Chapter Summaries

Daemon Blackfyre fought for the throne at the Red Grassland, cutting through Vale forces before Brynden Rivers’s archers turned the battle against him. As his eldest son and supporters fell, Daemon charged Brynden and died beneath a storm of poisoned arrows.

• Daemon Blackfyre defeated Vale knights and spared his old friend Gwayne Corbray after their duel.
• Daemon returned to battle and killed more Vale attackers as Brynden Rivers sent the Raven's Teeth archers against him.
• Aegon, Oswell Bracken, and Gawen Peake fell while defending Daemon’s cause.
• Daemon saw Brynden Rivers on the ridge and charged toward him through the arrow fire.
• Three hundred poisoned arrows struck Daemon, who dropped Blackfyre and died on the Red Grassland.

Daemon Blackfyre awoke in a boy’s body inside Dragonstone’s Dragonglass prison, a century after his death at the Red Grassland. After killing guards and escaping the dungeon, he saw a real shadow moving through the clouds.

• Daemon recognized that he had died at the Red Grassland and found himself in a boy’s body in a Dragonglass cell.
• He overheard guards discussing Prince Baelon, Princess Alyssa, and other figures from a century earlier, confirming that he had awakened in the past.
• When a Velaryon guard reached through the bars, Daemon broke his wrist, killed him, and took his sword.
• Daemon killed another guard and saw a glowing black three-headed dragon brand on his shoulder as the remaining guard raised the alarm.
• Daemon fought his way out of the dungeon and stopped at a cliff, where he saw a shadow flying through the clouds.

Daemon Blackfyre escaped his pursuers by jumping into the sea, where Rhaenys Targaryen rescued him on Meleys. His words and appearance made Rhaenys suspect he was connected to her father, Prince Aemon, and she demanded to know whose child he was.

• Daemon saw Daemon Targaryen riding Caraxes as pursuers closed in, then leapt from the cliff into the sea.
• The dragon brand on Daemon's shoulder glowed and heated the water as he began to lose consciousness.
• Rhaenys rescued Daemon from the sea and pulled him onto Meleys's back.
• Daemon identified himself as Daemon Blackfyre and said Blackfyre was the surname his father had given him.
• After Daemon muttered Valar morghulis, Rhaenys recognized the saying as one her father had taught her and asked whose child Daemon was.

Rhaenys brought the rescued Daemon before Prince Baelon, whose scrutiny deepened when he learned about Daemon’s dragon brand, Meleys’s acceptance, and his use of ancient Valyrian. Rhaenys declared Daemon her brother and defended his Targaryen bloodline, while Baelon’s questions about Daemon’s origins remained unanswered.

• Rhaenys landed Meleys in a guarded courtyard and hurried Daemon into Dragonstone Castle to see Prince Baelon.
• Rhaenys introduced Daemon to Baelon and described finding him unconscious by the shore with a black three-headed dragon brand.
• Rhaenys told Baelon that Meleys had accepted Daemon and that he had spoken the words “Valar Morghulis.”
• Baelon questioned Daemon about his name and how he had come to Dragonstone.
• Rhaenys named him Daemon, asserted that he carried Targaryen blood, and acknowledged him as her brother.

Rhaenys defended Daemon as Aemon Targaryen’s heir before Prince Baelon, whose grief and suspicions deepened as Daemon’s dragon mark flared and he heard a terrifying wail from the Dragonpit. The arrival of Corlys Velaryon with intelligence about Myr and the dungeon disturbance left Dragonstone’s tensions poised to escalate.

• Rhaenys declared that Daemon was Aemon Targaryen’s son, citing his blood, dragon mark, and Meleys’s acceptance as proof.
• Prince Baelon questioned Rhaenys’s claim and suffered a sharp pain beneath his ribs as memories of Aemon’s assassination overwhelmed him.
• Daemon’s black dragon mark burned and pulsed, and he staggered as a dreadful dragon’s wail sounded inside his mind.
• A guard announced that Corlys Velaryon had arrived with new intelligence about Myr and a lead concerning the dungeon disturbance.
• Prince Baelon ordered the guard to bring Corlys directly to Dragonflame Hall.

Corlys challenged Daemon’s claim to Targaryen blood, while Rhaenys defended him and exposed the old succession wound behind Corlys’s suspicions. When Glutton roared, Daemon’s dragon mark reacted, and he realized he was connected to the ancient black dragon; imprisoned in the Night Watch Tower, he awaited their coming meeting.

