Chapter Summaries

Clay Manderly returned to White Harbor after two years in the Free Cities, carrying the soul and memories of a man from another world. Earl Wyman welcomed him as the family heir and planned to take him to Winterfell to arrange a marriage agreement.

• Clay arrived in White Harbor with Ser Marlon and remarked that the city still smelled of fish.
• Wynafryd, Wylla, and House Manderly’s other relatives welcomed Clay at the harbor and escorted him to New Castle.
• Clay greeted Earl Wyman, answered the Manderly family words, and was warmly accepted as the heir.
• Earl Wyman told Clay to rest before accompanying him to Winterfell to seek a marriage agreement with Lord Eddard.
• Clay returned to his old room and considered the business he had to handle at Winterfell.

Clay reviewed his Witcher System and planned to obtain the remaining ingredients and magic needed for the Trial of the Grasses. At dinner, Earl Wyman sent Clay to Winterfell to visit Eddard Stark, and Clay asked to take Wylla with him.

• Clay studied the system’s Decoction of the Grasses recipe and recalled that he still needed sentinel tree bark and more magic to safely undergo mutations.
• Clay considered using the recipe to create witchers and believed they would help him survive the coming wars.
• Wylla asked Clay to take her to Winterfell, and he had not yet agreed when the steward called them to dinner.
• Earl Wyman told Clay to prepare to carry his letter to Winterfell and visit Lord Eddard.
• Clay accepted the task and then asked Earl Wyman if he could take Wylla with him.

Clay Manderly traveled to Winterfell with Wylla, who had persuaded Earl Wyman to let her join him and hoped to befriend Sansa Stark. He arrived at the castle and asked to meet Eddard Stark.

• Wylla asked to accompany Clay to Winterfell, and Earl Wyman agreed, ordering Clay to keep an eye on her.
• Clay set out north along the White Knife River with Wylla and ten Manderly guards, carrying wine for Ser Rodrik.
• During the journey, Clay reflected on House Manderly's military strength and his plans to meet Eddard Stark.
• After twenty days on the road, Clay and his party reached Winterfell, where a Stark knight escorted them through the gates.
• Clay introduced himself to the knight and requested an audience with Lord Stark.

Clay Manderly arrived at Winterfell with his sister Wylla and was told he would have to wait until morning to meet Lord Stark. The next day, he sparred with Jon Snow, drawing the attention of Lord Stark, who invited Clay to meet him in the hall.

• Clay entered Winterfell with Wylla and his guards, and Rodrik arranged lodging for them until the next day.
• Clay practiced the School of the Wolf Swordsmanship in the morning, and Jon introduced himself and asked to spar.
• Jon and Clay fought before a crowd of Stark and Manderly guards, with Rodrik predicting that Jon would lose.
• Lord Stark watched Clay and told Rodrik to invite him to the hall after the sparring ended.

Clay Manderly defeated Jon in a sword bout before meeting Duke Eddard Stark, who asked him to remain at Winterfell while he confirmed Clay’s identity. Ser Rodrik accepted proof of Clay’s connection to his father and invited him and his sister Wylla to meet the Stark children in the training yard.

• Clay gained the advantage over Jon as Jon tired, but Robb intervened and ended their bout.
• Rodrik told Clay that Duke Eddard was waiting for him, then sent Robb to help find Bran.
• Clay introduced himself to Eddard as Wendel Manderly’s son and presented Earl Wyman’s sealed letter.
• Eddard asked Clay to stay in Winterfell until a raven confirmed his identity and suggested he get to know Robb, Sansa, and the others.
• Clay told Rodrik about Wendel’s gambling debt and gave him the promised bottle of wine, convincing Rodrik of his identity.
• Rodrik invited Clay to bring Wylla to the training yard after breakfast, and Clay went to wake her.

Clay Manderly’s identity was confirmed by House Manderly, and he joined Eddard Stark and the Stark children to witness the execution of a Night’s Watch deserter. The execution ended with Eddard carrying out the sentence, while Clay recognized the prisoner as the man who had survived an attack by the White Walkers.

