Escaping the massacre of the Red Wedding in the Twins, the Hound Sandor Clegane took his
captive Arya stark through the Riverlands in the hopes of ransoming her to Lysa Arryn
in the Vale.
Stopping at a tavern, they encountered the soldiers of the hound’s brother Gregor clegane,
who once captured Arya, stole her sword and killed her friend.
After a tense discussion, a fight erupted, with the hound killing 3 men, while Arya joined
in killing 2 of her own and recapturing her sword needle.
Unfortunately, by the time they reached the Vale, Lysa Arryn was already dead, eliminating
yet another opportunity for the Hound to collect a ransom.
As all this occurred, Brienne of Tarth and Podrick payne reached the Inn at the Crossroads,
where Arya’s friend Hot Pie pointed them in her direction.
When Brienne at last found the girl, the Hound saw the she wielded a Lannister sword, and
so a battle erupted between them.
Though Brienne was victorious, Arya disappeared from sight, only returning after they departed,
in order to rob the gravely injured Sandor Clegane, then leaving him to die.
Making her way to a port, she found a sailor from braavos, presenting the coin given to
her by Jaqen Hgar before speaking the phrase valar Morghulis.
Acting as a secret code for the Braavosi, the sailor immediately offered her free passage
across the sea, out of respect for the mysterious House of Black and White, from where the coin
originates, a religious temple that worshipped death and trained faceless men to be assassins.
Following their defeat in the Battle of the Blackwater, Stannis retreated to Dragonstone
to rebuild his armies, and so Melisandre began to make more human sacrifices to win the favour
of r’hllor.
Angry over her barbarism, Davos convinced Stannis to try a more practical approach by
going to the Iron Bank of Braavos, where they received a loan allowing them to raise new
armies and once again hire the pirate fleet of Salador Saan.
In the Dreadfort , Ramsay Snow welcomed his old friend Locke and Lady Walda Frey, the
new wife of his father Roose Bolton.
Though the Boltons now ruled over the North, much of their lands were still held by the
Ironborn, while their bannerlords hated them for betraying the Starks.
In order to bring their troops north from the Riverlands, they required possession of
Moat Cailin, currently held by the Ironborn, and so Roose planned to trade their hostage
Theon Greyjoy for the holding.
But his plans were now ruined because Ramsay tortured Theon and made him a eunuch, breaking
him until he responded to Reek, eliminating his value as a prisoner.
To make up for this failure, Roose ordered Ramsay to take Theon and an army to Moat Cailin
to capture it by any means necessary, further incentivising him by offering to legitimize
his bastard son as a Bolton, thereby making him the heir to the north.
Roose also sent Locke north on a separate mission to join the night’s watch, where
he was ordered to meet Jon Snow and hopefully learn the whereabouts of Bran and Rickon Stark,
in order to eliminate them as rivals to the lordship of Winterfell.
Though his sister Yara broke into the dreadfort to rescue him, Theon was so traumatized by
the torture he endured; he refused to escape and stayed behind with Ramsay.
He then helped his master capture Moat Cailin by posing as his old self Theon Greyjoy, and
negotiating a deal for the Ironborn to surrender.
Despite promising to spare them, Ramsay killed every one of them before meeting his father
and at long last accomplished his lifelong dream of being legitimized as a Bolton.
After infiltrating and betraying the Free Folk, Jon Snow returned to Castle Black to
recover from his injuries and report on the enemy.
Explaining that he killed Qhorin Halfhand under orders, so he would be accepted into
the Wildling camp, Alliser Thorne and his allies on the leadership council accused Jon
of treason, and might have arrested him if not for the old Maester Aemon Targaryen who
believed his story and spoke on his behalf.
Once again accepted as a black brother, Jon organized a volunteer war party to attack
Craster’s keep and eliminate the traitors who killed Lord Commander Mormont, both for
justice sake and to stop them from divulging Night’s Watch secrets to Mance Raydar’s
army.
Joined by a number of brothers, including the new recruit Locke, they killed their enemies
at Craster’s keep, freed the women and children held as captives and reunited with the Direwolf
Ghost who’d been missing for some time.
After the battle, Jon and the other survivors burned the keep and returned to castle black,
where they soon learned the Wildlings south of the wall were attacking nearby villages
and farms.
Though Jon and his friends wanted to go help their neighbours, they were too few to risk
leaving their position, and so prepared to defend from an attack both north and south
of the wall.
Having survived the attack on Mole’s Town, Gilly and her baby returned to Castle Black
where a relieved Sam provided shelter and promised never to leave them again.
The battle of Castle Black then erupted, as the Night’s watch was attacked in the south
by the Wildlings under Tormund Giantsbane and the Magnar of the Thenn, while in the
north they faced Mance Raydar’s first wave of warriors attempting to breach the wall,
included two giants and a mammoth.
Engaging in a viscious fight, Ser Alliser Thorne was injured early on leaving Jon Snow
to take command and lead the Night’s Watch to victory.
Unfortunately when it was over there were many dead on both sides, including the two
giants, the wildlings Ygritte, and the Magnar of the Thenns, as well as the night’s watch
brothers Grenn and Pyp.
Barely surviving the night Jon Snow knew they would not survive another attack, and so went
on his own into the enemy camp to negotiate a peace with Mance Raydar, and if that was
not possible, attempt to assassinate the Wildling leader.
Yet their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of Stannis Baratheon and his armies,
who sailed North from Dragonstone to answer the Night’s Watch call for reinforcements,
in order to prove to the realm he was the rightful king.
After being introduced to Jon Snow, he arrested Mance Raydar and many other wildlings, while
leaving the rest to scatter and flee into the far north.