Chapter Summaries

Tywin Lannister ordered Ser Addam Marbrand to seal Flea Bottom and suppress a growing riot after crowds rallied for Vito Corleone and the Black Hand Mafia. As Addam left to carry out the martial-law orders, Tywin arranged to bring a Dothraki from the Red Keep Dungeons to him and waited for the crackdown to begin.

• Ser Addam Marbrand reported that thousands of Flea Bottom commoners were attacking checkpoints and calling for Vito Corleone and the Black Hand Mafia.
• Tywin ordered Addam to send two thousand City Watch men and five hundred Lannister household troops to seal every exit from Flea Bottom.
• Tywin recounted the destruction of House Reyne and House Tarbeck to justify crushing resistance without negotiation.
• Tywin issued martial-law orders forbidding gatherings and threatening armed attackers, arsonists, and assailants with death, then directed archers and crossbowmen to take the rooftops.
• After Tywin reminded Addam of his father’s loyalty, Addam accepted the orders and left to deploy the troops.
• Tywin sent an attendant to bring a Dothraki from the Red Keep Dungeons and waited for the army to assemble.

Addam Marbrand’s troops surrounded Flea Bottom, but Corleone used his Black Hand Mafia network to launch a night of unseen assassinations that left the commander afraid to trust his own men. By dawn, the blockade remained in place while Flea Bottom cooked freely, and an old man emerged near the House of Order carrying a meat pie.

• Addam Marbrand reinforced the blockade around Flea Bottom after learning its residents had dispersed in an orderly fashion.
• Corleone told Rorge to carry out the planned reprisals against former allies who had betrayed the Black Hand Mafia.
• Black Hand operatives killed Hake and Erik at their posts, leaving badges and messages that made Addam suspect soldiers throughout his ranks.
• Eleven officers were confirmed dead by dawn, while Addam refused to investigate his troops and learned that a grain convoy had been delayed.
• Addam smelled fresh bread from Flea Bottom, saw cooking smoke rising across the slum, and spotted an old man carrying a meat pie near the House of Order.

The narrator got badly drunk after drinking about a dozen beers on an empty stomach and regretted it. They decided not to drink on an empty stomach again.

• The narrator reflected that their alcohol tolerance was difficult to describe.
• The narrator threw up twice.
• The narrator blamed drinking on an empty stomach for getting completely wasted after about a dozen bottles of beer.
• The narrator resolved never to drink on an empty stomach again.

Addam Marbrand struggled to control hungry, fearful Gold Cloaks while Corleone used food and targeted assassinations to weaken their hold on Flea Bottom. Corleone set out for the Red Keep as Oberyn Martell confronted Tywin Lannister at the Small Council, claiming his promised place and mocking the Hand.

• Addam spotted Flea Bottom residents eating hot food and ordered Gold Cloaks to search the alleys, but the soldiers found empty houses and faced hostile locals.
• The quartermaster admitted that Corleone had paid him to replace the City Watch's provisions with spoiled food, and Addam ordered him imprisoned.
• Rorge reported that the Black Hand Mafia had killed eleven middle-ranking Gold Cloak officers, while Marga confirmed that Corleone's stores had fed 320 needy households.
• Corleone decided to wear Kingsguard armor and go to the Red Keep to meet Tywin and press his proposal.
• Kevan outlined the preparations for Tyrion Lannister's trial, but Mace Tyrell objected that Tyrion's guilt was beyond doubt.
• Oberyn Martell entered the Small Council chamber, asserted his promised role as a special adviser, and taunted Tywin by offering to take his seat.

At the Small Council, Oberyn mocked Tywin over the failed crackdown in Flea Bottom and denounced the council’s members for their past betrayals and crimes. Tywin adjourned the meeting and ordered investigations, while Oberyn left with a pointed message for the Mountain.

• Oberyn ridiculed Tywin’s rule and the Gold Cloaks’ inability to control Flea Bottom, prompting Mace Tyrell to defend Tywin with claims that backfired.
• Oberyn revealed that Gold Cloak officers had died and the soldiers had gone without breakfast, while Varys explained that a bribed quartermaster had diverted their flour.
• Tywin ordered Kevan to investigate the deaths and missing provisions, but Oberyn accused Kevan, Tywin, Mace, Pycelle, and Varys of serving corruption and betrayal.
• Tywin adjourned the Small Council and assigned urgent tasks to Kevan, Mace, Pycelle, and Varys before warning Oberyn to mind his conduct.
• Oberyn told Tywin to give the Mountain his regards and say that he was waiting for him to recover.

Tywin Lannister confronted Vito Corleone in his bedroom after Corleone killed the guards and demanded Flea Bottom’s self-rule. Corleone exposed how deeply his influence reached into the Gold Cloaks, leaving Tywin shaken by the extent of his control.

