• Wenda told Titus that Robert had left his bed to visit the Peach Inn, then reported that Jon's army was about two days away and outnumbered them.
• Titus ordered the rebels and Ser Wilbert to move supplies and prepare Stoney Sept's streets and high ground for ambushes.
• Two days later, Jon Connington's army arrived outside Stoney Sept, and the town's bells began tolling.

Jon Connington led the Crownlands army into Stoney Sept, where Reach and Stormlands forces trapped them in a bloody street ambush. After Jon broke through a shield wall and rallied the survivors, a black-armored enemy led elite cavalry toward him.

• Crownlands soldiers entered Stoney Sept and were ambushed by rooftop archers and Peake Pikemen behind shield walls.
• Horn Hill Archers and Stormlands warriors used the town’s defenses to inflict heavy casualties and repel Crownlands attacks.
• Jon Connington led a countercharge that broke through a shield wall and rallied Crownlands soldiers in the square.
• A black-armored warrior led elite cavalry toward Jon Connington and taunted him about carving three lines into his cheek.