Recaps

Viserys offered Ygritte a place at his side, and she agreed to travel south with him for now. After rejoining Benjen’s Rangers and telling them about Mance Rayder, Viserys brought the party to Caste’s keep, where King Ghidorah’s dramatic arrival stunned Caste.

• Viserys offered Ygritte freedom or a chance to accompany him south, and she chose to go with him temporarily.
• Viserys gave Ygritte food, secured her behind him on King Ghidorah, and flew with her to find Benjen’s Ranger squad.
• Viserys told Benjen and the Rangers that Mance Rayder was trying to unite the Wildling tribes, and introduced Ygritte as a prisoner who had shared the information.
• After three days of travel, Viserys and the Rangers reached Caste’s keep to rest.
• Caste eyed Ygritte as the party arrived, but King Ghidorah landed with a crash, startling him and his women.

Viserys stayed at Caste’s castle and discovered that Caste planned to take a newborn into the woods, while cold, unnatural presences lurked nearby. After Caste left with the baby, Benjen and two Night’s Watchmen followed, and Viserys secretly pursued them.

• Caste offered Viserys a grim feast and his daughters, but Viserys refused and sent the women away.
• Ygritte told Viserys that Caste abused his daughters, and the feast ended in an uneasy silence.
• Viserys sensed several Others near the castle and remained alert while Ygritte slept.
• Caste slipped out with a bundle, and Benjen, Othell, and Alyn followed him into the woods.
• Viserys followed the Night’s Watchmen with Dark Sister and signaled King Ghidorah to stand ready.
• Caste reached a clearing, placed a newborn boy on a boulder, and knelt facing north as the baby weakened from the cold.

Benjen, Othell, and Alyn confronted an Other and were quickly overwhelmed until Viserys arrived and destroyed it with Dark Sister. The group was left wounded and on guard after Viserys warned that the danger was not over.

• Benjen and his companions watched an Other approach an infant before it spotted their hiding place.
• Benjen, Othell, and Alyn attacked, but the Other shattered their steel swords, killed Othell, and wounded the others.
• Benjen and Alyn drew dragonglass daggers, but the Other continued to overpower them and nearly killed Alyn.
• Viserys intervened with Dark Sister, tested the Other's speed and strength, then cut through its ice sword and neck.
• The Other disintegrated into ice shards, and Viserys warned Benjen and Alyn to watch their surroundings.

Viserys and King Ghidorah defeated the Others who ambushed them, but Benjen was apparently killed in the attack. Back at the castle, Alyn exposed Caste’s role in the deaths, and the Night’s Watch confronted him while the women of the settlement divided over his fate.

• Viserys deflected the ice spears aimed at him, while two others pierced Benjen and pinned him to the ground.
• King Ghidorah annihilated three Others with a Golden Ray, then pursued and burned the two who fled north.
• Alyn wrapped the infant and told Viserys that Benjen was dead; the arriving Night’s Watch brothers found Othell and Benjen apparently dead as well.
• Alyn spotted Caste hiding behind a tree and ordered the Night’s Watch to seize him.
• After Alyn recounted the ambush at the castle, a Ranger tried to kill Caste, but older women intervened while younger women, including Gilly, watched silently.

Viserys offered the women from Caste’s keep a choice of returning south or seeking shelter with Mance Rayder while he watched the obsidian dagger transform Benjen. Two days later, Benjen awoke with ice-blue eyes, and Viserys told him he was no longer the man he had been.

• Viserys sensed that the obsidian dagger was infusing Benjen with deathly energy and decided the changed man could later serve as proof of the threat from the Others.
• Viserys told the women they could settle in Mole’s Town or seek protection from Mance Rayder, while the Night’s Watch handled Caste.
• The Night’s Watch burned Othell’s remains and prepared to carry Benjen’s body south to House Stark without removing the dagger.
• Two days later, Benjen sat up with blue-tinged skin and ice-blue eyes, frightening the guards.
• Viserys entered the tent and told Benjen that he was alive but no longer the Benjen Stark he had once been.

Benjen Stark rose from the dead as a half-human, half-Other, but insisted he still had his own thoughts and accepted being bound in case he lost control. Viserys brought the party back to the Wall, where Benjen felt the magic beneath it press heavily upon him.

• Benjen woke with ice-blue eyes and denied being a monster, then identified himself and recited the Night's Watch oath.
• Benjen described visions of the Children of the Forest creating an Other with an obsidian dagger, and Viserys assured the Night's Watch that Benjen would not hurt them.
• Benjen asked to be restrained and killed if he became dangerous, and the Night's Watch bound his hands, feet, waist, and chest.
• The party reached the Wall, and a hornblower sounded the signal for their return as they entered the tunnel beneath it.
• Benjen felt the Wall's magic weaken him, while Ygritte entered through the tunnel and Viserys returned ahead to explain the situation to Mormont and his companions.

Viserys left the Wall after arranging for Ygritte to stay with Maester Aemon and Benjen Stark to seek House Stark’s support for settling the Wildlings in the Gift. He flew to the Vale on King Ghidorah to help House Royce take control, and arrived at the Eyrie as its defenders panicked at the sight of a dragon.

