Chapter Summaries

At the Small Council, Tywin Lannister decided House Bolton would have to face Luke Stark without Lannister aid while Tyrion told Sansa that Luke had returned with a Dragon. Meanwhile, Gary continued north after helping a Riverlands family, leaving his companions concerned about their dwindling food.

• Joffrey demanded that Luke Stark be stripped of his Stark name and killed, but Tyrion warned him to respect oaths.
• Tywin ordered House Bolton to intercept Luke, then concluded that Lannister could not support the Boltons before the king's wedding.
• Tyrion told Sansa that Luke had returned from Essos with a Dragon and was heading north, giving her hope that he could retake Winterfell.
• Gary left half a cartload of food for a father and daughter who refused to leave their home, then resumed traveling north.
• Jon Umber warned Gary that giving food away could leave their party hungry, and Gary explained that the family had helped his sister.

Margaery Tyrell fled toward the North, but her brother Garlan intercepted her and chose to support her alliance with Luke Stark. After sending her north with Tyrell cavalry, Garlan returned to King's Landing and found Tywin Lannister waiting for him.

• Margaery avoided entering King's Landing, but Garlan and Tyrell cavalry surrounded her on the Kingsroad and offered her a choice between returning to the city or continuing north.
• Margaery told Garlan she intended to join Luke Stark, whose dragon and Targaryen blood made him a stronger prospect than the Lannisters; Garlan revealed that he and Willas had known about her dragon and agreed to support her.
• Garlan assigned more than a hundred cavalrymen to escort Margaery north and said he would end the Tyrell-Lannister betrothal by taking their cousin Lynesse away.
• Garlan sent Margaery off in a carriage, then returned to King's Landing to find Tywin waiting in Lynesse's room.
• Tywin offered to place Lannister soldiers around the Tyrell courtyard, and Garlan accepted while recognizing that Tywin intended to keep him under watch.

Garlan Tyrell kept the southern army outside King's Landing while waiting for Margaery's news, and Gary marched north to reclaim Winterfell. After destroying the Ironborn at Moat Cailin, Gary found a coffin the outlaws claimed held Eddard Stark's body and killed them when they attacked.

• Garlan Tyrell led the southern troops back to camp after Tywin withdrew the Lannister soldiers, but stayed near King's Landing to protect his family and wait for Margaery's news.
• Gary refused to detour around Ironborn-held Moat Cailin, saying his dragon would let him force a passage, and explained that he would seek the northern nobles' allegiance only after retaking Winterfell.
• Gary and his companions destroyed the Ironborn at Moat Cailin, leaving the castle burned and its defenders dead.
• Half a month later, Gary encountered outlaws transporting a battered coffin they claimed held Eddard Stark's body.
• When the outlaws tried to seize Daenerys and kill the others, Gary killed them and ordered Jon Umber to load their provisions onto the horses and use the wagon for the coffin.

Gary identified Eddard Stark’s remains, mourned him, and vowed to protect his siblings and reclaim Winterfell. He reached the ruined castle, killed its Bolton guards, and learned from surviving servants that Bran and Rickon were alive and that Theon and House Bolton had devastated Winterfell.

• Gary confirmed the coffin held Eddard Stark’s remains, mourned his adoptive father, and swore to protect his siblings and reclaim Winterfell.
• Roose Bolton received Tywin’s order to intercept Luke Stark and set out for Winterfell with more than five thousand men, while Ramsay Snow prepared to seize Moat Cailin.
• Ironborn reoccupied Moat Cailin, forcing Margaery to sail around it as she traveled north.
• Gary, Daenerys, and Jon Umber arrived at Winterfell, where Drogon burned the Bolton soldiers on the walls and Jon Umber executed the survivors inside.
• Nanny Hanna told Gary that Theon and the Boltons had killed and tortured Winterfell’s people; Gary reassured the women that Bran and Rickon were alive and vowed revenge on House Bolton and House Greyjoy.

After retaking Winterfell, Gary planned to gather loyal northern forces and prepare the castle for a Bolton attack. He refused to raise wights because the magic seemed to be turning his arm into a White Walker’s, then began preparing Valyrian steel armor for himself, Daenerys, and Drogon.

