Chapter Summaries

Prince Aegon sought a way to avoid fathering children during his mission to Braavos, and Rey named Moon Sugar as the remedy. Aegon left for Braavos with the medicine, knowing that its dosage could leave him permanently sterile.

• Prince Aegon offered Rey any price for a remedy, and Rey told him to use Moon Sugar while warning him not to harm the realm or his family.
• Prince Aegon accepted his mission to Braavos and rode Syrax across the Narrow Sea to the Rogare family palace in Lys.
• Prince Aegon explained his mission to Lysandro Rogare, who asked his apothecary for Moon Sugar and explained that it could kill his seed but carried the risk of permanent sterility.
• Lysandro gave Prince Aegon the bottle and left the dose to him, and Aegon accepted it.

Prince Aegon obtained moon sugar from Lysandro and took two pills before flying Syrax toward Braavos. The Titan announced his arrival as the Sealord met an envoy from the Summer Isles who said he had seen a dragon.

• Lysandro warned Prince Aegon that two moon sugars would suppress fertility for at least seven days, while three might cause permanent harm.
• Prince Aegon fled Rogare Palace and considered taking the pills because he needed a legitimate son with Rhaena.
• Prince Aegon swallowed two moon sugars, and Syrax resumed flying faster toward Braavos.
• The Titan of Braavos lit its eyes and rang bells as Syrax approached.
• The Sealord excused himself from the Summer Isles envoy to receive a Targaryen Dragonrider, and the envoy said he had seen a dragon before.

Prince Aegon arrived in Braavos on Syrax and presented King Daeron I’s request for a loan to fund a campaign against pirates and rescue a Westerosi noble. The Sealord promised to submit the request to the council, while the envoy’s memories suggested he had seen a dragon in the distant past.

• The Summer Isles envoy remembered seeing a fire-breathing dragon fighting wyverns near the rainforest years earlier.
• Prince Aegon landed Syrax in the Sealord’s palace courtyard, where the dragon damaged the gardens and frightened the gathered officials.
• Prince Aegon apologized for Syrax’s willfulness and explained that the spacious courtyard was the best place for the dragon to stay.
• Prince Aegon delivered King Daeron I’s letter asking Braavos to loan money for an expedition against pirates and to rescue a Westerosi noble besieged in the Disputed Lands.
• The Sealord said he would submit King Daeron’s request to the Braavosi council.

Prince Aegon sought Braavos’s loans and naval support for the campaign against the Disputed Lands, but its rulers debated how to protect their interests while avoiding a direct clash with the Targaryens. Daeron’s expedition set sail in 169 AC, and the war began with the sinking of the first ship from the Disputed Lands.

• Prince Aegon asked the Sealord for Braavosi loans and naval support, but the Sealord said the council had to decide.
• Braavos’s leaders learned that Aegon had taken moontea and discussed their financial interests in the Disputed Lands and their plans concerning Rogare Bank.
• The Braavosi council resolved not to abandon the Disputed Lands and suggested that dragons could conquer without ensuring stable rule.
• Daeron gathered troops, supplies, and fleets at Westerosi ports, while Jacaerys and Dan prepared to lead a vanguard from Silvercrown City.
• In the second month of 169 AC, Daeron’s great expedition began, and the war started when the first ship from the Disputed Lands was sunk.

The Silver Fleet and Dorne’s forces sailed toward Bloodstone Island while the arrival of dragons stirred political hopes and old resentments. When Dan and Senzhuolos found the island burning under a pirate attack, they destroyed most of the pirate fleet, and Jacaerys confronted Dan for acting without orders.

• Lingor sent three hundred Silver Blood Army elites with Dan and Jacaerys as the Silver Fleet set sail for Bloodstone Island and joined Prince Lucerys Martell’s forces near Grey Dread Island.
• Maelor Sunfyre watched the dragons pass and mourned the lost dragon egg and life he might have had, while Morula Unebar recognized the fleet’s arrival as an opportunity for Valantis.
• Recharino’s pirate fleet attacked Bloodstone Island, destroyed its two noble houses, and killed Count George before preparing to leave.
• Dan spotted the burning island and the pirate ships, but Senzhuolos refused to retreat and Dan agreed to let him fight.
• Senzhuolos burned most of the pirate fleet, including Recharino’s flagship, and Kongyi arrived to finish attacking the surviving ships.
• Jacaerys questioned Dan for acting on his own as the Silver Fleet continued toward Bloodstone Island.

