Chapter Summaries

Tyene reported on Cersei’s harsh imprisonment in the Great Sept of Baelor and shared that Margaery Tyrell had been visiting the Sept. After Bronn brought a battered, hooded visitor to Corleone, the stranger revealed that he had come from Slaver’s Bay at Daenerys Targaryen’s command.

• Tyene told Corleone that Cersei was enduring strict prayers, meager meals, and daily examinations by the Silent Sisters.
• Tyene complained about infiltrating the Great Sept as a Silent Sister and told Corleone that Margaery Tyrell often visited, apparently to mock Cersei.
• Bronn caused a fight while trying to bring a hooded visitor to Corleone, and the Hound beat him for forcing his way in.
• Corleone praised the Hound, ordered Bronn to sit, and asked the hooded visitor to introduce himself.
• The white-haired visitor said he had come from Slaver’s Bay at the command of Daenerys Targaryen.

Barristan Selmy revealed that he had come on Daenerys Targaryen’s behalf and urged Vito Corleone to ally with her. Corleone raised the danger of their negotiations being exposed, then had the Hound seize Bronn and demanded that Barristan kill him.

• Corleone recognized Barristan Selmy and threatened to have him arrested for treason, while Bronn realized the old man’s identity.
• Barristan explained why he had left the Kingsguard and said he believed Daenerys was the true monarch, praising her work freeing slaves and inviting Corleone to become her ally.
• Corleone considered the disorder Daenerys’s campaigns had caused and said they needed to deal with a problem before discussing cooperation.
• Corleone ordered the Hound to lock the office door and seize Bronn, who was held at dagger-point.
• Corleone told Barristan that Bronn had to be disposed of to protect their secret and offered him the dagger, asking him to kill Bronn himself.

Barristan Selmy refused Corleone’s test, declaring that he would not betray his honor or Daenerys Targaryen, and left the House of Order. Corleone then secured Bronn’s cooperation by funding Stokeworth’s repairs and lending him money, while predicting that Barristan would return because he had sworn an oath.

• Barristan refused to let the Hound kill Bronn and rejected Corleone’s demand, insisting that he would not sacrifice an innocent man or betray his honor and loyalty to Daenerys Targaryen.
• Barristan challenged Corleone to act against him, then walked out of the office without being stopped.
• Bronn revealed that he had recognized the encounter as a test and explained that he had never truly believed Corleone wanted him dead.
• Corleone ordered Rorge to arrange repairs for Stokeworth and lend Bronn a thousand Gold Dragons interest-free; Bronn accepted and agreed to spread the news of Corleone’s support.
• Corleone told the Hound that Barristan would return because he needed an ally in King’s Landing and had sworn an oath to Daenerys Targaryen.

Tywin ordered two thousand Lannister troops into King's Landing to secure the regent's coronation, while Corleone prepared his forces and watched Tywin's moves. The chapter left Corleone confident that Tywin would focus on becoming regent before turning against him.

• Tywin reviewed evidence that many Gold Cloaks were taking Corleone's money and ordered Ser Addam Marbrand to bring two thousand Lannister troops into King's Landing.
• Tywin asked Ser Tybert Hetherspoon about his dead daughter and promised to find him a new wife, then heard that Cersei had been meeting unknown people at the sept.
• Rorge told Corleone that Lannister troops were assembling outside the city, and Corleone said his eight hundred fighters should avoid provoking them while increasing patrols in Flea Bottom.
• Corleone ordered Rorge to tell the Gold Cloaks on his payroll to keep a low profile and to watch Barristan Selmy without approaching him.
• Corleone told Rorge that Tywin would not attack before the coronation because becoming regent mattered most to him.

Cersei Lannister endured a brutal penance in the Great Sept of Baelor, carrying a heavy cross until she collapsed and secretly vowed revenge. An old man intervened, condemning the cross as a heretical object and accusing the Sept's authorities of sacrilege.

• Cersei obeyed the Silent Sisters' order to remove her shoes and follow the septon to a small chapel.
• The septon ordered Cersei to carry a forty-pound Confession Cross between the chapel and the Sept's entrance seven times as penance.
• Cersei completed the seven trips despite bleeding shoulders and raw feet, then collapsed beneath the cross and imagined burning her enemies with wildfire.
• A Silent Sister tripped Cersei as she tried to rise, but an old man caught the cross and steadied her.
• The old man rebuked the septon and Silent Sisters, declaring the cross a heretical relic and their treatment of Cersei an insult to the Seven.

