Recaps

Viserys reassured Arya that she would become stronger, then admitted that he liked Sansa and wanted her to stay in the Red Keep, leaving Arya disappointed but eager to continue training with him. He later joined Roslin in the gardens and helped her understand a book about House Targaryen.

• Viserys encouraged Arya and told her he trusted her to succeed.
• Arya asked Viserys whether he liked Sansa, and he said he did and had considered keeping her in the Red Keep.
• Arya hid her disappointment and asked Viserys to teach her swordplay again the next day, and he agreed.
• Viserys found Roslin reading a history of House Targaryen in the Red Keep gardens.
• Viserys explained several unfamiliar words to Roslin and suggested she ask Daenerys or Rhaenys for help with the book.

Viserys comforted Roslin and promised to visit her that night, then reassured Rhaenys after telling her that Doran had dealt with the Mountain and Lorch in Sunspear. After Rhaenys admitted she and Daenerys felt neglected, Viserys promised to spend the night with Rhaenys and stayed with her.

• Roslin told Viserys she was no longer afraid of the dragons, and he promised to visit her that evening.
• Viserys told Rhaenys that the Mountain and Lorch had been delivered to Sunspear and that Doran had dealt with them.
• Rhaenys said she had stayed in King's Landing to be with Viserys and told him Daenerys felt unhappy because he spent more time with Roslin.
• Rhaenys admitted that Viserys had also been spending less time with her, and he promised to spend the night with her.
• Viserys spent the night with Rhaenys.

Viserys promised Rhaenys she would join him when he moved against the Iron Islands, then went to Roslin after she waited anxiously for him. The chapter ended with Viserys comforting Roslin and leading her toward the bed.

• Rhaenys asked Viserys when he would move against the Iron Islands and requested to join him with Meleys.
• Viserys agreed that Rhaenys would accompany him when the time came to attack the Iron Islands.
• Roslin waited in the Maidenvault, worrying that Viserys might not come, until she heard his footsteps and opened the door.
• Viserys kissed Roslin and asked whether she had been eating properly.
• Roslin told Viserys that Daenerys had visited her and seemed troubled, and Viserys kept his knowledge of Daenerys's concerns to himself.
• Viserys reassured Roslin and guided her toward the bed.

Viserys and Roslin shared an intimate night in the Red Keep as Roslin overcame her nervousness and grew closer to him. The chapter ended with them together in bed by candlelight.

• Viserys kissed Roslin and began undoing the ties of her nightdress.
• Viserys asked Roslin to call him by his name, and she shyly did so.
• Roslin unfastened Viserys's robe, and he carried her to the bed.
• Viserys reassured Roslin as they became intimate, and she told him it did not hurt.

Roslin and Viserys spent the night together in the Maidenvault, and Roslin woke the next morning to find him gone. She took comfort in his promise to one day take her dragon riding as she went to breakfast.

• Viserys comforted Roslin after they were intimate, and they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
• Roslin woke to an empty, cold bed and reflected on how rare their private moments might be.
• Roslin dressed with help from her maids and learned Viserys had left before dawn.
• Roslin watched dragons circling over Blackwater Bay and remembered Viserys’s promise to take her riding.
• A maid told Roslin that breakfast was ready, and she hurried out of the room.

Roslin settled into a peaceful life at the Red Keep while Ironborn raids spread across Westeros and faced increasing resistance. After reviewing reports, Viserys decided the time had come to attack the Iron Islands, but refused Daenerys's request to join him.

• Roslin studied court etiquette, Targaryen history, and High Valyrian, spent time with Daenerys and Sansa, and grew comfortable at the Red Keep.
• Ironborn raids reached the fringes of Dorne, the Stormlands, and the Vale, prompting lords across Westeros to defend their lands or seek help.
• House Manderly captured two Ironborn longships near Bite Bay and executed their crews, while House Redwyne and coastal lords tightened patrols around the Reach.
• As raids became less profitable, Balon and Theon met at Pyke to discuss how to break the stalemate.
• Viserys told Daenerys he was preparing to attack the Iron Islands and burn their castles, ports, and ships, but refused to let her come because the operation would be dangerous.

