Chapter Summaries

Daeren gave gifts to Rhaenys, Aegon, and Visenya, then brought Rhaenys to Lys for formal negotiations and a reunion with Rhaegar. He arrived with a large Iron Throne delegation and greeted his brother as the talks were about to begin.

• Daeren gave Rhaenys a Valyrian Steel necklace and promised Aegon a Forest Sword after Visenya took the first one, along with a hardwood comb.
• Daeren told Rhaenys she would accompany him to Lys, where she would be recognized as Rhaegar's heir and meet her father.
• Daeren arranged ships and sent nobles and ministers ahead to Lys, then traveled there with Rhaenys and Jaeherys after half a month.
• Tryg Omoren and Fredo Rojar welcomed Daeren at the port, and Fredo escorted the royal party to the Governor's Tower.
• Daeren met Rhaegar and Valar inside the tower, accompanied by Tywin and a large delegation of ministers and lords, and greeted Rhaegar as his brother.

Daeren pressured Lys to accept the Iron Throne’s authority and abolish slavery, using Corax to intimidate the governors when Valar resisted. Rhaegar agreed to the terms for negotiation, and Daeren left planning to enfeoff Jaeherys and Viserys as princes of Myr and Tyrosh once Lys was settled.

• Tyrion bluntly described Lys’s surrender and challenged Valar over its reliance on slavery.
• Rhaegar proposed that Lys submit to the Iron Throne while retaining its princely title, and Daeren accepted.
• Valar demanded that Lys preserve its traditions and slavery, but Daeren ordered slavery abolished and Tywin proposed appointing a Grand Steward to oversee Lys.
• Valar refused the Iron Throne’s terms, and the guards on both sides drew their weapons.
• Daeren’s dragon Corax appeared outside the tower and terrified Valar into backing down.
• Rhaegar agreed to negotiate on the Iron Throne’s terms, and Daeren told Jaeherys he would enfeoff him and Viserys as princes of Myr and Tyrosh.

Daeren planned how to govern the Three Daughters and met with Governor Fredo Rojar, who conveyed Rhaegar’s request for a private meeting. Daeren rewarded Fredo’s loyalty by offering the Rojar Family twenty ships for maritime trade.

• Daeren considered candidates to govern Myr, Tyrosh, and Lys, and decided Tyrion was not suited to lead Lys.
• Fredo told Daeren that Rhaegar wanted to meet privately the next day and suggested the matter concerned Lys or the Smoking Sea.
• Daeren learned that the Rojar Family had dwindled to Fredo, his two sisters, and a few distant cousins.
• Daeren invited Fredo to join the King’s Council, but Fredo said he remained loyal to Rhaegar and would serve the Iron Throne when needed.
• Daeren offered the Rojar Family twenty ships seized from Myr, and Fredo pledged to serve him.

Daeren met with Rhaegar, laid out the terms for his Dragon Eggs and the governance of Lys, and tried to dissuade him from returning to the dangerous Smoking Sea. Rhaegar remained determined to explore for wild dragons, while Daeren resolved to investigate the scattered Dragon Eggs and search for the dragons himself.

• Daeren promised to arrange Jaeherys’s marriage to Marana of House Rojar when Jaeherys became Prince of Myr.
• Daeren confronted Rhaegar over his past failures and told him that the two Dragon Eggs he had recovered must be registered and eventually returned to the family.
• Daeren appointed Alliser Thorne Grand Steward of Lys to oversee its city defenses, and Rhaegar accepted the choice.
• Rhaegar said he planned to explore the Smoking Sea again, revealed that the other Dragon Eggs from the Laughing Lion had gone to Slaver’s Bay, Volantis, and an Ironborn bearing Greyjoy’s banner, and warned that ships had tracked him there.
• Daeren suspected the Ironborn was Euron Greyjoy, warned Rhaegar that the Smoking Sea remained dangerous, and left after Rhaegar said he might send Rhaenys to the victory celebration in his place.
• Daeren decided to have Varys search for wild dragons and planned to leave exploration of the Smoking Sea to Victarion.