Bonifer Hasty stopped the Faith from forcing Cersei to endure brutal penance and escorted her back to her room, where she suggested renaming his band the Warrior’s Sons. In King’s Landing, Barristan assessed Vito Corleone’s rule while Lannister soldiers’ arrival disrupted Cured Meat Street, and the chapter ended as armed soldiers barged into Old John’s Kitchen.

• Bonifer Hasty denounced the septon and Silent Sisters for abusing Cersei under the guise of religious penance and drove them away.
• Bonifer introduced himself to Cersei, condemned Tywin Lannister’s use of the sept as a prison, and escorted her back to her room.
• Barristan visited Old John’s Kitchen and learned that Ellie worked as a steward for Vito Corleone.
• Barristan considered Corleone’s ability to govern and weighed whether he deserved Daenerys’s trust.
• Ellie reported that Lannister soldiers had searched people and stopped goods around the city, and then a group of red-armored soldiers entered the kitchen.

Barristan Selmy avoided being recognized by Ralford in Old John's restaurant, while Ralford later turned violent and attacked Old John. Ellie appeared to poison the Lannister soldiers and killed Ralford with the same kind of sword he had used against her friend Romi.

• Ralford entered Old John's restaurant with Lannister soldiers and claimed Cured Meat Street was under his jurisdiction.
• Barristan Selmy, disguised as Whitebeard, resisted Ralford's demand to remove his hood, then left after Ralford recognized his gait.
• Ralford paid for the soldiers' meal, then kicked Old John and threatened to kill him when Old John tried to refuse payment.
• Ralford prepared to strike Old John, but he and the soldiers suddenly collapsed, vomiting blood and convulsing.
• Ellie came out of the kitchen and approached Ralford, then stabbed his throat with a slender sword and reminded him of how he had killed her friend Romi.

Barristan Selmy returned to Old John’s restaurant and found Ralf and the Lannister soldiers dead, with a disguised young woman who fought him using deadly swordsmanship. He recognized her as possibly Arya Stark, but she escaped after telling him she had no name and whispering that the North never forgets.

• Barristan Selmy reconsidered Ralf’s behavior and ran back to Old John’s restaurant, fearing trouble.
• Barristan found Ralf and more than a dozen Lannister soldiers dead, while a young woman disguised as Ellie stood over the last corpse and reassured Old John that his daughter was safe.
• Barristan challenged the woman, who attacked him with a slender sword and claimed that a girl seeking revenge had to act.
• Barristan gained the upper hand, but the woman recognized him as Ser Barristan Selmy, and he suspected she was Arya Stark.
• The woman threw a dagger at Barristan and fled, saying she was someone with no name and whispering, “The North. Never forgets...”

Corleone promised protection and help to Old John and Ellie after soldiers died at their restaurant, then explained his life creed and analyzed Tywin’s troop deployment with Barristan. Barristan recognized Tywin’s pressure campaign and, without being asked, offered to help Corleone.

• Corleone assured Old John that Ellie and her family were protected as members of the Black Hand Mafia, and arranged for the restaurant to be cleaned, repaired, and reopened.
• Corleone told Old John to stay with Ellie in Flea Bottom until the restaurant reopened and asked him to repay the bond by helping him if he ever needed it.
• Corleone shared his five-part creed with Barristan, who praised him and said he believed Corleone and Daenerys could find common ground.
• Corleone showed Barristan a defense map that marked Tywin’s forces along Cured Meat Street and the route to the Sept, explaining that Tywin meant to pressure him and secure the coronation rather than control the whole city.
• Corleone said he had about eight hundred trained men against Tywin’s two thousand and could not strike first without giving Tywin grounds to call him a traitor.
• Barristan understood Corleone’s position and asked what he could do to help.

Tywin Lannister rode to the Great Sept of Baelor to be crowned Regent while fretting over Corleone’s inactivity, his worsening ailments, and the mysterious vigilante Whitebeard. As the Archbishops welcomed him, Tywin drove his horse up the Sept’s steps and straight toward their leader.

• Tywin prepared for his coronation after another sleepless night, still unable to relieve his constipation and worried that Corleone had made no move against the Lannister blockade.
• Tywin recalled that Whitebeard had been killing Lannister soldiers who abused commoners and urging the poor to seek protection from the Black Hand Mafia, though Varys’s Little Birds found no link between him and Corleone.
• Tybert told Tywin that Ser Osmun Kettleblack had arrived at the city gate with a gift, and Tywin allowed him to enter despite knowing he had delayed marching north against Stannis Baratheon’s forces.
• Tywin rode through the crowds to the Great Sept of Baelor, convinced his coronation would give him power over Corleone and his enemies.
• When the Archbishops began welcoming him, Tywin charged his horse up the Sept’s steps toward the Archbishop leading them.