• Clay practiced the School of the Wolf sword forms and told Ser Rodrik he had learned them in Essos.
• Clay asked Robb whether White Harbor had replied, and Robb said a raven had arrived that morning.
• Eddard told Clay that Wyman Manderly had confirmed his identity and ordered him and the Stark children to witness an oathbreaker’s judgment.
• Clay assembled his White Harbor guards and rode with Eddard, Robb, and the others to an abandoned manor outside Winterfell.
• Eddard sentenced the frostbitten Night’s Watch deserter to death and beheaded him with Ice.

Clay realized the execution marked the start of the events that would lead to the War of the Five Kings, then clashed with Theon Greyjoy over the direwolf pups. Duke Eddard stopped the fight and ordered his children to raise the pups as the party returned to Winterfell.

• Clay recognized the executed Night's Watch deserter as a sign that Jon Arryn had died and King Robert I was heading north, forcing him to abandon his plan to study Winterfell's heart tree.
• Jon and Robb showed the party the carcasses of a direwolf and a stag, while Bran and his brothers held the five surviving direwolf pups.
• Theon Greyjoy demanded that Bran give him the pups, and Clay insulted him before Theon startled Clay's horse and knocked him to the ground.
• Clay hurled his longsword at Theon, but Ser Rodrik blocked it and the clash left his sword badly damaged.
• Duke Eddard knocked Theon down, sent him back to Winterfell, and ordered his children to raise the direwolf pups, including the white wolf that belonged to Jon.

After Jon Arryn’s death and news of King Robert’s impending visit, Clay completed the materials for the Decoction of the Grasses but hesitated to use it because of its low success rate and severe side effects. He decided he needed to visit Winterfell’s Godswood, wrote to Earl Wyman that he would stay, and practiced swordsmanship while an unseen observer watched him.

• After learning that Jon Arryn had died and King Robert was coming to Winterfell, Clay received a wagonload of sentinel bark from his guards.
• Clay crafted the Decoction of the Grasses and learned that it had a 30% base success rate and dangerous side effects.
• Clay decided he needed to visit the Godswood before attempting the witcher mutations and wrote to Earl Wyman about staying in Winterfell to meet important visitors.
• Clay sent his letter by raven and planned to enter the Godswood during the king’s feast, when most of House Stark’s forces would be occupied.
• Clay practiced the School of the Wolf Swordsmanship as an unseen observer in the Godswood watched him and murmured that he was interesting.

Clay watched King Robert’s royal procession arrive at Winterfell and warned Robb about concealing his hostility toward House Lannister. With the castle busy preparing to host the king, Clay returned to his room to check his equipment for a nighttime trip into the Godswood.

• Clay teased Robb about being unable to hide his feelings and advised him to avoid House Lannister.
• Wylla told Clay she had spent her time with Sansa and Arya, disappointing his hopes that she would grow closer to Robb.
• Clay watched King Robert, the queen, and their party arrive at Winterfell, while Wylla eagerly observed the royal knights.
• Clay checked the clothes and equipment he had prepared for sneaking into the Godswood that night.
• Clay accepted an invitation to the banquet in Winterfell’s great hall.

Clay sneaked into Winterfell’s Godswood and drew a dangerous surge of magic from the Heart Tree, raising his Magic Pool beyond 150 before he knocked himself free. Far beyond the Wall, a blood-red eye opened and sent ravens south toward Winterfell.

• Clay left the banquet and slipped away from the hall while Jon talked with Benjen.
• Clay used the light security around the Godswood to climb over its wall and make his way to the Heart Tree.
• Clay pressed his bare hands against the weirwood and watched his Magic Pool rise from 75 to more than 150.
• Clay struck his head against the tree to break free, then collapsed and gasped for air.
• A blood-red eye in a cave beyond the Wall sensed the injury and sent ravens flying toward Winterfell.

