Chapter Summaries

Dan learned that the striped people had seen dragon statues in Yeen, and faint lights appeared on the black pyramid during the storm. In the morning, a sentry was missing, and Dan feared the expedition had fallen into the same danger that had consumed others in Yeen.

• Dan recalled Yeen’s history and listened as Gada Guga described striped ghouls and asked whether his people could worship the dragons.
• Dan questioned Gada Guga after he said the striped people had seen dragon statues in Yeen, and decided they would investigate the city after the rain.
• Faint lights appeared on the black pyramid before vanishing, while Moon Dancer roasted a serpent lizard and roared into the forest.
• An old soldier woke Dan in the morning to report that a sentry had gone missing.

Dan and his companions investigated the disappearance of Andrew in the jungle, where they were attacked by a creature the maester identified as a caveman. In King's Landing, King Daeron fell into a coma, and Raegon urged the Small Council to remain composed until his father and elder brother arrived.

• Gadaguga accepted the armor Dan gave him and recalled a tribe that had vanished without a trace.
• Dan followed the blood trail from the sentry post and learned Andrew had been dragged away by something huge.
• Baelor found a strange scale, and Dan's dragon carving warned him just before a creature burst from the earth.
• The old soldier and a Silver Blood Army cavalryman killed the creature, and Sentrolos burned the ground as the maester identified it as a caveman.
• The Grand Maester announced that King Daeron was comatose, and Raegon asked the Small Council to stay composed until his father and elder brother arrived.

As Daeron lay gravely ill in King's Landing, Lonzell and Lingor arrived to attend him while nobles awaited a decision on the succession. Daeron asked Lonzell whether a Great Council should decide the succession after his death.

• Lonzell left the Dragonpit with Lingor, while Igor stayed behind to help Rey manage King's Landing and watch over his sister and Baslon.
• Raegon told Lord Farman and the assembled nobles to discuss the succession with his father and elder brother, identifying himself as Irenna's husband.
• Lonzell and Lingor arrived in King's Landing on Vomysor and Starsong, and the dragons landed on the Red Keep's walls.
• Daeron awoke after hearing the dragons roar and spoke with Lonzell about his declining health and wish to die riding a dragon.
• Daeron asked Lonzell what he thought of convening a Great Council to decide the succession after his death.

As he lay dying, Daeron Targaryen I chose Aegon as heir to the Iron Throne and named Aegon’s son Daeron Prince of Dragonstone. After giving Lonzell his final wishes, Daeron died peacefully in 178 AC.

• Daeron discussed the succession with Lonzell, explaining why Rhaena, Baelor, and other possible heirs were unsuitable.
• Daeron declared Aegon Targaryen his heir and ordered Lonzell to preside over Aegon’s investiture.
• Daeron ordered that Aegon’s son Daeron be made Prince of Dragonstone and successor to the Iron Throne after Aegon became king.
• Daeron asked for a possible betrothal between Daeron and a Valaerys girl, then peacefully closed his eyes.
• Daeron died in 178 AC, and Dreamfyre cremated him in the Dragonpit after he ordered a simple funeral.

Aegon was crowned king before the divided lords of Westeros, with Lonzell placing a magnificent new crown on his head and Aegon crowning Rhaena queen. At Silver Widow Manor, Diana railed against Aegon for betraying his promises and turned to her son Daemon for comfort.

• Lords from across the realm gathered in factions to witness Aegon's coronation, while Rhaena stood with young Daeron beneath the Iron Throne.
• Lonzell crowned Aegon with a new golden crown representing the realm's great houses, and Aemon brought Blackfyre for Aegon to raise.
• Aegon crowned Rhaena queen, then named Daeron Prince of Dragonstone and heir to the Iron Throne as the nobles swore fealty.
• At Silver Widow Manor, Diana lamented that Aegon had broken his promises and placed people to watch her.
• Diana went to Daemon, who had been practicing with a wooden sword, and told him he was all she had left.

After Aegon III’s coronation, Prince Lonzell’s family invited nobles to a feast at the Black Palace while the gathering exposed tensions over the succession and divided loyalties. Eustace Osgrey remained isolated at the Red Keep, questioning whether regaining his family’s lands had been worth losing his honor.