Jacaerys reprimanded Dan for letting Senzhuolos attack the pirate fleet, then the royal forces joined the Silver Fleet and advanced toward Rik. The dragons found the city already burning from infighting and reduced its harbor, gates, and walls to ashes, leaving Daeron lamenting the gold lost in the destruction.

• Jacaerys scolded Dan for risking his life during Senzhuolos's attack, while Kongyi roared at the dragon for its recklessness.
• Jacaerys told Dan to stay beside him when they flew ahead to destroy Rik's defenses, and Dan agreed.
• The king's fleet joined the Silver Fleet eleven days after its arrival at Bloodstone Island, and the combined armada sailed for the Mangrove Coast.
• Daeron praised Rhaegar after Horn Tide destroyed the last outpost outside Rik, then led six dragons toward the city.
• Rik's factions fought among themselves and set much of the city ablaze before the dragons arrived.
• Daeron ordered the dragons to burn Rik's gates and harbor, and their dragonfire engulfed the city as he mourned the melting gold.

King Daeron’s army arrived at Rika Laclone to find the city engulfed in flames, leaving the vanguard without the supplies and shelter it needed. Daeron ordered scouts, reinforcements, and a temporary camp as the army prepared for unrest while the fire continued to spread.

• Daeron and the Dragonriders reached Rika Laclone and found it burning, while commanders blamed the city’s rival factions and fear for the disaster.
• Count Benjicot warned Daeron that the vanguard needed the city’s shelter and supplies and could face attacks from the Disputed Lands’ forces.
• Dan offered to summon supplies from Silvercrown City, while Benjicot urged the army to hold the region until the main force arrived.
• Daeron ordered Rhaegar to scout the area, Dan and Jacaerys to request intelligence from their grandfather, the troops to make camp, and Ser Adam to patrol the coast.
• Dan took Senzolos into the sky to return to King's Landing for aid as Daeron watched the city burn and pressed for speed.

Dan brought Lingor intelligence about warlords forming an alliance against King Daeron, who Lingor expected to win the battles but still needed to learn how to govern. Serena agreed to visit Samantha and investigate the overdue debt near Harrenhal, while Daenerys carried Igor off after he persuaded her to take him to watch Rhaegon tame a dragon.

• Lingor told Dan that warlords, mercenary companies, Myr, and envoys to Valantis were organizing against King Daeron, then gave him intelligence to deliver to the king.
• Serena offered to support Daeron, but Dan predicted that the king would defeat his enemies even though his expedition was insufficiently prepared.
• Lingor asked Serena to visit Samantha and investigate a long-overdue debt near Harrenhal, directing her to go to the Isle of Faces if no one contacted her.
• Daenerys traded Igor’s wooden sword for the promise that she would take him to watch Rhaegon tame a dragon.
• Daenerys carried Igor toward Lonzell’s hall as he cried for help, and Lonzell watched them with a smile.

Rhaegon tried to find a dragon willing to accept him at the Dragonpit while Daenerys and Igor watched with Daniella. Golden King approached Rhaegon and let him touch its head, leaving open whether it had chosen him as its companion.

• Lingor sent Daenerys and Igor to find Daniella after catching them in another sibling scheme.
• Daniella reluctantly brought the children to the Dragonpit to watch Rhaegon choose a dragon.
• Rey instructed Rhaegon to call dragons by name and earn a willing bond rather than force one into submission.
• Blood Princess, Purplewing, Rhaeyels, Cerelys, Valarion, Vasoliar, and Sayel all declined or ignored Rhaegon's calls.
• Golden King approached Rhaegon and allowed him to place a hand between its horns.

Rhaegon completed the final stage of bonding with the Golden King, while Daeron’s army faced a huge alliance formed in response to Rickard Raklon’s destruction. After Rhaegar scouted the enemy forces advancing toward the royal army, Daeron told his commanders that their opportunity had arrived.

• After half a month of feeding and interacting with the Golden King, Rhaegon successfully rode the dragon into the sky.
• Lingor told Lonzell and Rey that Rickard Raklon had burned for seven days and Daeron’s army had moved inland to a logging village.
• Lingor reported that Robert, Horus, and Shalish had united the warlords into an alliance of ninety thousand soldiers, whose vanguard was marching toward Rickard Raklon.
• Fear of suffering Rickard Raklon’s fate drove the Disputed Lands’ warlords to form the Anti-Iron Throne Alliance and organize twenty legions.
• Rhaegar returned from scouting and reported that the enemy had elephants, many Dothraki cavalry, and was advancing toward Daeron’s position.
• Daeron told his commanders that the approaching enemy presented an opportunity.

