Recaps

After waking from a nightmare of his canonical death, Lin Feng realized he had transmigrated into five-year-old Viserys Targaryen. He began planning to use his foreknowledge to survive, pursue his ambitions, and preserve the future births of women he desired.

• Viserys dreamed that Khal Drogo poured molten gold over his head, then woke in terror to the words, “A true dragon does not fear fire.”
• Lin Feng’s memories merged with Viserys’s, and he recognized that he had entered the young prince’s body before the War of the Usurper.
• Viserys decided against warning Aerys or Rhaegar because they might not believe him and the Targaryens had no dragons to guarantee victory.
• Viserys resolved to prepare for exile, avoid the fate of the Beggar King, and prevent Daenerys from marrying Khal Drogo.
• Viserys chose not to alter events that might prevent Sansa Stark and Arya Stark from being born, while viewing his Targaryen relatives as obstacles to his ambitions.
• As dawn broke over King’s Landing, Viserys began planning how to survive and use his foreknowledge without revealing it.

Viserys laid out a plan to survive in Essos and eventually reclaim power, focusing on money, loyal allies, training, and dragon eggs. He ended by summoning the maids to dress him, ready to begin acting on his plans.

• Viserys decided he would secure the royal treasury and valuable dragon bones before leaving for Essos, and considered collecting the Iron Bank’s investment in House Baratheon later.
• He planned to recruit Arthur Dayne and Jon Darry, assess the loyalty of other Kingsguard, and train in swordsmanship while seeking Dark Sister and Blackfyre.
• Viserys resolved to let the coming war clear the way for his return to Dragonstone and his claim to the throne.
• He planned to search the Dragonpit and Summerhall for dragon eggs, believing the lost eggs might still be hidden there.
• Viserys called for the maids to wash and dress him, beginning his first day of action.

Viserys explored the Red Keep’s dragon-bone vault while planning to profit from the remains, then began sword training and cultivated connections with prominent knights and castle servants. He left the day with Barristan Selmy as his instructor, a cautious opening toward Arthur Dayne, and new sources of gossip inside the Red Keep.

• Viserys visited the chamber of dragon bones, admired Balerion’s skull, and considered smuggling valuable remains to Essos to fund his rise.
• Viserys asked Aerys for formal sword training, and Aerys appointed Barristan Selmy to teach him.
• Barristan put Viserys through demanding basic drills, and Viserys asked him about Arthur Dayne’s swordsmanship.
• Viserys approached Arthur Dayne, spoke of Dorne and House Martell, and mentioned his concern for Princess Elia Martell.
• Viserys befriended attendants, stable boys, and kitchen helpers with silver stags and gathered gossip about the Red Keep.

Viserys searched the ruined Dragonpit for dragon eggs but found only evidence of an old dragon’s nest, then turned his hopes toward Summerhall. As Aerys’s rule grew more brutal, Viserys watched the Red Keep’s political players and resolved to build strength before escaping its danger.

• Viserys took bribed guards to the Dragonpit and searched its ruins, finding a heat-scorched nest site but no dragon eggs.
• Viserys studied accounts of Aegon V and Summerhall, then resolved to find an opportunity to visit the ruins.
• Viserys assessed Varys, Pycelle, and Owen Merryweather as powerful figures in the Red Keep and kept his unusual behavior carefully concealed.
• Aerys ordered a guard beheaded over a scraping sound and an old maid imprisoned after she dropped a vase.
• Viserys watched Rhaegar from afar, waited for a chance to approach Ashara, and considered pushing Brandon Stark toward his fate.
• Viserys sat alone at his window, repeated Littlefinger’s words about chaos, and sensed that he would soon obtain what he needed.

Viserys encountered a three-eyed crow after training and was pulled into a dreamlike place to meet Brynden Rivers. Brynden warned him that the Long Night was coming and that they needed every bit of strength to fight it.

• Viserys finished an intense sword-training session with Ser Barristan Selmy and saw a crow with a blood-red third eye.
• Viserys spent the day unsettled, then was dragged into a strange dreamlike space while trying to sleep.
• Viserys met Brynden Rivers beneath an enormous weirwood and pretended not to understand his remarks about Viserys's obscured fate.
• Brynden Rivers warned Viserys that a bitter cold and the Long Night were approaching, and said they needed every bit of strength to fight it.

Viserys resisted Bloodraven’s attempt to send him north for the full Greenseer legacy, but discovered he could perceive magical energies and briefly use greensight. He woke in the Red Keep determined to develop the power on his own and avoid surrendering his identity to Bloodraven’s memories.

