Last Argument of Kings
Chapters - Joe Abercrombie
Part 1
Chapter 1: The Poison Trade
Glokta visits Lord Ingelstad to secure his vote for Sult in the contest for the next king, resorting to threats against the nobleman's three daughters when persuasion fails. He then reports to the Arch Lector's office, where Sult reviews the state of the election - tallying votes across three hundred and twenty members of the Open Council - and is furious to learn that High Justice Marovia's agent Harlen Morrow is matching their threats at every turn.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Arch Lector Sult·Mentioned: Lord Marshal Burr
Chapter 2: Being Chief
The Dogman leads a night raid on the port town of Uffrith, killing three guards on the quay with the help of Black Dow and Grim, then signalling the boats to land. Shivers arrives with the first boatload of Carls, and crews fan out to seize the town. Tul Duru takes the main gate while the Dogman convinces the townsfolk - mostly women, children and old men - to surrender peacefully, struggling with the guilt of killing and the weight of being chief.
POV: The Dogman·On page: Black Dow, Harding Grim, Caul Shivers, Tul Duru Thunderhead·Mentioned: Logen Ninefingers, Bethod
Chapter 3: This Noble Business
West inspects the recaptured fortress of Dunbrec with Jalenhorm, finding the Northmen defenders fought to the death and left behind gruesome ritual markings and crucified Union soldiers on the inner walls. He then attends a briefing where Burr, Poulder and Kroy discuss the next phase of the campaign - crossing the Whiteflow into the North to press Bethod, using the captured port of Uffrith to supply the advance.
POV: Collem West·On page: Lieutenant Jalenhorm, Lord Marshal Burr, General Poulder, General Kroy·Mentioned: The Dogman, Bethod
Chapter 4: The New Man
Jezal arrives back in Adua by ship with Bayaz, Ferro, Quai and Longfoot, bidding farewell to Logen who heads north to fight Bethod. In the city, Bayaz goads Jezal into defending a beggar girl from the city watch, then announces his name to the crowd. Jezal finds Adua transformed by war and political crisis, and reunites with Ardee in a volatile encounter that swings between violence and desperate passion.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Bayaz, Ferro Maljinn, Malacus Quai, Brother Longfoot, Logen Ninefingers, Ardee West·Mentioned: Bethod, Bremer dan Gorst, Crown Prince Ladisla, Collem West
Chapter 5: Feeding Time
Glokta meets Lord Wetterlant in a park to buy his votes for Sult, but finds Harlen Morrow has already outbid them at twenty-five thousand marks per vote. He then visits Ardee and discovers Jezal has been calling on her, learning that Bayaz and Logen have returned from the Old Empire. Glokta warns Ardee that her reputation is at risk.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Ardee West, Jezal dan Luthar·Mentioned: Arch Lector Sult, Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Practical Frost
Chapter 6: So Much In Common
Ferro prowls restlessly through Bayaz's rooms in the Agriont, missing Logen though she would never admit it, while Quai cryptically urges her to leave and warns that Bayaz cannot be trusted. Sulfur arrives bearing Glustrod's book and discusses plans with Bayaz, who reveals an unexpected complication - what they sought was not there. Ferro taunts Bayaz about the Maker's daughter Tolomei before being dismissed so Lord Isher can visit.
POV: Ferro Maljinn·On page: Bayaz, Malacus Quai, Yoru Sulfur·Mentioned: Logen Ninefingers, Brother Longfoot, Yulwei
Chapter 7: Honesty
Jezal spends a blissful week with Ardee, but is summoned by Varuz to a meeting with High Justice Marovia and Lord Chamberlain Hoff, who promote him to Colonel and order him to lead two regiments against a peasant rebellion led by a man called the Tanner. Bayaz appears and attaches himself to the expedition. Before departing, Glokta corners Jezal and threatens him with torture and death unless he marries Ardee, prompting Jezal to declare he already intends to.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Ardee West, Lord Marshal Varuz, Bayaz, Sand dan Glokta·Mentioned: Collem West, Practical Frost
Chapter 8: Ghosts
Logen arrives in Uffrith and travels by cart convoy towards the front, keeping his identity hidden from a group of young Union soldiers. When they camp for the night, the convoy is ambushed by archers - Logen charges into the woods and kills several of them, then tracks the rest through the forest with ruthless efficiency. He reaches the Dogman's camp, reuniting with his old companions Tul Duru, Black Dow and Grim, though the welcome is mixed with wariness about the Bloody-Nine's return.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: The Dogman, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Black Dow, Harding Grim·Mentioned: Bethod, Bayaz
Chapter 9: Bad Debts
Glokta is lured to a slaughterhouse by Harlen Morrow, Marovia's secretary, who attempts to have him killed by hired thugs. Severard, Vitari and Frost dispatch the attackers and murder Morrow. Afterwards, Glokta is kidnapped from the street and brought before Eider, who has returned to Adua despite her exile. She warns him the Gurkish are building a fleet to invade Midderland, repaying her debt for being spared in Dagoska.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Practical Severard, Practical Vitari, Practical Frost, Carlot dan Eider·Mentioned: Bayaz, Jezal dan Luthar, Yulwei
Chapter 10: A Ragged Multitude
Jezal confronts the rebel army of some forty thousand peasants, utterly clueless about military command while Bayaz quietly arranges the troops for him. Under a flag of parley, the Tanner arrives to negotiate and, to everyone's surprise, immediately accepts the Closed Council's meagre terms - betraying his own followers. His outraged companion Goodman Hood is arrested on Bayaz's orders, and the Tanner departs to disperse the rebels, exchanging a knowing look with the First of the Magi.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Bayaz
Chapter 11: Beloved Of The Moon
The Dogman watches beaten Union soldiers return from failed assaults on Bethod's entrenched positions in the hills. West sends them north to scout for a weakness. In the forest they encounter Crummock-i-Phail, the mad chief of the hillmen, who arrives with his three weapon-bearing children and proposes a plan - using Logen's fearsome reputation as bait to lure Bethod into a mountain trap, while the Union army follows behind. Despite deep misgivings, the Dogman agrees to the scheme.