Tyrion learned that Tywin opposed Daeren’s plan to grant princely titles over the Free trade city-states, and Tywin asked him to persuade the King to abandon it. Daeren met with Tywin to defend the plan, and Tywin began proposing safeguards if the enfeoffments could not be stopped.

• Tywin showed Tyrion the lucrative Lys tax accounts and warned that granting the Three City-States to royal princes could destabilize the realm.
• Tywin asked Tyrion, as Grand Minister, to persuade Daeren to abandon the enfeoffments, but Tyrion left without agreeing.
• Tyrion briefly visited Daeren, then made an excuse to inspect the Perfume Garden.
• Daeren recognized Tywin’s personal and political reasons for opposing the plan and decided to speak with him at noon.
• Tywin firmly opposed the princely titles, citing the Dance of the Dragons and the danger of future civil war.
• Daeren argued that he needed to trust his brothers to govern the conquered cities, and Tywin suggested appointing Hands of the Prince in Myr and Tyrosh.

The Lys governors debated their defeat by Daeren, and Ulf Barokte secretly organized a plot to poison the king with Tears of Lys. Three days later, Daeren remained unaware of the conspiracy and sent Tyrion to summon Valar and arrange territorial records with Jaeherys and Rhaegar.

• Tywin fumed after Daeren refused to let him choose the Hands of the Prince for the Three City-States.
• Valarr Sitsmog's governors accepted Fredo's argument that they could preserve influence in Lys by outwardly submitting to the Iron Throne.
• Ulf Barokte urged Valarr to resist Daeren, but Valarr rejected him and ordered the guards to escort the governors out.
• Ulf met with allied governors and revealed a plan to poison Daeren with Tears of Lys, then support Rhaegar's claim to the throne.
• Three days later, Daeren told Tyrion to summon Valar and instructed him to find Jaeherys and coordinate with Rhaegar on Lys's territorial records.

Daeron exposed and survived Ulf’s attempt to poison him at a luncheon with Lys’s governors and the Iron Throne’s lords. Meanwhile, Jaeherys was attacked by masked assassins while walking with Rhaenys and Marana.

• Valar met Daeron, who bluntly said he intended to conquer Lys and insisted Valar stay for a luncheon to discuss the Disputed Lands.
• Davos and Eddard noticed Daeron drinking unusually much and grew wary of the gathering.
• Ulf secretly poisoned Daeron’s wine with Tears of Lys, but Daeron drank it without harm and Ulf died from the poison himself.
• Daeron’s survival stunned the assembled guests, while Valar trembled and Tyrion examined the poisoned cup.
• Jaeherys drew Red Rain and moved to protect Rhaenys and Marana when a dozen masked assassins attacked them in the garden.

Jaeherys fought off assassins while Daeron’s trap exposed a Lysian plot to poison the King. Tywin launched a bloody purge across Lys, and Daeron defended the harsh crackdown to Tyrion as the chapter turned toward Volantis and the Disputed Lands.

• Jaeherys killed two masked assassins, then Ser Arthur and Ser Gerold arrived and helped defeat the attackers while Rhaenys and Marana hid.
• Daeron returned to the banquet hall, ordered four governors arrested, and kept Valar close as the surviving assassins and conspirators were dealt with.
• Tywin began a sweeping investigation in Lys, hanging eight governors and ordering the execution of numerous nobles and wealthy merchants.
• Daeron reviewed evidence linking Volantis to the remnants of the Three Daughters in the Disputed Lands and considered the region a useful strategic buffer.
• Tyrion objected that Tywin’s purge had punished innocents and frightened Lys’s people, but Daeron insisted that overcorrecting was necessary after the plot against him and Jaeherys.

After Daeron III completed the purge in Lys, he assigned Valar to help Elisha reorganize the city-state’s security and invited Lys’s governors to return with him to King’s Landing. In Volantis, the Black Wall nobles planned to block House Targaryen’s advance and Nessiso arranged to send a noble to meet Dragonking Orion in Qohor.