• Viserys pretended to fear going beyond the Wall while Bloodraven explained the Greenseers’ ancient magic and urged him to seek their legacy.
• Viserys sensed the weirwood’s memories, the life energy in the air, and the cold aura of the snow, then heard distant birds within his mind.
• Viserys reached toward a weirwood and received fragmented visions of a snowy forest, a bonfire, and the Wall before severing the connection.
• Viserys refused Bloodraven’s orders, ended their connection, and woke in his bed in the Red Keep.
• Viserys decided to explore greensight alone, rejected the prospect of absorbing generations of Greenseer memories, and planned to reclaim Dark Sister someday.

Viserys practiced the Greenseer abilities he had learned from Bloodraven and finally succeeded in skinchanging into a rat. He decided to use the ability to search the Dragonpit for Dragon Eggs.

• Viserys reviewed the four Greenseer abilities and focused his practice on greensight and skinchanging.
• Viserys explained that earlier attempts to enter rats had failed because he either faced rejection or erased their consciousness.
• Viserys successfully connected his consciousness to a rat and explored King's Landing through its senses.
• At dawn, Viserys severed the connection and decided to control more small animals to search the Dragonpit for Dragon Eggs.

Viserys used his growing skinchanging and greensight abilities to search the ruined Dragonpit and found three dragon eggs hidden in an iron chest. A parchment revealed that the Citadel had placed suppressive runes on the eggs to prevent them from hatching, leaving Viserys to confront evidence of a deliberate campaign against magic.

• Viserys expanded his mental connections to rats, cats, and dogs while training his greensight to distinguish different forms of energy.
• Viserys directed twelve rats, four cats, and three dogs into the Dragonpit to search for dragon eggs.
• Viserys sensed strong magical energy beneath a wardrobe and used the animals to uncover an iron chest containing three dragon eggs.
• Viserys found strange runes, carving tools, and a parchment explaining that the Citadel had suppressed the eggs to end the dragons’ bloodline.
• Viserys connected the eggs’ suppression to the Citadel’s hostility toward magic and considered the roles of House Hightower and the Faith of the Seven in Westeros’s history.

Viserys safely moved three dragon eggs from the Dragonpit into a hidden storeroom in the Red Keep, then used his skinchanger abilities to search Summerhall and recover four more eggs. He returned the eggs to King's Landing and left two predators in the Kingswood for future use.

• Viserys ordered custom baskets and mapped the Red Keep's secret passages while keeping watch on Varys's visitors.
• Viserys guided three dogs through a secret route to bring the Dragonpit's three eggs to a hidden storeroom behind his bedroom fireplace.
• Viserys discovered that his consciousness could reach a weirwood in the Kingswood and use it to extend his range toward Summerhall.
• Viserys sent digging animals and predators to Summerhall, where they uncovered four intact dragon eggs while three others lay crushed.
• After a two-week journey, Viserys brought the four eggs back to King's Landing and left the shadowcat and mountain lion in the Kingswood.

In 281 of Aegon’s Reckoning, Viserys trained with Ser Barristan Selmy and learned that a grand tourney would be held at Harrenhal, a gathering he knew would lead to tragedy. He grew closer to Rhaenys and met Ashara Dayne, whose views on knighthood left him wondering about her past and future.

• Viserys sparred with Ser Barristan Selmy, who praised his rapid progress and told him about the Harrenhal tourney.
• Viserys reflected on the tourney’s coming consequences and considered changing Rhaenys’s fate, since he knew she would be murdered when King's Landing fell.
• Viserys met Ashara Dayne in the Red Keep gardens while caring for Rhaenys, and the two later encountered each other several times.
• Ashara told Viserys that a true knight should fight for honor rather than glory and questioned what grand tourneys meant for knighthood.
• Viserys learned that Rhaegar would compete at Harrenhal and wondered whether Ashara’s uncertain fate concealed more than he knew.

Viserys promised to protect Rhaenys as danger approached, then trained with Ser Arthur Dayne and began learning to wield a two-handed sword. As the tourney at Harrenhal drew nearer, he monitored King's Landing's factions, and Gerold Hightower died, leaving Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, in command of the Kingsguard.

