Chapter Summaries

Ian devised a plan with Illyrio to turn Hazan’s scheme against him, while Cilia and Hazan planned to use Ian to seize Daenerys. In Winterfell, Robert insisted that Lyanna was his fated future queen, and Eddard warned him that he had gone mad.

• Ian persuaded Illyrio to go to the Palace of the Council while Ian hid the real Daenerys and her brother and used stand-ins to trigger Hazan’s operation.
• Cilia told Hazan that her vision showed Daenerys dying and the Khal burning Pentos’s outskirts, then advised him to use Ian to take Daenerys under their control.
• Hazan agreed to have Governor Tytellus delay Illyrio at the council meeting while Ian brought Daenerys out of the mansion.
• Robert told Eddard that he intended to marry Lyanna and make her brother Lorran a knight and lord, while Eddard objected that the plan was madness.

Ian attended the tournament at the Prince's Palace in Pentos, where political rivalries and unexpected defections disrupted the proceedings before the contest began. Bronn joined Hazan's side, and Ian revealed he had hired him for three times his original price.

• Ian entered the Prince's Palace with the Pentosi nobles and confirmed that Cilia had followed his instructions under Big Orange's watch.
• Suda Tytellus and Prince Hazan Moharis arrived with their entourages, and Andar Pyle fixed his attention on Daron Grafton.
• Ian noticed a Great Warhammer carried behind Hazan and recalled the weapon that had nearly struck him at Stranger's Temple.
• Governor Graero Tytellus and Governor Gordin Hauket took their places as the proxy warriors prepared for the tournament.
• Two Water Dancers left Hazan's party for the opposing side, then Bronn defected from Suda's forces to fight for Hazan.
• Hazan praised Bronn's sense of justice, and Ian explained that he had agreed to pay the mercenary three times his original price.

Yada, Viserys’s Kingsguard, used a Valyrian Steel Sword to defeat Suda’s champion and then killed a second opponent after Gray Mushroom Powder weakened him. Suda’s side had lost two fighters while Yada remained uninjured, and Andar Pyle realized Daron had poisoned the opposing Water Dancers.

• Hazan sent Yada to face Suda’s heavily armored champion, Mazral, after Ian advised him to choose the Water Dancer.
• Yada dodged Mazral’s attack and killed him with a Valyrian Steel Sword thrust through his gorget.
• Hazan kept Yada in the contest, so Suda sent one of his own Water Dancers to fight him.
• The opposing Water Dancer suffered severe abdominal pain from the Gray Mushroom Powder, and Yada killed him with a sword thrust to the chest.
• Andar found Suda’s remaining Water Dancer doubled over in pain and realized Daron had poisoned the fighters.

Ian captured Belz Poole after Belz helped persuade two Water Dancers to attack Prince Hazan, then killed him despite his offer to serve. Ian and Cilia agreed to remain wary of each other as the third tournament match began.

• Suda sent Andar Pyle to fight in the third match, while Hazan sent Bali after Ian insisted Yada rest.
• Ian left the stands and met Cilia in the garden, where his knights restrained the bloodied Belz Poole.
• Ian confronted Belz about plotting against Hazan, rejected his offer to serve, and poisoned him.
• Cilia suggested giving Ian her points so he could claim victory alone, but neither she nor Ian trusted the other completely.
• Ian ordered Cilia to dispose of Belz's body and return to work as he headed back to Prince's Square.

Ian watched the tournament’s third through sixth matches while considering the generally poor quality of armor in Westeros. The Elephant Hunter killed Jorah Mormont with a javelin, leaving Ian and Hazan shocked and wondering whether he explained Andar Pyle’s confidence.

• Ian arrived as Andar Pyle killed Bary, then reflected that armor in the world of Ice and Fire was often made from poor-quality metal.
• Yada told Ian that Bary had wounded Andar’s right knee, and Ian revealed that he had disrupted Andar by killing Belz during the match.
• Ian checked the Auxiliary System and found that Belz had yielded few points or attribute gains when Ian killed him.
• Shai defeated Suda’s slave warrior, and Bronn killed a Dothraki Slave Warrior after Ian urged Hazan to send him out.
• Hazan sent Jorah Mormont to face the Elephant Hunter, who killed Jorah by hurling a javelin through his abdomen.

Ian’s side won the proxy battles, and Prince Hazan began the next act by publicly humiliating Suda Tytellus. Hazan crippled Suda but refused to kill him, leaving the Tytellus family disgraced and on the brink of war.

