House Commanders

The Wound

For two decades this house was a joke, and not a gentle one — an owner the whole realm despised, a name it took thirty years of pressure to change, seasons that existed only to be endured.

Then a young lord arrived and the place went briefly, gloriously mad, and it turned out the bannermen had never stopped waiting. That is the wound now: they know how good it feels, they got a taste, and last year they went 5–12 and it was gone again.

The Lord

Jayden Daniels. Electric, beloved, and the first genuinely thrilling thing to happen to this city since the 1990s. Last season went badly around him. This season is about whether the surroundings can be fixed before the excitement wears off.

The Knights

Odafe Oweh — on the Watch, a hundred million dollars with sixty-eight guaranteed, which is an enormous statement for a house at five wins.
Laremy Tunsil — the Shieldwall, extended at sixty million, to keep the young lord alive.

Ancient Grudges

House Cowboys. The oldest, nastiest rivalry this house has, and for most of this century a one-way street.
House Eagles, House Giants. Divisional and long-running.

What Changed This Spring

Oweh for a hundred million, Tunsil extended, Chigoziem Okonkwo added. This house spent like a contender after a twelve-loss season. Every dollar of it was about protecting or supporting one man.

Prophecy

That the lord stays upright, and that last year was the surroundings and not him.

Chapter TenWeek 1A court intrigueThe novice's first command

The Untested Hand

Sean Mannion had never called plays anywhere, ever. His first afternoon was a division game in the least patient city in the realm, and Washington was one stopped play from taking it off him.

House Eagles · House Commanders

The line you say tomorrow“Philadelphia handed its whole attack to a man who had never called a play in his life, and survived by two points.”