• Kermit Tully and Benjicot suspected that Prince Lonzell’s role in crowning Aegon III was part of a compromise over the succession.
• Serina Valaerys invited Kermit and other Riverlands nobles to the Black Palace feast, though Kermit could not promise the others would attend.
• Igor Valaerys invited Dagon Greyjoy and the Iron Islands nobles to the feast, and Dagon agreed to go.
• Eustace Osgrey told Wyman Webber that he could not attend Prince Lonzell’s feast without the Red Lion and Roundball’s approval.
• Eustace asked Wyman whether reclaiming his family’s land had been worth losing his honor.

Wyman Webber urged Eustace Osgrey to seek powerful allies, but Eustace chose to remain neutral in the Conquest Lands. Meanwhile, Baelor and Dan found Moondancer under attack by monstrous creatures in Sothoryos, and Torchfire rushed to support the other dragons.

• Wyman Webber asked Eustace Osgrey to pledge himself to Prince Jacaerys, but Eustace feared being caught between powerful lords and chose to manage his lands alone.
• Count Harold Reyne tried to recruit Eustace, but Eustace remained silent, and Wyman left for the Black Palace to seek a connection with the Silver Dragon.
• In Sothoryos, Baelor and Dan followed the cave dwellers' path around the river-mouth fog and reached the vicinity of Yeen.
• Baelor and Dan saw Moondancer struggling against giant lizards and a huge winged creature with a humanoid figure on its back.
• Baelor ordered Torchfire to attack and support Senzoros and Moondancer.

Dan and the three dragons fought off shadow wyverns and swamp wyverns, while the maester recorded the strange effects of the black stones and the voices in his mind. The maester began to fear that His Highness had forgotten the voice that had led them there.

• The old soldier stopped the soldiers from following the dragons and told the maester to record the battle.
• Dan and Senzoros fought through the shadow wyvern swarm and helped Moon Dancer escape its attackers.
• The dragons killed the swamp wyverns and their upright lizard riders, then Cinderfire burned a scaled lizard carrying an oily black stone.
• The maester wrote that the black stones did not harm the dragons but that the group’s auditory hallucinations grew stronger away from them.
• The maester remembered telling His Highness about the voice that led them there, then panicked because His Highness did not remember it.

A maester realized that oily black stone was connected to the strange voice that had affected the expedition, and he and Dan decided to leave rather than continue to Yilin. In King's Landing, Igor watched nobles celebrate at the Black Palace and overheard Daenerys teasing Baslon in the bath about the North's gratitude to the Silver Dragon.

• The maester recalled how the strange voice had affected the party and connected it to the oily black stone carried by the scaled lizard.
• Dan and the maester agreed that they had to leave immediately and could not go to Yilin, as the dragons cried out urgently.
• Lonzell hosted a lavish banquet at the Black Palace, where nobles from across the realm ate, drank, and mingled.
• Igor watched the guests and quietly assessed the relationships and alliances surrounding the Valaerys family.
• Igor overheard Daenerys teasing Baslon in the open-air bath, and Baslon said the North would never forget the Silver Dragon's aid.

Igor and Daenerys watched the gathering while Queen Rhaena worried over Aegon’s growing influence and the succession. As Baslon explained the Boltons’ family ties and northern customs, a man at the feast cried out in grief.

• Daenerys emerged from the bathroom with Baslon and asked Igor to give her a reason for watching them; Igor joked that he was observing and said he was learning about adult matters in advance.
• Igor and Daenerys looked down at the gathering, where young Daeron had fallen asleep and the Valaerys family sat together peacefully.
• Queen Rhaena told the women that Aegon had brought several bastards to King’s Landing and that Illyon planned to leave for Oldtown; Valenna urged her to consider Jaehaerys and Rhaenyra as examples.
• Baslon explained that Count Domeric Bolton had granted conquered lands to his second son, Count Jon, and described how the North treated the descendants of the right of the first night.
• A grief-stricken man below cried out, “Why? I’m your son too!”

At Lonzell’s banquet, Count Westerling pressured his bastard son William Hishan to surrender his lands to a nephew, warning that the Conquered Lands would soon be redistributed. Daenerys, Baslon, and Igor intervened to end the confrontation, leaving William relieved but still fearful for his future.

