Chapter Summaries

Titus Peake charged through the Crownlands soldiers and met Jon Connington in a duel, using his Valyrian steel swords and superior skill to overwhelm him. Jon survived several humiliating setbacks and kept attacking, but Titus continued taunting him as Jon’s confidence faltered.

• Titus charged into the Crownlands formation with Heartsbane and Orphan-Maker, cutting down or scattering the soldiers between him and Jon Connington.
• Jon approached Titus and boasted of his swordsmanship, but Titus used a two-handed strike to defeat his first attack and force him into an undignified roll to escape.
• Titus mocked Jon’s dodge and attacked again; their clash damaged Jon’s sword until Titus kicked him in the abdomen and sent him stumbling into his guards.
• Jon discarded his ruined greatsword, took two fresh swords, and stubbornly resumed the duel.
• Titus casually parried Jon’s twin-sword attacks and taunted him, causing Jon’s rhythm to falter as he wondered whether he could win.

Titus Peake defeated Jon Connington in their duel at the center of Stoney Sept’s battle, breaking Jon’s sword and severing his left arm. The chapter left Titus pleased with his new “King of the Near Sea” achievement.

• Stormlanders, Reachmen, Crownlands soldiers, and Riverlanders fought across Stoney Sept while the opposing armies left the square clear for Titus Peake and Jon Connington’s duel.
• Jon attacked relentlessly with twin swords, but Titus calmly defended and mocked his openings until Jon’s anger made his attacks reckless.
• Titus struck Jon’s right-hand sword with Heartsbane, breaking it, then trapped and snapped it apart with Heartsbane and Orphan-Maker.
• Titus parried Jon’s remaining sword and severed Jon’s left arm at the elbow with Orphan-Maker.
• Titus celebrated having played the “King of the Near Sea.”

Titus defeated Jon Connington at Stoney Sept, severed his hand, and let him retreat while the royalist army fled. Aerys II later stripped Jon of his titles and lands and exiled him, while appointing Qarlton Chelsted as the new Hand of the King.

• Titus cut off Jon Connington’s hand, and Griffin’s Roost guards died covering their lord’s retreat.
• Titus ordered his infantry to clear the battlefield and gather prisoners while his cavalry pursued the fleeing Crownlands army.
• Wenda asked whether Titus had spared Jon to expose Aerys II’s cruelty, and Titus said they would spread rumors if the king mistreated him.
• Aerys II stripped Jon Connington of his offices, titles, and lands, then exiled him from Westeros.
• Aerys II appointed Qarlton Chelsted as Hand of the King, while Robert Baratheon and Titus Peake’s influence continued to grow.

After the royal army lost the Battle of the Bells, Aerys sent Kingsguard commanders to gather reinforcements while Jaime Lannister remained in King's Landing, troubled by the king's abuse of Queen Rhaella. Titus learned that rebel casualties at Stoney Sept had been light and discussed prisoners, a Connington defector, and late-arriving allies.

• Aerys dispatched Barristan Selmy to command the defeated royal troops, Jon Darry to levy Crackclaw Point, and Lewyn Martell to raise Dornish soldiers, leaving Jaime as the only Kingsguard in King's Landing.
• Jaime recalled Queen Rhaella's cries during Aerys's abuse and questioned Jon Darry about the Kingsguard's duty to protect her.
• Titus heard Wenda's report that rebel losses at Stoney Sept were light and ordered suitable prisoners recruited into the auxiliary troops.
• Wenda told Titus that Ronald Connington, Jon Connington's cousin, had offered to bring Griffin's Roost soldiers over to the rebels, and Robert had accepted his submission.
• Wenda reported that reinforcements from the Riverlands and other regions were still on the road, while Titus reflected on how their delay had spared Hoster Tully and Denys Arryn.

Wenda Storm brought Titus to meet Dodge, a hunter whose sister had been harmed by royalist soldiers and who had taken revenge with his hounds. When Dodge demonstrated an uncanny ability that made his dog Blue seem human, Titus recognized it as another instance of a rare power.

