Winter has come.

Westeros braces for a winter which may become a new Long Night, as the White Walkers and their army of the dead are poised to strike against the Wall and the realms of men.

In King's Landing, Queen Cersei Lannister has been publicly shamed by the Faith of the Seven and awaits her trial for regicide and incest. Even Grand Maester Pycelle has abandoned her, and called her uncle, Ser Kevan Lannister, to rule as the new Hand of the King. Even though Cersei has been released to their custody, her inept leadership nearly destroyed House Lannister's hold on the throne and they have no intention of ever letting her wield power again. Kevan and Pycelle must attempt to mend the damage Cersei did to the Lannister-Tyrell alliance. The Lannisters and Tyrells on Kevan's Small Council maintain a shaky truce as they attempt to deal with the ongoing debt crisis to the Iron Bank of Braavos, as well as the rise of the fanatical Faith Militant due to Cersei's blunders. Cersei meanwhile, though seemingly humbled, still has a few schemes she will attempt to play to regain control.

In the North, the Boltons have triumphed over King Stannis — but in the distraction, Sansa Stark and Theon Greyjoy have escaped, desperately jumping off Winterfell's castle walls. Brienne of Tarth, who executed Stannis, must now deal with the consequences of putting her vow to avenge King Renly before her oath to protect Sansa.

In the Riverlands, after the Red Wedding the remaining Tully forces (who were not present at the massacre of their Northern allies) pulled back to Riverrun castle - where they have been hopelessly besieged by House Frey's army ever since. The garrison is under the command of Robb Stark's great-uncle Brynden "The Blackfish" Tully, and is the last bastion of Robb's short-lived independent kingdom that remains unconquered. Riverrun's garrison may be surrounded and alone, fighting for a dead king, but their defenses are formidable, they have enough food supplies to last for years, and their commander is one of the most experienced and skilled generals in Westeros. The Lannisters and their Frey allies cannot let the siege of Riverrun continue to drag on if they are ever to claim real control over central Westeros.

In Dorne, Ellaria Sand's poisoning of Cersei's daughter, the Princess Myrcella, may now force Doran Martell into the war against the Iron Throne he has been fervently trying to avoid.

Across the Narrow Sea, in the Free City of Braavos, Arya Stark killed Meryn Trant without the Faceless Men's permission — but without the proper training, the use of one of their masks has poisoned her and rendered her blind. Her training continues, as now the blind little girl must learn to rely on her other senses to survive.

In Slaver's Bay, Daenerys Targaryen's attempt to liberate Meereen has resulted in massive bloodshed, with the former slave masters conspiring to retake the city. In a large scale ambush on the opening day of the games in Daznak's Pit however, Daenerys climbed onto Drogon's back to try to escape the danger — but she could not make him return to the city. Instead, the young dragon flew north to the southern border of the Dothraki Sea, the lands of his birth, where the stranded Daenerys has been surrounded by a hostile Dothraki khalasar numbering in the thousands. Jorah Mormont and Daario Naharis have set out to search for her. Meanwhile, back in the city Daenerys's advisors Tyrion Lannister, Missandei, and Grey Worm are joined by Varys in attempting to hold together rule over the city wracked by the ongoing insurgency until Daenerys returns — if she returns at all.

At the Wall, Lord Commander Jon Snow attempted to prepare for the coming of the White Walkers by letting as many wildlings through to the south as he could — but tens of thousands more were killed and resurrected as undead wights at Hardhome. The leading Night's Watch officers, increasingly upset at Jon's proposed alliance with the wildlings, have staged a mutiny "for the Watch" and stabbed Jon multiple times until he fell.

Just before the mutiny against Jon Snow, he sent away Samwell Tarly to go to the Citadel in Oldtown in order to train to be a new maester to replace Maester Aemon after his passing. Samwell takes Gilly and her young son with him, rather than leave them in the path of the White Walkers. Oldtown, Westeros's second largest city, is located in the southwest of the Reach, not far away from Sam's former home, the House Tarly castle-seat at Horn Hill. Samwell and Gilly, however, face a long and difficult sea voyage before they get to the Citadel.

Distracted by the political intrigues in King's Landing, the exhausted lords of Westeros must now brace for the rise of the kraken — the ironborn led by House Greyjoy. Early in the War of the Five Kings, Balon Greyjoy declared the Iron Islands' independence and raided the North while the Stark's army was fighting in the south. Having remained relatively uninvolved ever since, the ironborn's massive fleet remains at full strength, a fact lost on the major powers of the mainland, who have been nearly exhausted fighting each other.

All of this changes with the sudden return of Balon's exiled younger brother Euron Greyjoy — cunning, ruthless, manipulative, and more than a little insane, he strikes fear even into the other ironborn. He pushes for the ironborn to launch massive new offensives against the other kingdoms, not simply to raid, but to hold and conquer territory, as Euron's ultimate ambition is nothing less than to conquer all of the Seven Kingdoms. He is opposed by Balon's daughter Yara Greyjoy, who urges that the Iron Islands must preserve their strength and engage in diplomacy with the mainland if they are to survive.

And as the winds of winter begin to sweep through the south, far Beyond the Wall the young Bran Stark has been staying with the last of the Children of the Forest and his new mentor, the Three-eyed raven, in order to hone his abilities. Bran will not walk again, but he has learned to fly.