Viserys refused Daenerys’s request to join his campaign against the Iron Islands, promising that he and Rhaenys would return safely. Reports then revealed that Victarion’s fleet was heading for the Wall to ally with rebellious Free Folk and threaten the North.

• Daenerys pleaded to accompany Viserys, but he insisted she stay in King's Landing with her young dragons while he and Rhaenys went to the Iron Islands.
• Three days later, Varys presented Viserys with reports that Victarion's fleet had left the northern coast and was sailing toward Coldwater Bay near the Wall.
• Mance Rayder, Ygritte, and Maester Aemon had helped about a hundred and twenty thousand Free Folk settle in the Gift, while other groups refused to kneel and remained beyond the Wall.
• Some Free Folk who had reached the south secretly allied with the Ironborn, planning to open a route through the Shadow Tower and raid the North.
• Northern coastal sentries spotted Victarion's black-sailed ships, but the fleet escaped pursuit and disappeared into sea mist, with only two straggling longships intercepted.

Viserys received reports of Victarion preparing to attack the Shadow Tower and Asha's scattered fleet raiding the Reach, then decided to deal with both threats himself. He ordered the North to reinforce the Wall and prepared to lead his dragons to the Iron Islands at dawn.

• Ser Dennis Mallister sent urgent appeals for aid after learning that Victarion and the Free Folk threatened the Shadow Tower.
• Viserys told Varys to warn Robb Stark that the North must send men to reinforce the Shadow Tower.
• Viserys ordered Lord Redwyne to stop pursuing Asha and told Highgarden to defend key ports against the Ironborn.
• Viserys said he would destroy the Iron Islands first, then travel north to deal with Victarion and the threat at the Wall.
• Varys reported that Balon had gathered the remaining Iron Islands garrison and dozens of longships at Pyke.
• Viserys ordered the nobles and ministers in King's Landing to prepare for his departure and said he would lead King Ghidorah, Blackflame, Rhaenys, and Meleys to the Iron Islands at first light.

Rhaenys learned that Viserys would leave for the Iron Islands the next day and secretly planned a chance to spend time alone with him. She visited Daenerys without revealing the news, leaving Daenerys suspicious of her distraction.

• Rhaenys told Viserys that Meleys had grown rapidly and asked when they would travel to the Iron Islands.
• Viserys said they would leave the next day, and Rhaenys eagerly went to tell Daenerys while teasing Viserys about keeping her company that night.
• Rhaenys decided to hide the departure news from Daenerys and changed into a simple dress to make herself seem troubled.
• Daenerys noticed Rhaenys acting strangely, followed her to her room, and asked what was wrong.
• Rhaenys told Daenerys she had been thinking about things in the future that she looked forward to.

Rhaenys and Daenerys spoke about family, children, and the risks of the journey to the Iron Islands, then fell asleep together with Viserys. The next morning, Viserys and Rhaenys prepared to depart with ten dragons, while Daenerys stayed in King's Landing.

• Rhaenys asked Daenerys what sort of father Viserys would be, and Daenerys reassured her that he would be kind and supportive.
• Daenerys said she had agreed to remain in King's Landing while Viserys and Rhaenys traveled to the Iron Islands.
• Rhaenys and Daenerys talked until they fell asleep together, and Viserys joined them in bed.
• The next morning, ten dragons assembled before the Red Keep as Viserys and Rhaenys prepared for their expedition.

Viserys, Rhaenys, and the dragons departed King's Landing for the Iron Islands, leaving Daenerys, Roslin, Sansa, and Arya behind. As the Dragon Horde disappeared into the distance, the women watched anxiously and trusted that Viserys would return safely.