• Yada defeated the Elephant Hunter, then Keith killed the injured Ande and earned Ian system rewards.
• Hazan personally challenged Suda and demanded that he kneel, swear allegiance, and stay away from Hazan’s fiancée.
• Hazan overpowered Suda and repeatedly demanded his submission while Suda refused to surrender.
• Glaro Tytellus demanded that Hazan appear before the Great Council and apologize, or face war.
• Hazan broke Suda’s legs but refused to kill him, then left him crippled on the platform.

Ian collected the commission from Hazan after Hazan’s victory over Suda, then agreed to stay for lunch while Hazan delayed revealing a shocking matter. Illyrio hurried to the Great Council to mediate, alarmed by rumors that he had allied with Hazan.

• Ian and Hazan discussed the duel and Governor Tytellus’s demand that Hazan publicly repent, while Hazan insisted he knew what he was doing.
• Ian asked for the commission, and Hazan gave him a chest containing gold bars worth six thousand old Gold Dragons.
• Hazan asked Ian what he thought of Illyrio, then said he could not yet reveal what he wanted to discuss and invited Ian to lunch.
• Illyrio left his estate for the Palace of the Council after Governor Tytellus called a Great Council over Hazan’s humiliation of Suda.
• A herald told Illyrio that rumors linked him to Hazan because Viserys’s knights had fought in Hazan’s matches, and Illyrio angrily ordered the carriage to hurry.

Ian agreed to help Hazan’s alliance defeat Illyrio, then went to collect lookalikes for Viserys and Daenerys while Illyrio attended the Great Council. The chapter left the council gathered and Ian preparing to use the substitutes in the plan.

• Ian questioned Hazan about the plan, its chances, and the alliance’s future before agreeing to help.
• Hazan explained that Governor Graero Tytellus had joined the alliance after receiving concessions in the upper Rhoyne River basin.
• Illyrio arrived at the Palace of the Council and took his seat among the divided councilors.
• Ian went to Viserys and Daenerys’s chambers and confirmed that the Unsullied obeyed his orders while Mills was away.
• Mills brought Ian a teenage boy and girl with Valyrian blood to serve as lookalikes for the Targaryen siblings.

Ian killed Steward Mills and two Unsullied, then went upstairs to check on the Targaryen siblings while Illyrio and Bidassini discussed a possible alliance at the Great Council. Governor Tytellus accused Hazan of dishonoring his son and insulting Pentos, and Ian feared Viserys might be trying to claim Daenerys for himself.

• Ian claimed Cilia was Hazan's sister and brought her as a hostage, then killed Steward Mills while Yada and Keith killed two Unsullied.
• Ian ordered Keith to move the bodies and went upstairs with the Unsullied-commanding whip, leaving Yada to watch Cilia.
• Bidassini asked Illyrio about his rumored alliance with Hazan, and Illyrio suggested they would soon work together.
• At the Great Council, Governor Tytellus condemned Hazan for humiliating Suda in the duel and demanded to know whether Hazan had insulted House Tytellus and all Pentoshi citizens.
• Ian knocked on Viserys's door and, recalling Viserys's interest in Drogo's bride gift and Targaryen sibling marriage, worried that Viserys might want Daenerys for himself.

Ian stopped Viserys from assaulting Daenerys and promised to protect her, then brought her to trust him. At the Great Council, Illyrio revealed that the meeting was not about mediating a dispute but about judgment.

• Ian dragged Viserys away from Daenerys's bedchamber and sent him downstairs to meet the Red Priestess.
• Ian returned to Daenerys, comforted her, and promised Viserys would never hurt her again.
• Daenerys accepted Ian's protection and quietly told him she trusted him.
• Illyrio told the councilors that Governor Graero Tytellus's speech had strayed from the meeting's true subject.
• A herald raised the Silver Whip, revealing that the Great Council had been convened for a judgment.

Ian used the Harpy's Whip to send the Targaryen decoys away and draw Illyrio's defenses back to the mountain castle, leaving Roar an opening to loot the mansion. At the Great Council, Bidacini Sevaci turned the rumors of an Illyrio-Prince Tyg alliance against Governor Graero Tytellus, and the councilors demanded his trial.

