Chapter Summaries

Davion returned to Harrenhal after killing Earl Emond Legh and his heir, reclaiming the border for House Whent. At the victory feast, he claimed ten House Vance cavalrymen for his service and compensated Kalen with horses, armor, and gold.

• After taking the ransom, Davion left House Legh’s hostages unreleased, and the garrison found forty-two naked, headless bodies, including Earl Emond and Colin.
• Davion gave the wounded cavalrymen pieces of Tango, bought provisions, and hurried back toward the border with the laborers mounted on warhorses.
• Davion ordered the Legh father and son’s heads displayed on stakes with signs bearing their names, then kept his company at the border for a week while reasserting House Whent’s rule.
• House Leygood sent urgent letters to Ser Robin Legh in Riverrun and Tristan Legh in King’s Landing, but the heads had rotted to skulls before the family could recover them.
• Davion returned triumphantly to Harrenhal and rewarded the battle participants with two additional Gold Dragons each.
• Davion asked Kalen Vance to leave ten cavalrymen at Harrenhal, then offered him fifteen warhorses, twenty sets of light cavalry equipment, and a hundred Gold Dragons in compensation.

Davion strengthened Harrenhal’s defenses and economy while refusing Edmure Tully’s invitation to settle the dispute with House Leygood at Riverrun. In early August, Tyrion Lannister arrived at Harrenhal with livestock and ten ominous infantrymen as Davion trained his swordsmanship.

• Davion patrolled Harrenhal’s borders with Wylis Wode as three neighboring houses withdrew from the lands they had seized, intending to wait for House Whent to fall.
• Edmure Tully wrote to Davion, offering to mediate his conflict with House Leygood and inviting him to Riverrun, but Davion declined to respond while his position remained weak.
• House Leygood paused its revenge while recruiting soldiers, and Davion ordered Pia to repair Harrenhal and build a new dock on the Gods Eye.
• More than a month later, Tyrion Lannister arrived at Harrenhal with over two hundred people, wagons of breeding livestock, and ten grim-looking infantrymen.
• Davion practiced swordsmanship, working to improve the crude fighting style that had left him vulnerable against Jaime and Barristan.

Davion welcomed Tyrion and the ten Unsullied he had brought to Harrenhal, then learned how Tyrion had secured their safe passage despite House Leygood’s hostility. The two discussed Davion’s killing of House Leygood’s head and heir and Edmure Tully’s attempt to reconcile with him.

• Davion greeted Tyrion and assessed the ten Unsullied, who stood down when Tyrion identified Davion as their future master.
• Tyrion explained that the Unsullied had cost four thousand gold dragons and described their battlefield reputation and discipline.
• Tyrion said House Leygood had tried to block the convoy at its wharf, but he had pressured them into letting the goods pass.
• Davion told Tyrion he had killed House Leygood’s head and heir after they seized his land, plundered his subjects, and killed tenant farmers.
• Tyrion agreed that House Leygood had brought its fate upon itself but warned Davion that House Tully might hold him accountable.
• Davion described Edmure Tully’s invitation to meet and seek reconciliation, and Tyrion said Edmure was benevolent but naive.

Davion welcomed Tyrion and his new soldiers to Harrenhal, outlined a plan to grow livestock farming and trade, then hosted a feast before asserting his authority the next morning. He organized the soldiers under Vereword and invited them to compete for leadership posts, drawing volunteers from both infantry and cavalry.

• Davion explained to Tyrion that he would give livestock to local farmers to raise, then buy the animals back and ship meat to King's Landing through rebuilt docks on the Gods Eye.
• Davion held a welcoming feast for the new arrivals and told Vereword to guard the barracks overnight and prepare the soldiers for a formal gathering in the morning.
• Davion addressed the assembled soldiers, introduced himself as Earl of Harrenhal, and placed them under Vereword's command, assigning the infantry and cavalry their duties.
• Davion named ten veteran cavalrymen as squad leaders and left the infantry captain posts open, inviting soldiers to step forward if they wanted to compete.
• More than twenty infantrymen and over ten cavalrymen volunteered for the leadership selection.

Davion held a tournament for his soldiers, offering generous prizes and healing for their injuries. Tyrion discovered that Unyshek was a dragonlike creature, while Will Banner won the final match and earned recognition as a squad leader.

• Davion announced an impromptu tournament for volunteers, offering doubled monthly pay and a hundred Gold Dragons to each final winner.
• Tyrion questioned Davion about Unyshek, then saw the creature’s crimson scales and realized he was a dragon, though Davion said he could not identify him for certain.
• Maron Carter and Will Banner fought in the first match, and Will defeated Maron by exploiting an opening.
• Davion treated Maron’s wounds with green water that healed them almost instantly, reassuring the soldiers that he could tend to their injuries.
• Will Banner won the tournament through his nimble footwork, and Davion recognized him as a likely squad leader.