• Tywin defended the harsh purge of Lys, and Daeron ordered Valar to assist Elisha in rebuilding the city-state’s security and loyal guard force.
• Daeron discussed the threat from the remnants of the Three Daughters and Volantis, then invited Fredo and Valar to return with him to King’s Landing.
• Dophas Panymion reported to Volantis’s Black Wall nobles that Ulf Barokte’s poisoning plot had failed and Lys had surrendered to Daeron III.
• Nessaro proposed funding a fortress at Twin Lakes to hinder House Targaryen’s eastward advance, and the nobles pledged several hundred thousand Glory Coins.
• Nessiso dismissed the idea of relying on Meereen and Slaver’s Bay, then summoned Aelios Qihada and Parachiro Valeros to discuss Qohor.
• Nessiso offered to help one of the two win votes in the next Archon election if he went to meet Dragonking Orion, while Aelios withdrew to rebuild his fleet.

Daeren negotiated with Tywin to appoint Kevon as Hand of the Prince in Myr under demanding conditions, then began rewarding the victors at the ceremony. He left Tywin furious by awarding House Velaryon an enormous prize first, and the ceremony continued with Morford openly provoking him.

• Daeren rejected Tywin's first proposal for Kevon, then agreed to appoint him Hand of the Prince in Myr if half the Lannister army was stationed there and Kevon helped Jaeherys free slaves and develop the Disputed Lands.
• Daeren summoned Scholar Aemon and prepared the appointments and rewards for the victory ceremony.
• At the ceremony, Daeren named Rhaegar, Jaeherys, and Viserys princes of the three conquered cities.
• Daeren rewarded Lucerys Velaryon first with territory and estates in Myr, ten Secret Sails, and one hundred thousand Gold Dragons.
• Morford Velaryon thanked Daeren and taunted Tywin, who warned him to mind his words.

Daeron explained how he planned to use Tywin’s discoveries about Lucerys to curb both Tywin and House Valeryon, while Varys reported trouble in Rhaegar’s expedition. Prince Doran offered Dorne’s army for the Eastern Expedition, but Daeron told him to ask Rhaegar whether he wanted the support.

• Tyrion warned Daeron that the victory celebration’s honors could provoke Tywin and harm relations between House Lannister and House Valeryon.
• Daeron showed Tyrion Varys’s intelligence about Lucerys’s alleged crimes and explained that Tywin’s hand could be used against House Valeryon while warning Tywin to respect his position.
• Varys reported that a Mithril Kingsguard had deserted Rhaegar’s fleet with valuables and that Rhaegar had sent another Kingsguard after him.
• Varys told Daeron that Prince Doran and Prince Oberyn had arrived in Blackwater Bay, and Daeron received Doran in the Council Chamber.
• Doran offered House Martell’s army for the Eastern Expedition and said his past support for Rhaegar had been meant to improve Elia and Rhaenys’s circumstances.
• Daeron rejected Doran’s complaint about Elia and Rhaenys’s treatment and told him to ask Rhaegar whether he needed Dorne’s military assistance.

Prince Doran secured House Martell’s support for the Iron Throne’s Eastern Expedition by canceling Quentyn’s betrothal to Visenya, while Daeren focused on preparations to free the slaves of the Three Cities. The chapter ended with Daeren and the royal children visiting the Dragonpit to see the newly hatched green dragon Rhaegal.

• Prince Doran failed to persuade Daeren to help House Martell and later discussed the setback with Oberyn in the Red Keep’s Godswood.
• After several refusals, Prince Doran offered to cancel Quentyn’s betrothal to Visenya in exchange for House Martell’s support, and Daeren accepted.
• Prince Doran warned Daeren about hostile forces and false Dragonkings in Essos, then departed after congratulating him on Prince Viserys’s romantic prospects.
• Daeren spent his days working with the Small Council on plans to free the slaves of the Three Cities.
• The Dragon Guard summoned Daeren to the Dragonpit, where he and Rhaenys, Daenerys, Visenya, and Aegon saw the newly hatched Young Dragon Rhaegal.

