Chapter Summaries

The Golden Company learned that Randall Tarly had trapped Lannister forces at Harrenhal and cut off Jaime Lannister's retreat, making House Lannister's defeat seem imminent. The Company debated whether it could still intervene in Westeros, and Jon Connington hinted at news from Slaver's Bay.

• Lansono Mal reported that Randall Tarly had ambushed and routed Stafford Lannister's army, leaving Kevan Lannister besieged at Harrenhal and Jaime Lannister cut off from the Westerlands.
• Lansono Mal explained that Stannis Baratheon could join Randall Tarly and that House Lannister was likely to fall soon.
• Marko Mandak argued that the Golden Company could not hold The Stormlands or stop the Usurper's army, and Gollis Edoin and Tristan Harwen agreed that their promised support had not materialized.
• Jon Connington agreed that the Golden Company lacked the strength to reclaim the Iron Throne, then said he had repeatedly confirmed news from Slaver's Bay.

Jon Connington told the Golden Company that Daenerys Targaryen had appeared in Astapor and been crowned Queen of Westeros with Ian Dare and Darren Grafton’s support. He argued that Ian had escaped Pentos with Illyrio’s wealth and Daenerys, and firmly rejected the suggestion that Ian had betrayed Illyrio.

• Jon Connington revealed that sailors had reported Daenerys in Astapor, and Lannister Mal dismissed the report as likely false.
• Jon Connington angrily grabbed Lannister Mal after he joked about Rhaegar, then released him when Mal apologized.
• Jon Connington explained that Daenerys had been crowned the Dragon Queen and that Ian Dare and Darren Grafton had bought Astapor’s Unsullied.
• Jon Connington speculated that Ian had fled Pentos with Illyrio’s wealth and Daenerys after the city’s disaster, possibly following a contingency Illyrio had prepared.
• Lannister Mal suggested Ian might have betrayed Illyrio, but Jon Connington insisted that House Dare was loyal to the Targaryens and defended Ian’s family history.

Jon Connington and the Golden Company debated how to secure Daenerys’s alliance before she could ally with Dorne. Jon decided to travel to Volantis with Young Griff and negotiate with her himself.

• Jon argued that Ian Dary had found an army in the Unsullied, while Golden Company veterans recalled defeating them at Qohor.
• The group rejected an alliance through Quentin Martell and concluded Daenerys might otherwise marry him to secure Dorne’s support.
• Lansono reasoned that Daenerys and Ian would likely head to Volantis, then seek an alliance with Dorne and land at Sunspear.
• The Golden Company recognized that a Dornish marriage could threaten Young Griff’s claim, so Jon ordered an immediate mission to find Daenerys.
• Jon decided to travel to Volantis with Young Griff, choosing to trust Ian Dary over leaving the prince with the Golden Company.

Lyanna realized that the player behind House Tyrell had repeatedly outmaneuvered her and Lorran, leaving their ambitions in the war and her claim to the queenship in jeopardy. As Robert celebrated Randyll Tarly’s decisive victories, Lyanna began to consider a way to salvage their position.

• Robert celebrated Randyll Tarly’s victories by drinking himself unconscious, while Lyanna worried that Robert had lost interest in her and that she had not conceived a child.
• Mace Tyrell reconciled with Robert and secured command of the vanguard for Garlan Tyrell, while Lorran lost command of the force intended to attack the Westerlands.
• Lyanna and Lorran uncovered signs of a Tyrell and Renly plot, but the scheme was abandoned and Renly instead questioned Lorran’s behavior, further undermining the siblings’ position.
• Randyll Tarly destroyed Stafford Lannister’s army at High Heart and captured Oak Hall, while Stannis sent Garlan to join him and left Lorran with little prospect of major military rewards.
• Lyanna considered fleeing to the North to join their allies, then glimpsed another possible way out.

