Sam, Jon, and Val look on as Gilly feeds Mance's baby.¹ Sam and Gilly walked along the Wall from the Nightfort until they met Ser Denys riding from the Shadow Tower with Bowen and the survivors of the battle with the Weeper, including Dywen, Giant, and Edd. He learned from them how Stannis landed at Eastwatch and Cotter led him along the ranger's roads to surprise the wildlings. When they arrived at Castle Black, they found it filled to bursting with Stannis's soldiers. Pyp and Grenn greeted them and explained that Stannis left Selyse and Shireen at Eastwatch, bringing no women with him save Melisandre. Melisandre burned a man to give Stannis fair winds north. Val has heard that Stannis plans to burn Mance as soon as he is strong enough. Jon explains that the Watch would have hanged him as a deserter already, but he is Stannis's prisoner. Val wants to see him and let him hold his son, but no one is allowed near him save Maester Aemon at the moment. Jon and Sam leave. Jon notes how fond Sam is of Gilly, but reminds Sam he cannot keep her. Sam is considering writing to Lord Randyll claiming that Gilly's baby is his so that he will take them in. Jon is bitter because Bowen has removed him from duty. Ser Alliser and others still call him a turncloak, but few really believe it. Talk turns to the choosing for Lord Commander. Ser Alliser was briefly in the running, but finished sixth on the first day and lost votes on the second, so he withdrew to support Lord Janos. Sam assures Jon that Janos will not win, but Jon says he has been winning for days already. Jon leaves to train recruits. With Ser Endrew dead Castle Black has no master-at-arms, so Jon has been training Satin, Hareth, Hop-Robin, Arron, and Emrick. When they have duties, he trains for hours by himself.

Sam thinks on Jon's words. It is true that Janos has been slowly gaining, passing first Bowen and then Othell, but he is still behind Ser Denys and Cotter, far short of the two-thirds majority needed to win. Sam goes to Maester Aemon's chambers and helps Clydas tend the wounded. Sam continues to think of the choosing. There were thirty candidates at the beginning, but only seven now. Ser Denys leads with two hundred thirteen votes followed by Cotter with one hundred eighty-seven, Lord Janos with seventy-four, Othell with sixty, Bowen with forty-nine, Hobb with five and Edd with one. Everyone's total has been falling save that of Lord Janos. Sam joins Pyp and Edd at dinner. Another vote is happening that night, and he sees Cotter surrounded by Eastwatch men and Ser Denys surrounded by Shadow Tower men. He notes with disquiet that Lord Janos has the best place in the hall and is talking to Bowen. Pyp points out that Ser Alliser is speaking with Othell. Maester Aemon presides over the choosing. At the start, Bowen withdraws and pledges his support to Lord Janos. The brothers cast their votes by casting different shaped tokens into a large pot. Afterwards, Maester Aemon sorts them and Sam and Clydas tally them up. This time, Ser Denys falls to two hundred three and Cotter to one hundred sixty-nine. Lord Janos rises to one hundred thirty-even, while Othell gets seventy-two, Hobb five, and Edd two. That night, Sam shares wine with Pyp and Grenn. He says they need to convince Denys and Cotter to join forces to stop Janos. Pyp points out that he and Grenn are ill-suited for the task, and that only Sam can do it. Sam says he would, but he is too scared to face them.