Chapter Summaries

Aemon arrived at Nassos as Daemon’s Dothraki forces captured it, then learned that Daemon planned to use the war to weaken Essos’s city-states. Daemon agreed to leave Aemon eight hundred men and Nassos, giving House Targaryen a potential first colony.

• Aemon flew Vermithor to Nassos and recognized Daemon leading the siege against the Norvoshi garrison.
• Daemon’s Dothraki broke through Nassos’s ruined defenses, and Aemon used Vermithor to burn the Norvoshi escape boats.
• Li Sangzhuo welcomed Aemon and explained that Daemon had ravaged Qohor’s lands, captured A'Noy, and taken Nassos while Norvos and Volantis moved against him.
• Aemon asked Daemon about his plans, and Daemon revealed that he intended to draw in and weaken the city-states while advancing toward Dagger Lake.
• Daemon agreed to leave Aemon eight hundred men and give him Nassos, which Aemon considered suitable for House Targaryen’s first colony.
• Li Sangzhuo led Aemon to choose his troops, and Aemon’s attention settled on the unit’s commander.

Aemon met the Summer Islander gladiator Dondarrion, learned of his suffering and extraordinary record, and bought him and his Valyrian Steel Scimitar from Li Sangzhuo. Dondarrion recognized Aemon as the Dragon King he had worshipped and swore his loyalty, and Aemon formally welcomed him into Targaryen service as a free man.

• Aemon inspected Dondarrion, and Li Sangzhuo explained that the mute gladiator had won a hundred consecutive matches in Meereen's Great Arena and suffered torture at the hands of slave masters.
• Aemon offered to buy Dondarrion and his Valyrian Steel Scimitar, and Li Sangzhuo reluctantly agreed to three thousand Gold Dragons and fifty Dothraki riders.
• Aemon recalled Dondarrion's future deeds and recognized his value as a fighter and loyal guard.
• Aemon used the Binding Spell to tell Dondarrion he would serve him as a commander and guard, and Dondarrion reacted with fervent joy.
• Dondarrion offered Aemon his sword and loyalty, and Aemon told him that his own strength had carried him through his torment.
• Aemon formally accepted Dondarrion's oath with the Valyrian Steel Scimitar and declared that there were no slaves under Targaryen rule.

Aemon secured Nassos, appointed Torrelo to restore the city, and assigned Harrold and Dondarrion troops for separate duties. When Harrold reported that a Norvos army was approaching, Aemon prepared to attack it, while commander Bartoto Uron tried to assess the situation and choose favorable ground.

• Aemon appointed Torrelo temporary governor of Nassos and ordered him to clear the ruins and restore the palace, while Harrold received over a hundred Dothraki to hunt down scattered Norvos soldiers.
• Aemon placed the remaining seven hundred Dothraki and Li Sangzhuo's fifty men under Dondarrion to assist Torrelo, and ordered five guards to watch Morr.
• With Aemon and Vermithor helping, Torrelo's crew cleared waterways and uncovered the largely intact palace ruins of Nymeria.
• Harrold reported that at least three thousand Norvos soldiers were marching toward Nassos, and Aemon ordered Harrold and Dondarrion to lead separate forces in an attack.
• Bartoto Uron judged that the main Dothraki force had left the area, ordered scouts to investigate, and prepared his Norvos army to use favorable terrain and spear formations against the cavalry.

Dondarrion’s Dothraki defeated Bartoto’s Norvos army, with Helena and Dreamfyre helping rout the survivors. Back in Nassos, Aemon learned of the victory and went fishing for a legendary River Giant Turtle while Morr repeatedly caught ordinary fish.

• Dondarrion led eight hundred Dothraki in a surprise attack, using arrows and a two-sided charge to break Bartoto’s phalanx and rout the Norvos soldiers.
• Bartoto fled with a small group, but Harrold’s riders blocked their escape and Helena attacked the remnants with Dreamfyre, leaving Bartoto unconscious.
• Torrelo reported that the battle had killed 1,707 enemies, captured 1,203, and yielded equipment, horses, wagons, and supplies; Aemon let him use the prisoners to restore Nassos.
• Helena apologized to Aemon for losing track of Morr, while Laenor returned from patrolling Nassos on his young dragon.
• Aemon tried to fish for a River Giant Turtle after dreaming of one and spotting one in the stream, but Morr kept catching ordinary fish.

Aemon used his new Stream Fishing Rod to catch a River Giant Turtle and received a Yellow Goat Kid as a reward. He wondered whether the reward was telling him to raise goats and revive an old Valyrian trade.

