Chapter Summaries

Gary questioned Sandor about his reasons for serving Arya and decided to keep him in the North after learning why he refused other work. The chapter left Sandor assigned to scout ahead for Arya and promised a place on a future mission to rescue Sansa.

• Gary offered Sandor gold to leave, but Sandor explained that the Lannister bounty and the North's enmity with House Lannister made other work difficult.
• Gary offered Sandor a place in the Ice Warrior Corps, but Sandor insisted that he wanted to stay at Arya's side because he was tired of serving cruel kings.
• Sandor told Gary that he had never harmed Sansa, and Gary concluded that Sandor's feelings for her had motivated him to protect Arya.
• Gary promised to include Sandor in a future team to rescue Sansa, and Sandor agreed to join.
• Gary told Sandor to scout ahead for Arya when she entered the western mountains the next day.

Arya visited the Flint clan to seek help against Deepwood Motte, and Torgenheng Flint welcomed her and pledged his warriors. Gary watched from a nearby mountain, worrying about Arya as he waited through the snow.

• Davos led fifteen hundred cavalry east to find Stannis’s fleet and sail to Skagos in search of Rickon Stark.
• Arya led Sandor and the Ice Warrior Corps into the mountains, where they found a large settlement belonging to the Flint clan.
• Torgenheng Flint welcomed Arya and celebrated the news that House Stark had retaken Winterfell.
• After Arya explained her mission, Torgenheng Flint agreed to send a thousand warriors to attack Deepwood Motte and summon other clan chiefs.
• Arya learned that her great-grandmother was Arya Flint, and told Torgenheng that Luke Stark had defeated Bolton with ice magic and a dragon.
• Gary sheltered with Drogon on a snowy mountain near the settlement and worried that Arya might be in trouble.

Gary received Alys Karstark, who asked him to save House Karstark, and promised to investigate her account before deciding its fate. He planned to strip her eldest brother of his inheritance and let Alys rule Karhold, with Rickon as a possible future husband.

• Gary returned to the camp and reassured Bran that Arya was safe and likely gathering mountain clans to support them.
• Margaery introduced Alys Karstark, who said her cousin Cregan had joined the Boltons, seized Karhold, and forced her to flee.
• Gary told Alys he would investigate her claims and let her serve Margaery in the meantime.
• Margaery questioned Gary's willingness to pardon the Karstarks, and he said they would pay for their rebellion by losing the eldest son's inheritance.
• Gary decided Alys would inherit Karhold and suggested Rickon for a marriage alliance, while Margaery noted that Rickon was only five.

Gary led the Mountain Clan warriors, Highgarden cavalry, giants, and Daenerys’s dragon in a surprise assault that captured Deepwood Motte and routed the Ironborn. Asha prepared to flee with House Glover’s imprisoned family as leverage, while Victarion scrambled to arm himself and use Dragonbinder.

• The Mountain Clan heirs swore fealty to Gary, who planned a frontal assault on Deepwood Motte and a separate attack on the Ironborn longships.
• Five days later, Gary’s army reached Deepwood Motte under cover of darkness, and Gary began the assault by burning the Kraken Banner.
• Giant arrows killed the southern wall’s defenders, while Daenerys and Drogon attacked the other walls with dragonfire.
• Gary led the cavalry and giant riders through the breached gate, and their combined attack with Drogon overwhelmed the Ironborn and captured Deepwood Motte.
• Asha woke Victarion and urged him to use Dragonbinder, then went to the imprisoned Shebena Locke and her children, Gawen Glover and Ena Glover, intending to use them as bargaining chips.

Gary helped retake Deepwood Motte, extinguishing fires before the Mountain Clans searched the castle for Ironborn and House Glover's people. A Black-and-Gold Horn drove Drogon into a frenzy, and after Daenerys fell from his back, Gary found her barely alive and began healing her.

• Gary extinguished the fires on Deepwood Motte's walls, while Daenerys circled above on Drogon and the Ironborn tried to escape through the icy walls.
• The Highgarden cavalry and Giants slaughtered nearly all the Ironborn outside, then withdrew so the Mountain Clan warriors could search the castle and rescue House Glover.
• A man blew a Black-and-Gold Horn from the Main Castle, but Gary killed him with an ice-coated arrow; Victarion then killed two J-women rather than let them refuse to blow the horn.
• The horn's blasts sent Drogon into a violent frenzy, and he threw Daenerys from his back as he flew away.
• Gary ordered the Mountain Clans to capture every remaining Ironborn, then found Daenerys barely alive and used Healing Magic to treat her injuries.