Ian arrived near Yunkai with his army after studying its march and camp routines, then met Grazdan mo Eraz and Yunkai's general, Grazdo zo Alk. Ian's promise to help Grazdan earn noble status through military service left Grazdan wary of Yunkai's command faction as the city came into view.

• Ian used his falcon form to observe his army's marching, scouting, and camp routines and consulted his officers and guides during the journey.
• Grazdan mo Eraz introduced Ian to Yunkai's general, Grazdo zo Alk, three kilometers south of the city.
• Ian called Grazdan by the wrong name and mistook him for a higher noble, prompting Grazdo to mock him as a nouveau riche.
• Ian offered to help Grazdan earn promotion through military merit, but Grazdan worried that Grazdo and the Grand Marshal's faction could block his service in Yunkai's army.
• Grazdan pointed out Yunkai, and Ian saw the city's Harpy statue holding a whip and an iron chain.

Ian reached Yunkai with his army and prepared to resupply before continuing toward Meereen, but the Yunkai nobles’ eagerness to keep him in the city made him suspect a plot. Grazdan admitted he served Yazdan zo Quagz and wanted Ian to stay for reasons tied to his own ambitions for military merit, though he denied Yazdan had ordered it.

• Yakhaaz zo Yazak and Fazaha Zo Faza observed Ian’s disciplined army arrive outside Yunkai and discussed its unexpected speed and size.
• Ian halted his army outside the city and told Grazdan mo Eraz and Grazdar zo Alk that he intended to leave after resupplying, preferably the next day.
• Grazdan and Grazdar urged Ian to enter Yunkai for a feast and gifts, but Ian refused and grew suspicious of their wish to prolong his stay.
• Ian confronted Grazdan about his ties to Yazdan zo Quagz, and Grazdan admitted he needed to report to Yazdan but claimed his request for Ian to stay was unrelated.
• Grazdan explained that he wanted more time to settle matters connected to Ian’s offer of a chance to earn military merit.

Ian questioned Grazdan about Yunkai’s banquet and Grazdar zo Alk’s request that he stay, then asked Cilia to help untangle the motives behind the welcome. As Yunkai’s commanders assessed Ian’s army and the danger it posed, Cilia concluded that the banquet could be a trap.

• Grazdan told Ian that Yunkai’s Wise Masters had arranged a banquet at Lord Yazhan’s pyramid, but he could not explain why Grazdar zo Alk wanted Ian to remain in the city.
• Ian dismissed Grazdan and took Cilia to discuss the tangled clues surrounding Yunkai.
• Yakhaaz zo Yazak asked Mero and Plandar na Gysan to assess Ian’s army, and Plandar warned that Yunkai’s weak walls could fall within a day of an assault.
• Rabbit General and the mercenary commanders noticed that the cavalry sent to welcome Earl Dary had returned to the gates without him.
• Ian ordered Cilia to analyze the situation, and she reasoned that Grazdan wanted to use Ian’s influence to gain a place in the army.
• Cilia suspected Grazdar zo Alk was hiding a scheme and identified the banquet as a possible Hongmen Banquet.

Ian and Cilia analyzed Yunkai’s suspicious invitation and considered whether its leaders planned to assassinate Ian. They concluded that an attack would make little sense unless the conspirators had already arranged for Ian’s army not to retaliate, leaving Cilia to recognize that someone poised to take command might be involved.

• Ian ordered Yada to have Yunkai’s supplies tested for poison before distributing them to the legions.
• Cilia deduced that Yunkai’s Grand Marshal might be plotting to lure Ian into the city and kill him, and Ian identified several weaknesses in her reasoning.
• Ian considered why Grazdan had hurried back to Yunkai, including the possibilities that he was checking whether Yazhan was involved or intended to exploit the plot.
• Ian reasoned that the Grand Marshal and Yazhan would risk too much by killing him unless they expected his army not to attack Yunkai afterward.
• Cilia realized that the conspirators might be working with someone who could take control of Ian’s army after his death.