• Viserys embraced Daenerys and promised to take her to see the Wall when he returned, then comforted Roslin and promised to continue teaching her Old Valyrian.
• Viserys mounted King Ghidorah while Rhaenys mounted Meleys, and the ten dragons took flight from King's Landing in formation.
• Daenerys and Roslin watched the dragons vanish from the Red Keep walls, and Roslin reassured Daenerys that Viserys would return safely.
• Sansa worried as she watched the Dragon Horde disappear, while Arya firmly insisted that Viserys would come back.
• Sansa accepted Arya's confidence and decided they should believe in Viserys.

Ser Horas Redwyne prepared the Arbor fleet’s blockade of the Iron Islands while anticipating Viserys’s arrival and hoping to prove his loyalty. King Ghidorah arrived overhead, leaving the fleet awestruck and terrified.

• Horas read Varys’s letter ordering the Arbor fleet to maintain its blockade until Viserys arrived with the dragons.
• Horas resolved to use the campaign to demonstrate his loyalty and secure his place as House Redwyne’s heir.
• Horas ordered the fleet to remain on alert and prepare for battle.
• King Ghidorah appeared above the fleet, and the sailors reacted with awe, fear, and prayer.

Viserys brought King Ghidorah and nine other dragons to the Iron Islands, while Ser Horas prepared to intercept fleeing ships. As the dragons reached Pyke, Balon Greyjoy faced their arrival with grim resolve, awaiting the coming destruction.

• Ser Horas ordered his fleet to follow the plan and intercept any ships escaping the Iron Islands after King Ghidorah flew past.
• Viserys guided King Ghidorah toward Pyke, the seat of House Greyjoy, intending to repay the Ironborn for their raids with fire and blood.
• King Ghidorah roared above Pyke, sending the Ironborn into panic as they prayed, fled, or tried to stand their ground.
• Balon Greyjoy watched the ten dragons from the Sea Dragon Tower and accepted that he would either win freedom or die defending his pride.
• An Ironborn messenger hurried to Balon and announced that Viserys had arrived.

Viserys and his dragons attacked Pyke, destroying the Ironborn fleet and setting the harbor ablaze while Balon prepared to fight. The Arbor Fleet sealed off the surrounding waters as Horas Redwyne watched the destruction in awe and fear.

• Balon ordered the Ironborn to board their ships and prepare for battle, then took down his battle axe.
• Viserys and Rhaenys spotted the Ironborn preparing to leave Pyke, and Viserys ordered King Ghidorah to attack.
• King Ghidorah unleashed golden, fiery, and icy breaths, erasing structures, burning longships, and freezing ships and Ironborn in the harbor.
• Blackflame, Meleys, Balerion, and the other dragons joined the assault, trapping the Ironborn and setting Pyke ablaze.
• The Arbor Fleet formed ranks around the Iron Islands, and Horas Redwyne watched the burning harbor and recognized the dragons as terrifying, godlike powers.

As dragonfire destroyed Pyke and trapped the Ironborn, Balon Greyjoy watched his fleet burn and reflected on his ambitions and Viserys Targaryen’s contempt for the Iron Islands. Theon Greyjoy reached Balon as the attack continued.

• The Ironborn fled the burning harbor, but found the bridge and castle gates blocked, the sea boiling, and their escape boats destroyed.
• Balon Greyjoy watched the dragonfire consume his ships, including his flagship, the Sea Salt.
• The Arbor Fleet sank the fishing boats that had escaped Pyke’s harbor, eliminating the Ironborn’s last route to safety.
• Balon remembered his past victories and defeats, then realized Viserys Targaryen had ignored the Iron Islands because he considered them insignificant.
• Theon Greyjoy ran up the stone steps to Balon, frightened and out of breath.

As Pyke fell to Viserys’s forces, Theon chose to stay and fight beside Balon, who secretly arranged for his guard to save Theon if the Iron Islands were destroyed. Balon faced King Ghidorah on the Sea Dragon Tower and stood defiant as her Golden Ray struck toward him.

