Chapter Summaries

Arya escaped Winterfell with the Hound while Ruslan Cook gathered intelligence, and the Wildlings attacked Castle Black. Gary arrived on Drogon, routed the Wildling army with Dragonfire, and joined the fighting at Castle Black.

• Arya freed Sandor and left Winterfell at night with a cloaked man, prompting Septa Hanna to learn of her escape too late to stop it.
• Ruslan Cook gathered reports about Arya, Luke, Margaery, and Daenerys, then sent his intelligence away on a Raven.
• The Wildlings attacked Castle Black from beyond the Wall and through its southern gate, forcing Jon Snow to divide the Night's Watch between the Wall, the castle, and the tunnel.
• Gary rode Drogon over the Wildling army and used Dragonfire to make Mance Rayder order a retreat.
• Drogon landed on Lance Tower, and Jon Snow rallied the Night's Watch by announcing that the King in the North had arrived with his Dragon.
• Gary leaped from the tower, healed his broken legs, withstood Wildling axes in his Valyrian steel armor, and cut down his attackers with Falling Plum.

Luke Stark entered the tunnel and subdued the giant, then helped the Night’s Watch defeat the Wildling raiders at Castle Black. He found Jon grieving over Ygritte and demanded that Jon return north, but Jon refused to abandon the Wall, while Luke threatened Alliser Thorne and offered troops only if Alliser killed himself.

• Luke Stark rushed into the tunnel, wounded the giant, and severed its wrist and ankle tendons before Grenn could kill it.
• Luke ordered Grenn to spare the giant and keep it locked in the tunnel, then joined the Night’s Watch survivors outside as they finished off the Wildlings.
• Luke found Jon Snow mourning Ygritte and offered to revive her if Jon renounced the Night’s Watch, but Jon refused to leave Castle Black.
• Luke told Jon that White Walkers and wights would not pass the Wall with him there, and Jon introduced him to the Night’s Watch as the King in the North and his elder brother.
• Luke confronted Alliser Thorne over his past treatment of him and Jon, threatening to withhold northern troops unless Alliser killed himself.
• Alliser said he would kill himself after Luke defeated the Wildling army and drove it back beyond the Wall.

Gary arrived at Castle Black with Ygritte’s body and reunited with Jon, bringing him a Valyrian steel sword. He declared Jon a Stark, leaving Jon to take the name Jon Stark.

• Maester Aemon persuaded Gary to spare Alliser, and Jon led Gary to the Kings Tower.
• Maester Aemon questioned Alliser about Gary’s Dragon and white hair, then fell silent at the answer.
• Gary and Jon reunited, and Gary apologized for not returning sooner to help Robb.
• Gary gave Jon a Valyrian steel sword named Winter and asked him to return Longclaw to House Mormont.
• Gary proclaimed Jon Snow a true Stark and revealed that his sword’s scabbard bore the name Jon Stark.

Gary used the Supreme God’s power to resurrect Ygritte, then secured her help in persuading Jon to leave the Night’s Watch. The chapter ended with Ygritte accepting service to the Supreme God after Gary promised she could marry Jon and live at Winterfell.

• Gary resurrected Ygritte with divine power, while warning that his body could withstand only one more revival.
• Grenn asked Gary to revive Pyp, and Gary agreed to bring him one more person back to life.
• Ygritte learned that Jon’s brother Gary had resurrected her and asked what had happened to the other Free Folk.
• Gary told Ygritte he wanted her to help persuade Jon to leave the Night’s Watch, and promised to release Jon from his oath.
• Ygritte asked whether she could marry, and Gary said she would live at Winterfell as Jon Stark’s wife.
• Ygritte knelt and vowed to serve the Supreme God, leaving Jon stunned.

After the battle at Castle Black, Gary revived Pyp and forced him and Ygritte to accept baptism and serve the Supreme God. Jon left to help below, while Gary prepared to rest with Ygritte and Gilly, warning Jon to protect the wildlings and the captive giant.

• Grenn begged Gary to revive Pyp, and Gary brought Pyp back to life after Grenn removed the arrow from his neck.
• Pyp recognized Ygritte as the woman who killed him and refused to forgive her, but Gary ordered them to abandon their grudges and serve the Supreme God.
• Grenn, Pyp, and Ygritte knelt before Gary, who baptized Pyp and Ygritte and declared that they had been reborn to die for the Supreme God.
• Edd took Grenn and Pyp away, and Gary and Jon talked privately until dawn about Jon's experiences at Castle Black.
• Jon went downstairs to help, while Gary warned him to protect the wildlings and the crippled giant held beneath the Wall.
• Gary told Ygritte and Gilly to share the bed, then used green mana to make himself a bed of snow and went to sleep.