Ian and Cilia investigated who might be plotting against Ian in Yunkai, but Ian learned that Grazdo’s suspicious behavior came from his secret grain theft rather than a conspiracy. Ian ordered Yada to investigate the grain sale and resumed his deduction, while planning to keep his army supplied without relying on Yunkai.

• Ian suspected Cilia of plotting to take over his power after his death, but ruled her out when the alliance system showed no backstab warning.
• Ian’s sparrow followed Grazdo to a warehouse, where the manager revealed that Grazdo had secretly sold Yunkai’s military grain to a Volantis merchant.
• Ian realized Grazdo had been trying to delay his departure so the city could replace the missing provisions before the theft was discovered.
• Ian ordered Yada to investigate the grain transaction, the Volantis merchant, and the merchant’s motives.
• Ian resumed reviewing his deductions and privately recognized that his own provisions were sufficient to march to Meereen without Yunkai’s supplies.

Grazdan warned Yazhan that the banquet for Earl Dary might be a plot to frame him, while Ian investigated the suspicious grain trade and sensed danger near his army. Ian linked the clues to players in Volantis and prepared to deal with the threat.

• Grazdan forced his way into Yazhan's bathhouse and learned that Yazhan had invited Earl Dary in hopes of hearing about a cure for his illness.
• Grazdan told Yazhan that the Grand Marshal and his allies might kill Earl Dary at the banquet and blame Yazhan.
• Ian failed to spy on Grazdan and Yazhan, then reviewed the suspicious grain purchases and the Wiggle-butt General's possible sale of military grain.
• Ian's unease led him to connect Volantis, a bounty chest, and the Bloody Hand mercenary company to a possible player conspiracy.
• Cilia recognized that Ian suspected players from Volantis, and Ian said they should welcome their unexpected guests.

Ian discovered that Yunkai’s Wiggle-butt General had been framed in a scheme designed to keep Ian’s army waiting, while Rabbit helped conceal the plot. Ian deduced that an opposing player was coordinating Meereen, New Ghis, and Yunkai for a surprise attack, and he left the camp with nearly two days to prepare.

• Ian overheard Wiggle-butt General falsely claim that Earl Dary had insulted Yunkai, but the Grand Marshal ordered that Ian receive his supplies and depart.
• Ian returned to camp and told Cilia that Rabbit had collaborated in a plan that used the grain shortage to make Ian lower his guard and remain in Yunkai.
• Ian reasoned that an opposing player had set the scheme in motion to turn Meereen and New Ghis against his army while it was divided.
• Ian estimated that the allied forces could transport over thirty thousand troops from Meereen to Yunkai by sea and might be preparing a surprise attack.
• Ian told Cilia that he had sent a falcon toward Meereen, and its failure to spot the fleet meant they had nearly two days to prepare.

Ian investigated the enemy’s preparations from the sky and heard Grazdan’s account of a plot to murder him in Yunkai. Learning that the nearby river had swollen during the eight-year Long Summer, Ian began to suspect that the river itself could explain the enemy’s choice of battlefield.

• Ian sent a peregrine falcon carrying warnings to Astapor and surveyed Meereen, where he saw a large force that did not appear ready to march.
• Ian questioned why the enemy had chosen Yunkai and found no obvious weakness in his camp’s defenses.
• Grazdan told Ian that General Grazdo zo Alk had likely acted on the Grand Marshal’s orders to lure him into a murder plot at Yazhan’s banquet.
• Grazdan explained that the Grand Marshal had changed his stance after Paoz Zo Pal visited Yunkai and that Grazdo had suggested a dangerous campsite near a fire-prone forest.
• Ian noticed that a nearby river was far wider than the map showed, and Grazdan explained that the prolonged Long Summer had greatly expanded the Tarmakaha River and its tributaries.
• Ian asked whether Yunkai’s farmland lay mostly east of the river because the western bank was vulnerable to seasonal flooding.