• Wenda led Titus through war-damaged Stoney Sept to meet Dodge, a hunter with a pack of eight dogs.
• Wenda told Titus that enemy soldiers had harmed Dodge’s younger sister, and Dodge had hunted down and killed the soldiers responsible.
• Dodge explained that Wenda had asked him to demonstrate his abilities before joining Titus’s guard.
• Dodge closed his eyes, and his gray-green irises turned murky white as Blue began moving with distinctly humanlike awareness.
• Titus recognized the display and exclaimed, “Another one?”

Wenda introduced Titus to Dodge, a hunter who could freely transfer his consciousness among the hounds he had raised. Impressed by Dodge’s scouting abilities, Titus welcomed him into his service, and Dodge went to pack his belongings.

• Wenda explained that she had discovered Dodge while investigating soldiers’ battle rewards and local rumors about him.
• Dodge demonstrated his ability to shift his consciousness between his eight hounds, while Titus watched in surprise.
• Wenda told Titus that Dodge had used the hounds’ sense of smell to find enemy routes and track foes during battle.
• Titus praised Dodge’s usefulness and invited him to join his service, promising to treat him well.
• Dodge accepted by sending Blue to touch Titus’s hand, then warned that his hounds might bite people they did not recognize.
• Lady White Eagle promised to inform the guards about the hounds, and Dodge went inside to pack.

Titus received the arriving Riverlands, Vale, and northern leaders as his battlefield reputation made him a focus of their political calculations. He reunited with Eddard Stark and congratulated him on his coming marriage to Catelyn Tully.

• Titus prepared to welcome the three armies arriving at Stoney Sept and arranged supplies and accommodations with help from Wilbert.
• Hoster Tully and Denys Arryn regarded Titus as an influential figure, while Denys praised his battlefield record and recalled their joust at Harrenhal.
• Titus greeted Eddard Stark, who had returned south with northern soldiers while leaving Benjen to govern Winterfell.
• Eddard told Titus he was to marry Catelyn Tully, and Titus congratulated him on the match.

At Riverrun, Eddard Stark and Catelyn Tully married alongside Jon Arryn and Lysa Tully, strengthening the rebel alliance among the great houses. During the lavish wedding feast, Tom "Sevenstrings" began a commissioned song about the Battle of the Bells.

• Titus watched the wedding ceremony as Eddard Stark exchanged vows with Catelyn Tully and Jon Arryn married Lysa Tully.
• Hoster Tully's guests left the sept and entered the great hall, where they celebrated with an elaborate feast.
• Titus recalled giving the Tully sisters silver satin gowns as wedding gifts and observed their contrasting unease on the dais.
• The wedding entertainers performed songs while Tom "Sevenstrings" prepared to take the final turn.
• Tom "Sevenstrings" introduced his song, "The Black Earl vs. the Red Earl," about the Battle of the Bells at Stoney Sept.

At Riverrun’s wedding feast, Seven-String Tom performed a song commissioned by Titus about the Battle of the Bells and his victory over Jon Connington. The song won the hall’s acclaim, and Titus planned to expand it into a play before the festivities turned to a Westerosi bedding ceremony.

• Seven-String Tom sang “The Black Earl versus the Red Earl,” dramatizing the duel between Titus and Jon Connington at Stoney Sept.
• The wedding guests applauded the song and chanted for the Black Earl, while Titus toasted victory and condemned the defeated royalists.
• Titus recalled how he had commissioned Tom to adapt his proposed Battle of the Bells story into a song suited to Westeros.
• Encouraged by the audience’s response, Titus planned to develop the song into a play and send theatrical troupes touring the continent.
• Titus socialized with nobles from across Westeros until the bedding ceremony began.

At the wedding feast, Jon Arryn took Lysa Tully away before the bedding ceremony, leaving Eddard and Catelyn to face the guests’ rough customs. Titus rescued Catelyn from the crowd and brought her and Eddard together in the bridal chamber, then wondered what to call the two weddings.

• Jon Arryn claimed that Lysa Tully felt unwell and left the hall with her, avoiding the bedding ceremony.
• The guests began stripping Eddard and Catelyn, while Jory Cassel and William Dustin crowded around the frightened bride.
• Titus pushed William Dustin aside, lifted Catelyn over his shoulder, and carried her to the bridal chamber.
• Titus pulled Eddard from the crowd and sent him into the room with Catelyn, then returned to consider calling the weddings the Silver and Blue Wedding.

