Chapter Summaries

Valys overcame his fear of dragons and successfully claimed Pearly Shade as his mount. As the pair flew out of the Dragonpit, Garmon Waters and Egg Rivers sensed a strange reaction in themselves and agreed to keep it secret.

• Ilion and Aegon watched as Valys prepared to attempt taming Pearly Shade, while learning that Igaras preferred the Black Palace or Dragonstone.
• Pearly Shade startled Valys and tested his courage, but it did not attack him.
• Valys overcame his memories of Jadeorins, charged at Pearly Shade, and climbed onto its back.
• Valys commanded Pearly Shade to take off, and the dragon flew from the Dragonpit as Ilion and Aegon celebrated his success.
• Garmon Waters asked Egg Rivers if he felt something strange, and Egg told him to keep their secret from Garin and Harry.

Garin Rivers reported the king’s political maneuvers, the bastards’ growing affinity with dragons, and Princess Diana’s plans for Daemon Waters to an old man who relayed intelligence to Prince Lingor. Garin left after checking something in the cellar, while the old man continued writing.

• Garin Rivers overheard children discussing bastards and dragons, then reflected that dragon-taming was too dangerous for him to risk.
• Garin entered a hidden cellar and asked an old man to deliver three letters to Prince Lingor.
• Garin reported that the king had placed bastards in powerful Small Council roles and was reorganizing the kingdom’s intelligence network.
• Garin named several bastards favored by the dragons and reported that Daemon Waters, Trystane Sand, and Doran Sand were staying at Silver Widow Manor.
• Garin reported the king’s judgment favoring the Brackens and said Princess Diana had bought ships, weapons, and armor to send Daemon to the Crownlands.
• The old man pointed Garin toward a corner, where Garin inspected something before leaving through the secret passage.

Igor uncovered King Aegon’s plan to use noble bastards to rebuild the royal Dragonriders and suspected the Conquered Lands would provide Daemon Waters with a path to royal favor. At Silver Widow Manor, Diana agreed to send her three boys with Quentyn Ball, who asked them if they wanted to become real knights.

• Igor read intelligence about Garin Rivers and the rumors surrounding Tristan Sand and Doran Sand, then concluded that Aegon was gathering bastards to fill powerful royal positions and eventually expand the Dragonriders.
• Igor learned that the Dragon Chasers planned to send Aegon Sunfyre to the Conquered Lands and inferred that Aegon might use military service there to bring Daemon Waters into the royal family’s plans.
• Igor told Sebastian that the family needed a banner in the Conquered Lands, seeing the region’s coming turmoil as an opportunity to expand their influence.
• At Silver Widow Manor, Diana confirmed that Quentyn Ball had come for the boys and ordered him to take all three.
• Diana asked Quentyn to stay alive, and he went to the three boys and asked whether they wanted to become real knights.

Quentyn Ball recruited Daemon, Trystane Sand, and Daolang Sand to leave Silver Widow Manor and train with the Second Sons in the Conquest Lands. In King's Landing, Aegon questioned Serena of Lys about her ties to House Rogare and Princess Seryna Valaerys, then approved of her invitation to Daenerys and Barthlon Stark's wedding.

• Quentyn Ball offered to take Daemon, Trystane Sand, and Daolang Sand to the Conquest Lands and train them as warriors with the Second Sons.
• Trystane recognized Quentyn as Ser Fireball and recalled his victory over Jhara Khal's forces.
• Quentyn explained that the Second Sons consisted largely of dispossessed second sons and bastards, and said they would leave in three days aboard a ship prepared by Daemon's mother.
• Daemon agreed to go but could not persuade Quentyn to take his mother with them.
• Aegon spoke with Serena of Lys about her Rogare ancestry and her acquaintance with Princess Seryna Valaerys.
• Serena confirmed she had been invited to Daenerys and Barthlon Stark's wedding, and Aegon called the news excellent.

Igor told Serina and Daenerys that King Aegon’s mistress, Serena of Lys, had arrived at Summerhall ahead of the royal family and proposed using her presence to disrupt Daenerys’s wedding. He suspected Aegon wanted to provoke the Valaerys family and create an excuse to raise bastard Dragonriders, while Igor intended to declare Valaerys’s superiority over Targaryen.

• Igor told Serina that Serena of Lys, a dragonseeker and Aegon’s mistress, had arrived at Summerhall before the royal caravan.
• Serina warned Igor not to provoke a greater conflict, but then agreed to let him arrange the response.
• Igor joked that Daenerys would join his plan if it entertained her, and Daenerys demanded to know what he intended.
• Igor explained that the wedding route would end at Serina’s villa palace, where Serena was staying, and discussed the possibility of a wedding mishap involving bloodshed.
• Igor told Daenerys that Aegon might be trying to provoke the Valaerys family so he could justify raising bastard Dragonriders, and said they needed the opportunity to show Valaerys stood above Targaryen.