• Ian ordered Blue Maggot to escort the decoys to the Temple of the Red God and move the real king and princess with the Unsullied to the mountain castle.
• Ian left Illyrio's Mansion with Cilia, the decoys, and fifty Unsullied, while Blue Maggot ordered the remaining guards and servants to withdraw to the mountain.
• Roar and his companions emerged from hiding and headed for Illyrio's treasury after the Unsullied pulled back.
• Bidacini Sevaci accused Governor Graero Tytellus of illegally gathering troops and proposed that the Great Council detain and try him.
• Prince Tyg struggled to respond as councilors joined the denunciation of Tytellus and began shouting for a trial.

Ian and Illyrio’s plan turned the Great Council against Governor Tytellus and set Pentos’s factions fighting in the XC District. As the conflict spread, Bronn and Dorian received Ian’s next instructions near the harbor.

• Ian escorted the Targaryen siblings out of Illyrio’s Mansion while revealing them to an ally waiting on Barrel Street.
• Governor Tytellus confronted Prince Tyg, who collapsed after the bribed master of ceremonies killed him with a poisoned needle; guards arrested Tytellus for the murder.
• Illyrio recalled Ian’s plan to frame Tytellus, nominate Hazan as prince, and use the resulting distrust to turn Hazan’s forces against Tytellus’s sons.
• Hazan and Tytellus’s eldest son led their armies into the XC District, where fighting drove Illyrio’s forces into fortified buildings and mansions.
• Bronn and Dorian waited near the harbor instead of carrying out Malt Tytellus’s attack order, then received instructions from Ian to spread a rumor about ships being confiscated and set fire to nearby streets.

Ian arranged Viserys’s death during a staged attack and took Daenerys toward the harbor, leaving her grieving and unsure of her future. Meanwhile, Malt Tytellus and Hazan discovered that the sealed Palace of the Council and the unexpected delays were not part of their plan.

• Ian revealed that he had surveyed Hazan’s sentry posts, then had Denzel shoot Viserys while Ian pretended to protect him.
• The Unsullied formed shield walls, and Daenerys saw Viserys lying wounded; Cilia realized Ian had arranged the attack and would not comfort Daenerys with false hope.
• Ian carried Viserys’s corpse into the carriage, ordered the Unsullied to attack Hazan’s stronghold, and led Daenerys toward the harbor.
• Malt Tytellus waited outside Illyrio’s Mansion for Hazan, while a scout reported that the Palace of the Council had sealed its gates for a trial.
• Hazan arrived late and said his troops had been delayed by resistance; he and Malt realized the council proceedings and other events were not part of their plan.

Ian led Daenerys and Viserys’s corpse out of Pentos amid the harbor chaos, then told Daenerys that Viserys’s death made her Queen and heir to the Iron Throne. Daenerys doubted she could rule, but Ian promised to teach her as they left Pentos.

• Ian left the White Cat Inn with Daenerys, Viserys’s corpse, Dorian, Bronn, and their men, then ordered the inn burned.
• The Great Council declared Graero Tytellus guilty of treason, stripped his family of power and property, and elected Hazan Moharres Prince of Pentos.
• As sailors fled the harbor in the ensuing chaos, Ian’s group reached the docks with the sobbing Daenerys concealed in a carriage.
• Ian called Daenerys his Queen and told her she must lead them to reclaim the Iron Throne.
• Daenerys protested that she could not rule and was meant to marry Khal Drogo, but Ian said they were leaving Pentos and promised to teach her.

Ian swore fealty to Daenerys, who accepted his oath and appointed him Hand of the Queen. After convincing her to leave Pentos and sail east for an army, Ian and his party boarded a ship and escaped among the vessels departing the harbor.

• Daenerys accepted Ian's fealty, promised to lead her followers home, and appointed him Hand of the Queen.
• Ian brought Daenerys to Pentos's port and told her they had to leave before Illyrio could force her to marry Khal Drogo.
• Cilia persuaded Daenerys that her followers needed to preserve the Targaryen dynasty, and Daenerys agreed to follow Ian east in search of an army.
• Roar arrived with chests looted from Illyrio's treasury, and Ian pretended they were funds Illyrio had given as a parting gift.
• Ian and his party boarded the Breeze Goddess's Kiss and sailed out of Pentos among the harbor's departing ships.

Ian's scheme left Hazan trapped and killed as Malt Tytellus's forces overwhelmed him, while Ian arranged for the Dothraki to enter Pentos. Ian flew away as the city burned, believing the destruction would conceal his role in the crisis.

