Far away in Oldtown, Lancelot was in the High Tower, discussing magic with Lord Hightower and Archmaester Marwyn.
Lancelot had never encountered necromancy before, but Lord Hightower possessed knowledge of this most mysterious art.
"Necromancy can indeed resurrect the dead, but the price paid is not small," the Earl said.
"Then how does one dispel necromancy?" Lancelot asked.
"Find the caster and kill them. The resurrected dead will then automatically perish."
"Is there any way to find a hidden caster?" Lancelot asked.
"You need an item they have used," the Earl replied.
"As far as I know, high-level necromancy was lost long ago. I didn't expect House Hightower to still possess such secret texts," Archmaester Marwyn remarked.
"No, at most I can resurrect a cat or a dog. I cannot resurrect a human. And the resurrected cats and dogs I experimented on became berserk, biting anyone they saw. Those bitten would contract rabies."
"So, I have never used necromancy since," the Earl concluded.
Lancelot stayed in Oldtown for a total of seven days before returning to King's Landing. After discussing matters concerning the Wall with Joffrey and others, he set off once more, intending to return to the Wall.
Before leaving, Lancelot secretly instructed Tyrion to gather evidence of Littlefinger's murder of Jon Arryn and his illicit relationship with Lady Lysa. Once enough evidence was collected, they could be thrown into the dungeons.
Without Littlefinger plotting in the shadows, the rear would surely be much safer.
When Lancelot arrived back at the Wall, Lü Bu and the others had also returned and reported the situation to him.
"We killed Craster. His wives all voluntarily chose to stay beyond the Wall and didn't return with us," Lü Bu said.
"They don't matter. Did you find Mance Rayder's movements?" Lancelot asked.
"He might be at Hardhome. It was once the only wildling town, but for some reason, it was destroyed six hundred years ago," Aguda said.
"Tell the commanders at Eastwatch-by-the-Sea to go check the situation there," Lancelot ordered.
Lancelot then went to inspect the seven castles currently under restoration.
The largest of them was the Nightfort.
Watching the soldiers at work, Lancelot asked,
"Roughly how much longer until the restoration is complete? Most importantly, the sleeping quarters and the mess halls?"
"General Lancelot, at least another month! We have enough hands, but the weather is too cold. Sometimes the men can't work outside for long periods," a supervising knight replied. He carried a shield on his back painted with a burning tree, indicating he was from House Marbrand of the Westerlands.
"Keep up the good work!" Lancelot said.
He inspected the other castles under repair as well. Progress was generally fast; they simply had too much manpower this time.
When Lancelot returned to Castle Black, Lü Bu sought him out. He asked Lancelot for a Sky Piercer Halberd made of Valyrian steel.
"No problem. I'll borrow some of the forge furnaces here to make you a weapon," Lancelot said.
Lancelot fired up the furnace again. Working with Gendry and the fire-breathing Ember Fire Dragon Steed, it took three days to forge a Valyrian steel version of the Sky Piercer Halberd.
When Lü Bu took the weapon in hand, he felt the difference.
"It's very light, dozens of catties lighter than my previous weapon. My attack speed will be much faster," Lü Bu said with delight.
Seeing that Lancelot could forge Valyrian steel weapons, Lord Commander Mormont approached him.
"General Lancelot, please, despite the toil, forge a Valyrian steel weapon for every soldier. That way, we can face the White Walkers in decisive battle."
Hearing this, Lancelot realized they wanted to use him as a tool and immediately refused.
However, he chose to have Gendry, Melisandre, and the Ember Fire Dragon Steed collaborate to mass-produce Valyrian steel arrowheads.
Gendry possessed the unique technique, Melisandre could enchant them, and the Ember Fire Dragon Steed could breath fire similar to dragonflame.
With the three of them cooperating, Lancelot could be a hands-off manager.
During his time as a hands-off manager, Lancelot accompanied the navy from Eastwatch-by-the-Sea on a ship to Hardhome, but found no traces of large-scale wildling activity there.
"General Lancelot, did we come to the wrong place? There don't seem to be any wildlings here!"
Asked Ser Wylis Manderly. He was the son of Earl Wyman Manderly of White Harbor.
Earl Manderly of White Harbor, Duke Mace Tyrell of Highgarden, and Brynden Tully of Riverrun were collectively known as the "Three Fish."
Duke Mace was the "Pufferfish" (or "Blowfish"), Brynden was the "Blackfish," and Earl Manderly was the "Eel" (Note: Text says "Eel" for Manderly, though traditionally he's mocked for his weight/lamprey pies, and house sigil is a Merman. "Lamprey" might be the intended aquatic reference or just "Fish" generally in fandom contexts, but translating literally here).
"Search the area. See if there are any other clues," Lancelot ordered.
He hadn't brought Hrakkar this time. Hrakkar had been eating and sleeping a lot lately, and his size was growing rapidly—he was a full circle larger than he had been in the Vale.
Several soldiers advanced along a mountain path. When they crested a ridge, they saw a long line of figures on the other side of the mountain, walking like walking corpses.
"What is that!" The soldier who saw wights for the first time spoke with a tremble.
His companion replied, equally trembling.
"Perhaps that's our enemy, the army of wights. But why are there so many? I can't even see the end of it."
Fear rose in both their hearts.
Although the army of corpses walking along the mountain path was in single file, neither the head nor the tail of the line was visible. A rough estimate suggested there were at least several thousand wights.
"Let's retreat slowly. Whatever you do, don't startle them. Then we report to General Lancelot," one said.
"But my legs won't move. They seem frozen. Brother, don't leave me alone," the other said, his face full of fear.
The former swallowed hard, then turned and ran without looking back.
The one left behind gave a bitter laugh, and finally, overcome by terror, couldn't help but scream.
"Ahhh!! Help!"
Though the voice was faint, the army of wights below heard it, not to mention the White Walker leading them.
They immediately sprinted toward the source of the sound, swarming like locusts.
Lancelot was leading others in inspecting several ruined thatched huts.
Rumble!
"An earthquake?"