Igor and Daenerys discussed exposing the royal family’s dealings with bastard Dragonriders before Aegon could recruit them, with Lonzell’s tacit approval. As nobles traveled to Daenerys’s wedding, Rickon Stark welcomed Robb Arryn’s procession and agreed to take Robb’s son Donnel as Baslon’s squire.

• Daenerys realized that exposing the matter early would leave Aegon with fewer bargaining chips to win over bastard Dragonriders, and Igor confirmed that Lonzell had tacitly approved it.
• Igor revealed that Baslon had arranged for Serena of Lys to have a room where the king might make mistakes while drunk or caught up in revelry.
• The North’s procession traveled across the Trident, where Rickon Stark reflected on the North’s prosperity and the growth of the Night’s Watch.
• Rickon halted the procession to meet Robb Arryn and welcomed his son Donnel as a prospective squire to Baslon.
• Robb and Rickon joined the nobles traveling to Daenerys’s wedding as great houses began making their own moves in response to the king’s favoring of bastards.

Baslon Valaerys and Princess Daenerys married in a ceremony attended by nobles from across the realm, while the Targaryen king resolved to restore his family’s dragonriders. The wedding feast ended with Aegon raising a toast to the newlyweds.

• Ilion arrived at Summerhall with Vermax and Poying, where he saw Gelesos take Mogul’s sheep and left the dragons to settle their own affairs.
• Baslon and Daenerys rode through King’s Landing with their wedding procession as the Valaerys dragonflock took flight, including the colossal Starsong, Shadowmare, and Vomysor.
• Aegon watched the dragons and resolved to restore the Targaryens’ dragonriders, especially for Caraxes, Dreamfyre, Igaras, and Tyraxes.
• Aegon learned that Aemon and Ilion would join the wedding after visiting the queen and Prince Daeron, and that Lady Serena had taken up residence nearby.
• Aegon and the High Septon blessed Baslon and Daenerys, who completed the wedding rites before Lonzell and exchanged vows beneath the heart tree.
• At the feast, Aegon toasted Baslon and Daenerys and wished them a happy marriage.

At Baslon’s wedding, Aegon’s attempt to provoke him over marrying into the Valaerys family failed, leaving the king to reconsider how to weaken the family. He summoned Serena under the pretext of studying Valyrian history, while Queen Rhaenia was asked to attend a banquet with Daeron and weighed the opportunity for her son.

• Aegon publicly called Baslon “Baslon Valaerys,” but Baslon showed no shame, and Rey and Lonzell recognized the king’s failed attempt to provoke him.
• After returning to his chambers, Aegon regretted his outburst and asked Garin whether the wedding banquet had continued normally.
• Aegon decided to ask Serena to teach him Old Valyrian and Valyrian history as part of his effort to expose the Valaerys family’s ambitions.
• Queen Rhaenia rejected Aegon’s request to see her and condemned his bastards and mistresses.
• When a servant relayed Aegon’s invitation to a banquet for the great nobles and his request that Rhaenia bring Daeron, she considered the opportunity for her son.

Daenerys and Igor watched as Aegon staged an affair with Serena of Lys to provoke Queen Rhaena, while discussing the risk of the king bringing bastard Dragonriders into the fold. Rhaena found Aegon in bed with Serena and demanded a reason for his betrayal.

• Daenerys chose to watch Aegon’s planned scandal unfold rather than intervene, while Igor advised her to wait until others sought her out.
• Aegon told Serena of Lys to cooperate with his plan and staged an affair in his room.
• Igor asked Daenerys what she would do if Aegon used the incident to bring bastard Dragonriders into the royal fold, and she said she already knew the family’s response.
• Rhaena sent Daeron away, then entered Aegon’s room and ordered Serena to dress and leave.
• Rhaena demanded a reason from Aegon, and he muttered that she was boring.

At Daenerys’s wedding, Aegon’s encounter with Serena angered the Valaerys family, while he revealed that he planned to expand the number of Dragonriders to secure his power. The Valaerys dragons gathered around the Targaryen dragons, and Lingor confronted Aegon about defiling his daughter’s wedding.