Robert’s poorly supplied alliance advanced toward Rika Raklon while Daeron’s forces prepared to meet it. Dragonfire shattered the Dothraki, and Robert saw the dragons as his army faced the approaching battle.

• Robert searched for scouts and worried about supplies, his army’s quality, and the giant scorpions meant to kill dragons.
• Daeron learned the enemy’s movements and divided the Dragonriders: Rhaegar and Ilion would stop the Dothraki, while Daeron, Dan, and Jacaerys would attack the main force.
• Daeron rallied his five thousand cavalrymen, promising them land and wealth, then mounted Dreamfyre and led them forward.
• Two dragons burned a Dothraki khalasar, triggering infighting and scattering the fifteen thousand riders.
• Robert watched the Dothraki collapse and saw the dragons himself.

Illyon and Rhaegar used their dragons to control the Dothraki cavalry while the Iron Throne's forces faced Robert's army on the Rhoynar Road. Robert realized the dragons were missing just before Senzorlos and Dreamfyre attacked his formations and destroyed the dragon-hunting weapons.

• Illyon told Rhaegar to burn Dothraki who resisted and keep the cavalry from fleeing, and they circled the battlefield on their dragons.
• Duke Xiu Fu Arryn and Count Benjicot Blackwood led five thousand mounted Warriors to occupy the high ground beside the Rhoynar Road.
• Robert saw that no dragons appeared on the battlefield and ordered his ballistae, scorpions, archers, crossbowmen, and front ranks to prepare.
• Senzorlos emerged from the clouds as Dan ordered it to destroy the dragon-hunting weapons and then attack the elephants.
• Senzorlos burned the ballistae in green Dragonfire, and Dreamfyre answered a mercenary's warning with blazing flames.

Dreamfyre and Senzolos destroyed Robert’s army with Dragonfire, and the Iron Throne’s cavalry charged the broken formations. Senzolos killed Robert, leaving the battlefield covered in fire and molten gold.

• The Black mercenary’s scorpion exploded, and Dreamfyre burned through the enemy formations despite their weapons failing to harm her.
• Dreamfyre turned her Dragonfire on the Golden Hammer Legion as Senzolos attacked the rearguard with blue-gray flames.
• The dragons’ flames and panicked animals shattered Robert’s army, while the Iron Throne’s knights advanced from the high ground.
• Robert tried to flee on his injured war elephant, but Senzolos seized him, breathed Dragonfire on him, and spat him out.
• The Iron Throne’s cavalry charged the fleeing soldiers as Dragonfire and molten gold covered the battlefield.

Daeron’s dragons helped the Westerosi destroy Robert “Golden Son’s” army, prompting Shallies to send his son Fugen to Rika Raklon as an envoy. In King’s Landing, Daenerys trained with Igor before Lonzell received news from the Disputed Lands and about Cerina.

• Daeron’s five thousand cavalrymen and three dragons defeated Robert “Golden Son’s” much larger army, and Robert died in the fighting.
• Shallies learned that the dragon-hunting ballistae had failed and sent Fugen to Rika Raklon to meet Daeron.
• Daenerys sparred with Igor beneath the Sword-Hiding Tower, blocked his attacks, and was nearly caught by his clever charge.
• Sebastian warned Igor that he would have died before reaching Daenerys with real swords.
• Rey and Lingor joined Lonzell as he received news from the Disputed Lands and about Cerina.

Lingor told Lonzell that the Green Men’s delayed gift concerned a gifted Crannogman child summoned beyond the Wall, prompting Lonzell to sense northward. Igor fell asleep and dreamed of winter, pale figures trapped in ice, and a warning that the time had not yet come; Lingor then revealed that the next Three-Eyed Crow might be the child in Lady Melissa Blackwood’s womb.

• Lingor explained that a gifted Crannogman skinchanger had been summoned beyond the Wall before he could fully develop his greenseer abilities.
• Lonzell abruptly stood and sensed something to the north, while Igor suddenly collapsed asleep in Daenerys’s arms.
• Igor dreamed of a silver dragon and visions of himself, Daenerys, and dragons, then described the heart of winter, pale figures frozen in ice, and a voice saying the time had not yet come.
• Lonzell reassured Rey and Lingor that the timing remained stable and told Lingor to continue.
• Lingor said the next Three-Eyed Crow might be the child Lady Melissa Blackwood was carrying.

