The situation in Westeros is stabilizing, and a definitive victory for the ruling Lannisters is within reach. Each year, law and order return to large parts of the war-torn country. However, Queen Regent Cersei finds no peace. After the tragic loss of her firstborn son and the wedding of her second son, the boy king Tommen, to the unwanted Margaery Tyrell, her thoughts are consumed with how to trap the future queen to prevent her reign.

While she weaves her intrigues at court, unrest begins to brew again in the south, and the Ironborn prepare to strike a devastating blow against the realm. Cersei increasingly loses the ability to distinguish between friend and foe: she grants great power to the preachers of the revived faith, overlooking how easily the plots she has spun could turn against her.