• Tywin found Shae trembling in his bed and discovered Vito Corleone waiting in the shadows after Corleone said he had killed the guards.
• Corleone confronted Tywin over his treatment of him and threatened to kill him if he stalled until the next guard shift.
• Corleone demanded that Tywin withdraw the Gold Cloaks from Flea Bottom and recognize its right to self-rule, but Tywin refused.
• Corleone described the hungry Gold Cloaks, the deaths of twenty-three officers, and the guards outside Tywin’s door to show that he controlled the situation.
• Tywin said Kevan had appointed a loyal new quartermaster, but Corleone revealed that Alaric Vane was compromised by gambling debts and a secret lover.

Corleone confronted Tywin in his bedroom, using his reach into the Red Keep and the threat of unrest to persuade him to hand Flea Bottom’s security and administration to Corleone’s people. Tywin agreed to withdraw the Gold Cloaks and establish an autonomous zone, but Corleone challenged the reliability of Tywin’s promise and proposed a wager.

• Tywin threatened to have his soldiers destroy Flea Bottom, but Corleone challenged his ability to carry out the threat and put a sword to his neck.
• Corleone recounted Tywin’s activities throughout the day, revealing how his contacts among the Red Keep’s servants and workers had gathered information about the Hand.
• Corleone argued that suppressing Flea Bottom would endanger Tywin’s rule and proposed taking responsibility for the district’s security and administration.
• Tywin agreed to withdraw the Gold Cloaks and create a tax-favored autonomous zone, limiting its security force to three hundred civilian volunteers.
• Corleone showed Tywin his previously disregarded commission and flipped a Gold Dragon, inviting him to make a wager.

Corleone escaped the Tower of the Hand after persuading Ser Tybert Hetherspoon that he had stopped an assassination attempt, while Tywin Lannister struggled to understand why his sword could not pierce Corleone’s skin. Tywin killed Shae and began planning to investigate Corleone, ordering Ser Addam Marbrand to withdraw the Gold Cloaks from Flea Bottom.

• Corleone told Ser Tybert Hetherspoon that assassins had attacked the Tower of the Hand, that he had killed three, and that the Lord Hand was safe.
• Tybert accepted Corleone’s account and sent his knights into the tower to secure it while Corleone went to report to the king.
• Tywin recalled that his sword had failed to pierce Corleone’s throat and wondered what Corleone was.
• Tywin killed Shae with his sword as he compared her vulnerability to Corleone’s apparent invulnerability.
• Tywin decided to investigate Corleone and wrote an order for Ser Addam Marbrand to withdraw all Gold Cloaks units from Flea Bottom before sunset.

After helping Corleone escape the Red Keep, Jaime learned that Tywin had agreed to withdraw the Gold Cloaks from Flea Bottom and grant it special autonomous status. Bronn brought the badly wounded Yego to them, and after Corleone treated him, Bronn unexpectedly threw back the purse of gold dragons he had been paid.

• Corleone met Jaime outside the Red Keep after threatening Tywin, and Jaime said he did not regret helping him.
• Corleone told Jaime that Tywin had agreed to withdraw the Gold Cloaks from Flea Bottom and give it three tax-free months followed by a reduced tax rate.
• Jaime said he trusted Corleone because Corleone had saved him in the Riverlands, even when exploiting his identity would have been advantageous.
• Bronn arrived carrying the wounded Yego, and Jaime teased him about the prospect of becoming Earl of Stokeworth.
• Corleone treated Yego's serious wounds while Bronn praised the Dothraki for enduring torture without talking.
• Corleone paid Bronn roughly two hundred gold dragons, but Bronn surprised Jaime by throwing the purse back.

Bronn warned Corleone and Jaime that Qyburn had transformed the Mountain into a stronger, pain-insensitive monster, making a trial by combat dangerous for Tyrion. At Tyrion’s rigged trial, just as he was about to demand combat, Sansa Stark appeared in the Great Sept.

• Bronn rejected Corleone’s purse and asked him to help save Tyrion, explaining that Tyrion’s trial was certain to end in conviction.
• Corleone suggested Tyrion demand a trial by combat and identified Bronn as a likely champion, but Bronn revealed that Cersei and Qyburn had restored and enhanced the Mountain.
• Three days later, Tywin presided over Tyrion’s trial in the Great Sept while hired witnesses testified against him.
• Tyrion denounced the accusations and his family, but Tywin demanded evidence, leaving him with no defense except a possible trial by combat.
• As Tyrion prepared to demand trial by combat, Sansa Stark entered the Great Sept, surprising the assembled nobles and Tyrion.

