Tyrion arrives in Pentos, where his fellow exile Varys recruits him to aid Daenerys in her quest for the Iron Throne. En route, however, he is abducted by Jorah Mormont, who takes him to Daenerys as a way to redeem himself to her. The two are captured by slavers and sold to the fighting pits, where they encounter Daenerys. Daenerys takes Tyrion as her advisor, but orders Jorah exiled again. In the Vale, Littlefinger puts Robyn in the care of House Royce and leaves for Winterfell with Sansa. Brienne, still loyal to the oath she swore to Catelyn Stark, and her squire Podrick follow them.
In Winterfell, Sansa is reunited with Reek, formerly Theon Greyjoy, and married to Ramsay Bolton to form an alliance between the Vale and the Boltons. On their wedding night, Ramsay rapes Sansa, with Reek being forced to watch. At the Wall, Stannis has Mance Rayder burned alive for treason. He promises Jon Snow legitimacy and Winterfell, should he ride with him against the Boltons. Jon, having already planned to decline Stannis’ offer, is elected Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch and stays at the Wall while Stannis rides for Winterfell alone. Tormund Giantsbane accepts an alliance with the Night’s Watch in exchange for settlement south of the Wall, and he and Jon leave for Hardhome, where most of the Wildlings are.
Tensions start arising between the brothers, since most of them are against an alliance with the Wildlings. Arriving at Hardhome, the Night’s Watch begin evacuating Wildlings when the settlement comes under attack from the White Walkers and their wight armies; though many Wildlings escape, many more are slaughtered and revived as wights. In King’s Landing, Lancel Lannister returns, now a member of the devoutly religious “Sparrows”. Following the wedding of Margaery and Tommen, Cersei is losing control of Tommen, and with him her power source. She tries to regain her status by authorizing the revival of the Faith Militant, the military orders of the Sparrows, led by the religious leader the High Sparrow. The Sparrows quickly begin imposing their puritanical views upon King’s Landing by ridding it of all “sins”, in the process also seizing Loras Tyrell for being homosexual.
The Sparrows proceed to imprison him, Margaery and Cersei herself for committing various sins. All the while, Tommen proves too weak to do anything about it. In Dorne, the Sand Snakes, the bastard daughters of Oberyn Martell, seek vengeance against the Lannisters for the death of their father, aided by Oberyn’s paramour Ellaria Sand. Bronn and Jaime secretly land in Dorne, planning to rescue Myrcella Baratheon. The rescue attempt leads to a skirmish between Jamie, Bronn, and the Sand Snakes, though the fight is quickly broken up by Dornish guards and both groups are arrested. Arya arrives in Braavos and starts training with the Faceless Men at the House of Black and White, under the supervision of Jaqen H’ghar.