• Viserys promised Rhaenys he would not leave her and met Ashara with Princess Elia Martell in the gardens.
• Ser Barristan Selmy left Ser Arthur Dayne to oversee Viserys's sword lesson, and Arthur taught him to read an opponent's movements during their sparring.
• Viserys invited Arthur to share a meal and asked to learn two-handed swordsmanship, which Arthur agreed to teach.
• Viserys continued training with Barristan and Arthur while using his skinchanger abilities to watch Varys, Pycelle, and other factions in King's Landing.
• Gerold Hightower died of old age, and Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, assumed command of the Kingsguard.

Viserys watched the Knight of the Laughing Tree defeat three knights at Harrenhal before Rhaegar discovered that the mysterious knight was Lyanna Stark. The two began a romance, and Rhaegar promised to make Lyanna his lawful wife, while an unseen watcher witnessed their meeting.

• Aerys named Jaime Lannister to the Kingsguard, prompting Tywin Lannister to leave Harrenhal and return to the Westerlands.
• The Knight of the Laughing Tree defeated knights from House Brune, House Haigh, and House Frey after their squires bullied Howland Reed.
• Aerys demanded the knight reveal their identity, but the knight refused and vanished before the next day's joust.
• Rhaegar tracked the knight to a stream and discovered Lyanna Stark bathing beside the knight's armor and shield.
• Lyanna told Rhaegar she wanted to be his lover, and Rhaegar promised to dissolve his marriage to Elia and marry her lawfully.
• Rhaegar returned with the laughing weirwood shield and told Aerys the knight had disappeared, unaware that someone had watched him and Lyanna.

Rhaegar won the joust at Harrenhal after defeating Barristan Selmy, then shocked the court by naming Lyanna Stark Queen of Love and Beauty instead of his wife, Elia Martell. His choice angered Aerys and stirred tension among the Starks and Martells as the tourney ended.

• Rhaegar declined Elia Martell's invitation to dine and prepared for the next day's joust while thinking of Lyanna Stark.
• Rhaegar defeated Yohn Royce and won his later jousts, including his final contest against Barristan Selmy.
• Rhaegar outlasted Barristan over twelve passes and won the joust, while Aerys accused him of winning the nobles' loyalty.
• Rhaegar rode past Elia Martell and crowned Lyanna Stark Queen of Love and Beauty, prompting alarm from Eddard Stark, Oberyn Martell, and Aerys.
• Robert continued fighting in the melee as the tourney ended amid tension.

As war approached, Viserys prepared to leave King's Landing for Dragonstone with Rhaenys and Ashara, while secretly gathering wealth and plans for his future. The chapter ended with his party ready to depart the next day as the realm moved toward rebellion.

• Rhaegar secured Elia's agreement to a secret divorce, then summoned Lyanna to King's Landing, where they secretly married after discovering she was pregnant.
• Aerys burned Earl Chesed alive, forced his way into Rhaella's chambers, and sent the injured queen to Dragonstone the next morning.
• After Aerys killed Rickard and Brandon Stark, Jon Arryn refused the king's demands, backed Eddard as Lord of the North, and began forming an alliance with Robert and the Tullys.
• Viserys obtained Aerys's permission to travel to Dragonstone and arranged to take treasure, three dragon skeletons, and his followers with him.
• Viserys persuaded Elia to let Rhaenys travel with him, and Ashara agreed to accompany them.

Viserys and his party sailed from King's Landing to Dragonstone, where he reunited with Queen Rhaella and settled in with Rhaenys and Ashara. After news arrived that Rhaegar had died at the Trident, Viserys asserted his position as heir and ordered Arthur Dayne and Jon Darry to remain on Dragonstone to protect his family.

• Viserys oversaw the loading of supplies and dragon eggs, then departed King's Landing with Rhaenys, Ashara, Elia, and Varys seeing him off.
• After a day and a night at sea, Viserys reached Dragonstone and presented Queen Rhaella with a dragon-bone ornament.
• Viserys trained with Arthur while Ashara taught Rhaenys to read during their first months on Dragonstone.
• A raven brought news of Rhaegar's death at the Battle of the Trident, and Queen Rhaella grieved.
• Arthur said he wanted to return to Westeros to avenge Rhaegar, while Jon Darry invoked his Kingsguard oath.
• Viserys ordered Arthur and Jon to stay and protect his mother and Rhaenys, and both knights knelt in acceptance.

After learning of the fall of King's Landing, Viserys prepared Dragonstone for the approaching danger and went to Dragonmont, where he claimed Blackfyre and uncovered two dragon eggs. He left Arthur Dayne and the guards convinced that he was a true dragon, while House Targaryen’s future remained uncertain.

