Chapter Summaries

Dacey and Aermir spent the night together after she confessed her desire for him, and Dacey accepted that their relationship might never become marriage. Meanwhile, Aermir’s main force remained concealed west of Strongsong as a diversionary detachment misled the Vale lords and strained Jon’s resources.

• Dacey asked Aermir to be with her, and he eventually gave in to their mutual attraction as they spent the night together.
• Dacey woke sore but without regret, sensing the magic of her newly created Magic Heart and accepting that she could be Aermir’s lover without becoming his wife.
• Aermir returned with food, healed Dacey, and heard her insist that she wanted to stay with him until he found someone to marry.
• Dacey and Aermir set out to find the other two.
• The Vale lords continued searching the mountain passes, unaware that Aermir’s main force had secretly redeployed west of Strongsong.
• Aermir’s 1,000-man diversionary force drew the Vale’s attention with hit-and-run attacks, while Jon watched his army consume costly supplies.

Aermir and Dacey discussed her determination to remain free and why she trusted him to respect her as an equal. Far beyond the Wall, Jon and the rangers found a massacre and began investigating, while Jon sensed something unnatural at the scene.

• Dacey urged Aermir to act as himself and explained that she would not let marriage or gossip limit her freedom.
• Dacey told Aermir that she loved him because he respected her as an equal, and insisted she could defend her own honor.
• Aermir and Dacey rejoined Rickon and Adru, then waited two days while Adru prepared to create his magic heart.
• Jon, Benjen, Pyp, Sam, Eddard, and Grenn found the remains of women, children, and elderly people in a clearing beyond the Wall.
• Benjen ordered the rangers to investigate the massacre and identify those responsible before reporting back to Castle Black.
• Jon used his bond with Ghost to search the scene and sensed that something unnatural had occurred there.

Aermir learned that Jon and his companions were near an Other and rushed toward the Wall after ordering his friends back to the temple. Skadi warned Jon and Benjen to flee, but Aermir had not yet reached them.

• Adru and Dacey continued their sparring match while Aermir watched and heard Skadi warn that an Other was near Jon and his friends.
• Aermir ordered Dacey and the others to return to the temple, then flew toward the Wall while Sith carried them across the Bay of Seals.
• Aermir reached Deepdown Castle, opened a Root Path through its weirwood, and vanished through the portal as the smallfolk prayed.
• Skadi landed near Jon, who sensed her warning of deadly danger and told Benjen and the others they needed to turn back.
• Benjen agreed to retreat with the group and report what they had found to Castle Black.

Aermir risked crossing beyond the Wall to reach the Fist of the First Men and use its powerful ley-line convergence, hoping to help Jon despite the Night's King's curse. Bran dreamed of Jon being pursued by a deadly shadow and persuaded Eddard and Robb to leave for Castle Black at once.

• Aermir realized Jon's party was in danger but feared crossing the Wall would expose him to the Night's King's curse and tracking.
• Aermir sensed powerful magic at the Fist of the First Men and decided to teleport there, accepting that he might be unable to return south.
• Bran dreamed that an ominous shadow swallowed a white direwolf and awoke convinced that Jon was in terrible danger.
• Bran hurried to Eddard and warned him about Jon, but Eddard dismissed the dream as a nightmare.
• Robb suggested that they visit Jon, and Eddard agreed to go to Castle Black after Bran urged them to leave immediately.

Aermir summoned and fused elemental powers to create flames capable of rejuvenation and purification. As the Night's King's influence overwhelmed him, he transformed the Wildfire Spirit and began a ritual to purify the mark on his ankle.

• Aermir summoned a powerful nature elemental using water, earth, and the ley lines' pure mana.
• Aermir sacrificed the nature elemental and merged its vitality with a fire elemental, awakening rejuvenating power in its green flames.
• Aermir commanded the Wildfire Spirit to devour the combined elemental, creating a massive dark green wolf infused with crimson fire.
• As the Night's King's influence drained and weakened him, Aermir ordered the Wildfire Spirit to transform itself into the essence of purification.
• Aermir chanted before the monolith as the purification ritual began, and the flames around him shifted into rainbow hues of emerald and silver.

After completing the purification ritual, Aermir was transported to a frozen wasteland where he faced the Night's King and his Others. He summoned and fortified his familiars, then led them into battle against the Others.