Gary rescued Shebena Locke and her children from Asha Greyjoy and the Ironborn at Deepwood Motte. Asha and her followers swore allegiance to Gary, who named her Earl of the Iron Islands.

• Gary ordered guards to protect the sleeping Daenerys, then learned that Ironborn held Shebena Locke and her children hostage.
• Gary burst into the room and killed more than a dozen Ironborn with a single sword strike.
• Asha threatened to kill Shebena Locke and the children, but Gary revealed that the Ironborn ships had been destroyed and forced her to surrender them.
• Gary sent Shebena and her children to safety, then refused Asha's request to leave and said she would be held for ransom.
• Asha offered allegiance in exchange for the Iron Islands, and Gary accepted her oath and named her Earl of the Iron Islands.

Gary learned that Euron had returned from Valyria with Dragonbinder and examined the horn while his forces secured Deepwood Motte. After Asha brought him Victarion, Gary approved his execution, and Asha killed him.

• Asha told Gary about Euron's return to the Iron Islands and his treasures from Valyria, and Gary wondered whether Euron had lied or had knowledge of magic.
• Gary ordered Asha to recruit the Ironborn prisoners and execute anyone who refused, then found Dragonbinder and recognized its runes as High Valyrian.
• The Mountain Clans cleared Deepwood Motte, freed House Glover's surviving soldiers, and prepared rooms for Gary and the queens-to-be as Margaery and her party arrived.
• Gary examined the traces Drogon had left and doubted that Dragonbinder could fully control a dragon.
• Asha brought Victarion to Gary and argued that his oath was worthless; Gary approved killing him, and Asha slit Victarion's throat.

Daenerys dreamed of Drogon being corrupted by a sea monster and rescued by a frost giant and a white dragon before waking beside Margaery. She then deciphered Dragonbinder and suspected its master was the sea monster connected to Drogon’s disappearance.

• Daenerys dreamed that a sea monster bound and corrupted Drogon, who attacked her until Rhaegal and Viserion intervened.
• A frost giant severed the sea monster’s tentacles, while a white dragon named Krysalis pinned Drogon down; the battle vanished before Daenerys learned its outcome.
• Daenerys woke in bed with Margaery, dressed in her armor, and went with her to Gary’s room.
• Gary explained Drogon’s disappearance was connected to Dragonbinder and led Daenerys and Margaery downstairs to examine the horn.
• Daenerys deciphered Dragonbinder’s inscriptions, which said its blower would die as a sacrifice and that dragons obeyed the horn’s master.
• Daenerys wondered whether the horn’s master was a sea monster.

Gary planned to destroy Dragonbinder by melting it down once Rhaegal and Viserion reached Winterfell, while Daenerys struggled with the frightening visions from her dream. After Daenerys revealed what she had seen, Gary left her and Margaery alone for the night and wondered whether a god was influencing her fate.

• Gary decided he could break Dragonbinder's magic by melting the Valyrian steel, and Daenerys said Rhaegal and Viserion should arrive at Winterfell.
• Margaery learned Gary had four dragons, but Gary cautioned that they were still young and that his allies were not yet ready for war.
• Daenerys trembled and avoided Gary, then told him and Margaery about her dream of dragons, a kraken, Ice Giants, and Khal Drogo.
• Gary tried to reassure Daenerys by suggesting she had overheard Illyrio discussing a Dothraki marriage, and Margaery encouraged her to treat the visions as a dream.
• Gary left Daenerys and Margaery to rest together and spent the night in a snow igloo, wondering why Khal Drogo had appeared in Daenerys's dream.

Margaery agreed to teach Daenerys, while Tywin told Tyrion that Sansa's marriage was to be dissolved as part of his effort to ease relations with the North. In Highgarden, Willas Tyrell announced that the Ironborn had seized the Shield Islands and called the Reach to arms.

• Margaery agreed to teach Daenerys after seeing her serious expression.
• Tywin showed Tyrion the recovered ancestral sword Bright-Roar and said Luke Stark had brought news that Gerion Lannister was stranded in the ruins of Valyria.
• Tywin revealed that he had traded northern prisoners for Bright-Roar and news of Gerion to ease relations with the North.
• Tywin ordered Tyrion to dissolve his marriage to Sansa Stark and threatened that she would otherwise die of an illness; Tyrion refused and left.
• Willas Tyrell told Highgarden's commanders that the Ironborn had captured all four Shield Islands and could advance toward Highgarden or attack coastal castles.
• Willas said he had recalled troops and warned the coastal castles, and the commanders drew their swords and pledged victory to the Reach.