• A raven brought news that Tywin Lannister's forces had sacked King's Landing, Jaime Lannister had killed Aerys, and Elia Martell and Aegon were dead.
• Viserys told Queen Rhaella and the others that they needed to prepare for Robert Baratheon's arrival and refused Arthur Dayne's suggestion to defend Dragonstone alone.
• After Ser Willem Darry returned with the Dragonstone Fleet, Viserys ordered him to maintain a blockade and watch the movements of other fleets.
• Viserys asked Arthur Dayne to accompany him to Dragonmont, claiming a prophetic dream had led him there.
• Viserys pretended to discover Blackfyre in a cave, then reached into a lava spring and lifted out two dragon eggs unharmed.
• Arthur Dayne and the soldiers knelt before Viserys, convinced that he was a true dragon.

After Viserys returned from Dragonmont with Blackfyre and two Dragon Eggs, his supporters proclaimed him the rightful Targaryen king and crowned him on Dragonstone. The chapter ended with ravens carrying word of his coronation across the Seven Kingdoms.

• Viserys returned to Dragonstone with Blackfyre and the Dragon Eggs, astonishing Queen Rhaella, Ashara Dayne, Rhaenys, and the Darry knights.
• Arthur Dayne recounted how Viserys had retrieved the eggs from magma, prompting Jon Darry, Willem Darry, and Arthur to kneel and urge him to accept the crown.
• Viserys agreed to be crowned to assert the legitimacy of House Targaryen and challenge Robert Baratheon's claim.
• Dragonstone's maester crowned Viserys III in the Septon's Sept as the gathered household and knights acclaimed him king.
• Viserys's supporters sent dozens of ravens to announce his coronation to the great castles of the Seven Kingdoms.

Viserys decided to abandon Dragonstone for Essos to preserve House Targaryen and build strength for a future return. After preparing ships and supplies, he offered the garrison a choice and waited for the storm he planned to use as cover for their departure.

• At the Small Council meeting, Viserys persuaded his advisers to leave Dragonstone and cross the Narrow Sea to Essos rather than face Robert Baratheon's forces.
• Viserys ordered Willem Darry to select loyal men and secretly prepare the fleet and supplies for an evacuation timed to the coming storm.
• Viserys addressed Dragonstone's officers and soldiers, offering them the choice to follow him or stay without being branded traitors.
• Arthur Dayne, Jon Darry, Willem Darry, and about two thousand soldiers chose to follow Viserys, while the rest chose to remain.
• Willem Darry assigned the departing troops to twenty ships as Viserys's followers loaded the castle's treasures, dragon bones, and dragon eggs aboard the concealed flagship.

A massive storm wrecked the attacking Stormlands and Lannister fleets while Dragonstone endured the weather and Queen Rhaella’s difficult labor. After Rhaella died giving birth to Daenerys, Viserys buried her and led the Targaryen followers toward Essos.

• Stannis Baratheon ordered the Stormlands fleet to attack Dragonstone through the storm, but the waves destroyed most of his ships and forced him to retreat.
• The Lannister fleet’s flanking maneuver also ended in disaster as the storm shattered its warships.
• Queen Rhaella died from blood loss after giving birth to a healthy daughter, and Viserys named the baby Daenerys Targaryen.
• Viserys resolved to protect Daenerys, while Ashara comforted Rhaenys and the others mourned Rhaella.
• Viserys lit Rhaella’s funeral pyre, then ordered more than two thousand followers to board ships and sail for Essos.

Viserys and the Targaryen survivors reached Braavos after escaping Dragonstone, while Robert Baratheon dealt with the island’s capture and reassigned Storm’s End and Dragonstone. The Sealord invited Viserys to his palace, and Viserys began arranging a permanent home for his people.

• Earl Redwyne and Ser Wyllis Manderly found Dragonstone nearly empty and reported that the Targaryen survivors had escaped during the storm.
• Robert Baratheon raged at the fleet’s failure, but Jon Arryn persuaded him to focus on the kingdom’s recovery and his coming marriage.
• Robert Baratheon made Renly Baratheon Duke of Storm's End and assigned Stannis Baratheon the stripped and diminished title of Duke of Dragonstone.
• After three weeks at sea, Viserys and the fleet reached Braavos, where Ser Willem Darry declared their purpose and the harbor officer directed them to Purple Harbor.
• The Sealord invited Viserys to the Sealord's Palace; Viserys took Ser Arthur and Ser Alliser with him, left Ser Jon to guard the women, and told Ser Willem to find land for the survivors.