Stannis’s army advanced toward Castle Black as Melisandre warned him that Luke Stark was the white wolf from her prophecy. At the Wall, Gary and Jon faced Mance Rayder’s full assault, while giant archers battered the Wall and sent the Night’s Watch commander fleeing.

• Melisandre reminded Stannis that he would face a white wolf and said he must kill him to claim Lightbringer; Stannis identified Luke Stark as a traitor he intended to kill.
• Davos urged Stannis to act before Luke united the North, and Stannis pressed his depleted force to reach Castle Black before nightfall.
• A horn woke Gary, and Ygritte and Gilly helped him put on his armor before he went to join Jon.
• Gary and Jon reached the top of the Wall and found Wildlings attacking in overwhelming numbers as the Night’s Watch ran low on arrows.
• More than a hundred giants fired enormous arrows at the Wall, destroying a great crossbow and damaging the surface ice as falling ice killed Wildlings climbing below.
• The bald commander fled down the lift, but Gary told the Night’s Watch the Wall would hold, and Jon reminded them they still had a dragon; Gary feared Drogon would be vulnerable to the giants’ arrows.

Gary used Drogon to drive the giants away from Castle Black, then spotted a group traveling north through the Frostfangs and flew to investigate. The group included Bran Stark, Hodor, Meera Reed, and Jojen Reed, who found themselves face-to-face with Drogon.

• Gary recognized that the giants had run out of iron-headed arrows, mounted Drogon, and told Jon to hold the Wall while he dealt with them.
• Mance Rayder ordered the giants to target Drogon, but Gary evaded their attacks and burned their bows before luring the giants west with a ring of dragonfire.
• Gary drove all the giants more than ten leagues toward the Milkwater, where he left them in a relatively safe area.
• Leaf spotted Drogon circling near the Milkwater and hurried south toward Luke.
• Gary noticed several people traveling north through the Frostfangs and directed Drogon toward them.
• Bran Stark traveled on a litter pulled by Hodor while Meera Reed and Jojen Reed scouted ahead, and Drogon appeared before them.

Luke Stark reunited with Bran and the Reeds beyond the Wall, severed Jojen’s connection to the Three-Eyed Crow, and restored Bran’s ability to walk through his faith in the Supreme God. Luke then flew toward Castle Black to help Jon, while the Three-Eyed Crow raged in his cave over Luke’s interference.

• Luke revealed himself to Bran, Meera, and Jojen as Luke Stark, the lord of Winterfell and King in the North.
• Luke severed Jojen’s connection to the Three-Eyed Crow, removing Jojen’s greensight and prophetic dreams.
• Luke persuaded Bran to trust him and worship the Supreme God, then healed Bran’s legs and strengthened his skinchanger talent.
• Luke gave Bran an ice core for emergencies and flew toward Castle Black, warning the group to avoid giants along the Milkwater.
• The Three-Eyed Crow howled in rage that Luke had ruined his plans.

Gary and Drogon saved Castle Black from the wildlings, while Stannis’s cavalry attacked the wildling camp and captured Mance Rayder. Stannis’s army then encountered Drogon, and Melisandre warned him that confronting Gary would be dangerous.

• Jon ordered the Night's Watch to fight off the wildlings climbing the Wall and urged them to hold until Luke returned.
• Gary and Drogon arrived and used dragonfire to clear the Wall and rout the wildling army.
• Mance Rayder ordered a retreat and planned to negotiate, but Night's Watch rangers appeared behind the wildling camp.
• Harma led five hundred horsemen against the attackers, but Stannis’s heavily armored cavalry routed them and captured Mance Rayder.
• Gary watched as the Free Folk scattered, while Stannis halted his army after seeing Drogon.
• Melisandre advised Stannis to stay in the forest and warned that using her magic again would kill him.

Gary refused to let the Night’s Watch open Castle Black’s gate to Stannis, killing Alliser Thorne and ordering Jon to stop the others from admitting Stannis’s men. When Janos Slynt opened the gate while Drogon was away, Stannis’s soldiers entered Castle Black, and Gary fought his way out of the Kings Tower.

• Carter Pyke led more than two hundred Night’s Watch men from Eastwatch to Castle Black, but Gary blocked their advance with Drogon and ordered them to take a surrender demand to Stannis.
• Gary returned to Castle Black, killed Alliser Thorne for arguing that the Eastwatch men should be admitted, and warned the Night’s Watch not to open the gate without his command.
• Jon told Gary that most of the Night’s Watch planned to open the gate for Stannis; Gary ordered him to kill everyone except Edd, Grenn, and Pyp if they tried to let Stannis in.
• Jon went downstairs to negotiate, while Gary remained armored and Ygritte urged him to kill the Night’s Watch members who opposed him.
• Edd and Pyp reported that Jon and Grenn had been taken and that Janos Slynt had opened the gate while Drogon was away hunting.
• Gary armed himself, led his companions into the corridor, and killed or incapacitated the Stannis soldiers who had entered the Kings Tower.