• Corlys questioned whether Daemon was truly Aemon Targaryen’s son, but Rhaenys insisted Daemon was her brother and her father’s blood.
• Daemon answered Corlys’s doubts, and Rhaenys accused Baelon of taking the inheritance that should have been hers.
• Glutton roared from the Dragonpit, causing Daemon’s dragon mark to burn and revealing to him a connection to the black dragon he had seen on the Red Grassland.
• Corlys ordered Daemon confined in the Night Watch Tower and barred him from approaching any dragon nest.
• Daemon sensed Glutton circling Dragonstone and believed they would meet as kin; Glutton then landed on the tower’s stone eaves.

Daemon Blackfyre formed a secret friendship with Daemon Targaryen, who helped him escape captivity on Dragonstone. Blackfyre followed the heat of his burning brand to a cave and found Glutton waiting inside.

• Daemon Targaryen brought Daemon Blackfyre stolen honeyed cherries and befriended him at the Night Watch Tower.
• Over six nights, the two Daemons exchanged stories and discussed battlefield tactics, and Targaryen brought Blackfyre illicit goods from around Dragonstone.
• Targaryen warned Blackfyre that Corlys planned to move him to a dungeon on Tidehead Island and gave him stolen keys to escape.
• Blackfyre unlocked the tower gate and fled through the volcanic fissures while Targaryen warned him that Glutton had been circling nearby.
• Blackfyre followed the burning brand on his shoulder to a cave and found Glutton lying inside.

Daemon Blackfyre confronted Glutton in the cavern and bonded with the chained dragon, then rode it into the night sky. Daemon Targaryen pursued on Caraxes, while Baelon watched the dragons clash in flight from Dragonflame Hall.

• Daemon Blackfyre faced Glutton and showed it the dragon brand on his shoulder, recognizing their shared imprisonment.
• Glutton gently caught Daemon Blackfyre with its claw, and Daemon Blackfyre climbed onto its neck and gripped its scarred scales.
• Daemon Blackfyre's brand and Glutton's scars glowed together as he urged the dragon to fly, and Glutton burst through the cavern ceiling with him.
• Daemon Targaryen chased Glutton on Caraxes, and the two dragons raced and attacked each other through the night sky.
• Baelon watched Glutton and Caraxes circle and clash above the volcanic crater from Dragonflame Hall.

Baelon watched Daemon Targaryen ride Caraxes alongside Daemon Blackfyre on Glutton, recalling how his son had won Aemon’s old dragon. Their flight awakened memories and responses from Baelon, Corlys, and Vhagar, while Blackfyre realized his crossing through time might have a purpose; the two Daemons flew into the night as riders of dragons who would reshape the skies of 97 AC.

• Baelon remembered how Daemon Targaryen had endured Caraxes’s rejection before claiming the dragon Aemon had once ridden.
• Baelon watched Caraxes and Glutton fly together as Daemon Targaryen and Daemon Blackfyre high-fived above Dragonstone.
• Baelon recalled flying beside Aemon and wept as Caraxes’s cry expressed both grief for his old rider and acceptance of Daemon.
• Corlys Velaryon watched the dragons from his flagship, while Vhagar answered Caraxes from within the Dragonpit.
• Daemon Blackfyre felt his shoulder brand resonate with the dragons and suspected his journey through time was no accident.
• The two Daemons soared together on Caraxes and Glutton, announcing the black dragon’s arrival in 97 AC while King Jaehaerys remained unaware in King's Landing.

Baelon named the amnesiac Daemon Blackfyre as Daemon Waters and allowed him to remain on Dragonstone under Daemon Targaryen’s watch after Glutton chose him. The chapter ended with Daemon Blackfyre preparing for an uncertain future as a secret report about the Black Dragon Rider awaited King Jaehaerys in King’s Landing.

• Corlys urged Baelon to send the dragonrider to King’s Landing, but Rhaenys defended him and Baelon burned the proposal.
• Rhaenys showed Baelon a broken dragonglass pendant, and Baelon named the amnesiac Daemon Waters, recording him as Prince Aemon’s surviving child.
• Daemon Targaryen welcomed Daemon Blackfyre at the Night Watch Fort and told him his name would remain temporary until word came from Grandfather.
• Daemon Blackfyre concealed his mother’s silver-chain heirloom and reflected on his connection to the Targaryens and Blackfyres.
• Daemon Blackfyre watched Glutton and prepared to face the future, while a report about the Black Dragon Rider remained unread in King Jaehaerys’s council chamber.

Baelon Targaryen led Vhagar, Daemon Targaryen on Caraxes, and Daemon Blackfyre on Glutton against the Triarchy fleet in the Stepstones. After the dragons destroyed the fleet and captured Aris Introlokos, Baelon praised Daemon Blackfyre’s dragonriding and compared their victory to the Dornish battle of 83.