Daeren named the newly hatched dragon Rhaegal and later dealt with Lyn Corbray, who was caught trying to bring a stolen Dragon Egg to the Iron Throne. He gave the egg to Rhaenys and spared Lyn from execution, sentencing him to lifelong confinement at Heart's Home.

• Daeren named the newborn green-and-bronze dragon Rhaegal and arranged for him to be raised in the Dragonpit before being sent to Dragon Mountain.
• Rhaenys warned Aegon and Daenerys to behave around the dragons as Daeren led them back to the Red Keep.
• Varys revealed that Lyn Corbray had stolen a Dragon Egg from Rhaegar and been caught carrying it into King's Landing.
• Daeren gave the Dragon Egg to Rhaenys as its rightful owner and sentenced Lyn for treason while pardoning him from execution.
• Daeren ordered Lyn returned to Heart's Home and confined there for the rest of his life, and Tywin ordered the guards to take him away.

Daeren punished Jorah Mormont for abandoning Bear Island and using slaves, then rushed to Shayani’s side when she went into labor. She gave birth to a healthy son, whom Daeren declared his heir, and the chapter ended with the ministers asking what he would name the Little Prince.

• Varys reported that Jeor Mormont had joined the Night’s Watch after Jorah refused to return to Bear Island, and that Maege Mormont had inherited the island.
• Varys told Daeren that Lord Commander Cogger had died in an accident at The Wall, and Daeren ordered supplies sent while the Night’s Watch chose a successor.
• Daeren ordered Jorah stripped of his new fief and exiled to Essos for life for using slaves and betraying his father.
• Rhaenys told Daeren that Shayani was in labor, and he hurried to the Queen’s bedchamber as she gave birth to a healthy boy.
• Daeren held his newborn son, named him his heir, and showed him to the ministers, who then asked what name he would give the child.

Daeren named his newborn son Inael and declared that House Targaryen would return to Essos and reclaim its lost lands. At sea, Rhaegar learned that Lyn had been captured and saw a mysterious black dragon fly east toward the Smoking Sea, while Count Lucerys turned his fleet back toward Driftmark.

• Tyrion suggested naming Daeren's son Joffrey, but Daeren rejected the name and chose Inael Targaryen, declaring his ambition to reclaim House Targaryen's ancestral lands in Essos.
• Scholar Aemon expressed concern that Inael would face a difficult future, and Daeren affirmed that a king had to shield others from hardship.
• Rhaegar read Prince Doran's letter and learned that Lyn had been captured, Daeren had given the recovered Dragon Egg to Rhaenys, and Visenya's betrothal had been dissolved.
• Rhaegar tore up Doran's letter, recalled a dream of a dead silver dragon, and then saw a black dragon fly east across the Summer Sea.
• Count Lucerys judged the dragon's appearance too dangerous and ordered the Valeryon fleet to return to Driftmark, hoping to strengthen his position against Tywin.

Tessarion laid six fresh Dragon Eggs, giving House Targaryen a renewed chance to sustain its dragons, while Daeren celebrated his son Inael’s full-month feast. The chapter ended with Shayani flying Tessarion over King’s Landing with Inael strapped to her chest, just as Tywin urged Daeren to investigate serious charges against Count Lys.

• Daeren learned that Tessarion had laid six Dragon Eggs and hurried to the Dragonpit to see them.
• Daeren examined the eggs, ordered three stored in the Dragonpit greenhouse and three sent to Dragonstone, then praised Tessarion and visited her.
• Shayani chose an egg for Inael’s cradle before secretly remaining at the Dragonpit with him and Tessarion.
• Tywin told Daeren that Count Lys had taken bribes, abused Blood Sacrifice, and secretly contacted the nobles of Qohor, and proposed an investigation when he returned to King’s Landing.
• Shayani rode Tessarion over King’s Landing with Inael strapped to her chest, prompting Daeren to hurry off to lecture her about taking the child flying.