Gary confronted Stannis Baratheon outside the Kings Tower, rejected his offer of fealty, and challenged Melisandre’s faith by claiming to be a true god. After their magical duel, Gary trapped Melisandre in ice, but she warned Stannis that Gary was about to kill him.

• Gary led Edd, Pyp, Ygritte, and Gilly to the tower entrance, where Stannis and his forces surrounded them.
• Gary recognized Janos Slynt as the man who had opened the gate, and Stannis offered him the North if he swore fealty.
• Gary asked where Jon was and learned that Janos had cut off Jon’s right hand and imprisoned him in the dungeon.
• Gary revealed green energy around himself, declared himself the Supreme God, and challenged Melisandre to remove her ruby choker and reject R'hllor.
• Melisandre attacked Gary with fire, but he extinguished her spells with ice magic and bound her in enormous hands of snow and ice.
• Melisandre warned Stannis to strike because Gary was about to kill him.

Gary defeated Stannis’s forces at Castle Black and pressured Davos to swear allegiance by threatening Selyse and Shireen. He captured Melisandre after destroying her ruby choker, then ordered her imprisoned while he took Davos to the dungeons to free Jon and the others.

• Stannis ordered his archers to attack, but Gary blocked their arrows with an ice barrier and killed Stannis, Janos Slynt, and their soldiers with ice spikes while sparing the horses.
• Gary spared Davos and demanded that he serve him, threatening Selyse and Shireen; Davos asked Gary to marry Shireen as a condition of his allegiance.
• Gary gave Davos one night to decide, then stopped his bleeding and crushed his sword after Davos tried to attack him.
• Gary destroyed Melisandre’s ruby choker, causing her to become an old woman, and confiscated her hidden powders and spare rubies.
• Gary ordered Ygritte, Gilly, and Pyp to imprison Melisandre, then took Edd to escort Davos to the dungeons and release Jon and the others.

Gary defeated Stannis and went to the Silent Tower, where he decided to kill Mance Rayder and blame the death on Stannis. He left the Wildlings’ fate to Jon Snow and prepared to bring the remaining army into his ranks.

• While Edd waited with Davos, Gary chased a figure in Baratheon armor toward the Silent Tower.
• Gary found two Baratheon soldiers guarding Mance Rayder and entered the room to speak with him.
• Gary told Mance Rayder that the White Walkers were moving south and that Jon Snow would lead an army to persuade the Wildlings to come through the Wall.
• After Mance refused to swear fealty, Gary ordered the soldiers to kill him and coached them to say Stannis had given the command.
• Gary told the soldiers to wash off the blood and join him in taking the army into his ranks, then returned to Edd at the dungeon entrance.

Gary freed Jon and the imprisoned Night's Watch at Castle Black, restoring Jon's severed hand and learning that Janos Slynt had taken his sword. He also released Val and Mance Rayder's son, then emerged to find Gary's ice magic had killed the wildlings outside the dungeon.

• Gary killed the scrawny guard and ordered Edd to use the keys to release the imprisoned watchmen.
• Gary freed Jon, whose right hand regrew, and learned that Janos Slynt had taken his sword.
• Edd locked Davos in a cell as the released watchmen pledged themselves to Gary.
• Gary released Val and Mance Rayder's son, killed several wildlings who tried to escape, and told Val that Mance had been executed.
• Gary, Jon, and Val emerged to find the watchmen frozen in place before the bodies of the wildlings Gary had killed with ice spikes.
• Gary dispelled the ice spikes and ordered the watchmen to stable the horses and burn the bodies.

Gary prepared for the Night’s Watch’s coming Lord Commander election and tried to recruit the imprisoned Melisandre into the Supreme God Faith. He pulled her into a dream of a world without the Lord of Light, while Val waited beside the fireplace for the ice egg around them to thaw.

• The Night’s Watch cremated the dead, and Gary kept Stannis’s remains so he could seek the surrender of the Baratheon cavalry the next day.
• Jon told Gary that Carter Pyke and the men at the Shadow Tower were on their way to Castle Black, where a new Lord Commander would need to be elected.
• Gary insisted he would support Jon’s election and threatened to use his army and dragon against anyone who opposed him, but Jon refused his offer of soldiers to defend the Wall.
• After Jon left, Gary visited the shackled Melisandre and said the Supreme God was dispelling the Lord of Light’s power.
• When Melisandre rejected his offer to convert, Gary dragged her into a dream, and ice formed around them as Val entered the room and waited with the child.