• Aermir unleashed the Wildfire Spirit and cast Reogumen, shattering the seal around his mark before a fissure swallowed him.
• Aermir awoke on a snowy plain before the Night's King and realized he was physically present and able to use his replenished mana.
• The Night's King offered to add Aermir to his army, while Aermir challenged his claim that the living were doomed and tried to draw out more information.
• When the Others charged, Aermir raised an earthen dome, summoned his familiars, and protected them and himself with layered shields and Stoneskin.
• Aermir mounted Sith and burst the dome with an earth spell, knocking back some Others before leading his familiars into the fight.

Aermir and his familiars fought the Night's King and his Others, but their attacks barely slowed the ice-armored enemies as Aermir's mana ran low. He caught the Night's King off guard with a surprise strike empowered by nearly all his remaining strength, and the chapter ended in an explosion of flame.

• Aermir summoned a Wildfire Spirit and a medium fire elemental, then assigned his familiars roles against the Night's King and the advancing Others.
• Artio, Skadi, Bo, Im, Wannian, and Jilim attacked the Others, but their shields, armor, and resilience blunted most of the familiars' blows.
• Aermir and the fire spirits fought through the enemy ranks, while the Night's King extinguished most of their flames and supported the Others with ice magic.
• Aermir used Rain of Fire to kill several Others, but the growing enemy numbers and his dwindling mana left his side close to defeat.
• Aermir dove into the earth to surprise the Night's King, empowered his halberd with Blade of Flame and Transformation, and struck the Night's King's ice-armored arm in a huge explosion.

Aermir fought the Night's King but was overwhelmed as his familiars fell and his magic ran out. The chapter left Aermir close to surrendering as the Night's King prepared to bring the Long Night.

• The Night's King regenerated his arm, overpowered Aermir, and declared himself invincible.
• Aermir battered the Night's King while his familiars fought the Others, but Bo and Erebus were frozen, Artio and Berus were overwhelmed, and Sith was pierced by an ice spear.
• The Night's King's army killed Aermir's remaining magical allies as he watched helplessly and lost sight in both eyes.
• The Night's King stabbed Aermir with a black-ice dagger, and Aermir kept fighting until he could no longer raise his arms.
• Aermir closed his eyes and considered surrender as exhaustion and despair overtook him.

Aermir escaped the Night's King's mindscape after realizing the mark had let the enemy invade his mind, and reunited with his familiars beneath the weirwood. Bran Rivers investigated the emerald pillar of light and its guarded animals, then withdrew to warn the Night's Watch.

• Aermir realized the Night's King was using the mark to trap him in his mindscape, regained control, and forced the Night's King to disappear.
• Aermir awoke beneath the fir tree with his familiars around him and explained how the Night's King had nearly killed him.
• Aermir learned that visitors had waited nearby while he was unresponsive.
• Bran Rivers saw an emerald pillar of light beside the weirwood and went to investigate.
• Brandon spotted Aermir among the gathered animals, but a Shadowcat confronted him and warned him away from the weirwood.
• Brandon backed off and hurried to warn the approaching men of the Night's Watch.

Mance Rayder tried to persuade Styr to unite the Free Folk against the Night's Watch as a mysterious green pillar appeared in the sky. Aermir learned that his ritual had lasted two days and Jon's group was about to be caught, so he rode Sith to their rescue.

• Mance Rayder and Tormund Giantsbane urged Styr to unite the Free Folk, but Styr doubted their warnings about the dead.
• A green pillar of light appeared, and Mance called it a summons from the Old Gods, causing Styr to reconsider.
• Jon and his companions fled through the frozen forest while Ghost sensed a threat behind them, and Sam stopped to rest.
• Jon's group saw a pillar of light beyond Skirling Pass and the Frostfangs.
• Aermir learned from Skadi that Jon and his friends were in danger and from Bo that his ritual had taken two days.
• Aermir leaped onto Sith and ordered him to run.

Jon and his companions stopped at Skirling Pass despite his warnings that a dangerous nonhuman presence was following them. The chapter ended as a mysterious creature emerged from the mist and darkness, while Ghost began to change.