Clay endured the Trial of the Grasses beneath the Heart Tree to consume the excess magic in his body, surviving its agony and emerging as a witcher. He discovered his enhanced strength and ability to cast a magical shield, then celebrated alone in the Godswood.

• While the king and Eddard Stark feasted in Winterfell's great hall, Clay lay incapacitated in the Godswood with dangerous excess magic in his body.
• Clay used magic to remove the side effects of the Trial of the Grasses and drank the potion beneath the Heart Tree.
• Clay suffered through hours of mutations, convulsions, fever, and pain before his senses returned and he vomited.
• Clay sprang from the muddy pit with newfound strength and cast a pale yellow spherical shield.
• Clay realized he had become a witcher and tried to contain his wild laughter.

Clay covered up his disappearance by pretending he had passed out drunk in the mud, then inspected the upgraded Witcher System and discovered it had unlocked potion formulas. He considered expanding the ranks of witchers and wondered where the Heart Tree’s magic came from.

• Clay pretended he had spent the night drunk in a mud pit, and the captain of the guards accepted his excuse after Clay berated him.
• Clay bathed and changed while Wylla teased him about spending the night with a noble lady.
• Clay inspected the Level 2 Witcher System and saw that he had 120 magic points and five unlocked signs.
• Clay found basic formulas for Swallow, Cat, Thunderbolt, and Blizzard potions, and considered how his new abilities could help him overturn the game of thrones.
• Clay wondered why the Heart Tree held so much magic and questioned where that magic originated.

Clay confronted a Lannister knight who insulted his party, then witnessed Joffrey mock Robb in the training yard. After a guard delivered alarming news, Clay ordered his men to surround the smithy and demanded the culprit’s head.

• Hoster told Clay that Robb and the royal children might be sparring in the training yard, so Clay went there with three guards.
• A Lannister knight blocked Clay’s party and insulted House Manderly, so Clay disarmed him and warned him to watch his head.
• Clay saw Joffrey mock Robb and threaten the Starks’ weirwood, until Robb threw down his sword and left the yard.
• A Manderly guard whispered urgent news to Clay, who ordered Hoster to gather the men and surround the smithy.
• Clay demanded to know where the target was and roared that he wanted his head.

Clay confronted a minor Lannister noble who had harassed his sister Wylla, then killed him after the noble insulted House Manderly. King Robert and Duke Eddard arrived as the queen entered the scene, leaving the consequences of Clay’s killing unresolved.

• Hoster told Clay that Wylla had been separated from her guards and harassed by a minor Lannister noble, and Clay suspected the incident had been arranged.
• Clay reached the scene, comforted Wylla, and watched Hoster and the White Harbor guards surround the Lannisters.
• The Lannister noble insulted Clay and his family and demanded that Wylla be handed over to him.
• Clay cut off the noble’s horse’s forelegs, then killed the fallen rider with his longsword.
• Robert and Eddard arrived, and Clay defended his actions as upholding his house’s honor.
• The queen arrived with soldiers bearing Lannister and Crowned Stag heraldry and saw the corpse and Clay’s bloodied sword.

After Clay killed a Lannister, Robert ordered him imprisoned at Winterfell, where Eddard tried to protect him. An assassin attacked Clay in his cell, but Clay used Axii to learn that Petyr Baelish had sent him.

• Cersei accused House Stark of violating guest right, and Robert slapped her before ordering Clay imprisoned until the royal party left.
• Eddard assigned Ser Rodrik to escort Clay to the dungeon and arranged guards and careful checks of his meals.
• After two quiet days, an assassin entered Clay’s cell and declared that the Lannisters had sent him before attacking.
• Clay dodged the strike and used Axii to subdue the assassin, Hall Lyko.
• Clay questioned Hall Lyko and learned that Petyr Baelish had sent him.

Clay learned that Petyr Baelish had arranged an assassination to inflame tensions between House Stark and House Lannister. After using Axii to make the assassin believe he had killed Clay, Clay left the cell determined to learn what was happening beyond it.