• Theon urged Balon to escape through the secret passage, but Balon told him to flee alone after the harbor’s ships had been destroyed.
• Theon refused to leave and declared he would live or die with Pyke, so Balon ordered him to rally the remaining fighters.
• Balon secretly ordered his trusted guard to protect Theon and help him escape to Asha or Victarion if Pyke fell.
• King Ghidorah flew over Pyke and fixed her gaze on Balon atop the Sea Dragon Tower.
• Balon proclaimed himself King of the Iron Islands and vowed that the Ironborn would never submit as Viserys directed King Ghidorah to fire a Golden Ray at him.

Theon Greyjoy watched Balon and the Sea Dragon Tower vanish in a golden blast as dragons destroyed Pyke. He refused to flee, sending Asha Greyjoy a final warning through her captain before walking back into the burning castle.

• A golden blast destroyed the Sea Dragon Tower and killed Balon Greyjoy, while dragonfire ravaged Pyke.
• A captain placed among Theon's men by Asha urged Theon to escape by boat, but Theon asked where his father was.
• Theon learned Balon had likely died and refused to leave Pyke.
• Theon told the captain to find Asha and warn her not to return or seek revenge because the Iron Islands were finished.
• The captain fled toward his hidden boat, and Theon walked back toward burning Pyke.

Theon Greyjoy crossed the burning ruins of Pyke and mourned the destruction of his family’s stronghold, reflecting on his father Balon and the bond he had only begun to understand. Meanwhile, the dragons continued their assault on the Iron Islands, with Blackflame heading for Ten Towers and Viserys and Rhaenys bound for Old Wyk.

• Theon made his way through the burning remains of Pyke as the dragons destroyed the castle and extinguished any survivors.
• King Ghidorah departed for Old Wyk to destroy the Grey King's Hall, while Viserys sent dragons to attack other important castles.
• Blackflame flew toward Ten Towers, the seat of House Harlaw.
• Theon found a vast, glass-smooth hole where the Sea Dragon Tower had stood and fell to his knees beside it.
• Theon remembered Balon sending him away to Winterfell and reconsidered his father's silence as an attempt to protect him.
• Theon recognized the rough, deep familial love he had longed for within House Greyjoy.

Theon Greyjoy leaped from Pyke’s cliffs and drowned himself as the Iron Islands fell under dragonfire. Viserys then arrived at the Grey King's Hall on Old Wyk, where he studied Nagga’s remains while its gathered followers waited below.

• Theon watched the dragons destroy Pyke and concluded that he had no way to resist them.
• Theon prayed to the Drowned God, leaped from the cliff, and let the sea drown him.
• Viserys flew on King Ghidorah to Old Wyk and found the Grey King's Hall.
• Viserys hovered above the hall and examined Nagga’s remains, wondering how the Grey King had slain the enormous sea dragon.

Viserys ordered King Ghidorah to destroy the Grey King's Great Hall and its Drowned God worshippers, seeking to break the faith that fueled Ironborn raiding. As the hall collapsed, Viserys and King Ghidorah sensed a sinister psychic pulse, and a hazy black shadow shot from the altar's ruins.

• Viserys recalled how the Drowned God faith encouraged Ironborn raiding and decided it threatened the peace he sought to establish.
• Viserys ordered King Ghidorah to burn the Grey King's Great Hall.
• King Ghidorah fired a Golden Ray through the dome, destroying the Blackstone Altar and killing the priests and worshippers gathered there.
• The damaged Great Hall collapsed, burying worshippers who had tried to hide inside.
• Viserys and King Ghidorah sensed a cold, hateful psychic pulse as a hazy black shadow emerged from a crevice in the altar's ruins.

Viserys and Rhaenys finished destroying the Iron Islands, while a mysterious shadow fled into the sea and left Viserys wondering whether it was the Drowned God. After the dragons rested at Pyke, Viserys planned to leave the cleanup to the Arbor Fleet and possibly travel north.