Daeren delayed giving Daenerys a dragon and learned that Drogon had flown east toward the Valyrian Peninsula. At the Small Council, the lords debated the Eastern Expedition before Lys and Tywin’s clash escalated, leaving Daeren to confront Lys over his insult to Tyrion.

• Daeren escorted Shayani and Inael back to the Red Keep, then decided Daenerys should wait before choosing a Dragon Egg or trying to tame a dragon.
• Lys reported seeing a young black dragon flying east, while the Dragon Guard’s account of two fighting dragons confirmed Grey Ghost’s injuries.
• Tywin proposed a staged end to slavery and named Randyll Tarly, Kevon, and Prince Jaeherys to command the war in the Disputed Lands.
• Lys challenged Tywin over the Valeryon fleet’s role, and Tywin insisted that the fleet belonged to the Iron Throne’s Royal Fleet.
• Lys insulted Tyrion as a dwarf and jester, and Daeren asked whether Lys thought he had brought shame upon him by promoting Tyrion.

Daeren intervened in a Small Council dispute between Lys and Tywin, assigning the Royal Fleet to blockade the Orange Coast while warning Tywin to restrain himself. Tywin then privately proposed that Daeren marry Cersei in exchange for their child inheriting Casterly Rock as a Lannister, and Daeren challenged the terms of his offer.

• Daeren defended Tyrion from Lys’s public criticism, and Lys apologized before arguing that House Valeryon deserved recognition for its service.
• Tywin listed the other ministers’ contributions and accused Lys of acting as if House Valeryon stood equal to the King.
• Daeren ordered Lys to blockade the Orange Coast and warned Tywin to cool his temper, then ended the meeting.
• After the meeting, Tywin privately warned Daeren against empowering House Valeryon and invoked its history with House Targaryen.
• Tywin offered Cersei as Daeren’s second wife and promised their child would inherit Casterly Rock if the child took the Lannister name.
• Daeren questioned whether Tywin’s proposed marriage agreement was truly equivalent to the arrangement Viserys I had made with House Valeryon.

Daeren rebuffed Tywin’s and Count Lys’s competing marriage proposals while letting tensions between House Lannister and House Valeryon simmer. By early January 290 AC, the court was preparing a second eastern expedition, and Tyrion left to welcome his aunt Genna Lannister to King’s Landing.

• Daeren refused Tywin’s request to marry Cersei into the Royal Family, citing Queen Shayani’s recent childbirth and their infant son, Inael.
• Tyrion entered to report on House Valeryon’s clash with Tywin, and Daeren told him not to interfere.
• Count Lys asked Daeren to betroth Prince Inael to one of his twin daughters, but Daeren postponed the decision and dismissed him.
• In early January 290 AC, Daeren approved Tyrion’s plan to supply Myr from Tyrosh and Lys for the coming war against the Disputed Lands.
• Tyrion went to welcome his aunt Genna Lannister, who had arrived in King’s Landing with her husband, Ser Emmon Frey.

Daeren reviewed Rhaegar’s report that the Smoking Sea’s haze was receding, while Tyrion welcomed Lady Genna and heard her claim that he was Tywin’s true son. The chapter ended with Varys reporting that a Dragon Egg was being transported from Vylos Town to Qohor.

• Daeren read Rhaegar’s letter describing the Smoking Sea’s diminishing haze and suspected the Valyrian Peninsula might reappear.
• Tyrion welcomed Lady Genna, who criticized Tywin’s treatment of him and urged Tywin to name him heir to Casterly Rock.
• Lady Genna told Tyrion, “You are Tywin’s son. Not him,” leaving him confused about what she meant regarding Jaime.
• Daeren and Tywin reviewed government accounts while Tywin complained that Tyrion had left work early.
• Varys reported that someone was transporting a Dragon Egg from Vylos Town to Qohor.