• Clay questioned the assassin and learned that Petyr had sent his orders by raven and arranged for a Lannister to be led to the right place.
• Clay realized that killing either himself or the assassin would serve Petyr's goal of widening the rift between House Stark and House Lannister.
• Clay used Axii to make the assassin believe he had killed Clay and ordered him to report the supposed success to Petyr.
• The assassin left the cell and returned the key to the unconscious jailer.
• Clay reflected on becoming a pawn in Petyr's scheme and decided to leave prison so he could follow events, including whether Bran had seen the queen and her brother together.

After an unknown intruder knocked out the jailer but left Clay unharmed, Eddard Stark realized Clay had concealed the truth and brought him out of his cell to question him. Eddard warned Clay about the weight of taking a life, urged him to help Robb, and left Clay wondering why such a perceptive man would later struggle in King's Landing.

• Ser Rodrik found Clay unharmed in his cell after learning that someone had knocked out the jailer.
• Clay denied seeing an intruder, and Ser Rodrik reported the incident to Eddard Stark.
• Eddard ordered Ser Rodrik to bring Clay to the great hall dressed in Stark colors and away from the queen's people.
• Eddard asked Clay whether he had killed before and reminded him that human life carried weight.
• Eddard told Clay he understood the intruder had not endangered him, praised his handling of the incident, and urged him to help Robb.
• Clay realized Eddard had seen through him and began to doubt his understanding of what would happen in King's Landing.

Clay remained in Winterfell’s dungeon after striking down a Lannister, while Earl Wyman rode toward the castle and his Stark friends visited him. Clay noticed strange magical threads surrounding Bran, then shared news and wine with Robb, Jon, and Bran.

• Duke Stark arranged for White Harbor guards to replace the dungeon guards, while Ser Rodrik told Clay that Earl Wyman was riding to Winterfell with a hundred armored cavalrymen.
• Robb, Jon, and Bran visited Clay, and Clay noticed that magical threads surrounded Bran but not his brothers.
• Robb told Clay that King Robert had argued with the queen, spent the night with whores, and forbidden his family from dealing with the queen’s people.
• Robb and Jon remarked that Joffrey resembled the queen and the Kingslayer more than Robert, and Clay privately recognized the significance of their suspicion.
• Robb told Clay that Wylla was safe in the main keep with Sansa until Earl Wyman arrived, and Jon brought wine for the four young men to share in the dungeon.

Wyman Manderly marched to Winterfell with troops to retrieve his grandson Clay and granddaughter after learning Clay had killed a Lannister. Eddard Stark brought Wyman to the dungeon, where they found Clay drinking with two others.

• Wyman Manderly learned from Wylla’s raven that Clay had killed a Lannister and secretly ordered the maester to keep the news quiet.
• Wyman rode north with one hundred armored cavalry and one hundred auxiliary soldiers, and Robert and Eddard watched his forces arrive at Winterfell.
• Robert told Eddard that Wyman could take Clay and his sister away, while Eddard agreed to meet the earl.
• Wyman met Eddard and asked about Clay, and Eddard led him directly to the dungeon.
• Eddard kicked open Clay’s cell door and found Clay drinking with two others, freezing their smiles.

Clay prepared to leave Winterfell with Earl Wyman but asked to say goodbye to the Stark boys first. While embracing Bran, he used his magic pool and discovered that Bran’s magical threads felt like the magic inside the Heart Tree.

• Eddard found Clay, Robb, and Jon in the dungeon with a bottle of wine, then brought Earl Wyman to see Clay.
• Earl Wyman praised Clay for defending House Manderly’s honor and recalled how Lannister soldiers had abused people in King’s Landing.
• Earl Wyman ordered Hoster to bring Wylla to his guards, then agreed to wait while Clay said goodbye to the Stark boys.
• Clay embraced Robb and Jon, then touched Bran while activating his magic pool.
• Clay drew Bran’s magical threads into himself and recognized their magic as the same kind he had sensed in the Heart Tree.