• A strange shadow vanished beneath the sea, and Viserys and King Ghidorah sensed that it had retreated rather than challenge them.
• Rhaenys reported that she had found no survivors in the ruins of the Grey King's hall, and Viserys ordered a sweep of the remaining islands.
• Viserys directed the dragons to burn Ironborn, ships, harbors, and castles across the Iron Islands.
• After the last castle fell, Viserys and Rhaenys landed at Pyke to rest and wait for the Arbor Fleet to handle the remaining cleanup.
• Viserys soothed Rhaenys with magic as she fell asleep against him and King Ghidorah.

After destroying the Iron Islands, Viserys and the dragons flew north toward the Wall, leaving the surviving Ironborn amid the ruins to reckon with their defeat. Ser Horas Redwyne then ordered the Arbor Fleet to search the islands, imprison those who surrendered, and kill anyone who resisted.

• Viserys condemned Balon Greyjoy as he surveyed the ruined Iron Islands, then departed for the Wall with Rhaenys and the dragons.
• The surviving Ironborn watched the dragons leave and mourned the loss of their king, fleet, and Old Way.
• The Arbor Fleet soldiers accepted their place as the Dragonlord's subjects and vanguard as the dragons disappeared north.
• Ser Horas Redwyne ordered the fleet to enter every Iron Islands harbor, capture those who surrendered, send them to Dragonstone's mines, and kill anyone who resisted.

After House Greyjoy’s defeat, Viserys and the Dragon Horde flew north to investigate the Ironborn’s raids on the coast. They found ruined villages and northern patrols, then approached a devastated wooden castle.

• The Arbor Fleet approached the burned harbors of the Iron Islands as the Ironborn rebellion ended.
• Viserys and the Dragon Horde crossed the Riverlands and flew over the Wolfswood toward the northern coast.
• Viserys and Rhaenys saw burned villages, wrecked fishing boats, and corpses washed ashore, and identified the devastation as the Ironborn’s work.
• Viserys explained that the Ironborn had raided villages to spread panic and draw out northern forces, but said they had misjudged his power.
• The Dragon Horde passed over northern coastal patrols, and Viserys said Robb Stark had likely warned them of his arrival.
• The group spotted a gray-black wooden castle surrounded by burned fields and cleared woodland.

Viserys led the Dragon Horde over Deepwood Motte to frighten House Glover and remind the North of the Iron Throne’s power. The dragons continued north into colder grasslands, where Rhaenys asked how much farther they had to travel.

• The sentries at Deepwood Motte raised the alarm when they spotted the approaching Dragon Horde, and the castle’s defenders reacted with fear as the dragons drew near.
• Viserys circled King Ghidorah over the castle three times, ensuring the Glovers and nearby onlookers saw the dragons’ power before he led the horde onward.
• Rhaenys told Viserys that he had badly frightened the people at Deepwood Motte, and he said he had wanted to remind them who deserved their allegiance.
• The Dragon Horde flew north for about an hour as the forest gave way to grassland and the temperature fell.
• Rhaenys pulled her cloak tighter against the cold and asked Viserys how much farther they had to go.

Viserys and Rhaenys approached the Wall as the Shadow Tower faced a growing Wildling camp and a newly discovered Ironborn force. Commander Ser Dennis Mallister prepared his undermanned garrison for a possible attack while waiting for reinforcements.

• Viserys told Rhaenys they would reach the Wall in about an hour, and she continued watching the sky in silence.
• Ser Dennis Mallister surveyed the expanding Wildling camp across the Great Canyon from atop the Shadow Tower’s Wall.
• A steward told Dennis that nearly a thousand Ironborn were hiding on the eastern coast and that the Wildling camp had grown to at least ten thousand people.
• Dennis ordered the men to watch both forces, prepare their armor and weapons, and stop drinking as he feared the Shadow Tower could not withstand a joint attack.
• Alone on the Wall, Dennis remembered his youthful battles in the Riverlands and faced the prospect of defending the crumbling castle with too few men.