Davion showed Tyrion Unyshek’s dragonfire and invited Tyrion to stay in Harrenhal as its steward. Tyrion was moved by the offer but refused, saying Tywin would never let a Lannister serve another family.

• Davion left the cavalry tournament’s routine arrangements to Willem Ward and took Tyrion to the Godswood to see Unyshek.
• Tyrion tried to touch Unyshek’s small wings and wondered whether the young dragon was underdeveloped.
• At Davion’s signal, Unyshek breathed fire into the pit, scorching and drying its damp earth.
• Davion asked Tyrion to help govern Harrenhal, praising his intelligence and abilities.
• Tyrion declined the offer because he was a Lannister and believed Tywin would never permit him to serve another family.

Davion joked with Tyrion, who refused to become his steward but agreed to help manage Harrenhal. After receiving Loras Tyrell’s invitation to a lucrative tourney at Highgarden, Davion decided to go with Tyrion to compete for the prize money.

• Davion joked about raising Eunysc and sleeping with Robert’s wife, while Tyrion remarked that Davion seemed to disregard the laws and conventions of their world.
• Tyrion refused to serve as Davion’s steward but offered to help manage his lands as a friend.
• Tyrion organized Harrenhal’s military and civil affairs while Davion enjoyed a few leisurely days.
• Maester Tommus brought Davion a letter from Loras Tyrell inviting him to a Highgarden tourney with large prizes.
• Tyrion urged Davion to attend, and Davion agreed to travel to Highgarden with him once preparations were complete.

After Davion centralized Harrenhal’s lands, he summoned villagers to the castle, where Kevin from Bluestone Village hoped to see the lord who had once helped his family. The villagers feared they were being called to recruit soldiers, but Kevin defended Davion as the chapter ended.

• Tyrion settled Harrenhal’s territorial records, stripped disobedient minor houses of their lands, and helped bring the territory under Davion’s direct rule, with House Vance as the sole remaining vassal.
• Davion maintained rotating cavalry patrols and planned to recruit staff and build a standing army to protect Harrenhal’s people.
• Villagers gathered outside Harrenhal after receiving a message that young livestock would be distributed.
• Kevin, a thin thirteen-year-old from Bluestone Village, volunteered to accompany village chief Owen because he hoped to thank Davion for helping his family.
• A villager warned that the gathering was probably a pretext to recruit soldiers, and Kevin insisted that Davion would not deceive them.

Davion arranged lunch and livestock for the gathered peasants, while Kevin's trust in the Earl challenged Owen's fear of nobles. Watching from the wall with Tyrion, Davion vowed that his people's lives would improve under his rule.

• Owen defended Davion's generosity to skeptical villagers, and the crowd gathered outside Harrenhal.
• Harrenhal's servants served the peasants bread and meat soup, and Kevin eagerly asked a guard whether the Earl would appear.
• Owen pulled Kevin away from the guard, but Kevin insisted Davion was a good man and returned to eat with the people of Bluestone Village.
• Reassured by Kevin's meal, the villagers lined up for food and praised Davion as servants brought out cages of chicks and livestock.
• Davion and Tyrion watched from the wall, and Davion promised that his people's lives would get better.

Davion distributed young livestock to the villages and laid down rules requiring villagers to raise the animals for him and protect them. The distribution ended with Bluestone Village receiving a varied group of livestock, while Davion worried that some villagers might slaughter theirs.

• Davion told the villagers that the young livestock were free but would remain his property, and he would buy them back when they were ready for market.
• Davion ordered villagers to care for the animals, forbade slaughtering or selling them without permission, and required village heads to document any deaths.
• Kevin defended the arrangement, and Owen agreed that the villagers could raise livestock without interfering with farmwork.
• Davion recognized Kevin, praised him, and sent him and Owen to register Bluestone Village’s livestock request.
• Bluestone Village received one calf, two pigs, four sheep, and twenty chicks, and the livestock distribution finished that afternoon.

Davion strengthened security across his domain and gave Vere Wode a pair of magical Bracers that greatly increased his abilities. After Tyrion asked for a pair too, Davion agreed on the condition that Tyrion keep their secret.

• Davion ordered Vere Wode to increase patrols, protect the farmers, and punish misconduct among the guards.
• Davion gave Vere Wode two magical Bracers, which boosted his strength and other attributes, healed his fatigue, and began repairing his old wounds.
• Vere Wode thanked Davion and went to the training yard to test his newfound power.
• Tyrion asked Davion for a pair of Bracers, and Davion agreed if Tyrion promised not to reveal anything about them without permission.