• Baslon prepared to stop a family quarrel at the banquet, but Daenerys held him back and asked Igor to identify the arguing nobles.
• Igor named Count Westerling and Count Sarsfield, while Daenerys realized they were arguing over William Hishan’s lands and a Sarsfield widow’s child.
• Count Westerling urged William to adopt his nephew and hand over his lands, claiming the family could support and protect him.
• Count Westerling warned that the Conquered Lands would soon be redistributed, deepening William’s fear that powerful nobles would take his territory.
• Daenerys asked the nobles to return to their seats, and Igor escorted them back; William quietly felt grateful for their intervention.

Dan and Baler found Baela Targaryen’s remains and Moondancer in the mist-shrouded ruins, along with strange artifacts that pointed toward ancient dragon lore. Baela’s inscription revealed that the four stone tablets came from Yizarkan, a city untouched by mortals where dragons roared.

• Dan’s party escaped the gray-white mist and returned to the dragons’ safe zone as night fell.
• Dan approached Moondancer and removed its broken saddle, revealing Baela Targaryen’s skeletal remains beneath it.
• Dan and Baler found strange markings carved into Baela’s bones and sorted the artifacts that spilled from the saddle.
• Gadaguga told Dan that his people’s legends spoke of stones falling from the sky, weapon-wielding lizardmen, and gods who fought over them.
• Dan found Baela’s inscription on a stone tablet, identifying the four tablets as relics from the ancient city of Yizarkan.

Dan and Baelor read Baela’s records, which described her journey through Sothoryos and the murals she found in Izzalcan. Her account ended with her infected wounds worsening and her hope of finding a cure in Asshai.

• Dan asked the maester whether the Citadel had records of Izzalcan, and the maester said it knew little about lands beyond the known world.
• Dan read Baela’s account of a prophecy in Asshai that linked the forgotten continent to the coming Song of Ice and Fire.
• Baela recorded traveling through Sothoryos, surviving attacks by a strange creature and wyverns, and reaching Izzalcan with Moon Dancer.
• Baela described Izzalcan’s pit, where Moon Dancer defeated shadow wyverns and Baela found four black stones alongside murals.
• Baela wrote that worms had grown from her wounds, that the witch doctor could not help her, and that she hoped Asshai might offer a cure.

Dan read the surviving pages of Baela’s dragonhide diary and found evidence of gigantic ancient dragons and Moondancer’s strange reaction in the Shadow Lands. In King’s Landing, Lonzell told Rey that Baela had uncovered a clue to dragons’ origins, while admitting their next move could not be guaranteed to go safely.

• Baelor found Baela’s tattered dragonhide notebook hidden in a dragon saddle, and Dan recognized its cover as Sunfyre’s hide.
• Dan read Baela’s surviving diary pages and learned she had found petrified dragon bones larger than any known dragon, including Vomysor.
• Baela recorded that Moondancer became increasingly abnormal in the Shadow Lands and that her bond with the dragon briefly vanished near a ruined city.
• Baela went to Asshai, where its mages welcomed her and granted her access to the great library.
• Lonzell told Rey that Baela had found a clue to the origin of dragons, and Rey asked whether their plan could be carried out safely.
• Lonzell admitted he could not guarantee that nothing would go wrong, but said the plan still had to proceed.

Lonzell borrowed Igor’s dragon dreams to investigate the ancient events behind the Long Night. Igor saw a vision of the world’s collapse and repeated Azor Ahai sacrifices, then understood the mission as Lonzell summoned him and Daenerys.

• Rey worried that preparing alliances against the coming threat would place too much weight on Dan, while Lonzell listed potential allies among ancient races and nations.
• Lonzell sent a servant to tell Igor to sleep so he could borrow Igor’s eyes through his dragon dreams.
• Igor drank sweet wine and dreamed of a silver dragon, an ancient palace, and a silver-haired woman whose blood mingled with the dragon’s.
• Lonzell witnessed the world collapse into darkness as dragons hibernated and White Walkers and corpses rampaged across the world.
• Igor saw repeated visions of Azor Ahai figures sacrificing loved ones, awakening dragons, and ending the Long Night, and he understood their mission.
• Lonzell told Rey to summon Daenerys and Igor because the matter concerned them.

Lonzell told Igor and Daenerys the hidden history behind the first Long Night and explained why he had accepted Baslon Stark as Daenerys’s future husband. He left them understanding that their family’s covenant was meant to fulfill the prophecy of a hero born from ice and fire.