• Rhaena rebuked Aegon for sleeping with Serena during Daenerys’s wedding, and Serena fled the room.
• Baslon comforted the crying Daeron as the Valaerys family prepared to act, with Igor revealing that Lingor knew about their plan.
• Aemon learned that Aegon’s actions might cause trouble and sent Ilion, Maegon, and Valis to leave immediately.
• Dragons flew from the Dragonpit, and Aegon told Rhaena that he intended to increase the number of Dragonriders so no one could oppose him.
• Daenerys confronted Aegon over Serena, and Aegon insisted that the king had privileges.
• Aegon rushed outside as Valaerys dragons surrounded the Targaryen dragons, and Lingor demanded to question him about defiling Daenerys’s wedding.

Lingor confronted Aegon after the king disgraced the Valaerys family, while dragons surrounded the royal party. Queen Rhaena offered compensation and dragon eggs, but Lingor accepted the apology, refused the eggs, and demanded that Aegon return to King's Landing and behave with restraint.

• Starsong, Dawn, and Silverwing surrounded Seasmoke, while several Valaerys dragons cornered Vermax.
• Lingor let Aemon speak to him, then explained that the king’s authority rested on wise rule and powerful dragons.
• Queen Rhaena apologized to the Valaerys family on behalf of the royal family, and Aemon offered five years of minting taxes from Wine Harbor and Silvercrown City as compensation.
• Queen Rhaena offered dragon eggs to make amends, prompting Aemon and Ilion to protest.
• Lingor accepted Rhaena’s apology, refused the dragon eggs, and ordered Aegon to return to King's Landing and conduct himself with restraint.

Titus tried to claim Jadorins and was burned alive, while Aegon let the dragon attack the bastards. As the boys fled, someone emerged from the ashes on a white dragon and charged Jadorins.

• Garin and Harry held back while Titus chose to approach Jadorins.
• Jadorins burned Titus, then chased the other boys as Aegon refused to intervene.
• Harry hid in a cave and remembered his mother, Aegon, and the intelligence Garin had brought him.
• Ilion, Maegon, and Valys watched the attack from outside the Dragonpit, and Valys spotted a rider emerge from the ashes on a white dragon and ram Jadorins.

Garin Hewen and Benson Storm tamed the White Queen and the Unicorn Freak, then swore oaths as Crown Dragonriders under the surname Dragonheart. In King's Landing, Igor told Daenerys that the royal family had gained two Dragonriders, but the plan had also failed in another way.

• Garin Hewen bonded with the White Queen, while Benson Storm calmed and bonded with the Unicorn Freak.
• Aegon learned that only three people had survived the Dragonpit ordeal and welcomed Garin and Benson as new Dragonriders.
• Aegon dubbed Garin and Benson Crown Dragonriders and granted them the surname Dragonheart after they swore loyalty to the royal house.
• Hidden in a cave, Garmon urged Aegon to abandon his own attempt, but Aegon revealed that he had chosen Sheepstealer and began forming a plan.
• Igor told Daenerys that the royal family had gained two Dragonriders, but the plan had also failed.

Igor and Daenerys prepared to approach dragons whose riders were still alive, with Igor choosing to bond with Vomysor. At the Dragonpit, Lingor assigned Jacaerys and Rhaegon duties in Tyrosh and promised them substantial funds.

• Igor showed Daenerys Shayer and Reyers training, explaining Shayer's toxic dragonfire and unusual features.
• Igor chose Vomysor as his target, while Daenerys planned to approach Rey's Shadowmare; Rey agreed to allow the attempt with himself and Lonzell present.
• Igor said he believed Vomysor would accept him if he became familiar with his scent and presence on its saddle, and Daenerys wished him success.
• Lingor told Jacaerys and Rhaegon that Tyrosh was crucial to the family's interests and that they might need to fight there.
• Rhaegon explained how Ilyna planned to expand Silver Blood Bank into Essos and work with the Iron Bank against Lys's banking influence.
• Lingor promised Jacaerys and Rhaegon 1.2 million Gold Dragons in pure gold, plus an equivalent value of gold for their use, and raised Tyrosh's lack of a royal mint.

Charlie reluctantly agreed to provide Austin Mullendore’s Second Sons with grain, livestock, and silver after Mad Eye demanded supplies from nearby lords. At the Second Sons’ camp, Mad Eye questioned Quentyn Bol and the three youths accompanying him, while William Hill defended their valor.

• Charlie received Mad Eye’s demand for five hundred sacks of grain, five cattle, twenty sheep, and one thousand Silver Stags.
• Charlie agreed to provide the supplies from his private coffers and ordered the maester to write a complaint to Count Eustace Osgrey.
• Mad Eye watched the defeated count’s castle and discussed the Second Sons’ position with Podrick Waters.
• Mad Eye challenged Quentyn Bol’s trustworthiness and questioned the three youths traveling with him.
• William Hill defended the youths as proven warriors, and Mad Eye warned them to stay calm while the captured boar was roasted.

