The answer to the Call: the Wall finds itself swamped by volunteers, the Company of the Rose crosses the Narrow Sea back to help their long-lost cousins, and of course, all those lords and ladies pledging themselves to Ned, the Stark in Winterfell with two words: "Command us!".
The changes Robert Arryn has undergone as the "medicine" dose he was taking is gradually reduced, remarkably improving the young boy's health and state of mind, all thanks to Annah.
Annah having suspicion over "medicine"
In Chapter 37, Theon stands up to his brother's ghost and outright rejects the Drowned God.
Rodrik: You are a... Greyjoy, boy! You serve... the Drowned God.
Chapter 45, in which Jon Arryn reveals his champion in Baelish's trial by fight: ''the sea''.
Earlier, when Jon mentions to Baelish that he's told a representative of the Iron Bank who "happened to be passing by" about how Baelish had lied to the Iron Bank and stole money from the loans they gave the Seven Kingdoms, Baelish panics , telling Jon that the Iron Bank doesn't just "happen" to have representatives in the area, and that the man is most likely a FacelessMan sent to kill Baelish. Jon's response?
All of Gendry's actions when the ship that's taking him to Storm's End gets hit with a storm - from cutting the damaged mast free before it can capsize the ship, to using the chain pump for hours on end to keep the ship from sinking. It all earns him a new epithet among the crew - Gendry Strongarm.
A low-key yet admirable one when Samwell Tarly manages to find Otherbane, the legendary weapon wielded by the Gardener kings, with his smarts. He's not gloating when he and his father present the weapon to Willas Tyrell, but you know he will hold this over daddy dearest's head for a loooooong time.
The revelation of just who the Green Man is: The long thought dead Ser Duncan the Tall, former Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.
After protecting the God's Eye from a fanatical mob, Robar is rewarded by being knighted by no less a Living Legend as Ser Duncan the Tall.
Edd Tollett becomes the first Black Brother in many millenia to dispatch an Other while protecting Craster's latest son from the creature.
Both the First and the Second Battle of Harlaw. Using the intelligence men like Balon Greyjoy deride, Rodrik Harlaw is more than capable at turning his enemies' strategies against them, successfully defending his island from those Ironborn who have not accepted the Call and even knocking out Victarion Greyjoy in single combat.
The Battle of the Nightfort. More like a scuffle, really, but Robb truly shines, particularly thanks to Ice, which allows him to utterly destroy every man that fights him. Ser Alliser gets to kill more than three, as do Jon and Theon.
Stannis intimidating the shit out of Joffrey when the brat tries to bully Shireen and Gendry. The prince wouldn't want for Stannis to get annoyed, right?
The Battle of the Black Gate. Coldhands arrives, injured and pursued by wights, and the Nightfort expedition - now with the addition of Benjen Stark - fights the wights off, with Tyrion using Rocktooth for the first time and destroying several wights. Then, four Others come, and Gerion jumps forward, proving Valyrian steel as a weakness. Jon and Robb follow, each fighting and killing an Other, while the fourth attacks the rest of the group - and Tyrion stops him cold by parrying with Rocktooth and then turning the Other into tiny pieces with the axe.
Of particular note is Gerion - when faced against the Others, he has two great lines when he realizes that they have never encountered Valyrian Steel before.
Gerion: Let's test a theory. (Successfully parries an Other's sword with Brightroar, causing Stunned Silence from everyone, including the Others) Test confirmed.
The ride from Castle Black to Winterfell. It takes the group only THREE DAYS to reach Long Lakenote A reader noted that the distance between Castle Black and Long Lake was about 480 km.! When Greatjon mentioned that Ned could make himself and others move at a fast pace, he was not kidding.
With the reveal about Dawn rejecting Arthur Dayne for his actions, the fight at the Tower of Joy becomes even more impressive for Arthur Dayne, who essentially fought off an enemy that heavily surpassed him in number and nearly won, with a sword that was actively fighting him off.
A later vision reveals how Dawn was rejecting Arthur Dayne - burning his hand like its brethren Otherbane and Stormbreaker. Dayne was fighting with a sword that was scorching him right through his armor, and he still almost won until he dealt a blow to Ned Stark, at which point the rejection became too much to bear.
During the trial of Willem Bootle, Eddard dares him to swear an oath on the Fist of Winter that he did not kill Lord Surestone. Bootle, after declaring he was not afraid of legends and heathen symbols, does so. A few seconds later, Bootle dies - essentially fried by the Fist. To round it, Eddard drops a Bond One-Liner:
Eddard Stark: Perhaps you should have been afraid, then.