POV: The Dogman·On page: Collem West, Logen Ninefingers, Black Dow, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Harding Grim·Mentioned: Bethod, General Kroy, General Poulder, Lord Marshal Burr
Chapter 12: Flowers And Plaudits
Jezal rides back into Adua at the head of his column, stunned to find cheering crowds lining the streets to celebrate his bloodless victory over the rebels. Bayaz coaches him through the spectacle as Jezal gradually warms to the role of conquering hero. He parades through the city to the Square of Marshals, where the great men of the Closed Council - including Sult, Varuz and Lord Chamberlain Hoff - await him, but as he kneels before the throne, the king collapses and dies.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Bayaz, Arch Lector Sult, Lord Marshal Varuz
Chapter 13: Too Many Knives
Logen sits on the flank of Crummock-i-Phail's column as they march north through the woods, watching for ambush and keeping his hand on his knife. A man called Red Hat approaches to pay his respects, having once seen Logen fight at Ineward. Tul Duru finds him afterwards and offers quiet friendship, apologising for not searching for him after the cliff. But the chapter ends with Shivers staring at Logen with open hatred - a reminder that his fearsome reputation is both shield and prison.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: Tul Duru Thunderhead, Caul Shivers·Mentioned: The Dogman, Ferro Maljinn, Black Dow, Bethod
Chapter 14: Best Of Enemies
Glokta wakes from a nightmare about the Seed on the eve of the election. With Sult desperate - controlling only thirty-one votes to Brock's seventy-five - Glokta proposes an alliance with High Justice Marovia, arguing their combined fifty votes could crown a weak, controllable king. Sult reluctantly agrees. Glokta then interrogates Longfoot, crushing his toe with a hammer to extract information about Bayaz's quest for the Seed and learning that a Gurkish priest named Mamun has been receiving intelligence about the Magi's movements.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Arch Lector Sult, Brother Longfoot, Practical Severard, Practical Frost·Mentioned: Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Ferro Maljinn, Jezal dan Luthar, Malacus Quai
Chapter 15: Fortunes Of War
West visits Burr, who appears much recovered and is eager to advance north using the Dogman's plan to trap Bethod. That evening West plays cards with Brint, Kaspa and Jalenhorm, hearing news of Jezal's promotion and heroic reception in Adua. At dawn, West finds Burr dead in his bed. Poulder and Kroy immediately refuse to advance without a new Lord Marshal, leaving the Dogman's forces marching into a trap with no Union support behind them.
POV: Collem West·On page: Lord Marshal Burr, Lieutenant Brint, Lieutenant Kaspa, Lieutenant Jalenhorm, General Poulder, General Kroy·Mentioned: The Dogman, Bethod, Jezal dan Luthar, Ardee West, Crown Prince Ladisla
Chapter 16: The Kingmaker
The Open Council convenes to elect a new High King of the Union following the death of Guslav the Fifth. Bayaz springs his masterstroke, revealing Jezal as the supposed natural son of the late king and manoeuvring the councillors into electing him by near-unanimous accord. Glokta watches the political theatre unfold with grudging admiration, while Ferro observes from the public gallery and laughs at the absurdity of it all.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Sand dan Glokta, Bayaz, Ferro Maljinn, Malacus Quai, Arch Lector Sult, Lord Marshal Varuz·Mentioned: Ardee West
Chapter 17: The Trap
Logen and the Northmen arrive at Crummock-i-Phail's fortress in the High Places, only to find it little more than a crumbling wall across a narrow valley. The Dogman surveys the sorry defences and devises a battle plan - archers on the tower, fighters on the wall, and hillmen in reserve. Despite the dismal state of the fortifications, the group sets about patching and preparing, knowing that Bethod will come and that they must hold out until the Union army arrives.
POV: Logen Ninefingers·On page: The Dogman, Black Dow, Tul Duru Thunderhead, Harding Grim·Mentioned: Fenris the Feared, Bethod
Chapter 18: Horrible Old Men
Jezal endures his first meeting with the Closed Council, where the old men dismiss and patronise him at every turn. When they refuse his suggestion to appoint West as Lord Marshal, Jezal snaps - hurling a goblet at the High Consul's head and demanding obedience. Bayaz approves the outburst but then steers the conversation towards marriage, persuading Jezal to abandon Ardee and accept a match with Princess Terez of Talins.
POV: Jezal dan Luthar·On page: Bayaz, Arch Lector Sult, Lord Marshal Varuz·Mentioned: Collem West, Ardee West, Lord Marshal Burr, General Poulder, General Kroy
Chapter 19: Prepared For The Worst
Glokta receives a furious visit from Sult, who demands he find a way to destroy Bayaz and investigate the story of Carmee dan Roth. Glokta tasks Severard with following Ferro and digging into the king's parentage, then meets with the mercenary Nicomo Cosca in a squalid tavern, paying him with a diamond from his secret hoard and placing him on retainer for whatever trouble may come.
POV: Sand dan Glokta·On page: Arch Lector Sult, Practical Severard·Mentioned: Practical Frost, Bayaz, Ferro Maljinn, Practical Vitari, Brother Longfoot