Chapter Summaries

After reviewing the White Sea Guard’s costly intelligence network, Clay took command and began redirecting its efforts toward people and places he considered important. He left the meeting with orders to monitor Winterfell, strengthen coverage around the Twins, and investigate Hall Lyko.

• Clay insisted that the White Sea Guard never deduct from the death benefits of its dead agents.
• Ser Bartimus confirmed that Clay had authority to command the White Sea Guard, and Clay ordered Northern surveillance concentrated on Winterfell, especially Bran Stark and Lady Catelyn.
• Clay directed Chief Rivers to continue monitoring Lord Tully, focus on the Twins, arrange contact during Clay’s visit, and eventually map the area around the Twins’ gates.
• Clay told Chief Hill to stop competing with House Lannister’s spies, seek leverage over someone with access to the Lannister castle, and preserve the Westerlands network after Hill reported past failures.
• Clay ordered the Crownlands network to avoid becoming caught in conflicts in King’s Landing, track Petyr and Varys, and find out whether Hall Lyko was still alive.

Clay followed Ser Bartimus into the godswood, where they shared an old bottle of ale and discussed the White Sea Guard and the dangers of misplaced trust. As Clay left, he recognized a magically resonant crow as the Three-Eyed Crow.

• Clay followed Ser Bartimus to the heart tree after seeing him enter the godswood.
• Ser Bartimus told Clay that he had lost a leg saving Clay's grandfather and kept the bottle of ale they had once planned to share.
• Ser Bartimus warned Clay not to become lenient or trust the White Sea Guard blindly, advising him to believe only half of the information passed up from below.
• Clay and Ser Bartimus drank together and talked about their past and the northern army's exploits.
• Clay washed his face at the pool and spotted a huge black crow, recognizing it as the Three-Eyed Crow.

Clay met the Three-Eyed Crow and received Vermax’s petrified Dragon Egg, then learned the conditions needed to hatch it. The Crow revealed that magic, high heat, and special blood could awaken a dragon, leaving Clay with a dangerous gift and a possible path to raising one.

• Clay encountered the Three-Eyed Crow and Hodor in the woods.
• The Three-Eyed Crow gave Clay the Dragon Egg from Vermax, which Clay accepted despite suspecting it was bait.
• Clay learned that R'hllor and Melisandre were working to expand their influence through the southern lands.
• The Three-Eyed Crow explained that hatching a Dragon Egg required high heat, special blood, and magic.
• Clay connected the Crow’s explanation to the sacrifice and conditions that had allowed Daenerys to hatch her dragons.

The Three-Eyed Crow explained that dragonriding depended on high Valyrian blood, not merely the ability to use fire magic, and offered Clay a way to acquire that bloodline. Clay absorbed Bloodraven’s blood, enduring scorching pain as the Three-Eyed Crow instructed him to assimilate it.

• Clay wondered why Bloodraven had never ridden a dragon and realized the Dragon Egg had come to him too late.
• The Three-Eyed Crow explained that dragonlords possessed a special affinity for fire magic, while Clay’s own ability to use fire magic did not prove he had the necessary bloodline.
• The Three-Eyed Crow revealed that he had brought Clay a sample of his own former dragonlord blood and instructed him to absorb it.
• Clay used the Witcher System’s Magic Pool to draw the blood’s fiery power into his body, suffering intense pain as it spread.
• The Three-Eyed Crow told Clay to let the blood reach his heart and use magic to assimilate it, beginning the creation of a new dragonlord bloodline.

Clay returned to New Castle after secretly obtaining a Dragon Egg and collapsed from exhaustion, while Earl Wyman grew furious on learning Clay had shared a bottle with Ser Bartimus. The next day, Clay discovered he could gradually merge the Blood of the Dragonlord into his own blood, then weighed the dangers of hatching a dragon while remaining heir to House Manderly.

• Clay woke in the Godswood after the Three-Eyed Crow delivered the Dragon Egg, hid it in his Witcher System inventory, and told his guards he had drunk too much wine.
• Clay's guards brought him back to New Castle, where Wynafryd took him in, and their captain reported the incident to Earl Wyman.
• Earl Wyman became angry when he learned Clay had drunk with Ser Bartimus, then smashed things after dismissing the guard captain.
• Clay woke the next day and used his magic to test the Blood of the Dragonlord, discovering that repeated contact could slowly merge it into his own blood, though the pain made the process dangerous.
• Clay considered whether to hatch the Dragon Egg and decided that his duties to House Manderly and his family made abandoning his position impossible, but he wanted the option of a dragon against Daenerys Targaryen in the future.

Clay set out from White Harbor with two hundred Manderly knights to travel by ship to the Twins. He boarded the Old Man of White Harbor, where his guards prepared for the voyage, and settled into his private cabin.

• Wynafryd reminded Clay of his promise to refuse any Frey marriage proposal on her behalf, and Clay reassured her before leaving.
• Clay rode through White Harbor to the Manderly military harbor, where Captain Ston prepared to take him and his men south aboard the Old Man of White Harbor.
• Clay struggled with the swaying gangplank but crossed it, while most of his veteran guards boarded with ease.
• Clay asked why the guards removed their armor, and the guard captain explained that heavy armor could exhaust them when the ship pitched.
• Clay let the guard captain remove his armor and entered the private cabin prepared for him.

Clay went up on deck to escape his seasick cabin and learned about the strength of White Harbor’s fleet and the Iron Fleet’s dominance. He recognized how vulnerable coastal lands were without naval power and resolved to suggest that Lord Manderly invest in a stronger navy.

• Clay left his cabin for fresh air and joined Captain Stone and the guard captain on the stern platform.
• Captain Stone explained that White Harbor had ten great sailing ships, twelve longships, and two galleys, far fewer than the fleets of the Iron Islands, Lannisters, and Tyrells.
• Captain Stone described how Stannis had nearly destroyed the Iron Fleet at the Battle of Fair Isle by trapping it between the island and the mainland.
• Clay considered how ships could bypass the Neck’s defenses and how a coastal landing could threaten White Harbor.
• Clay decided he would someday urge Lord Manderly to spend more money building up the navy.

Eddard Stark worried over the crown’s mounting debts as he watched the tournament in King’s Landing. After Loras Tyrell defeated the Mountain, Gregor Clegane killed his horse in a fit of rage, while Jon Arryn’s cryptic words returned to Eddard’s thoughts.

• Eddard Stark watched King Robert’s costly tournament and considered the crown’s debts to the Iron Bank and Tywin Lannister.
• Eddard saw Loras Tyrell offer Sansa a flower and expected the Mountain to defeat the Knight of Flowers.
• Loras Tyrell unhorsed the Mountain when Gregor Clegane lost control of his horse.
• The Mountain rose, took a sword from a squire, and killed his horse before the horrified crowd.
• Eddard recalled Jon Arryn’s repeated words, “The seed is strong,” without understanding their meaning.

Clay led 200 White Harbor cavalrymen through the Riverlands to visit Lord Walder Frey at the Twins. After a difficult journey, he reached the Green Fork and considered the fortress’s defenses as he approached.

• Clay ordered his men to camp on the Riverlands shore and set watches for the night.
• The next morning, Clay and his cavalry crossed scrubland and reached the Kingsroad.
• Three days later, a House Frey patrolman met the group near the Green Fork and offered to guide them to the Twins.
• Clay asked the guard captain to learn about House Frey’s situation and whom they would meet at the Twins.
• Clay saw the bridge and the Twins’ fortress, and wondered how he would capture it if he commanded an army.