It took 154 chapters (54 for the Fanfiction.net version) since Ned Stark first mentioned repairing the Broken Tower, but readers finally got to see Cersei and Jaime getting caught in the middle of sex and arrested.
When Jaime and Cersei get caught, the first to act is Ser Barristan, who despite his age grabs Jaime by the back of the neck, throws him against a wall so hard to leave Jaime rattled, and starts throttling the life out of him, while snarling that he will burn Jaime's white cloak using his page in the White Book as kindling and declaring him without honor and no knight. If Ned hadn't told him to stand down he would probably have killed Jaime right then and there.
Robert is now mature enough to realize that going to meet Cersei and Jaime after learning of their incestuous relationship will not be a good idea, and accepting that he needs to calm down and think rationally. A good depiction of all his Character Development thus far.
Adding to that, using Stormbreaker to identify the parentage of his children in a way that doesn't embarrass anyone... much.
Later, when confronted by Cersei's threats and taunts, Robert is driven to the point of pure unadulterated rage and nearly attacks her... only for him to stop himself before anyone else tries to halt him, having seen through her Wounded Gazelle Gambit. Considering how much of an impulsive man he usually is, and that he is faced with one of the people he hates the most in the world, that took a LOT of self-control.
First, Jaime almost craps his pants when he finds out that his opponent is King Robert, The Demon of the Trident.
Then, Gerion telling Jaime off and saying he's not worthy of wielding Brightroar.
Robert wields Stormbreakerone-handed, with a shield. Remember that this is a greatsword about the same size as Ice, which is said to be almost as tall as Robb.
Remember how, during Robert's training session in the Red Keep in chapter 58, Jaime's sword rusted from the inside and shattered? Well, Robert does, and as the combat goes, Jaime loses five swords, his helmet, his shield, and his armor, because they all rapidly rust due to Stormbreaker's penchant for Rule of Symbolism.
In the end, Jaime is left humiliated, on the ground, with no weapons or protection and with his confidence completely shot to hell. Robert tells him he's going to go to the Wall and leaves, pointing out he's not going to kill a defenseless man.
Willas, who just a few weeks earlier could barely walk without a cane, faces the entity behind the Hightower Gate and prevents it from crossing to the normal world.
Also an awesome moment for Mace Tyrell, who willingly runs closer to the Gate to get the fallen Septon and his acolyte away from it.
Mace Tyrell gets some further awesome points for surviving long enough after his encounter with the thing behind the gate (which is almost certainly the Drowned God) by sheer will to pass on a warning to Willas about its nature and how to kill it. His death after is suitably sombre.
Is it satisfying to see Robb defend himself against a drunken and recently disinherited Joffrey, getting into a Knife Fight with him, breaking his nose and finally Val kicking him in the balls? Most definitely.
For all of his doddering, his Obfuscating Stupidity and his almost slavish devotion to Tywin Lannister, it is impressive to see Pycelle being willing to lead a group to find the wildfire caches hidden beneath the Great Sept.
Robert, in his mystical dream, pulls a You Shall Not Pass! on an Other and its hunting dog.
Before that, Lyanna's spirit reveals she was not a complacent captive for Rhaegar; she fought off his attempts to rape her to the point that he had to have the Kingsguard hold her down, rejoiced when he died and threw it into to the faces of said Kingsguard, and, as her final act of spite, gave him a son instead of the daughter he wanted.
Ladies and Gentlemen, the Seven Hells have officially frozen over: Tywin Lannister finally admits that Tyrion has done a great job and has acknowledged him as his heir.
Tywin's EPICYou Have Failed Me"Reason You Suck" Speech to Cersei in chapter 135 which boils down to a 2500+ word "scaring her straight" monologue, during which Cersei doesn't even get a chance to speak. He spells out every way in which she has failed and shamed her family, what consequences her actions have had for her immediate family and House Lannister's future and how disgusted he is with her, all whilst gripping a dagger embedded into the table hard enough to make it creak.
Tywin states that Joffrey's first reaction at seeing him was to demand Tywin raise his armies, overthrow Robert, burn the North to the ground and kill everyone in it, and bring Joffrey to King's Landing and his rightful place on the throne - at which point, Tywin backhanded Joffrey across the face. He then gave him a chewing-out so severe that Joffrey is subdued as he practically begs Robert to be sent to the Wall.
Tywin also makes it clear that the only reason he isn't killing her on the spot is because it would make him a kinslayer, and even then he's struggling to decide if it would be worth it.