At Tyrion Lannister’s trial, Sansa Stark returned and declared herself his lawful wife, then testified that she had been abducted by Dontos Hollard and hidden in Flea Bottom. When Tywin asked for a witness, Vito Corleone stepped forward to support her.

• Sansa appeared at the trial, named herself the rightful heir to Winterfell and Tyrion’s lawful wife, and said she had been staying in Flea Bottom.
• Tywin questioned Sansa about her disappearance, and she said she had been abducted rather than having fled King's Landing.
• Sansa testified that Dontos Hollard had seized her during the chaos after Joffrey collapsed and drugged her before taking her aboard a ship.
• Cersei accused Sansa of conspiring with Tyrion to murder Joffrey, but Tywin ignored her outburst and asked whether Sansa had a witness.
• Vito Corleone stepped into the Great Sept and offered to bear witness for Sansa.

Corleone testified that Sansa Stark had been smuggled from King’s Landing and hidden in Flea Bottom, prompting Tywin to question what Corleone intended by protecting her. Sansa defended Tyrion Lannister against Cersei’s accusations and ended by claiming she could prove his respect for women because she was still a virgin.

• Corleone told Tywin that his fleet had found Sansa Stark locked in a crate aboard a smuggling vessel bound for Driftmark, though he had no information about Dontos Hollard.
• Sansa recounted how Dontos Hollard had taken her from the royal wedding feast and how Joffrey had later stripped him of his knighthood after she pleaded for his life.
• Corleone suggested that Dontos might have abducted Sansa out of wounded pride, while Tywin privately considered whether Corleone was seeking control over Sansa and the North.
• Sansa rejected the prostitutes’ accusations against Tyrion, and Cersei angrily denounced him as a monster who had poisoned Joffrey.
• Sansa demanded solid evidence that Tyrion had abused women, then declared that she could prove he respected women because she was still a virgin.

At Tyrion Lannister’s trial, Sansa testified that he had never forced her and had treated her with kindness, but Cersei and the gathered nobles mocked him. As Tywin prepared to rule, Tyrion denounced his father and revealed what had happened to Tysha, until Jaime arrived with a battered Dontos Hollard and announced new evidence.

• Sansa testified that Tyrion had respected her wishes throughout their marriage and defended him against the accusations.
• Cersei dismissed Sansa’s testimony, and Tyrion mocked himself as the monster the nobles expected him to be.
• Tywin said Sansa’s testimony could not disprove the other witnesses or clear Tyrion of Joffrey’s death.
• Tyrion confronted Tywin, confessed sarcastically, and revealed how Tywin had made him believe Tysha was a hired whore rather than his true love.
• Jaime entered the sept with Dontos Hollard and told Tywin that they had new evidence.

Petyr Baelish reflected on his plans to take control of the Vale while worrying that Sansa Stark had vanished after his failed abduction scheme. When Tywin Lannister summoned him to King's Landing for questioning, Petyr used Lysa Tully's fear to justify refusing to leave the Vale for now.

• Petyr considered how he would use Lysa's dependence on him to gain control of the Vale and eventually remove her.
• Petyr worried that Sansa Stark had disappeared after the ship arranged to carry her away failed to arrive.
• Lysa brought Petyr breakfast and became jealous of the maids, while Petyr soothed her with promises he did not mean.
• Nestor Royce delivered Tywin Lannister's order requiring Petyr to return to King's Landing for questioning.
• Lysa refused to let Petyr go, and Petyr persuaded her and Nestor that his presence was needed to protect her and Robert.
• Petyr told Nestor to reply that he could not travel, then resolved to consolidate his power in the Vale before returning to King's Landing.

Tyrion visited Vito Corleone’s orderly Flea Bottom administration center after being released from the Black Cells on bail, then learned Sansa Stark wanted their marriage dissolved. He agreed to the divorce and demanded that the ceremony happen publicly, leaving the announcement poised to reach Tywin.

• Tyrion toured the House of Order and learned that Flea Bottom residents registered for tokens granting access to grain, clinics, and literacy classes.
• Corleone told Tyrion that he was released on bail pending trial, had to remain in King’s Landing, and had to report daily to the City Watch.
• Tyrion confirmed that Bronn had delivered ten thousand Gold Dragons to Corleone and asked whether their transaction was finished.
• Sansa arrived with Bishop Renard and presented a formal request to dissolve her marriage to Tyrion.
• Tyrion agreed to the divorce, then demanded that Bishop Renard perform the ceremony publicly so everyone would know Sansa had initiated it.

Tyrion told Jaime that he and Sansa had divorced, while Jaime prepared to leave King's Landing for the Wall and entrusted Tyrion's safety to Vito Corleone. Corleone agreed to protect Tyrion and gave Jaime a custom-forged sword and notes on left-handed swordsmen before Jaime rode north.