Quentyn Ball explained how Tyroshi gold and the Second Sons served the interests of both the Silver Dragon and the king, then gave Daemon a chance to prove himself. As Lord Kreh’s castle came under siege, Daemon spotted approaching Ball family cavalry and raised his prepared flag.

• Quentyn Ball showed Daemon and the Shard boys a Tyroshi gold coin and explained why the Second Sons were tolerated in the Conquered Lands.
• Quentyn revealed that a dead raven gave him advance knowledge and urged Daemon to make his name in the coming battle.
• Mad-Eye Austin Mullendore considered an offer as the Second Sons built trebuchets and battered Lord Kreh’s weakened castle.
• William Hishan warned Mad-Eye that Daemon had spotted Ball family cavalry approaching the camp.
• Daemon raised his prepared flag as Quentyn encouraged him to show Mad-Eye what he could do.

Quentyn Boll’s forces ambushed and defeated House Boll’s cavalry while the Second Sons captured and burned Count Crayher’s castle. Meanwhile, Austin Mullendore identified Griffin as Aegon Sunfyre, and Mad-Eye pledged to protect him.

• Quentyn Boll’s crossbowmen killed House Boll’s cavalry commander after the Second Sons stopped the charge with prepared defenses.
• Daemon defeated a knight in House Boll’s cavalry, while Trystane held off the knight’s squires, and the knight surrendered for ransom.
• The Second Sons breached Count Crayher’s castle, which the count had fled through a tunnel, and William Hishan demanded one hundred Warriors and twenty warhorses from the dispossessed lord.
• Austin Mullendore confirmed that Griffin and three youths brought by Fireball were descendants of the Dragonlord.
• Mad-Eye told Griffin that he would protect him as the blood of his lord and sovereign, and Griffin promised his family would provide greater support.

Dan and Baelor sought help from Asshai’s magical factions against the coming apocalypse, but the mages refused, citing their city’s decline and fading magic. In Yi Ti, they found the old capital in ruins and learned that the Son of Heaven’s authority lay elsewhere.

• Dan and Baelor met the representatives of Asshai’s magical factions at the Tower of Many Fires.
• The mages described Asshai’s fading magic, dwindling population, and dependence on the dragons, but refused to prepare for the apocalypse.
• Dan and Baelor flew to a ruined city in Yi Ti and asked why they could not negotiate with its local ruler.
• An old former interpreter recognized the dragons and told them to travel to the capital to pay audience to the Son of Heaven.

Dan and Baelor learned that the Indigo Dynasty had lost control of Yi Ti, while Brynden sought Lonzell’s help with his worsening nightmares. Lonzell arranged for Brynden to begin a green seer transformation, leaving him awake with a bowl of Weirwood seed paste and a warning that eating it would explain his dream.

• Dan and Baelor discussed Yi Ti’s fractured empire and wondered what to do next.
• Brynden told Lonzell about his nightmares and near-fall from the Twin Towers, and Lonzell promised someone would resolve the problem.
• Lonzell told Igor that the Three-Eyed Crow was trying to claim Bran, then entered a dream where he negotiated a way for the Crow to pass on its inheritance without crippling its successor.
• The Three-Eyed Crow explained that Weirwood seed paste could enable the transformation, but the green seer would eventually become immortal and nourish the Weirwood at the Heart of Winter.
• Brynden dreamed that the Three-Eyed Crow pierced his eyes and that ancient trees became his eyes, then woke to find the paste beside him.
• An attendant told Brynden that Prince Lonzell had instructed him to eat the paste so he would understand his dream.

Brynden learned that the weirwood seed mush had helped awaken his greenseer abilities and described a vision of dragons falling and a brother being tempted. Meanwhile, Aegon Sunfyre approached Daemon with an offer to join forces and reclaim their disputed inheritance.

• Lonzell explained that ancient greenseers had used blood sacrifice to strengthen successors, but Brynden had needed only weirwood seed mush to find his future.
• Brynden told Lonzell that he had seen past greenseers through the trees and ravens, along with dragons falling and a brother being tempted.
• Austin Manderly told Lord Eustace Osgrey that the Second Sons needed to prove their worth, while Eustace warned him not to speak of conspiracy in his hall.
• Daemon spoke with Trystane about their father before Aegon Sunfyre arrived and claimed descent from the true dragons.
• Daemon confronted Aegon for insulting Trystane and rejecting Aegon's claim that Maelor Targaryen was the true Aegon II.
• Aegon apologized to Trystane and proposed that he and Daemon cooperate to reclaim what they believed belonged to them.