Ian explained to Grazdan how Yunkai’s leaders planned to trap his army by withholding food and luring it toward a river crossing where Meereen’s fleet could destroy it. After Grazdan pledged allegiance, Ian told him to act normally while Ian prepared to counter the plot and urged him to seize the chance to become master of Yunkai.

• Ian used the map and Grazdan’s knowledge of the riverbanks to reason out that Yunkai’s farmland lay east of the tributary and that the western bank was wetland.
• Ian revealed that Yunkai’s leaders had staged a grain shortage to force him either to attack the city or cross the river for food, where Meereen’s fleet could trap his army.
• Ian explained that Meereen and New Ghis had arranged to send a fleet up the Tarmakaha River, cutting off Ian’s forces and neutralizing his Dothraki cavalry.
• Grazdan was shocked by Ian’s analysis, then knelt and pledged allegiance to him.
• Ian helped Grazdan up, told him to behave as though he knew nothing of the plot, and urged him to pursue the chance to become master of Yunkai.

Ian arranged for Grazdan to form a mercenary company to draw attention away from his real plans, while Daznak and Georlis discussed their trap and grew uneasy about Ian’s moves. Grazdo came to Ian for help after being implicated in a grain scheme, and Ian began questioning him about his rivalry with Fazaha and the Grand Marshal.

• Ian told Grazdan to form a mercenary company so Yunkai’s attention would focus on him and his recruits.
• Daznak and Georlis discussed their plot against Ian, agreed to monitor Grazdan, and noticed that Grazdo had entered Ian’s camp.
• Grazdo begged Ian to save him, believing Ian’s letter had promised protection from the consequences of the grain shortage.
• Ian rebuked Grazdo, then claimed his investigation showed the supply failure was not Grazdo’s fault and asked about his conflict with Fazaha.
• Grazdo explained that he and Fazaha were rival candidates for Grand Marshal and feared the Grand Marshal could execute him under wartime law.

Ian helped the Wiggle-butt General evade Fazaha’s grain-supply trap while concealing his own plans from Cilia. In Yunkai, Daznak and Georlis discussed their alliance and grew suspicious when the Red Priestess left Ian’s camp for a forest.

• Ian told the Wiggle-butt General that Fazaha had set him up and devised a plan to protect him by having him sail decoy cargo to Ian’s camp as if it were grain.
• Ian sent Cilia to wander into concealed woodland under cavalry protection, without explaining his purpose.
• Daznak and Georlis decided to wait for Ian’s provisions to run low and renewed their agreement to help each other gain power in Slaver’s Bay and Volantis.
• Daznak explained that he was monitoring Sama and a banquet in Meereen because he suspected Sama was another player’s NPC.
• Daznak spotted the Red Priestess leaving Ian’s camp and turning into a White Birch Forest, so Georlis urged him to investigate.

Daznak witnessed Cilia sacrifice a person to R'hllor but saw no immediate miracle, while Grazdo escaped arrest by claiming he had sent grain to Ian. Daznak then discovered Ian’s soldiers building siege engines, revealing a threat beyond Georlis’s plans to starve Ian’s army.

• Cilia chanted and burned an unidentified person as a sacrifice while Daznak watched from a distance, unable to hear her prayer.
• Grazdo was confronted at Yunkai Harbor, but he claimed he had shipped Astapor’s provisions to Ian and left before Fazaha could arrest him.
• Daznak’s eagle followed Cilia through the forest and back to camp, but no visible miracle occurred; spies also found nothing suspicious in Meereen.
• Daznak told Georlis about the sacrifice, and Georlis learned that Fazaha had failed to arrest Grazdo and was waiting for confirmation about the grain.
• Daznak revealed that Ian had sent two legions to cut down trees and build siege engines.