Lingor explained that the Old Gods could no longer alter fate, and that Melissa’s unborn child, descended from Blackwood and Targaryen blood, might fulfill the prophecy of the Three-Eyed Crow. Lonzell connected the prophecy to the Starks and their hidden bloodline, then told Serena to adapt to events while caring for Melissa at Harrenhal.

• Lingor reported Serena’s disillusionment with the Old Gods after their promised compensation ended up in Melissa’s belly.
• Lingor explained that the Old Gods’ magic could no longer interfere with fate and that the destined Three-Eyed Crow had descended through Blackwood and Targaryen blood.
• Lonzell reasoned that the prophecy’s ice and First Men elements pointed to the Stark family, recalling their oral traditions and strange crypt customs.
• Lingor said Serena had gone to Harrenhal to look after Melissa and had asked them to keep Aurion from supporting Dan and Jace.
• Lonzell told Lingor to tell Serena to adapt to circumstances and assured her that he believed in her.

Daeron’s eastern campaign stalled against Horus’s underground fortresses, prompting Lonzell to consider joining the war himself. After Igor woke from a strange dream of a silver dragon and the Wall, Sebastian suspected he was a Dreamwalker.

• Lingor reported that Daeron’s forces had advanced to Lake Myr, defeated several warlords, and become bogged down for months against Horus’s fortifications.
• Lonzell warned Lingor that the prolonged campaign could harm the kingdom and said he would ride Vomysor to war if necessary.
• Igor woke beside Daenerys and Sebastian, remembering a silver dragon and the aurora Wall amid ice and snow from his dream.
• Igor described his dream, and Sebastian concluded that he might be the family’s first Dreamwalker.

Igor learned that his vivid visions might be a rare Targaryen dreamwalking talent, and Sebastian and Daenerys urged him to dream again. As Igor entered another dragon-dream, Lonzell realized he could do so voluntarily, and visions began unfolding before him.

• Sebastian explained that dreamwalkers inherited a rare prophecy talent, and Igor admitted his first dream had been fragmented and difficult to interpret.
• Sebastian and Daenerys asked Igor to dream again, and Igor bargained for their yearly allowances before falling asleep.
• Lonzell sensed Igor enter a dragon-dream and realized he had done so voluntarily, while Rey recalled that Lonzell had used Blood Magic to prompt the first dream.
• Igor felt himself sink into an ocean, landed on an island, and saw the silver dragon as scenes began flashing before his eyes.

Igor woke from a dragon dream filled with visions of death, crowns, fire, and Daenerys losing an eye, then discussed its possible meanings with Sebastian. He left the conversation resolved to shoulder his duty as the third-generation heir of House Valaerys.

• Igor dreamed of a malformed dragon child, a fallen dragon, a crown changing from iron to gold, a burning castle, and Daenerys with blood running from one eye.
• Igor woke and checked Daenerys’s eyes, then told her and Sebastian that he had dreamed of their grandfather, Lonzell.
• Sebastian explained that dragon dreams could show the past as well as the future and warned that the fallen dragon might foretell the death of a dragon or Dragonrider.
• Sebastian interpreted the crown and colored flames as signs of a future succession and possible conflict, while Daenerys eagerly asked whether she had tamed a dragon in the dream.
• Igor told Daenerys that she had seemed to lose an eye while taming a dragon, and she celebrated the possibility of claiming one of the family’s largest dragons.
• Igor reflected on his responsibilities as Lingor Valaerys’s son and resolved to fulfill his duty as House Valaerys’s third-generation heir.

King Daeron ordered an assault on Horus's underground fortress network after flooding and attempts to lure out its defenders failed. Aemon led the infantry underground with Dark Sister while the dragonriders attacked smaller bunkers, and Horus's defenses began to crumble.

• Domeric Bolton reported that the flooding attack had failed, and Daeron decided the army would storm the fortress.
• Aemon volunteered to command the underground assault, and Daeron entrusted him with the family sword, Dark Sister.
• Jacaerys and Joffrey Velaryon joined the dragon attack as six dragons burned bunkers around Lake Myr.
• Mortarion warned Horus that the defenders could not withstand a full infantry assault, while Horus insisted they only had to hold.
• Westerosi soldiers broke into the underground fortress.