Gary returned to Winterfell with Arya, Bran, Margaery, Daenerys, and an army, finding its garrison weakened by hunger and desertions. Rhaegal and Viserion arrived, and Margaery cautiously approached the dragons.

• Gary left Lady Shebena Locke at Deepwood Motte, assigned a thousand Mountain Clansmen to clear the western coast, and led his army toward Winterfell.
• Septa Hanna reported that hunger and desertions had reduced Winterfell's garrison to just over a thousand men, while the commanders doubted the Reach would support them.
• Gary arrived at Winterfell with his army, and Septa Hanna welcomed Arya and Bran home.
• Gary learned that Highgarden had sent no reply and dismissed the commanders' concerns about Drogon's absence.
• Rhaegal and Viserion flew into Winterfell after catching Gary's and Daenerys's scents, and the soldiers saw the dragons land in the Godswood.
• Daenerys introduced Margaery to Rhaegal and Viserion, but Margaery chose to wait before touching them.

Gary sent Barristan Selmy to capture the Dreadfort and Karhold while he stayed in Winterfell to work on Dragonbinder. After Meera left for home, he planned to use the Purple Wedding to have Tywin Lannister killed and weaken House Lannister.

• Gary asked Barristan Selmy to convert to the Supreme God, then assigned him 3,200 troops to join Davos Seaworth in taking the Dreadfort and Karhold.
• Meera Reed told Gary that she had dreamed Jojen was alive in the Haunted Forest, and Gary promised to have Castle Black search for him.
• Meera left Winterfell with an escort, and a filthy boy appeared on the road and called her sister, asking her to go home with him.
• Gary sent Barristan and his troops away, then read a letter from the Queen of Thorns about Reach grain shipments, Margaery's safety, and plans to rescue Sansa at the wedding.
• Gary wrote to the Queen of Thorns proposing a plot to poison Joffrey, intending instead to frame Tyrion and arrange Tywin Lannister's death.

Gary’s preparations in the North continued while Lady Olenna carried out his plan at Joffrey’s wedding in King’s Landing. Joffrey died after eating poisoned pie, Tyrion was arrested, the woman posing as Queen Margaery was killed, and Sansa disappeared.

• Gary had Dragonbinder melted down and began forging Valyrian steel armor for the giants and dragons, with Margaery, Daenerys, the Ice Warriors, and wildling children helping make the dragons’ chainmail.
• Lady Olenna received Gary’s instructions to poison Joffrey, frame Tyrion, and send Sansa to Riverrun rather than hand her over to Baelish.
• At the wedding feast, Joffrey humiliated Tyrion, then ate poisoned pie and died in Cersei’s arms; Cersei accused Tyrion, who was seized by the Kingsguard and Gold Cloaks.
• A guard shouted “The North remembers!” after killing the woman posing as Queen Margaery, and Tywin killed the guard.
• The nobles discovered that Sansa Stark had vanished.

Lady Olenna was murdered in King's Landing, and Tywin's plot made House Stark appear responsible. As the Tyrell brothers responded to her death and the Ironborn invasion, Garlan asked Sansa to choose between returning North and marrying Willas Tyrell to preserve the alliance.

• Assassins killed Lady Olenna and framed House Stark, while Mace Tyrell vowed revenge and Tywin hid his cold satisfaction.
• Loras and Garlan concluded that Tywin had arranged their grandmother's murder, and Garlan sent Loras back to King's Landing to protect their father and gather intelligence.
• Garlan explained that Meera Tyrell lacked loyal troops and announced he would take twenty thousand men to Highgarden to fight the Ironborn.
• Garlan told Sansa that Lady Olenna had planned for her to marry Willas Tyrell, then asked whether she would return North or go to Highgarden.
• Sansa recognized that returning North would end the alliance between House Tyrell and the North.

Sansa agreed to marry Willas Tyrell so the North could support him against Lord Mace, and she traveled to Highgarden. Drogon landed there and fell asleep, while Olenna’s death and Sansa’s arrival stirred anger among the Reach’s nobles; Willas sent Sansa to rest and postponed discussion of the betrothal.

• Garlan told Sansa that marrying Willas would give him grounds to favor the North and resist Lord Mace, and Sansa agreed to the match.
• Garlan sent Sansa by cavalry toward a port on the Mander while he stayed behind to hold Tywin’s attention and discuss the South’s troops.
• Drogon arrived at Highgarden, exhausted and hungry, and fell asleep on a castle tower; Willas ordered his soldiers to keep people away, believing the dragon had come from the North.
• More than ten days later, Sansa arrived at Highgarden as Willas learned of Olenna’s death and asked why she had come.
• Sansa told Willas she had come to marry him, and she reaffirmed her willingness despite his disability.
• The Reach’s nobles protested Sansa’s proposed marriage, but Willas silenced them and ordered servants to take her to her room until they could discuss the betrothal the next day.