• Baelon dismissed concerns about his wound and assigned Vhagar, Caraxes, and Glutton their targets in the Triarchy fleet.
• Baelon and Vhagar attacked the fleet while Daemon Targaryen burned a fast Tyroshi galley and Daemon Blackfyre struck the flagship.
• The three dragons destroyed the Triarchy fleet, and Glutton carried Aris Introlokos onto the Sea Snake.
• Baelon nearly collapsed after dismounting Vhagar, and Daemon Targaryen supported him.
• Baelon praised Daemon Blackfyre’s dragonriding and said the victory matched the three-dragon triumph over the Dornish in 83.

After defeating the Three Daughters Fleet, Baelon and Daemon Blackfyre celebrated at High Tide before preparing to return to King's Landing. Daemon bonded with Rhaenys's children and accepted Baelon's challenge to joust, while the family faced the coming political storm with renewed confidence.

• Corlys reported that the fleet had destroyed eighty percent of the Three Daughters Fleet and captured 327 prisoners and seven ships' worth of spoils, and Baelon ordered the dragonriders' share added to Daemon Blackfyre's portion.
• Baelon arranged for the group to rest at High Tide for three days before taking Arys and the gold to King's Landing, saying he wanted Jaehaerys to see Aemon's son.
• At the banquet, Rhaenys introduced Laena and Laenor to Daemon Blackfyre, who gave Laena a polished dragonglass shard and admired Laenor's shell drawing.
• Baelon challenged Daemon Blackfyre to joust against his Daemon at the King's Landing tourney, and Daemon accepted as Laena and Laenor cheered him on.
• Three flagships prepared to carry the victors, spoils, and prisoners to King's Landing, where their arrival was expected to stir new trouble.

Daemon Blackfyre arrived in King's Landing and was welcomed by Jaehaerys I, Alysanne, and the royal family, whose members were struck by his resemblance to Aemon and Aegon the Conqueror. At the welcoming feast, he enjoyed their affection while recognizing that his arrival had stirred political calculations among the nobles.

• Daemon Blackfyre sailed into King's Landing with Baelon, Daemon Targaryen, Rhaenys, and the others, drawing curious and calculating looks from the people at the harbor.
• Jaehaerys I mistook Daemon Blackfyre for Aemon at first, then recognized him and invited him closer after an old nobleman remarked on his resemblance to Aegon the Conqueror.
• Alysanne welcomed Daemon Blackfyre as family, while Gael, Viserys, Aemma, and Alicent each responded warmly or with interest.
• Corlys watched Rhaenys and the royal family reconcile, and his worry over the strained relations eased.
• At the welcoming feast, Daemon Blackfyre enjoyed his family's affection while observing nobles and councillors quietly debate his identity and potential inheritance rights.

Daemon Blackfyre settled into life at Jaehaerys’s court as nobles sought to win his favor and he sparred with Daemon Targaryen. The chapter ended with Dornish envoys arriving at a tense royal feast, bringing a secret letter and a warning of dangers beyond the court.

• Viserys brought Daemon Blackfyre breakfast and told him Jaehaerys wanted his opinion on the Stepstones conflict.
• Daemon Blackfyre advised Jaehaerys to reject Tyrosh’s terms, and Jaehaerys sent Daemon Targaryen to display Caraxes’s power there.
• Princess Gael gave Daemon Blackfyre violets, and he later defeated Daemon Targaryen in a practice match.
• Taimond Lannister and other nobles probed Daemon Blackfyre about his mother and tried to draw him into their political schemes.
• Dornish envoys arrived with ten carts of Shalan Flower petals and a secret letter, and Jaehaerys ordered them brought before him.

Dornish envoys offered a peace bargain and a marriage alliance aimed at Daemon and Glutton, but Daemon and Jaehaerys recognized the scheme as an attempt to divide the Targaryens. The dragons drew closer together after the Dornish provocation, while Daemon rejected the proposed match and threw away the envoy’s dragon pendant.

• A Dornish envoy offered ten border fortresses and proposed a betrothal between Princess Martell’s eight-year-old daughter and Daemon, seeking to see Glutton’s power.
• Alysanne affirmed Daemon’s place in the Targaryen family, while Baelon objected that the girl was too young for marriage discussions.
• Jaehaerys accepted the envoy’s letter and told him to bring his men to the Dragonpit, where Targaryen dragons would judge House Martell’s sincerity.
• Viserys told Daemon that the Triarchy had promised House Martell half the disputed islands if it sent troops against them, and Jaehaerys explained that the Dornish sought Glutton and division.
• Daemon refused to marry a Dornish Sand Snake, and Glutton, Vhagar, and Caraxes flew together after the Dornish had provoked Glutton with Dragonbreath Grass.
• Daemon threw the envoy’s obsidian dragon pendant into the moat.

The great houses gathered in King's Landing as Daemon watched their arrivals and reflected on the alliances surrounding the royal family. When Aemma went into labor, the court's attention shifted to her and the child she was about to bear.

