[Winterfell - Main Hall]

Jon Snow stood at the high table. Alysanne, Sansa, and Davos sat beside him. The room was packed. Brienne, Podrick, Tormund, Lyanna Mormont, Yohn Royce, Robett Glover, Brynden Tully, and the northern lords were all there.

Jon spoke. "I want every northern maester to search their records for any mention of dragonglass. Dragonglass kills white walkers. It's more valuable to us now than gold. We need to find it, mine it, and make weapons from it. Everyone aged ten to sixty will drill daily with spears, pikes, bows, and arrows."

Robett Glover smirked. "It's about time we taught these boys of summer how to fight." The lords laughed.

Jon corrected him. "Not just the boys." Brienne glanced at Jon.

"We can't defend the North if only half the population is fighting," Jon added.

Robett stood. "You expect me to put a spear in my granddaughter's hand?"

Lyanna Mormont rose. "I don't plan on knitting by the fire while men fight for me. I might be small, Lord Glover, and I might be a girl, but I am every bit as much a Northerner as you."

Robett tried to respond. "Indeed you are, my lady. No one has questioned—"

Lyanna cut him off. "And I don't need your permission to defend the North."

Davos smiled. Lyanna turned to Jon. "We'll begin training every man, woman, boy, and girl on Bear Island."

The men pounded their tables and shouted in agreement. Robett nodded at Lyanna. Both sat down.

The room buzzed with energy. The North was preparing. Everyone had a role to play.

Jon stood before the gathered leaders, his voice steady but urgent. The threat of the Army of the Dead loomed, and the Wall—their first line of defense—was barely manned. "The Wall hasn't been properly guarded in centuries," he said. "It's all that stands between us and them." He turned to Tormund, the Free Folk leader. "I'm not your king. But if we're going to survive this winter together..."

Tormund grunted, rising to his feet. "You want us to man the castles for you?" The room buzzed with murmurs.

Jon nodded. "The Night King was last seen at Hardhome. Eastwatch-by-the-Sea is the closest castle to it."

"Then that's where I'll go," Tormund said, sitting back down. "Looks like we're the Night's Watch now."

Alysanne stifled a smile. The irony wasn't lost on her. The Free Folk, once kept out by the Wall, were now its defenders.

Jon continued. "If the Wall falls, the first castles in their path are Last Hearth and Karhold."

Yohn Royce, who had arrived in Winterfell shortly after Sansa's return, stood. "The Umbers and Karstarks betrayed the North. Their castles should be destroyed. Leave no stone standing."

Sansa countered him. "The castles did nothing wrong. We need every fortress for the war. Give them to loyal families who stood with us against Ramsay."

The room erupted in agreement. "Aye!"

Jon spoke again. "The Umbers and Karstarks fought beside the Starks for generations. They kept faith for centuries."

"And then they broke it," Sansa said firmly.

"I won't strip these families of their homes because of a few reckless sons," Jon replied.

Yohn pressed. "So treason goes unpunished? Loyalty unrewarded?"

The hall fell silent.

"Treason is punished by death," Jon said. "Smalljon Umber and Harald Karstark died fighting for Ramsay. They paid the price."

"Give their castles to the families of those who died fighting for you," Sansa added.

The men roared, pounding the tables in approval.

"When I was Lord Commander of the Night's Watch I executed men who betrayed me. I executed men who refused to follow orders. My father always said, "The man who passes the sentence should swing the sword," and I have tried to live by those words. But I will not punish a son for his father's sins, and I will not take a family home away from a family it has belonged to for centuries. That is my decision, and my decision is final."

Jon's gaze locked on Sansa. She looked away. The tension between them was thick. Alysanne felt it too. She saw her moment and took it. "If I thought like that," she said, "I could've flown across the North, turning your castles into Harrenhals. I have three dragons, just like my ancestors when they united the Seven Kingdoms." The threat was clear. Everyone knew the story of Harren the Black. His family wiped out because of his pride.

Jon turned to the hall. "Ned Umber," he called. A boy stood. "Alys Karstark," he said next. A young woman rose, her Thenn husband beside her. They stepped forward.

"For centuries," Jon said, "our families fought together. I ask you to pledge your loyalty to House Stark once more. Serve as our bannermen. Come when called."

Ned and Alys drew their swords and knelt. "Stand," Jon commanded. They rose.

"The wars of yesterday don't matter now," Jon said. "The North must unite. All of us, the living. Will you stand with me, Ned and Alys? Now and always?"

"Now and always!" they answered together.

The hall erupted. Men cheered, pounding the tables.

"A lovely sight," Alysanne remarked. "And if we're done here, I have a surprise coming. Something to bring joy to more than one person in this room."

She led Jon and Sansa out to the courtyard. They were shadowed by Brynden Tully, who had been acting as Sansa's protector since her return.

"Riders approaching," said one of the soldiers on the battlements.

The gates creaked open, and the riders entered the courtyard, their horses' hooves crunching against the snow. Howland Reed's presence alone was enough to stir whispers among the gathered crowd. His green cloak, marked with the sigil of the crannogmen, was a rare sight this far north. But it was the figure behind him that froze the air in everyone's lungs.

A figure many had believed was dead.