Chapter Summaries

Rhaegar crippled Garwin in a joust after discovering the Hightower knight had used a mare in heat to disrupt his horse, then reunited with Rhaenyra, who told him she was pregnant. As they planned a Valyrian ceremony and discussed an old book’s account of dragonkeeping, Rhaegar concluded that dragons kept free developed distinctive temperaments.

• Rhaegar noticed Garwin’s mare was in heat and recognized that Garwin had used her to unsettle his horse.
• Rhaegar struck Garwin with his lance, and Garwin was crushed beneath his horse and left with both legs broken and severe internal injuries.
• Viserys offered to have Orvel treat Garwin, while Lyonel defended Rhaegar and Alicent protested the prince’s actions.
• Rhaegar defeated five or six more joust competitors before leaving the grounds.
• Rhaenyra told Rhaegar she was pregnant, and they agreed to hold a formal ceremony in Dragonstone after the tourney.
• Rhaegar read an ancient book with Rhaenyra and explained that free-roaming dragons developed distinct traits, unlike dragons kept in the Dragonpit.

Rhaegar told Jeyne he would have a child with her and suggested that war with Dorne could make it possible for him to take another wife. Helaena and Marisanne overheard their conversation and were caught by Grey Worm.

• Rhaenyra shared a tender moment with Siga before Grey Worm summoned Rhaegar to meet Jeyne.
• Jeyne asked Rhaegar whether he wanted a child with her, and he promised her one who would not be treated as a bastard.
• Rhaegar told Jeyne he expected war to come and named Dorne as his target, believing conquest could strengthen his claim to take another wife.
• After Jeyne left, Rhaegar reflected that her support and their child's claim to the Vale mattered to his plans.
• Helaena and Marisanne secretly listened to Rhaegar and Jeyne, then Grey Worm caught them and brought them before Rhaegar.

Rhaegar learned that Helaena had burned the prisoners while trying to kill Larys, and that Aemond later helped Larys escape. Tormund’s letter exposed the Hightowers’ tangled conspiracy and Aegon’s surprising innocence, leaving Rhaegar determined to deal with Mund Hightower and the Faith of the Seven.

• Rhaegar asked Marisanne to keep their secret and encouraged her to smooth over Aemond and Cassandra’s betrothal, but she suggested that they might be better off not getting along.
• Rhaegar confronted Helaena, who confessed that Alicent had asked her to burn the prisoners and Larys; Helaena apologized and promised to help Rhaegar in the future.
• Tormund’s letter revealed that Otto and Alicent had planned to rescue Larys, while Mund Hightower involved Aemond and promised to help him deal with the two bastards.
• The letter explained that Aemond found and rescued Larys after Helaena burned the decoy, while Aegon had ignored the plan and flown to a brothel.
• Rhaegar realized Aegon had been loyal and resolved to remove Mund Hightower, then angrily invoked the faith of R'hllor.

Rhaenyra suspected Rhaegar was hiding something and used one of her ancient coins to make him confess, but she left him guessing. Two days later, Daemon again urged Viserys to act against the pirates of the Three Daughters as the tournament continued.

• Rhaenyra spotted two disguised girls in the garden and recognized their silver-gold sideburns before calling for Sara.
• Rhaegar returned to find Rhaenyra sharing her bed with Laena, who stayed with her while she questioned him about what he was hiding.
• Rhaenyra gave Rhaegar one of the ancient coins he had promised would grant her a wish, but she refused to reveal what he should confess.
• Rhaenyra and Laena discussed Rhaegar's interest in other women, and Laena comforted her about sharing him.
• Two days later, Daemon complained to Viserys that the pirates of the Three Daughters were growing bolder, but Viserys put off discussing the matter until after the tournament.
• Rhaegar watched Daemon from across the tournament platform, while Daemon suspected him of keeping close watch and Laenor suddenly felt uneasy.

Rhaegar announced the Valantis crisis, then revealed that Rhaenyra might be pregnant and promised to win her the crown of love and beauty. At the tourney, he defeated Ser Arno Storm with a fatal lance strike, while his dispute with Daemon over future wars remained unresolved.

• Rhaegar told the court that a Tiger Party magistrate had attacked Lysene merchant ships, provoking Viserys to forbid Daemon and Rhaegar from starting a war without his consent.
• Rhaegar told Viserys that Rhaenyra might be pregnant, and the court congratulated her as Rhaegar promised her a gift if he won the tourney crown.
• Daemon warned Rhaegar that Dorne would be a difficult conquest and argued that the Three Daughters should be the first target, but Rhaegar insisted the Seven Kingdoms needed to unite before expanding.
• Rhaegar entered the joust against Ser Arno Storm of Stonewatch and killed him with a lance strike through the throat.