• Harrold told Aemon that the Norvos commander wanted to meet him, but Aemon chose to finish fishing first.
• Aemon checked his refreshed magic cards, obtained a Stream Fishing Rod, and cast it into the stream.
• Aemon battled a powerful creature underwater and hauled a River Giant Turtle onto the palace floor.
• Aemon opened the treasure chest only he could see, received a Yellow Goat Kid, and removed the hook from the turtle's mouth.
• Aemon learned about the goat's milk and cheese and wondered why the reward suggested raising goats.

Aemon spared the River Giant Turtle and left it to guard Nassos, while Corlys’s fleet and two dragonriding princes kept Volantis under pressure. In Norvos, the Magisterial Council learned that Bartoto’s army had gone missing and began considering hiring Dothraki.

• Aemon decided not to move the River Giant Turtle from the Rhoyne, and it returned to the stream after Helena asked to release it.
• Corlys’s fleet blockaded Volantis, while Aegon and Aemond burned two merchant ships that ignored his warning.
• Corlys told Aemond he would wait for news from Aemon before escalating attacks on Volantis, and Aemond privately resented being called a boy.
• Aegon complained about the heat and repeatedly asked Corlys to provide iced wine.
• Norvos’s Magisterial Council learned that Bartoto’s army had gone out of contact and heard that Daemon had seized Nassos.
• A council member proposed hiring Dothraki to fight Daemon’s forces.

Norvos's governors agreed to hire a huge Dothraki khalasar and seize Gorthadot to resist the Targaryens, while Aemon learned that Khal Syxem had already occupied the city. Aemon prepared to respond as Syxem secured the passes and abused the enslaved people in Gorthadot.

• After receiving a letter reporting Bartoto's defeat and three dragons near Nassos, Norvos's ten governors decided to fight the Targaryens and hire a khalasar of more than fifty thousand Dothraki.
• The governors planned to seize Gorthadot and use the rivers to disrupt the Iron Throne's supply lines and evade its dragons.
• Aemon continued restoring the Warrior Palace in Nassos until Harrold told him Khal Syxem had accepted Norvos's gifts and occupied Gorthadot with his hundred-thousand-strong khalasar.
• Aemon ordered Harrold to summon Laenor and told Dondarrion to come see him as he prepared to respond.
• At Gorthadot, Khal Syxem ordered a thousand Dothraki to block the entrance to the Velvet Hills, then seized a female slave.

Robb Rivers and the Second Sons defeated a Dothraki force at the Velvet Hills, but Khal Syxem pursued them with a vastly larger army. As the Second Sons prepared to defend a narrow pass, Laenor and Seasmoke arrived and attacked the Dothraki with dragonfire.

• Robb Rivers led the Second Sons into the Velvet Hills and defeated a thousand Dothraki in a cavalry charge, though his force suffered casualties.
• A surviving Bloodrider reported the defeat to Khal Syxem, who rallied thirty thousand Dothraki to pursue Robb.
• Robb sent a hundred men to warn the Vale Knights and led the rest of the Second Sons toward a narrow mountain path.
• When at least twenty thousand Dothraki caught up, Robb barricaded the pass with slaughtered horses and prepared his soldiers to hold it.
• Laenor arrived on Seasmoke and unleashed dragonfire on the Dothraki cavalry.

Laenor and Seasmoke rescued Robb and the Second Sons by routing Khal Syxem’s Dothraki vanguard, while Helena stayed in Nassos to guard the city. Aemon then pursued Syxem’s main khalasar through the Hills of Norvos, telling Bartoto he would move against Norvos after dealing with the Dothraki.

• Laenor rode Seasmoke into battle, scattering the Dothraki and allowing Robb to lead the Second Sons in pursuit of Khal Syxem.
• Robb failed to catch Syxem, then met Laenor, who assured him that Aemon was well.
• Helena remained in Nassos with Dreamfyre and Dondarrion, and force-fed extra fodder to the yellow lamb Aemon had left in her care.
• Three days later, Aemon waited beside Norvos Road to attack Syxem’s slow-moving main khalasar in the Hills of Norvos.
• Bartoto urged Aemon to attack Norvos, but Aemon said they would do so after defeating Khal Syxem.

Aemon used Bartoto’s knowledge of Norvos to pursue Syrsaem’s Khalasar with Vermithor and a small Dothraki force. Vermithor attacked the migrating Khalasar, and the survivors fled into the narrow mountain roads as Aemon continued the pursuit.

• Aemon persuaded Bartoto to join his campaign against Norvos by promising to abolish the bearded monks’ oppressive rules, and Bartoto swore loyalty to him.
• Aemon led three hundred Dothraki cavalrymen through the Hills of Norvos while five hundred more remained at Nassos guarding captured Norvos soldiers.
• Saidako and Sangir discussed Kao’s disappearance and the reports that a dragon had routed his vanguard.
• Vermithor appeared over Syrsaem’s Khalasar and unleashed dragonfire, killing many people and throwing the column into panic.
• Saidako fled, struck Sangir aside when he tried to stop him, and was killed by Vermithor’s dragonfire.
• Aemon ordered Vermithor to keep pursuing the scattered Dothraki through the narrow mountain paths.