• Daemon and Viserys watched House Tully and House Baratheon arrive, including Jocelyn Baratheon, who mistook Daemon's likeness for Aemon's.
• Lord Mathos Tyrell entered with his legitimate children and openly displayed bastards, while Corlys Velaryon discussed Stepstones defenses and Lyman Beesbury proposed funding new ships through taxes.
• Aemma's half-brother greeted Alysanne, who announced that Aemma would soon give birth to another Targaryen child.
• Alysanne told Daemon that Jocelyn thought his dragon-taming resembled Aemon's, and Daemon considered Jocelyn's grief and the nobles' priorities.
• Aemma's maid announced that she was in labor, and Jaehaerys ordered the maesters to protect her as the gathered nobles turned their attention to Maegor's Holdfast.
• Jocelyn recalled Aemon's belief that a shooting star heralded a dragon child's birth, and Daemon watched Glutton fly over the Red Keep as she went to Aemma.

Aemma Arryn gave birth to a healthy daughter, Rhaenyra, whose arrival stirred joy and succession concerns among the royal family and assembled nobles. Daemon Targaryen returned from Tyrosh, and King Jaehaerys celebrated both the birth and Daemon Blackfyre’s return to the Targaryen Lineage by announcing a grand tourney.

• Aemma Arryn gave birth to Rhaenyra Targaryen, and Viserys embraced his daughter with joy despite his initial disappointment that she was not a son.
• Queen Alysanne and Rhaenys defended Rhaenyra’s worth as a Targaryen while nobles quietly considered the political possibilities of her birth.
• Daemon Targaryen returned from Tyrosh on Caraxes and met the newborn Rhaenyra, teasing her before praising her loud cry.
• King Jaehaerys publicly recognized Daemon Blackfyre’s return to the Targaryen Lineage after he tamed Glutton.
• Jaehaerys announced a grand tourney beyond King's Landing to celebrate Rhaenyra’s birth and Daemon Blackfyre’s return, drawing cheers from the gathered nobles.

At King Jaehaerys’s tournament, Daemon Blackfyre defeated Daemon Targaryen in the final joust and asked for a name as his reward. Jaehaerys legitimized him as Daemon Blackfyre Targaryen and gave him the sword Blackfyre, while Daemon Targaryen received Dark Sister.

• Daemon Blackfyre unhorsed Lucas Tyrell in the opening jousts, while Daemon Targaryen also advanced through the rounds with a bold, forceful style.
• Daemon Blackfyre and Daemon Targaryen emerged among the final joust victors alongside Borros Baratheon, Garlan Tyrell, and Brandon Stark.
• Daemon Targaryen named Rhaenys Queen of Love and Beauty, though she looked toward Daemon Blackfyre.
• Daemon Blackfyre struck Daemon Targaryen in the center of his breastplate during their third pass, unhorsing him and winning the final.
• Daemon Blackfyre asked Jaehaerys for a name, and the king legitimized him as a member of House Targaryen and bestowed the sword Blackfyre upon him.
• Baelon gave Daemon Targaryen the sword Dark Sister, and Daemon Blackfyre chose to keep Blackfyre as his middle name.

After winning the tourney, Daemon gave the crown of roses to the infant Rhaenyra and rejected Taimond Lannister’s offer to back a bid for the Iron Throne. He vowed to Glutton that he would not repeat the rebellion of his past life.

• At the feast, Daemon struggled to decide who should receive the crown as several women watched him.
• Viserys took the crown and placed it above the sleeping Rhaenyra, relieving Daemon of his burden.
• In the courtyard, Taimond offered to fund Daemon’s rise against the Targaryens, but Daemon declared his loyalty to his family and refused.
• Taimond warned Daemon that family ties could turn cold and left the courtyard.
• At dawn, Daemon held Blackfyre and vowed to Glutton that he would never follow his old path.

After the tourney, Daemon watched several noble families leave King's Landing and struggled with the ache of parting from Rhaenys and her family. The people who remained comforted him, while Taimond Lannister became Master of Ships and Jocelyn Baratheon chose to stay in the Red Keep.

• Brandon Stark, Mathos, and Borros Baratheon said farewell to Daemon and gave him gifts or parting words.
• Daemon warned the Duke of House Arryn to beware of Wildlings on the road through the Mountains of the Moon, but the duke dismissed his concern and rode away with his family.
• Corlys Velaryon resigned as Master of Ships and sailed for High Tide with Rhaenys, Laenor, and Laena; Rhaenys gave Daemon a pouch and invited him to visit.
• Jaehaerys, Baelon, Viserys, Daemon Targaryen, Gael, Aemma, and Alicent comforted Daemon after Rhaenys's family departed.
• Taimond Lannister succeeded Corlys as Master of Ships, and Jocelyn Baratheon decided to remain in King's Landing rather than return to Storm's End.