Tywin entered the Great Sept on horseback and prepared to be crowned Regent after swearing oaths before the Seven. Just as the crown touched his head, an unknown voice accused him of violating his vows.

• Tywin rode his horse into the Sept, startling the archbishops and nobles gathered for the ceremony.
• Bronn and Herb Lake leered at Margaery while Earl Ralf Leek questioned why the Sept had so few guards.
• Tommen handed his crown to the High Septon, saying his mother had told him his grandfather would return it once he came of age.
• Tywin knelt before Tommen and swore the Seven oaths required to receive the Regent's crown.
• As the High Septon lowered the crown onto Tywin's head, an unseen speaker accused him of incest, usurpation, blasphemy, and slaughter.

Bonifer Hasty led the Warrior's Sons in an assault on Tywin Lannister during the regent's coronation, but Addam Marbrand's forces crushed the uprising and killed Bonifer. Tywin claimed the regency, then the Great Sept of Baelor exploded in green flames while Tommen was missing.

• Bonifer Hasty interrupted Tywin Lannister's coronation and accused him of breaking his vows, including concealing the truth about Cersei's children.
• Bonifer revealed the Warrior's Sons and ordered them to purge Tywin, but Addam Marbrand arrived with Lannister soldiers and surrounded them.
• Bonifer fought Addam, lost his right hand, and was killed after charging him again with his sword in his left hand.
• Tywin took the Regent's crown and declared himself Regent and Protector of the Realm, then discovered that Tommen had vanished.
• A rumbling shook the sept, and a massive green explosion destroyed the Great Sept of Baelor.

Cersei watched the Great Sept of Baelor explode, then prepared to seize command of the Lannister soldiers and blame Vito Corleone for the blast. As she led Tommen and the Sand Snakes toward the sept, Corleone watched the smoke from Flea Bottom and showed that he already knew what had happened.

• Tyene and Obara celebrated the wildfire explosion and argued about using it against Yronwood while Sarella watched uneasily.
• Cersei secretly rejoiced at Tywin's death and planned to claim the Lannister soldiers' loyalty, take the throne, and destroy Flea Bottom by framing Corleone.
• Tommen asked whether Cersei had known about the explosion and grieved for Tywin and Margaery, but Cersei lied and told him to blame Corleone.
• Cersei ordered Tommen to remember that Corleone had killed Tywin and the nobles, then led him and the Sand Snakes down the hill toward the sept.
• In Flea Bottom, Corleone watched smoke rise from the sept as Rorge reported the explosion, and he said he already knew.

After the Great Sept of Baelor exploded, Cersei blamed Vito Corleone and urged the Lannister soldiers to raze Flea Bottom. Kevan Lannister arrived before they could march, and raised his riding crop toward Cersei.

• Commoners, nobles, and Lannister soldiers gathered at the burning ruins and began praying and searching for survivors.
• An old septon condemned the destruction of the Great Sept before collapsing, deepening the crowd’s grief.
• Cersei appeared with Tommen, called the explosion murder, and accused Vito Corleone of planting wildfire beneath the Sept.
• Cersei ordered the Lannister soldiers to attack Flea Bottom, and they rallied to avenge Tywin and their fallen comrades.
• Kevan Lannister arrived with a company of Gold Cloaks, ignored Cersei’s pleas to support her attack, and raised his riding crop toward her.

Kevan exposed Cersei as the mastermind behind the Sept explosion and sentenced her to death, but Tywin emerged alive from the ruins just as she was about to be hanged. Tywin confronted Cersei and declared that he was not dead.

• Kevan struck Cersei and accused her of murdering Tywin and more than a hundred people by planting wildfire beneath the Sept.
• Hallyne testified that Cersei had ordered the wildfire planted and tried to silence the pyromancers, while Tyene and Obara confirmed Cersei’s guilt.
• Cersei admitted she had wanted to take power from Tywin, and Kevan sentenced her to death.
• Cersei demanded trial by combat, but no one agreed to champion her, and the Gold Cloaks prepared to hang her.
• Tywin and the injured Ser Tybert Hetherspoon emerged from beneath the Father’s statue, and Tywin told Cersei she would never measure up to Jaime before declaring he was not dead.

After the Sept explosion, Tywin blamed Vito Corleone, seized the nobles, and ordered a crackdown on Flea Bottom, while Kevan and Tybert turned against him. Daven executed Tybert and prepared to kill the Sand Snakes, but a Black Hand attacker broke through the encirclement and stabbed Daven in the throat.

