Cersei Lannister learns her father Tywin has been murdered and declares herself regent, seizing power over the realm.

Cersei snubs the Tyrells at Tywin's funeral wake and rejects her uncle Kevan's conditions for serving as Hand.

Brienne of Tarth departs on a quest to find and protect Sansa Stark, heading first toward Duskendale.

Arya Stark arrives in Braavos and enters the mysterious House of Black and White temple.

Jon Snow orders Sam Tarly to sail south to Old Town and train to become a maester.

King Tommen Baratheon and Margaery Tyrell are married in a ceremony that deepens Cersei's fears of being replaced.

Cersei instructs Ser Osney Kettleblack to seduce Margaery Tyrell and get caught, in order to destroy her reputation.

Euron Greyjoy wins the kingsmoot by promising the ironborn that he can deliver dragons and conquer all of Westeros.

Cersei strikes a deal with the High Sparrow, legalizing the Faith Militant in exchange for pardoning crown debts.

Arianne Martell's plot to abduct and crown Princess Myrcella is betrayed, and Ser Arys Oakheart is killed.

Brienne is overcome and captured by members of the Brotherhood Without Banners near an inn outside Saltpans.

Maester Aemon dies aboard the ship sailing south, just before reaching Old Town.

Margaery Tyrell is arrested by the High Sparrow on charges of adultery and immorality.

Cersei is imprisoned by the sparrows after Ser Osney Kettleblack confesses to sleeping with her.

Jaime receives Cersei's desperate letter begging for help at Riverrun and burns it without responding.

Following the murder of Tywin Lannister, his daughter Cersei seizes power as regent for young King Tommen and immediately begins plotting against the Tyrell family she fears will supplant her. She engineers false confessions of adultery against Margaery Tyrell while simultaneously empowering a radical religious movement called the sparrows. Across the realm, Arya begins training with an assassin cult in Braavos, Brienne searches fruitlessly for Sansa Stark, and Sam sails south to become the Night's Watch's new maester. Euron Greyjoy claims the Iron Islands through fantastical promises at a kingsmoot, and Arianne Martell's plot to crown a Lannister princess collapses in betrayal. Cersei's schemes ultimately backfire spectacularly when the sparrows she armed imprison her on charges of murder and immorality. The book ends with Jaime refusing to answer her desperate plea for rescue, leaving Cersei powerless and isolated.

The headline events that drive the main story forward.

Pate, a maester's apprentice in Old Town, is killed by a mysterious alchemist after handing over a stolen key.

Aeron Greyjoy learns his brother King Balon has fallen from a bridge and died, leaving no clear heir.

Prince Doran Martell has his nieces the Sand Snakes arrested to prevent them from provoking war with the Lannisters.

Cersei quarrels with her twin brother Jaime after he refuses to serve as her Hand.

Baelish persuades Sansa to lie to visiting lord Nestor about Lysa's murder, blaming it on a singer named Marillion.

Asha Greyjoy returns to Harlaw and holds a feast to gauge which lords will support her claim to rule.

Victarion Greyjoy rejects Asha's offer to support his kingsmoot claim in exchange for making her his Hand.

Cersei appoints the weak and obsequious Ser Harys Swift as Hand to maintain her monopoly on power.

Euron Greyjoy orders his brother Victarion to sail east to Slaver's Bay and bring back Daenerys Targaryen.

Jaime stops at Castle Darry and discovers that his cousin Lancel has confessed to sleeping with Cersei.

Brienne learns from the Elder Brother at a monastery that the Hound is already dead and buried.

Cersei agrees to let Ser Loras Tyrell lead a dangerous assault on Dragonstone, hoping to rid herself of him.

Jaime proposes single combat to the Blackfish to resolve the siege of Riverrun, but is flatly refused.

Sam and Gilly sleep together aboard ship after getting drunk while toasting Maester Aemon's memory.

Sam reaches the Citadel and tells Maester Marwyn that Daenerys Targaryen fulfills an ancient prophecy about saving Westeros.

While Cersei consolidates power in King's Landing, the Iron Islands undergo a succession crisis as Balon Greyjoy's death triggers a kingsmoot that Euron wins through fantastical promises, before dispatching his brother Victarion on a mission east to find Daenerys Targaryen. In Dorne, Prince Doran quietly neutralizes the Sand Snakes to prevent a reckless war from consuming his kingdom. Brienne pursues one dead end after another across the Riverlands, learning crucial but frustrating information about Sansa and the fate of the Hound. Cersei surrounds herself with pliable advisers and makes dangerous bargains, including approving a costly assault on Dragonstone to rid herself of a Tyrell rival. Sam and Gilly grow closer on their sea voyage as Maester Aemon fades, and Sam eventually reaches Old Town to deliver a dying prophecy about Daenerys to the Citadel's masters.

The secondary plots and characters shaping Westeros from the margins.

Jaime stands vigil over Tywin Lannister's body and reflects on his own role in freeing Tyrion from his cell.

Brienne encounters Podrick Payne, who reveals he has been secretly following her in hopes of finding Sansa Stark.

Cersei has the Tower of the Hand burned down after Tommen's wedding as a symbol of ruling alone.

Brienne locates Nimble Dick at the Stinking Goose inn, who agrees to guide her toward a ruined smuggler's cove.

Sam learns from Maester Aemon that Gilly is grieving because her own baby was secretly swapped for Mance Rayder's son.

Jaime warns Cersei that filling the small council with weak loyalists risks turning her reign into something like the Mad King's.

Baelish bribes Ser Lyn Corbray to draw his sword during a meeting, shaming the Lord Declarants into lifting their siege.

Arya murders Dareon for deserting the Night's Watch in Braavos and is then blinded by the priest as punishment.

Cersei learns that Ser Loras Tyrell was mortally wounded in the assault on Dragonstone she approved to be rid of him.

Cersei has the Blue Bard tortured into falsely confessing that he committed adultery with Margaery Tyrell.

Prince Doran reveals to his imprisoned daughter Arianne his secret plan to ally with Daenerys Targaryen to avenge Dorne.

Baelish tells Sansa he has arranged her betrothal to Harrold Hardyng, planning to reveal her true identity to win back Winterfell.

Brienne is brought before the Brotherhood Without Banners' leader, who is revealed to be the resurrected Catelyn Stark.

Cersei is informed she will face trial before a holy court of seven for murder, treason, and fornication.

The novice who guided Sam at the Citadel reveals himself to be Pate, the apprentice poisoned in the prologue.

Beneath the main plot events, a series of crucial decisions and hidden revelations quietly reshape the world of Westeros. Cersei's paranoid choices — burning the Tower of the Hand, arming the Faith Militant, and torturing an innocent singer — each set in motion steps toward her own downfall. Baelish manipulates Sansa into deeper complicity while secretly scheming to use her true identity to reclaim the North, and Doran Martell reveals a long-concealed plan for vengeance through an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen. Arya's inability to abandon her old self leads to a blinding punishment in the House of Black and White, while Brienne's quest ends in capture and a ghastly revelation about who leads the Brotherhood Without Banners. The book closes with a final unsettling twist at the Citadel, suggesting that forces more powerful than any lord are already moving to shape what comes next.