Hadžibegić prepared Bastia to exploit Tottenham’s high defensive line while worrying about defending their fast wingers. As the teams approached their Europa League match, Gao learned Real Madrid planned to scout Bale, while Boas dismissed concerns about containing Gao and both coaches addressed the press.

• Hadžibegić told Bastia to use their pace against Tottenham’s high line and decided to drop the defense deeper, though he remained concerned about the full-backs.
• Hadžibegić personally coached Van Dijk, and Van Dijk and Damian grew more comfortable with Bastia’s atmosphere.
• Gao received Zidane’s message that Real Madrid intended to sign Bale and would scout him against Tottenham, then replied that he would do his best.
• Boas rejected Rede’s suggestion to double-mark Gao, trusted Assou Ekotto to stop him, and said Tottenham’s owner was considering Gao as a possible future signing.
• At Tottenham’s press conference, Boas discussed Gao’s statistics and transfer interest before insisting Tottenham would focus on Bastia.
• At Bastia’s press conference, Hadžibegić called Tottenham a formidable opponent and said his team would give everything.

Vale Knights rescued Rhoynar villagers from Dothraki raids and escorted them to rebuilt Nassos. Aemon and Vermithor helped defeat Khal Syxem’s raiders, then Aemon invited the displaced residents to seek refuge in Nassos.

• Horton Redfort and the Vale Knights killed the Dothraki raiding Jia Kun’s village and escorted the surviving villagers toward Nassos.
• Jia Kun and the other villagers reached rebuilt Nassos, where Horton reassured them that the Dothraki in Addison Tollett’s force had joined Prince Aemon.
• Harrold led three hundred Vale soldiers and three thousand captive Dothraki against Khal Syxem’s raiders, whose men turned against their former Khal.
• Aemon rode Vermithor to the besieged town, burned Khal Syxem and many fleeing Dothraki, and helped end the attack.
• Aemon told the residents that he would clear the Golden Fields of Dothraki bandits and invited them to seek safety in Nassos, prompting them to cheer and consider moving there.

After consolidating his forces, Aemon marched on Norvos to seize grain before his army ran out of food. He defeated Norvos’s slave army on the road to Qohor, and Vermithor turned toward the fleeing governor.

• In Norvos, the High Priest killed a governor who questioned his divine revelation and ordered the city to send every slave soldier to Dagger Lake.
• Aemon assembled a force of forty-three thousand, including Dothraki cavalry, Second Sons, Norvos spearmen, and armed Rhoynar recruits.
• Facing a shortage of food before the Iron Throne’s supplies could arrive, Aemon chose to attack wealthy Norvos and led his army out from the Golden Fields.
• On the road to Qohor, Aemon’s forces met Norvos’s sixty thousand slave soldiers, whom the governors had sent toward Dagger Lake.
• Bartoto and the Dothraki cavalry devastated the slave army, while its tall governor fled; Aemon spotted him and directed Vermithor toward the fleeing rider.

Aemon destroyed Norvos’s army and led his forces into the undefended city, where he killed the bearded monks who ruled its temple. The chapter ended when Bartoto found a hidden parchment behind the temple’s statue.

• Vermithor burned the fleeing Norvosian troops, and Bartoto persuaded Aemon to spare the remaining slave soldiers for the army’s use.
• Norvos’s governors learned their forces had been destroyed and fled when Aemon arrived on Vermithor.
• Aemon’s army took Norvos, with Robb securing the lower city while Horton and Harrold led the assault into the upper city.
• Aemon entered the temple and killed the High Priest, then he and Bartoto killed the monks who attacked them.
• Bartoto found a parchment hidden behind the temple’s statue and called it treasure.

Aemon burned Norvos's temple and great bells, then appointed Bartoto governor for life and made the city a vassal of the Iron Throne. As Aemon left with much of Norvos's grain, letters reported that Qohor and Volantis were massing against Daemon at Dagger Lake, while a second message revealed the Sea Snake was also involved.

• Aemon had the melted bronze from Norvos's three great bells collected and spared several governors and nobles who agreed to submit.
• Aemon appointed Bartoto governor for life, placed former governors on his council, and required Norvos to pay yearly tribute to the Iron Throne.
• Three days later, Aemon left Norvos with more than half its grain and most of his army, leaving Bartoto troops to secure the city.
• Aemon examined a temple parchment depicting a battle against blue-eyed monsters and an incomplete map of a vast cavern network northwest of Norvos.
• A scout delivered letters reporting that Qohor and Volantis had gathered forces at Dagger Lake to fight Daemon, and that the Sea Snake was also connected to events there.