Gary trapped Melisandre in a simulated world based on The Lord of the Rings, where she endured hunger, injuries, and Orc pursuit while searching for its boundary. As the Orcs prepared to kill her, Gary demanded she pray to him instead of R'hllor, and Melisandre refused.

• Gary brought Melisandre to a simulated world and warned her about the Orcs, but she insisted it was a dream and set out to find its boundary.
• Melisandre climbed a mountain and headed east toward a forest, believing its edge would reveal the dream's limit.
• After days of hunger and painful walking, Melisandre entered the forest and evaded Orc Warg Riders by following a river.
• Melisandre crossed the forest after seven more days, but found no boundary and was pursued by three Orc Warg Riders.
• An Orc severed Melisandre's foot, and the riders surrounded her, cut off her arms, and prepared to take her legs.
• Gary told Melisandre to pray to him as the Supreme God rather than R'hllor, but she refused, and he said she would die.

Melisandre awoke in Mirkwood, where the Elf Natalya and her companions had rescued her from Orcs and wargs. She reached the Elven kingdom and met King Thranduil, who kept her at his Palace to record Westeros’s history, while she searched his books for signs of the Lord of Light.

• Melisandre woke beside a fire and learned from Natalya that she had been rescued by Silvan Elves in Mirkwood.
• Natalya told Melisandre that the Elves believed her to be a powerful Maia, and Melisandre learned that her missing limbs and wounds had been restored.
• Natalya and her companions led Melisandre through Mirkwood, avoiding Orcs and monsters, and brought her safely to the Elven kingdom.
• Melisandre met King Thranduil, who welcomed her and asked her to manage his books and record the stories of Westeros.
• Melisandre accepted Thranduil’s assignment and searched the Palace’s books for traces of the Lord of Light.

Over several years in Middle-earth, Melisandre questioned her faith in R'hllor and eventually embraced Gary as the true god. She awoke in Castle Black transformed and empowered, telling Gary that her experience had let her examine her life anew.

• Melisandre traveled across Middle-earth, increasingly calling on the Supreme God for power instead of R'hllor.
• At Rivendell, Melisandre asked Gandalf for guidance, and he challenged her belief that R'hllor represented the light.
• Melisandre joined the fight against Sauron, then sailed with Gandalf and his companions to Valinor and met the Valar and Maiar.
• With the gods as witnesses, Melisandre pledged herself to Gary and renounced blood magic and slaughter.
• Back in Castle Black, Melisandre awoke beside Gary as the ice egg dissolved, regained a youthful appearance, and formed a huge fireball in her hand.

Gary and Melisandre confronted the Baratheon army at its camp, where Queen Selyse agreed to join the North in exchange for Shireen becoming Countess of the Dreadfort. Melisandre converted the Queen’s Men through displays of magic, while Gary and Drogon killed the commanders who refused to submit.

• Gary and Melisandre arrived at the military camp and summoned Queen Selyse and the noble commanders to a council.
• Queen Selyse recognized Gary as Luke Stark and ordered the camp to surround him, but Melisandre revealed Stannis was dead and burned a commander who attacked her.
• Gary raised an ice barrier against the soldiers’ assault and offered to spare the commanders if they joined the North, promising Shireen a hereditary fief at the Dreadfort.
• Queen Selyse accepted Gary’s offer for Shireen, despite loyal Baratheon commanders urging her to claim the throne.
• Melisandre declared herself a priestess of the Supreme God and revived the burned commander, prompting the Queen’s Men to accept the new faith and swear loyalty to the North.
• Gary ordered Drogon to burn the King’s Men who rejected the new king, leaving the surviving Queen’s Men and Selyse subdued.

After Stannis’s defeat, Gary secured Shireen Baratheon’s allegiance, granted her the Dreadfort, and healed her greyscale scars before taking her and Devan back to Castle Black. There, Davos agreed to serve Shireen as her vassal but refused to have his missing fingers restored.

• Lady Selyse brought Shireen and Devan before Gary, and Shireen swore allegiance to Luke Stark on behalf of the Dragonstone branch of House Baratheon.
• Gary granted Shireen the Dreadfort and used Healing Magic to remove the scars left by her greyscale.
• Gary returned to Castle Black with Shireen, Selyse, Devan, and 102 infantrymen, who regained horses and joined Shireen’s cavalry.
• Gary took Shireen and Devan to Davos in the dungeon, where Davos thanked him for healing Shireen’s face.
• Davos agreed to serve as Shireen’s vassal and promised to bring his family north, but refused Gary’s offer to restore his fingers.