• Jon Umber advised Gary to summon the northern lords, and Gary decided to seek troops first from loyal houses, especially House Manderly.
• When the rookery’s ravens were found burned, Jon Umber suggested borrowing ravens from Castle Cerwyn and offered to muster men at Last Hearth.
• Jon Umber urged Gary to raise dead soldiers if House Bolton arrived first, but Gary refused because the corpse magic was spreading White Walker-like transformation up his arm.
• Gary rejected Jon Umber’s suggestion that he abandon Winterfell, and Jon Umber rode through the night toward Castle Cerwyn.
• Gary moved Eddard’s coffin to the sept and postponed his funeral until after the war.
• Daenerys said she could inscribe the runes needed to forge Valyrian steel, and Gary planned to make armor for himself, Daenerys, and Drogon.

Gary and Daenerys prepared Winterfell for an approaching attack by gathering iron, spreading ice across the surrounding plain, and forging Valyrian steel armor and a replica of Ice. The Bolton-led army arrived before any reinforcements, and Gary prepared to face it.

• Gary gave Daenerys the only bed in Winterfell’s cold hall, and she invited him to share it, but he declined.
• Gary and Daenerys collected iron and forged Valyrian steel while the matrons spread water outside Winterfell to build up ice for the coming battle.
• After fourteen days, Gary and Daenerys finished two rough suits of plate armor, and Gary forged a replica of Ice to place in Eddard’s coffin.
• The matrons warned Gary that an army was approaching from the northeast, and he identified its banners as including the Boltons and their allies.
• Gary saw the several-thousand-strong army nearing Winterfell and went to put on his Valyrian steel armor.

Roose Bolton ordered a surprise assault on Winterfell after his scouts failed to breach its icy walls, while Gary and Daenerys prepared to defend the castle. When Theon Greyjoy arrived to identify Gary, Gary shot him through the skull, leaving Ramsay Snow and the Bolton forces outside the walls.

• Roose Bolton’s scouts found Winterfell’s ice-covered walls too hard to climb or break, then returned without learning how many defenders were inside.
• Roose Bolton dismissed reports of magic and ordered his commanders to launch a surprise attack that night, giving them seven days to take Winterfell.
• Ramsay Snow received three hundred men and orders to use Reek to confirm Luke Stark’s identity and shoot him if possible.
• Gary and Daenerys put on armor, sheltered the old women in the cellars, and went to the northern wall to watch the Bolton forces.
• Theon Greyjoy called for Luke Stark to prove his identity, and Gary shot an ice arrow through Theon’s skull before he could finish speaking.

Gary killed Ramsay with an ice arrow, and the Flayed Men fled without their commander. Roose Bolton learned that Luke Stark could wield powerful ice magic and arranged a night assault on Winterfell, while secretly hoping the Freys would die and leave him their troops.

• Gary shot Ramsay through the heart with an ice arrow, causing the Flayed Men to flee.
• Roose Bolton examined the arrow and learned that Ramsay had poisoned Domeric, abandoning his bastard after the evidence exposed him as a kinslayer.
• Roose Bolton told the assembled commanders that Luke Stark was an Ice Wizard and ordered an attack on Winterfell before dawn.
• Roose Bolton assigned the north and east gates to the Karstarks and let the eager Freys take the south and west gates.
• The Freys warned that the ice-sealed gates might resist their battering rams, and Roose Bolton advised them to use fire while plotting to take their army after their deaths.

As the Bolton alliance attacked Winterfell, Gary and Daenerys abandoned the gates and waited in the Main Castle for the enemy to enter. When the Frey and Karstark cavalry approached, Gary activated his hidden ice spell, leaving its effects to unfold.

• Gary decided to abandon Winterfell if Drogon did not return, then ordered Daenerys and the elderly women to prepare for retreat when the Bolton troops began burning the gates.
• Gary and Daenerys resisted at the north and south gates while the eastern and western gates burned, then rode to the Main Castle once all four gates were ablaze.
• Gary told Daenerys they would wait inside the Main Castle and deal with the troops after they entered Winterfell.
• After the gates melted, Frey and Karstark forces charged into the city, with cavalry leading the assault and infantry following behind.
• As the cavalry converged on the Main Castle, Gary touched the ice-covered ground and activated a large-scale ice spell.

Gary wiped out the Karstark and Frey forces around Winterfell with a vast ice spell, but the magic left him gravely injured. As Roose Bolton sought information about the spell’s aftermath, Gary asked Daenerys to stop his scouts while he recovered, leaving her to guard Winterfell.

• Gary’s ice magic erupted across Winterfell and impaled the twenty-five hundred Karstark and Frey men gathered inside and outside the city.
• Roose Bolton sent eight scouts toward Winterfell, and they returned with a wounded soldier and an account of the devastation.
• Roose Bolton killed the soldier after he blamed the Old Gods, then ordered another scouting mission to learn what had happened inside the city.
• Daenerys found Gary collapsed after casting the spell, and he used healing magic to mend his shattered body.
• Gary told Daenerys to kill any scouts who entered Winterfell, then fell asleep while she lit a fire and kept watch beside him.