Rhaegar defeated Criston Cole in the tournament and welcomed him back, while Daemon beat Pollon Storm and prepared to face Rhaegar in the final match. As the two princes charged at each other, dragons gathered over the arena.

• Cole defeated Medrick Manderly, and Daemon unhorsed William Royce in earlier tournament bouts.
• Rhaegar defeated Cole on foot by disarming him and holding True Fire to his throat, then welcomed him back and said he would discuss his position with the Small Council.
• Daemon defeated Pollon Storm after blinding him and kicking him in the groin.
• Rhaegar and Daemon entered the final match, and dragons including Blood Wyrm, Sunfyre, Dreamfyre, and Tessarion gathered over the arena.
• Rhaegar charged at Daemon as the final match began.

Rhaegar defeated Daemon in a fierce tourney duel and won the championship, earning the title Midsummer Prince. He crowned Rhaenyra his Queen of Love and Beauty as the crowd celebrated.

• Rhaegar and Daemon charged each other with lances, fell from their horses, and continued fighting on foot.
• Rhaegar’s bloodline surged during the duel, and he defeated Daemon with True Fire, forcing him to yield.
• Cannibal and Caraxes clashed briefly in the sky before withdrawing, while the nobles watched in alarm.
• The judge declared Rhaegar the tournament champion, and the nobles hailed him as the Midsummer Prince.
• Rhaegar accepted a flower crown and presented it to Rhaenyra, declaring her his true Queen of Love and Beauty.

At the tourney, Rhaegar offered Rhaenyra the crown of love and beauty, but she refused it and accepted a newly forged Valyrian steel sword instead. After she returned a lock of hair linked to his bastard daughters, Rhaegar’s anger and their conflict grew until he apologized, gave her a dragon-shaped ring and the crown, and carried her away to Dragonstone.

• Rhaegar offered Rhaenyra the crown of love and beauty, but she declined it and accepted the Valyrian steel sword Light of the Kingdom, which he had forged from The Truth.
• Rhaenyra gave Rhaegar a lock of silver-gold hair, and he realized it likely belonged to one of his bastard daughters and became angry and disappointed.
• Rhaegar offered the crown to Jeyne and Margaery, but both refused to take it, while Marisanne stopped Helaena from calling for it.
• Rhaegar returned to Rhaenyra, melted an ancient gold coin into a dragon-shaped ring, and apologized as he presented her with the ring and crown.
• Rhaenyra accepted the gifts, put on the crown and ring, and Rhaegar carried her to Dragonstone after Cannibal landed.

Rhaegar and Rhaenyra prepared for their Old Valyrian ceremony on Dragonstone, while Rhaegar continued searching for a mysterious wild dragon. They completed the blood-and-fire rite before the gathered nobles, leaving their bond publicly affirmed.

• Rhaegar woke in the bath after Rhaenyra told him that Viserys and the guests had arrived, and she reminded him that she was three months pregnant.
• Rhaegar complained that his overnight search for the wild dragon had failed, then objected when Daenerys entered to bring his clothes.
• Rhaenyra and Rhaegar traveled to Dragonstone Mountain, where nobles and lords gathered to witness their Old Valyrian ceremony.
• Rhaegar and Rhaenyra cut their lips and palms with dragonglass, marked each other's foreheads with the words for blood and fire, and bound their hands together.
• Menas recited the ceremony's vows as Rhaegar and Rhaenyra drank from a bronze goblet and shared a kiss.
• Cannibal, Syrax, and the other dragons roared and circled overhead as Rhaegar and Rhaenyra embraced, thinking, "Blood and fire, one source!"

After Rhaegar and Rhaenyra celebrated their union, Daemon refused Viserys’s offer of land and revealed his plan to claim a Free City across the Narrow Sea. A wild dragon from the Smoking Sea attacked near Dragonstone, and the Cannibal pursued it toward the Gullet.

• Rhaegar learned that the Red Priestess had left for Valantis and reflected on the wildfire explosion at Harrenhal that killed two septons and Myles Tully.
• Rhaegar and Rhaenyra shared a private moment after their ceremony, while Viserys celebrated their union at the feast.
• Daemon refused Viserys’s offer of land at the mouth of the Blackwater River and said he planned to join Corlys in claiming a Free City.
• A wild dragon arrived near Dragonstone, and the Cannibal chased it away from the island toward the Gullet.
• The Cannibal overcame the wild dragon’s gray flames and caught it in its jaws, drawing blood as it began to devour its prey.

Rhaegar discovered Cannibal had returned injured after a brutal hunt for the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon in the Stepstones, where Three Daughters pirates attacked the fighting dragons. After seeing Cannibal’s memories, Rhaegar helped remove the spears from his belly as Cannibal ate the remains of his prey to recover.