• Sam argued that the group should stop fleeing, and Pyp and Grenn agreed that they needed rest and a defensible position.
• Benjen accepted Sam's reasoning, so the group climbed onto a rocky formation, built a fire, and rested while Eddard cooked an arctic hare.
• Jon remained worried because Ghost was increasingly anxious and believed the pursuer was not human.
• A strange screech echoed through Skirling Pass, and Jon urgently told everyone to leave, but the others drew their swords and torches instead.
• Mist and darkness revealed small icy eyes above eight larger pulsing spheres, and Ghost began to take on a more solid, frightening form.

Jon, Benjen, Sam, Edd, and Ghost fought an Other and a giant ice spider, but Pyp and Grenn were killed and later raised as undead. The chapter ended with Benjen burning Grenn in the campfire and Jon decapitating the undead Pyp.

• An Other riding a giant ice spider attacked Jon and the Night’s Watch brothers, while Ghost, Sam, and Edd used torches to hold off the spider.
• Pyp’s sword shattered when he attacked the Other, and the Other killed him with an ice sword.
• The Other killed Grenn and left Jon and Benjen alive as Pyp and Grenn’s bodies began to rise as undead.
• The spider wounded Edd and Sam, while Ghost was poisoned after tearing off one of its legs.
• The undead Pyp attacked Jon and the undead Grenn fought Benjen; Benjen kicked Grenn into the campfire, and Jon cut off Pyp’s head.

Aermir raced to rescue Jon and Benjen from an Other and arrived just as they were about to be killed. He destroyed the Other with powerful magic and healed Benjen, while Skadi held off the spider.

• The Other killed Pyp, shrugged off Benjen’s burning log, and wounded Benjen while overpowering Jon.
• Aermir hurried toward Jon’s party as Skadi reported that the Other had caught up with them and was toying with them.
• Aermir dove into the clearing and used fire and wind magic to break the Other’s ice shield, while Skadi distracted the spider with ice shards.
• Aermir healed Benjen and used earth magic to blast the Other before killing it with a magically shaped fire arrow.
• The Other disintegrated into grains of ice as Aermir finished healing Benjen.

Aermir defeated the ice spider, revived the lich to test its weakness, and brought the rescued Night’s Watch party back to the Fist of the First Men. There, he learned that the Free Folk were gathering nearby and tried to persuade Commander Harald Stone to prevent a conflict and prepare for the walking dead.

• Aermir had Artio kill the ice spider, then tested the lich and learned that decapitation only temporarily stopped it before burning it with fire.
• After Ghost recovered, Aermir transported Eddard, Sam, Jon, and Benjen toward the outpost on Artio and Berus.
• Aermir learned from Bo that the Free Folk were gathering in a hidden basin after mistaking his pillar of light for an invitation from the Old Gods.
• Commander Harald Stone questioned Aermir’s claim that the Old Gods had sent him to unite the people beyond the Wall, but agreed to avoid fighting the Free Folk unless they attacked.
• Aermir told Harald that the rescued Night’s Watch men would arrive by evening and could describe their experience with the walking dead.

Aermir entered the Free Folk’s basin and tried to prevent the tribes from attacking the Night’s Watch by claiming the Old Gods had chosen him to warn them about the Others. Sigrid withdrew her people, but Eric remained suspicious and accused Aermir of trying to keep the Old Gods’ power for himself.

• Ragnar, Sigrid, and Eric discussed approaching the Fist of the First Men and agreed they needed caution while claiming the sacred grounds.
• Aermir landed in the basin, avoided the Free Folk’s arrows, and introduced himself as a Druid sent by the Old Gods.
• Aermir summoned his familiars and elementals to demonstrate his power, while Eric and Branno Daywalker showed envy and suspicion.
• Aermir warned Ragnar and Sigrid that he would stop them from attacking the Night’s Watch and told them the Others were advancing.
• Sigrid chose to return to her village, while Eric accused Aermir of using his story to keep the Old Gods’ power for himself.

Aermir drove Regnar and Eric from the hidden basin after promising to arrange a chance for them to worship at the weirwood unarmed. At Castle Black, Eddard Stark learned about the growing threat beyond the Wall and decided to wait for Aermir, while worrying about his family and Aermir’s influence in the North.