• Tywin declared Cersei innocent, blamed Vito Corleone for the Sept bombing, arrested the Sand Snakes, and ordered the nobles confined in the Red Keep.
• Tywin’s soldiers killed Hallyne, and Kevan resigned as Master of Laws and left with Lancel after denouncing Tywin’s plans as tyranny.
• Tybert refused Tywin’s orders and revealed that he had learned Tywin was responsible for his daughter Meera Ya’s death, then walked away from his service.
• Daven Lannister stabbed Tybert to death, and Tywin appointed Daven acting commander and ordered him to kill the Sand Snakes and attack Flea Bottom.
• As Daven raised his sword to execute the Sand Snakes, the Black Hand forces broke through the Lannister cordon, and a hooded rider stabbed Daven in the throat.

Oberyn Martell and the Black Hand Mafia broke the Lannister encirclement at the ruins, killing soldiers and forcing the rest to surrender. As the fighting ended, Corleone arrived on a gray horse, leaving the gathered nobles and commoners awaiting what he would do next.

• Oberyn Martell charged into the ruins, killed Daven Lannister and four guards, and tried to reach Tywin Lannister before turning to attack the surrounding soldiers.
• Oberyn fought off the Lannister soldiers until his three daughters joined the battle and the Hound and Yego arrived with Black Hand Mafia cavalry.
• The Hound and Oberyn fought through the Lannister ranks while Yego led a flanking attack, and the Lannister defensive line collapsed.
• With their commanders dead, Lannister soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered; the Black Hand Mafia spared those who laid down their arms.
• A horn sounded, the Black Hand Mafia opened a passage, and Corleone rode into the ruins on a gray horse.

Vito Corleone took control of the ruins after defeating Tywin Lannister, spared Tywin’s life, and captured Cersei. He presented Tommen as the authority behind Cersei’s arrest and promised the surviving nobles safe passage, ending by demanding that they accept his account of the Sept’s destruction.

• Vito persuaded Tywin’s guards to stand aside, then confronted the defeated Regent, who collapsed after learning that the people of King’s Landing had helped Corleone defeat his forces.
• Corleone found Tywin alive and ordered the Lannister knights to carry him to the Red Keep, where he would receive treatment.
• Yego brought the captured Cersei before Corleone, who ordered him to keep watch over her.
• The Hound brought Tommen to Corleone, who reassured him that Margaery was safe and invited him to meet his people.
• With Tommen on his shoulders, Corleone announced that the king and queen had ordered Cersei’s arrest for destroying the Great Sept of Baelor and promised the nobles that the Black Hand Mafia would escort them home.
• Corleone told the survivors to spread the word that Cersei was responsible for the tragedy, then asked the crowd who agreed and who objected.

At the Small Council meeting, Vito Corleone was appointed Acting Hand of the King while Tywin Lannister recovered from his injuries. Bronn realized that Ralf Leek had known about the plan before him, and Corleone called him forward.

• Bronn waited outside the Throne Room and tried to impress the Black Hand Mafia guards, who warned him to step back.
• Ralf Leek praised Bronn for helping contain the Lannister garrison on Cured Meat Street and revealed that House Rykker had led the attack there.
• Corleone arrived with Margaery Tyrell and the Small Council, and entered the Throne Room with them.
• Corleone sat on the Iron Throne without objection, while Bronn watched in disbelief.
• Pycelle announced that Vito Corleone had been appointed Acting Hand of the King until Tywin recovered, and the assembled soldiers and lords bowed.
• Bronn realized Ralf Leek had known about the appointment, and Corleone told Bronn to come forward.

Bronn welcomed Randyll Tarly to King's Landing, where their clash over his friendship with Tyrion ended with Randyll riding on to take up his post as Master of Laws. In the Red Keep's Black Cells, Randyll questioned the broken Cersei about Tywin and the Sept before she cursed her enemies, while he learned the names of the servant Ali and guard Gendry.

• Tyrion and Bronn were splashed with manure by an ox cart outside the King's Gate, then bickered about Bronn's duties as Commander of the City Watch.
• Bronn greeted Randyll Tarly, who criticized his appearance and reminded him of his lowborn origins.
• Randyll called Tyrion a criminal and disdained him, prompting Bronn to defend his friend before Randyll rode through the gate with his knights.
• Bronn and Tyrion joked about the confrontation and reconciled after Tyrion forgave Bronn for dropping him in the mud.
• Randyll visited Cersei in the Black Cells, gave her water, and questioned her about Tywin and the destruction at the Sept; Cersei raved about her sons and cursed her enemies.
• Randyll met the servant Ali and the guard Gendry, then ordered them to watch Cersei closely.