• Rhaegar woke after a night of waiting and saw Cannibal crash onto the cliffs, bloodied and exhausted.
• Cannibal regurgitated part of the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon’s tail, chunks of its flesh, and several human corpses, revealing that pirates had attacked him.
• Rhaegar saw Cannibal’s memories of fighting the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon, pursuing it to the Stepstones, and being struck by the pirates’ scorpion bolts.
• Rhaegar realized the pirates belonged to the Three Daughters and concluded Cannibal’s injuries were mostly superficial, though he was exhausted and had a broken wing bone.
• Rhaegar fed Cannibal and pulled steel spears from his belly while the dragon ate the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon’s severed tail.

Rhaegar dealt with Cannibal’s injuries and ordered a search for the wounded Sea Smoke Wild Dragon before welcoming envoys from Pentos to Dragonstone. He rudely left Prince Reggio’s delegation outside and went to the meeting hall, where Viserys awaited them.

• Rhaegar pulled steel lances from Cannibal, reassured Rhaenyra that the dragon’s wounds would heal, and told Daemon to search the Stepstones and Summer Sea for the escaped Sea Smoke Wild Dragon.
• Rhaegar ordered Tormund to have Hylle monitor the Three Daughters and Valantis.
• Prince Reggio and Pentos’s officials arrived on Dragonstone, where Caraxes and a golden dragon flew over them as they crossed the stone bridge.
• Rhaegar refused Prince Reggio’s offered handshake, invited the envoys into the castle, and walked away before they could respond.
• Rhaegar entered the meeting hall and told Viserys that the Pentosi envoys were arriving as Daemon led them toward the entrance.

Pentos sought an alliance with the Iron Throne against the Three Daughters, while Rhaegar weighed the threat and welcomed Rhaenyra and the gifts Prince Reggio brought. After discovering two more relics with his System, Rhaegar learned that the wounded Sea Smoke Wild Dragon had appeared near Lys.

• Prince Reggio urged Viserys and the Small Council to ally with Pentos, warning that the Three Daughters, Dorne, and Braavos threatened the Free Cities and sea lanes.
• Rhaenyra joined the Council Hall, and Prince Reggio presented her and Rhaegar with a Valyrian glass candle that activated a System exploration mission.
• Viserys invited the Pentoshi delegation to a welcoming feast after Rhaegar and Rhaenyra accepted Prince Reggio's gifts and hospitality.
• Rhaegar visited the injured Cannibal on the coastal cliffs and examined the bronze statue of the Mother, activating another exploration mission.
• Tormund delivered a message from Qiliu reporting that the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon had appeared near Lys and scalded fish and shrimp with its dragon's blood.

Rhaegar learned that the Sea King of Braavos might possess Dreamfyre’s missing dragon eggs and ordered Tormund to investigate. He tested a newly acquired Blood Witchcraft, which let him glimpse Sothoryos, but the vision drained his magic and proved difficult to control.

• Rhaegar read Tormund’s reports that Qoren of Dorne had sent Meleys’s dragon bones to the Sea King of Braavos and suspected the Sea King was pursuing dragons.
• Tormund suggested the previous Sea King might have bought Dreamfyre’s three missing eggs, and Rhaegar ordered him to find out what the current Sea King was collecting dragon remains for.
• Rhaegar activated the glass candle’s Blood Witchcraft, Reaching for the Moon in the Water, and viewed a distant jungle and mountain range.
• Rhaegar recognized the dragon-like creatures he saw as Striped Pterodactyls from Sothoryos.
• Rhaegar’s vision ended when his magic ran low, and he realized the distant, hard-to-control sight consumed a great deal of it.

The Cannibal gained a legendary resilience enhancement, and Rhaegar learned that the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon had been captured by Lys. He interrupted Viserys and Daemon’s argument over war with the Three Daughters and called for preparations for war.

• Helaena interrupted Rhaegar’s viewing, and the Cannibal celebrated its transformation by flying through emerald Dragonflame.
• Rhaegar discovered that Mother's Blessing had granted the Cannibal legendary Resilience, strengthening its scales, then flew with it over the channel.
• The Cannibal returned to Dragonstone exhausted and hungry, so Rhaegar ordered cattle and sheep brought to it.
• Viserys rejected Daemon’s push for war against the Three Daughters, warning that victory could leave Daemon and Corlys ruling conquered cities.
• Tormund brought Rhaegar a letter from Syrios reporting that the Sea Smoke Wild Dragon had been captured and taken by Governor Banroba Bazane of Lys.
• Rhaegar entered the Map Table Hall, placed the letter before Viserys and Daemon, and ordered them to prepare for war.

