“When People ask you what happened here, tell them the North Remembers.
Tell them Winter came for house Frey.”
Far to the North, after losing their allies in the Cave of the Three Eyed Raven, and being
rescued and led away by Benjen Stark, Bran Stark has a vision of the White Walkers marching
at the head of an undead army, with several undead giants among them.
Bran and Meera then seek passage south of the wall, revealing their identities to Dolorous
Edd of the Night’s Watch, convincing him to let them through.
With House Bolton and their allies defeated, King Jon Snow now rules from Wintefell and
calls a meeting of all the Noble Houses in the North to discuss their next steps as they
prepare to defend against the White Walkers.
First Jon announces that the Maesters of the North must scour their records for mentions
of dragonglass, so they might mine whatever deposits are available and craft weapons.
Second, Jon announces that all men, women, boys and girls aged 10-60 must be trained
to fight.
Although Robett Glover is hesitant to send young women into battle, Lyanna Mormont of
Bear Island, a young girl herself, defends the idea that everyone must fight to defend
the north, and Lord Robett concedes.
Next Jon declares that they must send the Wildlings to man the wall as reinforcements
for the night’s watch and so Tormund Giantsbane is sent to East Watch by the Sea, the closest
fortress to Hardhome where they last faced the White Walkers, and a candidate for one
of the locations vulnerable to attack.
They then move on to discuss the castles of Last Hearth and Karhold, the ancestral seats
of House Umber and Karstark, the traitors who joined House Bolton against the Starks.
The fate of both houses and their lands must be decided, as these will be among the first
areas attacked if the White Walkers pass the wall.
Sansa, who sits at Jon’s side, suggests that the Umber and Karstark families should
be stripped of their lands and titles, so they might be given to those allies that fought
alongside the Starks.
Her notion of punishment for treason and reward for loyalty rallies many of the nobles in
the room, who agree with her sentiments.
However Jon Snow refuses the idea, stating that the specific lords who fought against
them are dead, and that he will not blame children for the mistakes of their fathers.
He also states that in order to defend against the white walkers, they will need all of the
living as allies.
And so he proclaims that they will keep faith with the Umbers and Karstarks, who have served
loyally for centuries, calling upon the new leaders of those Houses, young Ned Umber and
Alys Karstark to pledge their loyalty once more for House Stark.
The northmen are swayed by Jon’s decision and cheer after the young children swear their
oaths.
After the meeting Sansa warns Jon that he has to be smarter than their father Ned and
brother Robb, who both made mistakes that cost them their lives.
They then receive a letter from king’s landing, where Queen Cersei Lannister has taken the
throne, demanding that they swear loyalty or else be destroyed.
Although Jon is less concerned about the lannister army, believing that a southern army will
not attack the north with Winter upon them, Sansa is convinced Cersei will not rest until
they are dead.
Petyr Baelish, called Littlefinger, proved a valuable ally to the Starks, but now watches
in the background, taking every opportunity to drive a wedge between Sansa and her brother,
hoping to convince her that he can provide the power and position she desires, if only
she will take her place by his side.
After the murder of Walder Frey, Arya Stark uses her abilities to pose as Lord Frey, calling
a meeting of the most powerful members of their House.
She claims the meeting is to discuss their plans for the Winter, but instead uses the
opportunity to poison their wine, killing them all in mere moments.
Arya spared the servants and Walder Frey’s wife, instructing her to let everyone know
that the Winter has come for House frey.
Arya then travels south, journeying to King’s Landing where she plans on killing Queen Cersei.
However on the road she meets group of royal soldiers sent to the riverlands to keep the
peace.
At first Arya is unsure about their intentions, but after sitting with them for a while learns
that they are kind and generous, even sharing their food and wine.
Also travelling though the riverlands, are the Brotherhood without Banners, accompanied
by Sandor Celgane.
Seeking refuge from the cold, they spend the night in a seemingly abandoned home, which
Sandor recognizes as a place he once robbed.
Once inside, they find the corpse of a father and daughter, with Beric Dondarrion concluding
that the man likely killed his daughter and himself to spare them starvation.
Sandor is shaken by their deaths, and starts to demand answers about why the Lord of Light
keeps Beric Dondarrion, of all people, alive.
Thoros of Myr tells the Hound to look in the flames, which he does reluctantly, seeing
a vision of the wall, an undead army, and an attack at a castle where the wall meets
the sea, likely referring to East Watch.
In King’s Landing, Queen Cersei Lannister and her brother Jaime discuss Tyrion’s new
position as hand of the queen to Daenerys Targaryen.
Jaime then explains that their fleet will likely stop at Dragonstone to prepare for
their invasion of the mainland.
With the loss of the allies in House Frey, the Lannisters are surrounded by the enemies,
with the Dragon Queen in the east, the sand snakes to the south, Olenna Tyrell in the
reach, and Jon and Sansa in the north.
And so in response, Cersei invites Euron Greyjoy, king of the iron islands to the capital, so
they might discuss their mutual enemies.
Jaime is hostile to the Ironborn king, calling him illegitimate and recounting that it was
Euron Greyjoy who burned the lannister fleet at casterly rock so many years ago in the
greyjoy rebellion.
Euron makes no apology or excuse for his actions, instead simply pointing out how insignificant
the Iron Islands were to Queen Cersei, yet how significant his naval fleet might be when
fighting for her cause.
And so he offers a marriage proposal, to unite House Lannister and Greyjoy, so that their
combined forces might wipe out the dragon queen, the greyjoy rebels and the northerners.
Cersei rejects his proposal outright, claiming that he is not a trustworthy partner.
But Euron is not so easily dissuade, and vows that he will leave at once not to return until
he has a gift so mighty it might win Cersei’s heart.
In the Citadel of Old Town, Sam Tarley is subjected to the menial, repetitive and disgusting
duties of a novice, training to be a maester.
Aside from his displeasure at the workload, he is disappointed to learn most of the Maesters
he has met do not believe his stories about White Walkers, and even when he find someone
that does believe him, he is unconvinced that the threat is as dire as Sam believes.
But Sam knows the Night’s Watch is counting on him and so steals the keys to gain access
to a restricted areas, going through their books and scrolls and until he finds a map
of Dragonstone, then writing to Jon Snow, informing him of the large deposit of dragonglass
available on the island.
As Sam continues to go through his daily duties, he encounters Jorah Mormont still sick with
greyscale, who is being held for study and treatment at the citadel.
After leaving the city of Meereen under the care of Daario Naharis, Danerys Targaryen,
mother of Dragons, takes her fleet to Dragonstone which has been abandoned since the death of
Stannis Baratheon.
After removing a Baratheon banner from her families ancestral home, Daenerys and Tyrion
make their way to the strategy room where, like Aegon the Conqueror 300 years earlier,
they prepare for their invasion of Westeros.