Roose Bolton struggled to restore his army’s morale after Gary’s ice magic transformed Winterfell, then sent scouts to infiltrate the city and kill Luke Stark. A group of surviving scouts reached the Main Castle and approached the sleeping man, only to face Daenerys as she raised her flaming sword.

• Roose Bolton dismissed the idea that Gary was a god and ordered his commanders to restore morale before an assault on Winterfell.
• Roose Bolton offered an earldom and Winterfell to any scout who brought him Luke Stark’s head, and eight scouting squads set out.
• The scouts entered Winterfell’s dense ice forest, where the spikes killed many of them and forced them to abandon their armor.
• Fewer than thirty scouts reached the Main Castle, where they found Luke Stark lying beside a praying Daenerys.
• Daenerys finished praying, drew Dark Sister, and ignited its blade with crimson flames as the scouts approached.

Daenerys defeated the Bolton scouts who attacked her, then met a boy who offered to take her to Dorne and marry Prince Quentyn. After learning that Luke Stark had a marriage agreement with Margaery Tyrell, Daenerys refused to leave.

• The Bolton scouts surrounded Daenerys and battered her while some tried to remove Gary's helmet, but a firebird drove them back.
• Daenerys prayed to the Supreme God, unleashed powerful flames, and killed the scouts who attacked her.
• Daenerys prayed over the dead and returned to Gary, then drew Dark Sister when she heard footsteps.
• A boy emerged and offered to take Daenerys to marry Prince Quentyn, revealing that his master had arranged for Magister Illyrio to shelter her and Viserys.
• The boy told Daenerys that Luke Stark and Margaery Tyrell already had a marriage agreement, but Daenerys refused to leave.
• The boy said he had eliminated the remaining Bolton scouts and vanished into the Ice Spike Forest.

Drogon delivered a Valyrian steel message from Luke and Krysalis to the Children of the Forest, warning them that Luke had returned and could be contacted. When Leaf brought the message to the Three-Eyed Crow, the Children rejected his distrust of Luke and chose to trust the boy they had raised.

• Drogon spat out a Valyrian steel plate outside the Three-Eyed Crow’s cave, then flew south.
• Leaf deciphered the plate’s message that Luke and Krysalis had found and hatched three dragon eggs, and that Luke had returned to Westeros.
• Leaf decided to travel south of the Wall to find Luke, but agreed to tell the Three-Eyed Crow first.
• Leaf and Wind Spirit challenged the Three-Eyed Crow’s claim that Luke would side with the White Walkers, pointing to his trust in Benjen Stark despite turning him into one.
• The Children of the Forest declared that they trusted Luke, and the Three-Eyed Crow let them act as they wished while focusing on Bran Stark.

After waking, Gary cared for the sick and exhausted Daenerys before leaving Winterfell to confront Roose Bolton’s army. He appeared on an ice throne between two towering knight statues, and the Bolton soldiers knelt before him in worship.

• Gary woke after sleeping for less than two days, thanked Daenerys for guarding him, and carried her into the Main Castle when he realized she was ill.
• Daenerys explained that her fire magic had burned away her leather clothes, and Gary gave her a blanket before summoning the matrons to care for her.
• After Daenerys drank hot porridge and fell asleep, Gary left Winterfell and destroyed the Ice Spike Forest with a wave of his hand.
• Roose Bolton ordered his troops to prepare a counterattack after hearing that the ice spikes had vanished.
• Roose Bolton found his soldiers kneeling toward Winterfell and saw Gary seated on an ice throne between two enormous knight statues.

Gary defeated Roose Bolton’s forces at Winterfell with ice magic and Drogon, then learned that the man he had killed was a decoy. Roose fled toward the White Knife River but was intercepted by Manderly cavalry and taken to meet King Luke.

• Roose Bolton ordered five hundred cavalry to charge Gary, but Gary slaughtered them with barriers of ice and collapsing ice statues.
• Roose led a thousand Bolton infantry against Gary, but Drogon returned and attacked them with dragonfire while Gary shot Roose through the head with an ice arrow.
• The surviving Bolton soldiers swore allegiance to House Stark, but Gary discovered the corpse was a young decoy and realized Roose had escaped.
• Roose led five hundred wounded soldiers toward the Dreadfort, found House Manderly’s ships guarding the White Knife River, and was surrounded by Manderly cavalry.
• A Manderly commander recognized Roose and said he would take him to meet King Luke.