Corlys Velaryon’s fleet and the dragons Sunfyre and Sheep Thief seized Volantis’s western district and the Long Bridge, but the Tiger and Elephant Party consuls had already fled inland with much of the city’s wealth. Corlys planned to sail north along the Rhoyne toward Dagger Lake, while Aegon went to a brothel in the western district.

• Corlys led the Velaryon Fleet’s storm-covered assault on Volantis as Sunfyre and Sheep Thief devastated the Tiger Cloak Army’s defenses.
• The Velaryon forces captured the western district and secured the Long Bridge, while Vaemond led troops into the eastern district.
• Vaemond reported that the Tiger and Elephant Party consuls had fled half a month earlier and that the nobles remaining in the city had retreated behind the Black Wall.
• Corlys learned that the consuls had divided Vironseys Town and Sa'Meyr and ordered his troops to sail north toward Dagger Lake.
• Vaemond told Corlys that Aegon had gone to a brothel in the western district, where guards were following him.

After returning to Nassos, Aemon prepared to fight the allied forces of Volantis and Qohor at Dagger Lake while arranging for Laenor to rally the Rhoynar. As the battle began, Vermithor struck the enemy fleet and Dothraki forces closed in.

• Aemon learned that Norvos had fallen and Volantis had been taken by the Sea Snake, then ordered Morr imprisoned after he claimed descent from King Oryon.
• Aemon told Laenor to stay in Nassos, persuade the Rhoynar to remain, and organize their naval forces.
• Aemon joined Daemon near Dagger Lake and agreed to attack eight days after the allied cities' latest grain shipment.
• Aemon spent the eight days fishing as the Volantis and Qohor representatives argued over whether to continue the campaign.
• Vermithor raised enormous waves and appeared over the allied camp as Dothraki howls and signal arrows announced the attack.
• Aemon ordered Vermithor to burn the enemy vessels concealed along Dagger Lake's western shore.

Aemon’s forces crushed the allied armies of two cities at Dagger Lake, while Laenor arrived with a Rhoynar naval force to battle the Volantis sailors. Daemon reunited with the strengthened Caraxes and pursued the escaping fleet, leaving its boats under dragonfire.

• Aemon used Vermithor’s dragonfire to scatter the allied forces and destroy boats as the Second Sons, Vale Knights, and Dothraki cavalry attacked the shore.
• Laenor arrived with Seasmoke and led three thousand Rhoynar against the Volantis fleet, overwhelming the sailors in a fierce boat-to-boat fight.
• After an hour, the allied armies were nearly wiped out, but the remaining Volantis sailors escaped past Daemon’s force at the river mouth.
• Caraxes arrived, and Daemon mounted the dragon for the first time in ages after finding it transformed by its time beneath the Qohor volcanic range.
• Daemon and Caraxes attacked the fleeing Volantis fleet with continuous dragonfire, sinking dozens of boats.

After the victory at Dagger Lake, Aemon gained the allegiance of two Rhoynar men and received news that the Sea Snake was sailing upriver with a mysterious captive. Aemon caught a giant catfish whose treasure chest yielded a statue of Warrior Queen Naeloria, then gave the Rhoynar a Golden Water Basin and was worshipped alongside the statue.

• Aemon accepted Jakun and Justin's pledges of loyalty after learning about their Rhoynar ancestry and their people's traditions.
• Daemon delivered the Sea Snake's letter, which reported the capture of Volantis and Vironseys Town and hinted at a surprising captive; Daemon said he would handle it if it was the woman they suspected.
• Aemon caught an enormous catfish in Dagger Lake and retrieved a treasure chest from its mouth, which revealed a statue of Warrior Queen Naeloria.
• The Rhoynar recognized the statue as a sign from the Mother of the Rhoyne, and Aemon presented Jakun with a Golden Water Basin he claimed to have found in Nassos.
• The Rhoynar worshipped Aemon beside Naeloria's statue, strengthening their devotion to his rule, while Laenor celebrated the outcome.

The Small Council celebrated the army’s victories, but Viserys bristled when Bartimos urged him to reward Aemon and then turned his attention to funding White Garden City. The meeting ended with Viserys agreeing to a celebration and learning that Daeron had run away to Dragonstone to tame Tessarion.

• Viserys celebrated the army’s victories while Thaddeus reminded the council that Qohor and the Volantene remnants still resisted.
• Bartimos urged the Small Council to reward Aemon, angering Viserys until Orwyle defused the confrontation by announcing a forecast of a long summer.
• Viserys ordered preparations for a victory celebration, then agreed to fund housing and wages for the Giants and Children of the Forest at White Garden City using Rhaenyra’s private treasury.
• Alicent revealed that Daeron had secretly gone to Dragonstone with two Kingsguard and vowed not to return until he tamed Tessarion.
• Viserys blamed Aegon’s example for Daeron’s defiance and threatened to scold the Cargyll brothers when they returned.