Edward began the war by appointing a number of Marcher lords as his royal officials in Wales. Bolstered by reinforcements, they were to advance into native Wales and secure as much of the buffer zone surrounding Gwynedd as possible, in preparation for Edward's main advance, which was scheduled for the summer. Edward hoped that the simultaneous assault of three separate forces from Chester in the north, Montgomery in the center and Carmarthen in the south would overwhelm Llywelyn's outer defenses.

As early as January 1277, the northern force under William de Beauchamp, with the help of Llywelyn's brother Daffydd, had secured the area around the Clwyd River. On April 1, the central force under Roger Mortimer placed Dolforwyn Castle under siege. Believing resistance to be futile, the garrison agreed to surrender on the 8th unless relief arrived before then. Although Llywelyn was in the vicinity, he chose not to risk the destruction of his army in a battle to save Dolforwyn. The castle therefore surrendered to the English, who handed it over to their ally, Gruffydd ap Gwenwynwyn, now reinstated as the prince of southern Powys. Meanwhile, in January the southern force under Payn fitz Patrick de Chadworth had begun its assault on the Welsh castles that controlled the Tywi Valley. With the fall of Dynefwr Castle on April 11, the local ruler, Rhys ap Maredudd, switched his allegiance to the English. Unfortunately for Llywelyn, he would not be the last to defect. Command of the southern force was transferred to Edward's brother, Edmund Crouchback of Lancaster, who led his troops out of the Tywi Valley and into the coastal region of Ceredigion, which he subdued.

On July 1, Edward left the assembly point of Worcester with the main army and arrived at Chester on the 15th. Llywelyn, who must have been kept informed of those developments, sent the Bishop of Bangor to Edward with an offer to negotiate. Edward refused, believing, no doubt, that Llywelyn still needed to be taught a lesson and that, having gone to the trouble of assembling such a huge force, it should be put to some use.

Edward's army consisted of 800 horse and large numbers of foot soldiers, including English archers, crossbowmen from Gascony and native Welsh auxiliaries. At the army's peak in August, records indicate there were 15,600 foot, of which 9,000 were Welsh. To help supply this host, Edward summoned 26 ships from the Cinque Ports (a confederation of coastal towns in southeast England).

As the main body moved northward, it was preceded by 1,800 axmen who cleared a wide path through the woods, depriving Llywelyn's troops of cover from which to harass Edward's army. Upon making camp at a site near the Abbey of Basingwark, laborers began the construction of Flint Castle. By August 20, Edward had advanced to the estuary of the Clwyd River, where he started building Rhuddlan Castle. Nine days later, having reached the Conway River estuary, Edward halted. Rather than make a direct assault on the mountains of Snowdonia, he sent John de Vescey with a force of 2,000 foot to go around Llywelyn's flank by ship and attack Anglesey. For two months Vescey ravaged the island, employing 360 harvesters to gather up crops, which he sent back to Edward to feed his army along the Conway.

Llywelyn was now surrounded by three armies–Edward's across the Conway, Vescey's force on Anglesey and Edmund's to the south. In addition, with the loss of the crops on Anglesey and the approach of winter, his people were faced with starvation. Left with no other option, Llywelyn surrendered on November 1.

Through the Treaty of Aberconway, Edward reduced Llywelyn's status in native Wales to that of a prince of Gwynedd. In turn, Edward rewarded his Welsh allies; Llywelyn's brother Daffydd received most of the lands between the Clwyd and Conway rivers. But within Edward's settlement were planted the seeds of rebellion. Those same Welsh princes who had deserted Llywelyn out of resentment for his overbearing style soon found life under Edward's rule to be even more intolerable. English officials flaunted an air of superiority after their victory and often disregarded Welsh law, which Edward had sworn to uphold. The degree of dissatisfaction that this behavior engendered is vividly illustrated by the fact that it was their former ally, Daffydd ap Gruffydd, who led the rebellion.

On the night of Palm Sunday, March 21, 1282, Daffydd took the fortress of Hawarden by surprise. The rebels also managed to seize Ruthin and the former Welsh strongholds of Dinas Bran and Dolforwyn. Another English ally, the prince of northern Powys, went over to Daffydd's side and raided the territory around Oswestry Castle. Llywelyn, who may have been waiting to see if the rebellion would succeed, now joined in, taking command in the north. That allowed Daffydd to travel south, where the rebels had already seized two of the former Welsh castles of the Tywi Valley, along with Aberystwyth, which they destroyed.

Word of the revolt reached Edward on March 25, and he resolved, in the words of a contemporary chronicler, [to] put an end finally to the matter that he had now commenced of putting down the malice of the Welsh. Edward had to act quickly in order to prevent the further spread of rebellion. While waiting for the main army to muster at Worcester, he again appointed three Marcher lords to command the forces at Chester, Montgomery and Carmarthen.