• Igor told Daenerys about his dragon dream, and she guessed that Lonzell had summoned them because of Baslon.
• Lonzell gathered Igor and Daenerys with Sebastian Valaerys to recount the ancient history of the world's magical races and songs.
• Lonzell explained that the Gemstone Emperors’ experiment with dragon blood ended in disaster and preceded the first Long Night.
• Lonzell revealed that the Stark bloodline carried White Walker ancestry and that he accepted Baslon to help fulfill the prophecy of a prince born in the Land of Smoke and Salt.
• Igor and Daenerys understood the purpose of the covenant, and Daenerys laughed in reassurance.

Lonzell discussed the prophecy with Daenerys and Igor, who chose dragons they hoped to tame. In King's Landing, Aegon worried about the royal family's dwindling dragons and asked Harry about Daemon, who had been seen with two silver-haired children.

• Lonzell explained that Lightbringer represented the power of dragons, and Daenerys chose Shadowmare or Bronze Fury while Igor chose Vomysor.
• Harry told Aegon that Queen Rhaena and the Prince of Dragonstone were staying at the Black Palace and planned to visit Dragonstone after the prince's Name Day.
• Aegon learned that the royal dragon eggs had not hatched and that Syrax was laying fewer eggs.
• Harry reported that Daemon was getting along with two silver-haired children at Silver Widow Manor.
• Harry shared rumors about the children's ancestry, including a claim that they were Jacaerys Valaerys's offspring, then urged Aegon to consider his own purpose.

Dan and Baelor returned to Westeros, where Jacaerys welcomed them and brought them home to King's Landing. Aegon's reign remained stable, but his family stayed distant, and he ordered them summoned for Daenerys and Baslon Stark's wedding.

• Dan arrived at Wine Harbor with Baelor and the dragons, where Jacaerys greeted them and said their father had been waiting.
• Jacaerys explained that the Valaerys family had settled into new roles, while Aegon had reorganized the kingdom and filled the Small Council with loyal officials and his bastards.
• At the Red Keep, Aegon asked Harry Flowers and Garin Rivers about the two mysterious children living beside Daemon, but they could not identify their father.
• Garin reported that Princess Diana was preparing to buy a ship and had purchased armor, and Aegon allowed her to proceed.
• Aegon ordered Harry to prepare a grand wedding gift for Daenerys and Baslon Stark and told Illyon and Maegon to bring their children to King's Landing.

Igor managed the preparations for Daenerys and Baslon’s grand wedding while discussing Dan’s planned explorations and the dragons Daemion and Otherys would tame. After seeing Igor’s detailed wedding plan, Lingor admitted he could not have matched his son’s skill at the same age.

• Emberjoy returned to the Dragonpit and joined Dawn in its cavern as the dragons settled into their familiar homes.
• Igor reviewed wedding bills and discussed the ceremony, Dan’s travels, and the need to keep the king’s behavior in check.
• Dan told Igor that he and Baelor would leave after Daenerys’s wedding night to explore unknown lands and seek descendants of the Dawn Age.
• Igor revealed that Daemion and Otherys were ready to tame dragons, with Daemion choosing Sayel, whose Dragonfire carried poisonous gas.
• Lingor reviewed Igor’s detailed wedding plan and admitted to Lonzell that he could not have managed the work so well at Igor’s age.

Igor prepared Daemion and Osiris to tame dragons for Daenerys’s wedding, while reflecting on the kingdom’s noble conflicts and his plan to keep the largest dragons in the family. Osiris chose Rayels and Daemion mounted Shayer as their first flight began under Lingor and Daniella’s protection.

• Daemion and Osiris discussed their upcoming dragon taming, and Igor explained that they had been chosen to display the family’s strength at Daenerys’s wedding.
• Igor considered the disputes between conquered and local nobles while arranging the wedding procession and seating.
• Igor said he and Daenerys intended to keep Vomysor, Silverwing, Star Song, and Shadowmare within the family.
• Lingor and Daniella prepared to protect Daemion and Osiris as Star Song and Dawn watched the Dragonpit grounds.
• Osiris called Rayels from its nest, while Daemion greeted Shayer, and the dragons took flight.