Willas secured the Highgarden nobles’ support for continuing the alliance with the North, while Tyrion’s trial in King’s Landing ended in disaster after Oberyn Martell was killed. With Tyrion condemned to die, Jaime and Varys began arranging his escape.

• Willas told the Highgarden nobles that Margaery was alive in the North, revealed the Iron Throne had murdered Olenna, and won their support for his alliance with Sansa.
• Cersei demanded that Jaime kill Tyrion for Joffrey’s death, but Jaime insisted Tyrion would stand trial and that the truth would be learned.
• Jaime believed Tyrion’s denial and agreed with Tywin to secure his life in exchange for Jaime leaving the Kingsguard and inheriting Casterly Rock, but Shae’s testimony drove Tyrion to demand trial by combat.
• Oberyn Martell offered to champion Tyrion against Gregor Clegane, seeking revenge for his sister and her children.
• Oberyn lost his advantage and Gregor killed him, leaving Tyrion condemned; Jaime and Varys set a rescue plan in motion.

Jaime freed Tyrion from the dungeon and confessed that Tysha had never been a whore, but an ordinary peasant girl whom Tyrion had truly married and loved. Furious at Jaime and determined to learn Tysha’s fate, Tyrion ignored Varys’s escape plan and climbed toward Tywin’s chambers.

• Jaime rescued Tyrion from his cell and led him through the passages beneath King's Landing, explaining that Varys had arranged a ship for his escape.
• Jaime admitted that Tysha had not been a whore and that their father had ordered him to lie about her.
• Tyrion confronted Jaime over Tysha’s rape and their lost marriage, struck him, and swore that the Lannisters would pay.
• Tyrion met Varys at the passage exit but turned toward the Hand’s chambers to confront Tywin and ask what had become of Tysha.
• Tyrion rebuffed Varys’s warning and began climbing the shaft toward Tywin’s chambers.

Tyrion escaped the Red Keep through Varys’s secret passages, killed Shae and Tywin, and learned Tysha may still be alive. At the harbor, he resisted Varys’s plan to send him to Lys until he realized someone there wanted to contest the Iron Throne.

• Tyrion crawled through the secret tunnels, emerged from a fireplace in the Hand of the King's bedchamber, and found Shae there.
• Tyrion strangled Shae with her gold necklace, took a crossbow, and searched the rooms for Tywin.
• Tyrion confronted Tywin in the privy and learned that Tysha had been driven from Casterly Rock alive, though Tywin could not say where she went.
• Tyrion shot Tywin dead, escaped through the fireplace, and followed Varys through the tunnels to a merchant ship at King's Landing harbor.
• Varys urged Tyrion to sail to Lys, but Tyrion refused until Varys revealed that a lord there needed his help returning to Westeros.
• Tyrion concluded that the lord in Lys intended to contend for the Iron Throne.

Tyrion bargained his way onto a ship and chose to sail north, while Sansa grew comfortable in Highgarden and agreed to marry Willas Tyrell. Their visit to Willas’s horse farm was cut short when they learned the Dragon had awakened.

• Tyrion offered the captain and first mate twice their fare in exchange for choosing their destination, then decided to go to the North.
• Sansa enjoyed her stay in Highgarden and visited Willas Tyrell’s horse farm with him.
• Willas offered to send Sansa back to the North if she did not want to marry him, but Sansa said she was willing to marry him.
• Willas apologized that Ironborn raids prevented a betrothal feast, and Sansa said she understood.
• A mounted soldier told Willas that the Dragon had awakened, so Willas and Sansa hurried back to Highgarden.

Drogon traced a hated scent to the Ironborn fleet attacking Highgarden and destroyed its longships with dragonfire. After Drogon flew north, Willas urged the Reach to remember the North’s aid and trust in their alliance.

• Drogon confronted the Highgarden soldiers until Willas approached with a white dragon scale and calmed its hostility.
• Drogon flew toward the western gate tower after detecting a foul scent, while Willas learned that more than a hundred Ironborn longships were approaching on the Mander River.
• Willas ordered the soldiers to assemble at Mander Gate and wondered where the rest of the Ironborn fleet had gone.
• Drogon recognized the Ironborn as the people who had enslaved it with magic and burned their fleet on the river.
• Drogon flew north, and Willas rebuked a commander for wanting the dragon to keep helping, praising the North’s support and promising that their alliance would bring future aid.