The alliance’s leaders held a war council after the weddings, weighing the loyalty of their vassal houses and the armies each region could provide. Titus Peake secured a place in the alliance’s military leadership, while the Riverlands and North each proved able to muster only fifteen thousand men.

• Robert and Eddard welcomed Titus Peake into the war council, and Titus claimed support from part of the Reach.
• The council reviewed divided loyalties in the Vale and Riverlands, including royalist houses, the ambiguous Freys, and the loyal Mallisters, Vances, and Blackwoods.
• Hoster Tully said the Riverlands could muster fifteen thousand men, and Eddard reported that the North could provide the same number.
• Titus calculated that the alliance had more than fifty-five thousand soldiers, including the forces he and Robert had brought north.

After the military council, Titus explored Riverrun’s crowded mercenary market and encountered Rosso Brune demanding payment from a knight who had tried to cancel their agreement. Remembering Rosso’s skills, Titus recruited him into his guard and sent him to report to Ser Duncan Wick.

• Titus left Riverrun with Wenda, Dodge, and other guards and browsed the camp market, where mercenaries sought work.
• Titus heard Rosso Brune insisting that a knight pay the agreed fee, even though the knight no longer wanted to hire him.
• Rosso recognized Titus, his former employer, and explained that a previous lord had cheated him out of his pay.
• Titus offered Rosso a squad leader’s position in his guard for five gold dragons a month, along with food, lodging, and bonuses for good service.
• Rosso accepted eagerly, and Titus directed him to report to Ser Duncan Wick at the camp flying the Three Castles Banner.

Rhaegar left the Tower of Joy to return to the war, promising Lyanna he would protect her family and return to her and their child. After gathering soldiers and support, he left King's Landing for Harrenhal, believing victory would restore his family’s power.

• Rhaegar resolved to return to King's Landing after Lyanna urged him to consider the worsening rebellion, and promised to spare Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon.
• Rhaegar secretly left the Tower of Joy, leaving Gerold and Arthur to protect Lyanna, who told him that Young Griff and she would wait for his return.
• Rhaegar visited Mace Tyrell's army at Storm's End and departed with ten thousand Reach soldiers.
• Rhaegar reached King's Landing, persuaded Aerys II to seek Tywin Lannister's help, and reviewed Varys's list of suspected traitors.
• Rhaegar spoke with Jaime Lannister, left him to guard the Red Keep, and rode toward Harrenhal to join the battlefield.

Rhaegar Targaryen discovered that the royalist army had fewer, less cohesive troops than the rebels and rejected a defensive strategy at Harrenhal. He chose to fight the rebels south of the Trident, while the Reach commander offered little explanation for Titus Peake’s rise.

• Rhaegar took command of the royalist forces and reviewed the armies assembled at Harrenhal, finding they numbered about 45,000 against the rebels’ 50,000 to 60,000.
• Walter Whent proposed defending Harrenhal and wearing down the rebels, but Barristan Selmy and Prince Lewyn warned that a retreat would let the rebels expand their territory and win over undecided lords.
• Rhaegar asked Ser Fo Timo Crane about Titus Peake, but the Reach commander gave only a vague reply and stayed silent.
• Rhaegar concluded that the royalists had to take the offensive and decided to fight the rebels on the southern bank of the Trident, north of Gods Eye.

The rebel alliance and royalist army began the decisive battle beside the Trident, where Titus led his Peake troops and cavalry against the royalist lines. After breaking through the Riverlands ranks and capturing Earl William Mooton, Titus continued his charge toward the Dornish forces on the far side of the battlefield.

• Jon Arryn and Lewyn Martell exchanged perfunctory formal statements before both armies deployed for battle.
• The rebel and royalist armies clashed, and Titus directed his disciplined Peake infantry and archers into the fighting.
• Wenda located the target attacking the rebel right flank, so Titus led elite cavalry away from his formation and charged into the Riverlands ranks.
• Rosso Brune killed Mycah Mooton in a duel, then captured Earl William Mooton for ransom.
• Titus's cavalry cut through the enemy lines and charged across the battlefield toward the Dornish royalists.