Gary oversaw Winterfell’s rebuilding as House Manderly arrived with food and a captive. He learned that the captive was Roose Bolton and prepared to confront him in the dungeon.

• Gary inspected construction of Drogon’s Dragonpit in the Godswood, where Daenerys reported that House Manderly’s cavalry was approaching Winterfell.
• Daenerys warned Gary that Winterfell had run out of food and money, and he planned to ask House Manderly for provisions and sell Valyrian steel swords for Gold Dragons.
• House Manderly’s five hundred cavalrymen reached Winterfell, and Jeyce Corklan told Gary that Earl Wyman had brought half of White Harbor’s food.
• Jeyce Corklan revealed that House Manderly had captured Roose Bolton and delivered him to Winterfell’s dungeon.
• Gary accepted the news of Roose Bolton’s capture with undisguised killing intent.

Gary confronted Roose Bolton in Winterfell’s dungeon and planned a gruesome execution, then welcomed Wyman Manderly and his army after defeating the Bolton coalition. The feast ended with Manderly agreeing to leave five hundred cavalrymen, while Gary faced a growing shortage of grain.

• Gary told Roose Bolton he would be killed and skinned at a feast attended by northern nobles.
• Wyman Manderly arrived at Winterfell with two thousand soldiers and hundreds of wagons of food and wine.
• At the feast, Gary promised to show Wyman Drogon in the Godswood the next morning.
• Wyman said fifteen hundred Manderly soldiers had to return to White Harbor, and Gary asked him to leave five hundred cavalrymen.
• Gary and Wyman discussed how Winterfell’s grain supply might not last a month, and Gary considered distant Dorne as a possible source.

Arya learned from Ruslan Cook that Luke Stark had returned with a dragon and retaken Winterfell, so she persuaded Sandor to escort her north. In the Reach’s army camp, Olenna confronted Garlan Tyrell and demanded to know where Margaery was.

• Ruslan Cook told Sandor and Arya that Luke Stark had returned from Essos, defeated House Bolton, and reclaimed Winterfell with a dragon.
• Arya insisted that Luke was alive and asked Sandor to take her home, promising that Luke would pay him a ransom.
• Sandor agreed to travel with Ruslan Cook’s caravan toward Winterfell, while Ruslan realized Arya was the King in the North’s sister.
• Garlan Tyrell read reports about Luke’s victory and worried about how the new King in the North would treat Margaery.
• Olenna Redwyne stormed into Garlan’s command tent, slapped him, and demanded to know where Margaery was.

Olenna learned that Margaery had gone north to join Luke Stark and agreed to let Garlan and Willas pursue an alliance with the North. In King's Landing, she visited the imprisoned Lynesse and asked whether she would sacrifice herself for the family.

• Garlan told Olenna that Margaery had gone to the North, and Olenna rebuked him for risking the Tyrell alliance with the Lannisters.
• Garlan explained that he and Willas supported an alliance with Luke Stark because Luke had two dragons and was a powerful Ice Wizard, and Olenna agreed to the plan.
• Olenna told Garlan to wait outside King's Landing while she and Mace entered the city to meet Tywin and planned to bring Sansa back to Highgarden.
• Olenna met Tywin at the Red Keep, then went to the Maidenvault and found Lynesse reading in confinement.
• Olenna warned Lynesse to fulfill her mission and asked whether she was willing to sacrifice herself for the family.

Olenna disfigured Lynesse Redwyne and used the resulting rumor to make Joffrey dissolve his betrothal to Margaery Tyrell. Tywin forced Joffrey to reconsider, but Olenna announced she would return to Highgarden, and the wedding was postponed again.

• Olenna told Lynesse she would scar her face so Joffrey would reject his betrothal, then cut Lynesse's cheek with a dagger.
• Olenna spread a rumor that Margaery had been disfigured, and Loras confirmed it to Joffrey at Olenna's instruction.
• Joffrey ordered his betrothal to Margaery dissolved, prompting Tywin to intervene and reassure the Reach nobles.
• Olenna accepted Joffrey's order and announced she would return to Highgarden, while Tywin warned Joffrey that the realm depended on the Reach.
• Tywin slapped Joffrey after he refused to heed the warning, but Joffrey still refused to marry a disfigured woman and left the Small Council chamber.
• Joffrey and Margaery's wedding was postponed again.