Rhaegar led an emergency council meeting after Lys captured the wounded Sea Smoke Wild Dragon, and the crown prepared for war while planning negotiations. Two days later, Rhaegar rode the Cannibal to Sothoryos to hunt pterodactyls, where they found native wildlings and the Cannibal caught the scent of dragon eggs.

• Viserys, Rhaegar, and the council debated how to respond after sellswords captured Sea Smoke Wild Dragon and sold it to Banroba Bazane of Lys.
• Corlys and Daemon urged war, while Lyonel and Tormund advised preparing for conflict and seeking allies among the Free Cities.
• Viserys asked Rhaegar for his decision, and Rhaegar supported negotiations while insisting the kingdom be ready to fight at any moment.
• Two days later, Rhaegar flew the Cannibal to Sothoryos to hunt pterodactyls and had earlier scouted Lys's patrol ships and Scorpion defenses.
• Rhaegar and the Cannibal killed a large marsh pterodactyl near a group of fleeing wildlings, and the Cannibal followed the scent of similar dragon eggs into a marsh.

Rhaegar and Cannibal searched Sothoryos for pterodactyls and discovered the remains of a dragon far larger than any known dragon. When the remains crumbled under Cannibal’s tail, Rhaegar realized they were not made of true dragon bone and questioned what the colossal creature had been.

• Rhaegar killed a Striped Pterodactyl, and Cannibal ate it while Rhaegar collected pterodactyl eggs for possible use as prey for young dragons.
• Rhaegar and Cannibal destroyed several Striped Pterodactyl nests before following the scent of another dragon to a remote island.
• Cannibal found a canyon beside a dormant volcano, where Rhaegar discovered enormous dragon-shaped remains he estimated had belonged to a dragon over three hundred meters long.
• Rhaegar approached the skull and accidentally knocked a huge fang loose, then suspected the remains were not as old or as sturdy as genuine dragon bones.
• Rhaegar ordered Cannibal to strike the skull, which shattered against the canyon wall, confirming that something was wrong with the remains.

Rhaegar discovered a Dragonlord lair and fossilized dragon eggs in Sothoryos, then returned to Westeros as conflict with the Three Daughters loomed. After learning that Braavos had invited both sides to negotiate, he decided to lead the Targaryen delegation himself with Aegon.

• Rhaegar found fossilized dragon eggs, High Valyrian records about dragon growth, and traces of Blood Witchcraft in a cave beneath the dragon's remains.
• Rhaegar and the Cannibal destroyed Three Daughters warships attacking a Westerosi patrol ship in the Stepstones.
• Daemon told Rhaegar that Lys had captured a wild dragon and that war with the Free Cities seemed imminent.
• Rhaegar returned to Dragonstone with dragon eggs and learned that the Sea King of Braavos had invited the Targaryens and the Three Daughters to negotiate.
• Rhaegar rejected Lyonel's offer to negotiate and declared that he would lead the delegation, with Aegon accompanying him on dragonback.

Rhaegar brought his siblings and Daemon to Braavos for negotiations over the war with the Three Daughters and the captured wild dragon Mogul. The meeting ended with Rhaegar demanding Mogul’s return and threatening the Lyseni with blood and fire.

• Viserys agreed to send Rhaegar, Aegon, Helaena, Aemond, Daeron, Rhaenys, and Daemon to Braavos after Helaena and Aemond insisted on joining.
• Rhaegar and the others flew their dragons to Braavos, where their arrival terrified the city and knocked the Titan’s helmet into the sea.
• Sea King Fergo Antarion welcomed the Targaryens and brought them to meet representatives from Pentos, Qohor, and the Three Daughters.
• Rhaegar demanded that the Three Daughters return Mogul, while Kuduo Atta argued that the dragon was wild and unowned.
• Rhaenys accused Fergo of distorting the facts under the guise of peace, and Rhaegar threatened the Lyseni with blood and fire if they did not hand Mogul over.

Rhaegar’s negotiations with the Three Daughters collapsed when Kuduo refused to surrender Mogul, and the Targaryens launched a bloody attack in the meeting room. Rhaegar declared war on Braavos and the Three Daughters, leaving Fergo terrified as the Targaryens departed.

• Kuduo claimed Mogul belonged to the Kingdom of the Three Daughters, and Rhaegar ended the negotiations by declaring war.
• Rhaegar attacked Kuduo while Helaena, Aemond, and Aegon held the other delegates at swordpoint; Daemon and Rhaenys watched as the meeting turned violent.
• A black dragon appeared outside the window and blasted the room with green dragonflame as Rhaegar killed Kuduo and warned Fergo that the war had begun.
• Helaena killed the Lys representative, Aemond killed the Tyroshi representative, and Aegon spared the Qohorik after he insisted he was not their ally.
• Rhaegar promised the Demon Dragon would attack Lys first, then the Targaryens left the meeting room, leaving Fergo too frightened to curse them.