• Aermir told Eric that the Old Gods would grant a Druid’s power only to the worthy and promised to seek a compromise with Jeor Mormont for worship at the weirwood on the Fist of the First Men.
• Aermir expanded a ring of fire around the group, and Sigrid left the basin having made a decision while Regnar and Eric returned to their village.
• Eddard, Robb, and Bran arrived at Castle Black and saw the exiles serving there under Aermir’s decree, with impaled deserters’ heads lining the road.
• Jeor Mormont told Eddard about the growing danger beyond the Wall, the pillar of light connected to Emre the Druid, and Jon and Benjen’s mission beyond the Wall.
• Eddard chose to remain at Castle Black until Aermir arrived and pondered the magical display, his family’s safety, and Aermir’s power in the North.

Jon and Benjen reported their encounter with the Others to a doubtful gathering at Castle Black, while Eddard considered Bran’s powers and Aermir welcomed the survivors. The chapter ended with the Night’s Watch leaders debating whether the threat beyond the Wall was real.

• Jon and Benjen recounted their battle with the Others and giant ice spiders, but most of the gathering doubted their report.
• Eddard realized Bran’s visions were real and suspected his son might be a warg and one of the Green Men.
• Aermir arrived at Castle Black, where Jeor thanked him for saving his life and Aermir said he had come at the Old Gods’ behest.
• Bran asked to join the Temple of the Old Gods, and Aermir told him he would need to undergo priestly training before he could become a Druid.
• Jon, Benjen, and other Night’s Watch men thanked Aermir before the leaders gathered to discuss the threat beyond the Wall.
• Alliser Thorne dismissed the reports of the Others and giant ice spiders as children’s stories and urged the Watch to focus on the wildlings.

Aermir intimidated the Night's Watch commanders after Alliser and Cotter doubted his account of the Others, and Jeor Mormont pleaded for their lives. He left convinced that the lords of Westeros would also need proof of the Night's King, while planning to grow stronger and acquire dragonglass.

• Alliser and Cotter questioned whether Benjen had truly encountered Others, prompting Aermir to release his magical aura and challenge their doubts.
• Aermir immobilized Cotter and frightened the commanders, while Bran sensed the Druid's powerful magic.
• Jeor Mormont knelt and begged Aermir to spare his subordinates, and Aermir released them with a warning.
• Aermir assigned Skadi to search for a straggling Other that he could capture and display as proof.
• Aermir considered his urgent tasks and resolved to obtain more dragonglass after discovering it was a weakness of the Night's King.

Aermir questioned Maester Aemon about the Night's Watch’s missing history and learned that the Citadel may have deliberately erased records. Eddard then asked about Bran’s strange dreams, and Aermir agreed to train Bran and his other sons as Druids under a strict condition.

• Aermir visited Maester Aemon and asked why the Night's Watch’s cooperation with the Free Folk and its true purpose had vanished from historical records.
• Maester Aemon suggested that the Citadel may have systematically rewritten history to serve its own interests.
• Eddard told Aermir that Bran had strange dreams and asked whether he might have the prophetic gift of the Green Men.
• Aermir said Bran should learn to control his powers among the other Wargs and promised to protect him.
• Aermir offered to teach Jon, Bran, and Eddard’s other children to become Druids, provided they did not share the knowledge without his permission.

Aermir told Eddard that the coming war against the Night's King required more troops, magical weapons, and dragonglass, then sent Caygan to gather intelligence on Dragonstone. At the Wall, Alaric Blackthorn tried to assassinate Aermir, who arranged to punish him and vowed to erase House Blackthorn.

• Aermir explained to Eddard that he had underestimated the Night's King and the Others, and that they needed more soldiers and magical weapons.
• Eddard said Dragonstone held large quantities of dragonglass, so Aermir sent Caygan a raven asking him to send Crow Guard there to learn about Stannis's situation.
• Aermir and Jeor Mormont agreed to let the Free Folk make a pilgrimage to the Fist of the First Men without weapons.
• Alaric Blackthorn attacked Aermir with a dagger, but Jeor restrained him after Aermir's defenses blunted the strike.
• Aermir identified Alaric as the son of Ser Raynard Blackthorn and arranged for him to be taken to the temple for execution, declaring that he would erase House Blackthorn from the Three Sisters.
• Aermir continued his mutation experiments, which had produced some small successes but still failed to mutate other people safely.