• Malt Tytellus learned that Hazan had been elected prince and ordered his troops to attack Illyrio's Mansion.
• Hazan discovered Illyrio's political maneuver, but Malt's forces engaged his men before he could explain himself.
• Hazan tried to break through the mansion's outer courtyard but was surrounded and killed by Malt's elite troops.
• Ian-Falcon watched Malt retreat and reflected that Hazan's death was necessary to conceal Ian's role and protect his plan to take Daenerys away.
• Ian's disguised Unsullied seized Pentos's southern gate and admitted the Dothraki army into the city.
• Ian-Falcon flew from Pentos as the Dothraki spread fire and slaughter through the city.

Ian explained why he had taken Daenerys from Pentos and warned Cilia not to act behind his back, then discussed Daenerys’s feverish Dragon Dream and his plans for the three dragon egg fossils. The chapter ended with Cilia asking why Ian had brought Viserys’s corpse aboard.

• Cilia questioned whether destroying Pentos and losing Hazan as an ally had been worth stopping Daenerys’s marriage to Drogo, and Ian explained that taking Daenerys directly disrupted the other players’ plans.
• Ian admitted that he had been afraid throughout the escape and threatened to eliminate Cilia if he suspected her of betrayal; Cilia said she understood the paranoia of the game.
• Cilia told Ian that Daenerys had a high fever, and Ian said she was having a Dragon Dream and revealed that he had already stolen the three dragon eggs.
• Ian argued that hatching the fossilized eggs required a life sacrifice and said Mirri Maz Duur’s blood had held power comparable to King’s Blood.
• Cilia questioned Ian’s assessment of Mirri Maz Duur, and Ian explained that she had wielded Blood Magic before the Magic Tide returned.
• Cilia asked Ian why he had insisted on bringing Viserys’s corpse aboard.

Ian planned to use Viserys’s blood to hatch a dragon and trade it for Unsullied, while asserting control over Cilia and Daenerys. After discovering several achievement rewards for killing Viserys and stealing from Illyrio, he began investigating whether achievements could provide a faster path to victory.

• Ian told Cilia that Viserys’s blood could hatch a dragon and ordered her to help persuade Daenerys to carry an egg into the fire.
• Ian took Cilia to his cabin to study High Valyrian and declared that the ship, its people, the treasure, the dragon eggs, Cilia, and Daenerys belonged to him.
• Ian reviewed his settlement report and found system emails awarding achievements for killing Viserys and stealing valuables from Illyrio.
• Ian inspected his completed achievements and grouped them into sequences for killing players, gaining official rank, killing native targets, and stealing valuables.
• Ian suspected that achievements tailored to different player classes could yield points and system items, and decided to investigate whether he could complete them across classes.

Daenerys woke from a dream of Viserys tormenting her, Rhaegar falling in battle, and a dragon appearing in flames. Feeling relieved that Viserys was dead and that she no longer had to marry Drogo, she dressed herself and went to find Ian, asking Roar to summon Earl Dary for a meal.

• Daenerys dreamed that Viserys beat her, Rhaegar was struck down by the Antler Giant, and a dragon appeared in a ring of fire.
• Daenerys awoke trembling and reminded herself that she was the last Dragonblood, but did not know what to do.
• Daenerys recalled Ian's actions from the previous day and blushed, then felt relieved that Viserys's death meant she would not have to marry Khal Drogo.
• Daenerys remembered that her servants had not come aboard Ian's ship and dressed herself in a formal gown.
• Daenerys entered the main cabin, greeted Roar, and asked him to tell Earl Dary that she wanted him to dine with her.

Ian showed Daenerys three dragon eggs among the loot taken from Illyrio, and she experienced a vision of a dragon while holding one. Cilia said the Lord of Light had revealed that Daenerys would bring dragons back into the world, though Daenerys insisted the eggs were only stone even as she felt drawn to them.

• Daenerys waited for Ian, then met him and Cilia on the stairs as they discussed studying High Valyrian.
• Ian led Daenerys and Cilia to a guarded storage room and opened a chest containing three dragon eggs from Illyrio's gifts.
• Daenerys admired the eggs and, while holding one, saw a vision of a dragon before Ian's voice brought her back.
• Cilia told Daenerys that she had seen the same vision and that the Lord of Light had foretold Daenerys would bring dragons back.
• Daenerys called the eggs stone but continued reaching for them, feeling as though something inside was calling to her.