Crown Prince Rhaegar watched Titus Peake’s cavalry smash through the royalist ranks and ride south, while the battle left the royalist White Cloaks Barristan Selmy and Lewyn Martell under heavy pressure. Lewyn, badly wounded after fighting several Vale knights, faced a new challenge from Lyn Corbray as the battle continued.

• Crown Prince Rhaegar and Jon Darry watched Titus Peake’s Black Riders cut through the royalist formation and head south without attacking their hill.
• A scout identified the cavalry’s Three Castles Banners, and Rhaegar recognized Titus Peake as the Black Earl.
• Ser Barristan Selmy tried to rally the disordered Riverlands royalists while rebel lords converged on him for the chance to defeat the famed Kingsguard.
• Lewyn Martell fought off several Vale knights but was badly wounded, while Denys Arryn was carried from the battlefield after Lewyn struck him seven times with his spear.
• Lyn Corbray stepped forward with Lady Forlorn and challenged the exhausted Lewyn Martell.

Titus Peake arrived in time to save Prince Lewyn from Lyn Corbray, then captured Lewyn and took Lady Forlorn for safekeeping. As the Black Riders hurried back to the main force, Rosso Brune caught up with them carrying the captured Earl of Maidenpool.

• Lyn Corbray attacked the exhausted, wounded Prince Lewyn and broke his spear before Titus Peake arrived.
• Captain Wenda shot Lyn through the sword hand, and Titus defeated Lewyn and ordered his men to bind him as a prisoner.
• Titus took Lyn’s Valyrian steel sword, Lady Forlorn, and said he would return it when House Corbray produced someone worthy of it.
• Titus’s riders carried Lewyn away, while Lyn collapsed amid the Vale Knights’ contempt.
• Rosso Brune caught up with Titus carrying the captured Earl of Maidenpool and asked when he could become a knight; Titus said it would be that day.

Rosso Brune was knighted by Titus and named the Salmon Eater as the royalist army fell into retreat. Rhaegar challenged Robert to single combat, and Titus blocked Jon Darry from reaching the duel.

• Titus knighted Rosso Brune on the battlefield, called him the Salmon Eater, and asked what reward he wanted; Rosso said he was satisfied.
• Titus rode toward Robert's banner as the rebel army gained ground and the Reach reinforcements withdrew toward the Kingsroad.
• Rhaegar refused his commanders' advice to retreat and rode down from the hill to challenge Robert to fight.
• Robert accepted Rhaegar's challenge, and the two commanders fought fiercely at the foot of the hill.
• Titus arrived with Dodge and blocked Jon Darry and the royal soldiers from intervening in Robert and Rhaegar's duel.

Titus Peake blocked Jon Darry from reaching the duel between Robert and Rhaegar, and Wenda Storm stepped in to fight the Kingsguard. Wenda killed Jon with Lady Forlorn, and Titus praised her as his most beloved general.

• Titus Peake refused to let Jon Darry pass and offered to help Robert fight Rhaegar, but Robert insisted on taking revenge himself.
• Wenda Storm intervened and fought Jon Darry with Lady Forlorn, using her left-handed swordsmanship to overwhelm him.
• Wenda wounded Jon repeatedly and stabbed him through the throat, killing him as he tried to reach the Crown Prince.
• Titus applauded Wenda's victory and called her his most beloved general.

Robert I killed Rhaegar Targaryen in a brutal duel at the stream, and the royal army collapsed after the Crown Prince’s death. Titus then urged Robert to find Lyanna, and Robert vowed he would still marry her if she was alive.

• Wenda returned after killing Jon Darry, and the Black Earl watched the duel between Robert I and Rhaegar.
• Robert and Rhaegar fought from horseback into the stream, where Robert’s strength and endurance gradually overcame Rhaegar’s speed.
• Robert charged Rhaegar back into the water and struck his chest with his warhammer, killing him as he murmured Lyanna’s name.
• The royal army broke and fled, while the rebel soldiers cleared the battlefield and carried Rhaegar’s body ashore.
• Titus told Robert that Rhaegar’s death was only the beginning and asked whether he would still marry Lyanna if she were alive; Robert said he would.