Viserys negotiated permission for House Targaryen to settle and trade in Braavos, accepting strict limits on military activity and housing at Ragpicker’s Wharf. Over the next month, his people began restoring the abandoned warehouses while Viserys supervised their settlement.

• The Sealord introduced Syrio Forel as his First Sword and personal bodyguard before hearing Viserys’s request to settle in Braavos and trade.
• The Sealord granted Viserys and his people residence but warned that Braavos would remain neutral and oppose any attempt to recruit an army or plan an invasion.
• The Sealord offered the newcomers abandoned warehouses near Ragpicker’s Wharf, with rent collected by the Iron Bank, and Viserys accepted.
• Over the following month, Ser Willem Darry organized teams to repair the site, obtain supplies, and patrol the surrounding area.
• Viserys inspected the settlement daily and approved decisions and resource allocations as his people rebuilt the warehouses and cleared their wharf.

Viserys settled his people in Braavos and accepted a discreet meeting arranged by the Sealord. He met Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand, but Oberyn declared that Dorne would kneel to no one, leaving their potential alliance unresolved.

• Viserys exchanged Dragonstone’s treasures for gold, began exploring trade, and arranged mercenary work for his soldiers.
• Local thieves tried to rob Viserys’s warehouse, but the soldiers caught them and Ser William handed them over to the City Watch.
• The Sealord invited Viserys to meet a discreet Westerosi contact, and Viserys accepted after arranging precautions for the meeting.
• Viserys met Oberyn Martell and Ellaria Sand in a private chamber at the Sealord’s Palace.
• Oberyn spoke of seeking justice for Elia and Aegon, but said Dorne would kneel to no one, and Viserys asked what Oberyn wanted to discuss.

Viserys rejected Dorne’s proposed marriage terms but agreed to a betrothal with Arianne Martell if the union could follow his multiple-wife conditions, and the two sides secretly signed an agreement. Seven years later, Viserys had grown into a formidable swordsman and strengthened his bonds with Rhaenys, Daenerys, and Ashara as he prepared for his eventual campaign.

• Oberyn offered a marriage alliance between Viserys and Arianne Martell, but Viserys said he was already betrothed to two women and would accept another wife only on his terms.
• Oberyn took Viserys’s terms to Prince Doran, and Dorne agreed to the alliance on condition that the marriage be lawful and sanctioned by the Faith.
• Viserys and Dorne secretly signed a betrothal agreement in the Sealord’s presence, to take effect when Viserys began his campaign to reclaim Westeros.
• Seven years passed as Viserys trained with Arthur Dayne and Syrio Forel, taught Rhaenys, cared for Daenerys, and grew closer to Ashara Dayne.
• Viserys survived repeated assassination attempts and surpassed Arthur Dayne in swordsmanship.

Viserys dreamed of the Doom of Valyria and a gigantic three-headed dragon whose gaze seemed to pierce his soul. Convinced the vision was guidance, he decided to explore the Valyrian ruins.

• Viserys dreamed of the Fourteen Flames erupting as Valyrian dragonlords and their dragons fought a three-headed beast.
• The beast looked directly at Viserys before a volcanic eruption engulfed him and jolted him awake.
• Viserys summoned Ser Arthur Dayne, Ser William Darry, and Ser Jon Darry and recounted the dream, leaving out the beast's gaze.
• Viserys told the knights that the dream was a prophecy guiding him to Valyria and declared that he would explore the ruins.

Viserys decided to travel to Valyria in search of a way to awaken the Dragon Eggs and restore House Targaryen, despite his knights’ warnings. He organized the expedition and left preparations underway, reassuring Daenerys and Rhaenys before his dangerous journey.

• Ser Jon Darry, Ser Willem Darry, and Ser Arthur Dayne warned Viserys against entering Valyria, but he said his dreamwalker instinct had led him there to find the secret of hatching dragons.
• Viserys assigned Ser Jon to protect Daenerys and Rhaenys, Ser Willem to manage House Targaryen’s affairs in Braavos, and Ser Arthur to lead his expedition.
• Ser Arthur selected 180 warriors, and the group prepared two reinforced ships and bought charts for a voyage to Volantis before continuing to Valyria.
• Daenerys and Rhaenys wept when they learned Viserys was leaving, and he comforted them and told them to obey Lady Ashara while he was away.