• Tyrion told Jaime that Sansa had requested a divorce and that Bishop Renard had performed the ceremony in Corleone's office.
• Sansa passed Jaime and Tyrion without speaking to Tyrion, and Tyrion remarked that she had become a warrior.
• Jaime thanked Corleone for helping find Dontos Hollard and revealed that he was leaving King's Landing to relearn swordsmanship at the Wall.
• Jaime asked Corleone to protect Tyrion, and Corleone agreed on the condition that Jaime return alive and master the left-handed sword.
• Corleone gave Jaime a sword forged by Master Tobho Mott and a booklet of records about left-handed swordsmen.
• Jaime rode north toward the Wall as Corleone watched him leave.

Tywin Lannister learned that Tyrion and Sansa had formally dissolved their marriage, while his search for Vito Corleone’s allies yielded little and left him increasingly wary of Corleone’s growing influence. As Tywin turned to pressure Petyr Baelish and reassure himself that he still controlled events, Kevan arrived with Oberyn Martell’s demand to reopen the murders of Elia Martell and her children and make Gregor Clegane name who ordered them.

• Tybert told Tywin that Tyrion and Sansa had dissolved their marriage and that Tyrion had requested a public ceremony.
• Tybert reported that his investigation into leaks to Vito Corleone had identified three people with suspicious movements, and Tywin ordered them sent to the Black Cells for questioning.
• Tywin ordered Tybert to investigate Corleone’s unexplained ability to withstand blades and to seek records from the Citadel and intelligence from the Iron Bank.
• Tywin questioned Tybert’s loyalty by recalling his daughter Meera Ya, then ordered him to continue investigating and to cultivate Vale lords opposed to Petyr Baelish.
• Tywin concluded that Corleone wanted power beyond Flea Bottom and resolved not to be frightened or lose control.
• Kevan told Tywin that Oberyn Martell had formally demanded that the murders of Elia Martell and her children be reexamined and that Gregor Clegane identify who gave the order.

At a Small Council meeting, Oberyn demanded a new investigation and trial over the murders of Elia Martell and her children, while Cersei unexpectedly supported him and proposed a regency council. Tywin arrived as Cersei’s bid for power was underway and told the council to continue.

• Tommen signed royal documents as Oberyn clashed with Mace Tyrell and Grand Maester Pycelle over reopening the case of Elia Martell’s murder.
• Cersei backed Oberyn’s demand for justice, arguing that Gregor Clegane should face trial if guilty.
• Oberyn presented a formal proposal to reopen the investigation, detain Gregor, establish a judicial committee, and summon witnesses; Tommen and Cersei supported it.
• Cersei proposed a temporary Seven-Member Regency Council to oversee the trial, prompting Mace to realize she was using the case to claim power.
• Tywin entered the Council Chamber and ordered the council to continue, saying he wanted to hear what had happened at a meeting held without the Hand.

Tywin shut down Cersei’s push for a Regency Council and a trial over Elia Martell’s murder until Vito Corleone arrived with Amory Lorch as a witness. Lorch implicated himself in the order to clear out the Red Keep but hesitated to name who gave it, and Oberyn demanded the Mountain as a more direct witness.

• Cersei demanded justice for Elia Martell and argued for a Regency Council, but Tywin accused her of seeking revenge and Mace Tyrell and Pycelle sided with him.
• Tywin declared the proposed trial baseless and moved to end the meeting, but Vito Corleone entered with the wounded Amory Lorch.
• Oberyn questioned Lorch, who admitted he had followed orders to clear out the Red Keep and prevent the Targaryens from posing a future threat.
• Lorch hesitated to identify who gave the order, while Tywin remained silent and Corleone’s presence unsettled him.
• Oberyn called for another, more direct witness and named Gregor Clegane, the Mountain.

Corleone exposed Cersei’s secret treatment of Gregor Clegane and forced Tywin to summon him to face Amory Lochy. Before Lochy could name who ordered the murders of Elia and her children, Clegane crushed his head, leaving Oberyn staring at his old enemy in hatred.

• Oberyn demanded that Gregor Clegane be brought before Lochy, and Corleone revealed that Clegane was receiving secret treatment in the Red Keep.
• Tywin demanded the truth from Cersei, who admitted arranging Clegane’s treatment, and ordered the guards to bring him to the council chamber.
• Qyburn brought Clegane into the chamber, where Oberyn questioned Lochy about the murders of Elia and her children.
• Lochy identified Clegane as Elia’s killer and admitted that he had stabbed Rhaenys, then began to reveal who gave the order.
• Clegane crushed Lochy’s head before he could name the person who ordered the murders, and Oberyn confronted him in furious grief.