Daznak and Georlis tried to stop Grazdan’s provisions from reaching Ian, but Ian’s dragon destroyed the hawk Daznak was skinchanging into. As Georlis attempted to flee Yunkai, Mero stabbed him on Ian’s orders.

• Daznak and Georlis realized Ian might know about their trap and decided to intercept Grazdan’s ships before they reached his camp.
• Daznak watched Grazdan and Yazhan gather forces, then discovered they were moving toward the harbor while the city garrison stood aside.
• Daznak and Georlis feared the Red Priestess had exposed their location and ordered their remaining men to defend the inn as they sought help from the Second Sons.
• Daznak’s hawk found merchant ships on the river, but Ian’s dragon killed it with black flames, causing Daznak to collapse in agony.
• Georlis ordered his men to take him and Daznak to the docks, but Mero stabbed Georlis and said Ian sent his regards.

After killing the hostile player in Yunkai, Ian explained how his layered plan had outmaneuvered the enemy Skinchanger and secured the city’s harbor and western gate. Yunkai surrendered on the second day after Ian arrived, while the new historic-cities bounty mission raised the stakes for holding captured cities.

• The system announced that fewer than 20 players remained, changed several game mechanics, and opened Bounty Mission Three, which rewarded occupying or rebuilding historic cities but penalized losing them.
• Ian refused Cilia’s suggestion of a siege and explained that he had targeted the enemy player rather than attack Yunkai’s defenses.
• Ian described his seven simultaneous arrangements in Yunkai and how he used them to distract the enemy’s limited number of Skinchanger eyes.
• The enemy player’s bird flew toward the river routes, and Ian used Black Dragon Ion to kill it, leaving the player temporarily incapacitated.
• Ian’s forces took control of Yunkai’s harbor district and western gate with almost no losses.
• Yada entered Ian’s tent and reported that Yunkai had surrendered.

Ian used Yunkai’s belated welcome banquet to win over mercenary commanders and present his seizure of the city as help against Fazaha’s conspiracy. He blamed Fazaha for the Grand Marshal’s murder and asked Grazdan how Yunkai law should punish him.

• Ian promised Mero doubled payment and urged him and Plandar na Gysan to seek greater rewards by serving him.
• Mero toasted Ian as a ruler, and Ian replied that he accepted the blessing on Queen Daenerys’s behalf.
• Ian publicly praised Mero and Plandar for helping foil Fazaha’s plot, then accused Fazaha of conspiring with Volantis to sabotage the Ghis Alliance.
• Grazdan declared that Fazaha had planned to profit from a Dothraki victory and had murdered the Grand Marshal.
• Yunkai’s nobles denounced Fazaha, and Ian asked Grazdan what punishment Yunkai law prescribed for him.

After Fazaha was sentenced to death, Ian guided Yunkai’s Wise Masters through punishing House Faza and choosing new military leaders while keeping the city’s affairs in local hands. Grazdan secured the rewards Ian had promised and was tasked with reporting Yunkai’s political changes to Meereen.

• Grazdan led the Council of Wise Masters in unanimously sentencing Fazaha Zo Faza to hanging.
• The Wiggle-butt General proposed confiscating House Faza’s property, executing its adult men, enslaving its women and children, and granting the family’s estate and status to Grazdan, which the Wise Masters approved.
• Ian announced that Yunkai must send troops to Meereen and leave the selection of a new Grand Marshal to the Wise Masters; Plandar na Gysan offered to arrange Mulhad Zo Yazak’s death, but Ian refused.
• Grazdan argued that Mulhad should serve as a deputy commander before inheriting the Grand Marshal position, and the Wise Masters instead approved the Wiggle-butt General as Grand Marshal for the coming war.
• After the banquet, Grazdan thanked Ian for raising House Eraz to High Nobility and explained why the Wiggle-butt General and a Yazak deputy commander would stabilize Yunkai and reassure Meereen.
• Ian ordered Grazdan to send messengers to Meereen and report what had happened in Yunkai.