Sam's work in translating the runes of the Drowned Gate – having discovered he can translate the runes written by the Children of the Forest by using First Men runes as a cipher, thanks to a Rosetta Stone-like engraving - is so good that the Archmaesters agree to grant him the bronze ring to mark his mastery of history.
Ned and Jon, armed with the Fist and Dark Sister respectfully, travel into the magical mist surrounding the Barrows in order to disperse all the First Men ghosts who have gathered at the Oathstone in response to the Call. Along the way, they're attacked by the spirits of several Others and Humanoid Abominations that have also been brought up with the ghosts, and nearly effortlessly fight them off. And just as a Kaiju-sizedEldritch Abomination shows up to threaten them, Ned reaches the Oathstone and commands the ghosts to return to their slumber, which also banishes the Others and their creatures in the process.
For bonus points, one of the ghosts turns out to be none other than Bran the Builder.
Robb and Val working together to try and fight off a possessed Gregor Clegane, even as he shrugs off everything they throw at him. Then Sandor arrives just in time, stabbing Gregor through the back before he can kill Robb, and being the one to finish him by cutting his head off.
While informing Cersei that she's being exiled to a distant island, Tyrion also tears apart the prophecy that Maggy the Frog gave her, explaining all the ways she could have misinterpreted it. Cersei is left dumbfounded.
Chapter 156. Sadly, it is an Offscreen Moment of Awesome but we get to see the aftermath: DACEY backhanded Cersei for her undoubtedly horrible comments to her and Tyrion. We next see her and Tyrion watching as Cersei is dragged to her carriage to White Harbor, where she will be sent into exile. The entire situation has an air of And There Was Much Rejoicing.
When Pycelle tries to protest Ursula wielding the Shield of the Riverlands on the grounds of her gender, Bronn quickly shuts him up.
The royal delegates and Ironborn working together to fight off the Others and wights who arrive on Pyke via iceberg. Of special note is Jon and Harras Harlaw fighting the Others directly together, and when Harras falls, Jon tosses his sword Nightfall to Rodrik, who catches it and helps finish off the Others.
In Chapter 159, with help from Mya and Lord Royce, Gendry finally produces glowing runes.
Jon killing whatever the hell Euron created onboard the Silence by setting the ship on fire, with Asha having it sunk by her ships just to be sure.
Davos and Oberyn successfully managing to sail the wildfire up to Eastwatch.
Ned's response to learning there's someone trying to kill him before he gets to Hightower is to mentally challenge them to "bloody well try it."
Mace Tyrell, of all people, actually gets an implied moment of awesome during the vision in Chapter 165: It's actually somewhat implied that the long-lasting Siege of Storm's End and the forces and time he "wasted" there instead of rushing to aid the Targaryens in the Battle of the Trident was actually a calculated, intentional sandbagging move on his part. After all, if the Tyrell army was too busy at Storm's End fighting for the Targaryen loyalists, they couldn't help the Targaryen forces at the Trident, could they? Lewyn Martell actually sounds grudgingly impressed at Mace's cunning.
When Lord Drumm tries to refute Asha's reign over the Iron Islands, she glares him down and verbally browbeats him into submission, aided by Stannis making it clear that she's fully supported by the Iron Throne.
Euron Greyjoy manages to sneak into the Hightower to reach the Gate, and lethally stabs Eddard Stark before knocking Willas Tyrell out, all for his goal to become a god. Who stands in his path? Samwell Tarly, who manages to wield Otherbane and defend himself from Greyjoy, long enough to let Lord Hightower recover and trade his lifefor Eddard's, allowing the latter to stand up again, ready to present the business end of the Fist of bloody Winter to his enemy.
Ned, Willas, and Frostfyre then proceed to tag team Euron, keeping him from the Gate and severely injuring him enough that he's forced to give up and flee.
Then, it becomes From Bad to Worse, because The Drowned God begins to enter the room, ready to devour everyone. Eddard Stark and Frostfyre stand alone against the God of Evil while everybody else escapes, but the Old Gods channel their power through the Lord of Winterfell and his companion, who proceed to maul the Drowned God before Eddard smashes its head in, putting an end to it once and for all.
That last point needs special emphasis. Ned Stark, good contender for the most honorable man in Westeros and the Sacrificial Lamb to show how dark the world of ASOIF can be in the past timeline, FOUGHT a GOD. And, with the help of the Old Gods and Frostfyre, KILLED SAID GOD, before casting its corpse into the void. All hail the King of Winter, ladies and gentlemen.
Ned rewarding Sam for his bravery by knighting him.