Things did not go as smoothly as before, however. Attempts to relieve besieged castles in the north were repulsed, and in the south the English efforts met with outright disaster. Gilbert de Clare, leading a detachment of 50 horse and 1,600 foot soldiers, raided the area around Carregcennen Castle, which the rebels had destroyed. On June 17, Clare's column, slowed down by its loot and unprotected by scouts, was ambushed at Llandeilo. Clare escaped, but in his panic he abandoned Carmarthen Castle and the surrounding area. Edward reacted by sacking Clare, but the damage had already been done. Llywelyn arrived in the south to further bolster rebel morale in the wake of their victory. From there, Llywelyn moved north to contest the advance into Maelienydd of the central force under Roger Mortimer, who had already retaken Dolforwyn Castle. In Llywelyn's absence, however, Robert Tibetot regained the Tywi Valley and retraced Edmund's route through Ceredigion. Once again, the activities in the south coincided with Edward's march on Gwynedd.

Leading a column of 600 horse and 4,000 foot out of Chester, Edward reached Rhuddlan Castle by July 17. In late August, he dispatched a force of 200 horse and 2,000 foot, under Luke de Tany, to Anglesey. His objective was not merely to force Llywelyn into submission, as it had been in 1277, but to conquer native Wales. Thus, a pontoon bridge was constructed across the Menai Strait so that the force on Anglesey could attack Snowdonia. Edward's plans for a simultaneous advance into Snowdonia by Tany's force and his own, however, were postponed when the Archbishop of Canterbury opened negotiations.

On the island of Anglesey, Humphrey de Bohun replaced Tany as the commander. Whether out of resentment from his demotion, fear that the war would end before he was rewarded with Welsh territory, or just a hunger for glory, Tany disregarded his orders and led a force across the pontoon bridge. Far from taking the Welsh by surprise, his column was ambushed. Numerous foot soldiers and at least 16 knights, including Tany himself, drowned when the bridge collapsed under the retreating troops. The postponement of Edward's advance into Snowdonia was now extended indefinitely.

If the war of 1276-77 had taught Llywelyn one thing, it was the futility of pursuing a purely passive strategy when faced with the dogged persistence and overwhelming resources of King Edward. But, unable to forestall Edward's advance into Snowdonia by direct means, either on sea or on land, Llywelyn's only remaining option was to stop him indirectly. The victory at Menai Strait provided the perfect opportunity to mount an indirect counterattack, which, he hoped, would wrest the initiative from Edward. Llywelyn planned to strike in the central area, around the castle of Builth. A valuable link between English forces in the north and those in the south, the center had recently suffered a blow when its commander, Roger Mortimer, died on October 26, 1282. Mortimer's sons may have even duped Llywelyn into coming south with promises of aid.

In early December, Llywelyn led his army into Maelienydd, making camp at Llanganten, between the confluence of the Irfon and Wye rivers. From there, he sent a detachment farther south to attack Brecon Castle. It was no coincidence that the owner of Brecon, Humphrey de Bohun, was also the commander of the troops on Anglesey. In fact, that raid succeeded in forcing Edward to replace Bohun so that he could return to Maelienydd to defend his lands.

John Gifford, new commander of the central force, rode south from Montgomery to Llanganten, but he was prevented from crossing the Irfon by a group of Welsh stationed at the bridge. A local resident showed Gifford a ford downstream, over which he sent a detachment of infantry. Early on December 11, Gifford's detachment surprised the Welsh at the bridge, allowing his knights to charge across. The main Welsh army, consisting of 160 armored cavalrymen and 7,000 spearmen, was encamped on the top of a hill overlooking the bridge. At this crucial moment, Llywelyn was missing, having left earlier on an unspecified errand. The Welsh, instead of scattering Gifford's forces with a downhill charge, stood on the defensive. Gifford led 200 knights and 2,000 infantrymen in an uphill charge that routed the Welsh.

Unknown to either side, Llywelyn had been killed before the battle in a minor skirmish with the Marcher lord Roger Lestrange at Orewin bridge. Only afterward was his body identified among the 3,000 Welsh killed that day. His head was sent to Edward at Rhuddlan, who dispatched it to London, where it was displayed above one of the gates leading to the Tower.

Daffydd and his advisers decided to continue fighting in the hope that, with the arrival of winter, Edward might abandon the struggle. Even before learning of Llywelyn's death, however, Edward had resolved to pursue his campaign through the winter. His armies converged on Snowdonia, reducing the Welsh castles one by one. Now a fugitive, Daffydd was finally captured on June 21, 1283, by Welshmen in Edward's service. In a public ceremony at Shrewsbury, Daffydd was hanged, drawn and quartered. His head was sent to join his brother's at the Tower of London.

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