• Viserys entrusted Ygritte to Maester Aemon and told her he would arrange for her to travel south later.
• Benjen Stark left for Winterfell to persuade Lady Catelyn to support Viserys’s plan for the Wildlings.
• Viserys departed Castle Black on King Ghidorah, choosing to fly openly so people would see the dragon.
• Two days later, Viserys crossed the Mountains of the Moon and flew over the Bloody Gate and the Vale’s castles toward the Eyrie.
• King Ghidorah roared and swooped toward the Eyrie, prompting its guards to sound the alarm and shout that a three-headed dragon was approaching.

Viserys arrived at the Eyrie on King Ghidorah and demanded Lysa Tully and her son surrender, demonstrating the dragon’s power when it destroyed a tower. He forced the Vale’s nobles to choose between Lysa’s rule and the Targaryens, leaving their decision unresolved.

• Viserys circled the Eyrie on King Ghidorah, demanded its surrender and the handover of Lysa Tully and Robert Arryn, and destroyed a tower after guards fired arrows.
• King Ghidorah landed on the Eyrie’s walls, and Lysa urged the guards to seize Viserys, but none dared act.
• Nestor Royce offered to negotiate for the Eyrie, but Viserys rejected the proposal and challenged the nobles’ ability to resist him.
• Viserys accused Lysa of poisoning Jon Arryn and reminded the nobles that House Arryn had supported the Baratheon king during the War of the Usurper; Lysa denied the charges.
• Viserys told the Vale’s nobles to choose between Lysa’s rule and returning to the Targaryens, while Nestor looked toward King Ghidorah and no one answered.

Viserys forced the Eyrie to surrender by threatening further destruction, and Nestor began purging the castle’s loyalists. The allied army entered the Vale the next day, while Brynden Tully escaped into the Mountains of the Moon and House Targaryen banners rose over the Eyrie.

• Viserys demanded that Nestor open the gates and surrender Lysa Tully and Robert Arryn, then King Ghidorah killed the soldiers who attacked him.
• Nestor surrendered, and Viserys gave him one day to purge the Eyrie’s remaining loyalists or face King Ghidorah’s attack.
• Viserys flew to the allied camp and told Andar Royce that the Eyrie had surrendered and the allied army would take possession of it.
• Nestor reported that Brynden Tully had escaped into the Mountains of the Moon after leading the Bloody Gate’s defenders in a final stand.
• House Royce’s soldiers entered through the opened Bloody Gate, and House Targaryen banners flew from the Eyrie before sunset.

Viserys held a public trial at the Eyrie, where Lysa Tully was accused of poisoning Jon Arryn. Under Viserys’s subtle mental influence, she confessed that Petyr Baelish had planned the murder, leaving the Vale’s nobles with evidence against him.

• Viserys ordered Ser Andar to take charge of the Eyrie’s defenses and prepare for a public trial of Lysa Tully.
• The Vale’s nobles gathered in the Eyrie’s throne hall as guards brought Lysa before Viserys, with Little Robert held away from her.
• Lysa denied murdering Jon Arryn and accused several nobles of resenting her for rejecting their marriage proposals.
• Viserys questioned Lysa about Petyr Baelish, and she defended him before admitting that she had obtained the poison and acted alone.
• Yohn Royce pressed Lysa for details, and she revealed that Petyr had supplied the poison and promised to marry her and make Robert duke.

Viserys punished Lysa Tully and established Bronze Yohn as acting Duke of the Vale before departing on King Ghidorah. He flew toward Dorne by way of the Riverlands and Dragonstone, where he found Stannis’s stronghold sparsely defended.

• Viserys named Earl Yohn acting Duke of the Vale, and the gathered nobles accepted his rule.
• Viserys sentenced Lysa Tully to death, and House Royce soldiers pushed her through the Moon Door; Little Robert also fell through after her.
• Earl Yohn swore to support Viserys, who left the Vale on King Ghidorah the next morning.
• Viserys flew over the Riverlands and saw the Lannister army fighting the army of the North, with the Lannisters seemingly holding the advantage.
• Viserys reached Dragonstone and saw that its castle was dilapidated and its harbor held few ships.

Viserys flew King Ghidorah from Dragonstone to Sunspear and arrived to meet Oberyn Martell. Oberyn welcomed him at the city gates, and Viserys hinted at what he had encountered beyond the Wall.

• Viserys saw Melisandre on Dragonstone but chose not to attack the island, then continued south on King Ghidorah.
• Viserys followed the Greenblood through Dorne and reached Sunspear on the evening of the second day after leaving the Vale.
• Viserys circled King Ghidorah above Sunspear before landing on the sand outside the Threefold Gate, where House Martell’s guards surrounded them.
• Oberyn Martell arrived with a mounted party, greeted Viserys, and remarked that he had expected him to stay longer at the Wall.
• Viserys said the lands beyond the Wall held only cold, corpses, and a mutated Stark, and Oberyn replied that this sounded more interesting than the Water Gardens.

Viserys arrived in Sunspear, accepted Oberyn’s guest right, and met with Dornish hospitality while King Ghidorah was settled by the Old Palace. That night, Arianne and the Sand Snakes visited him, leaving him face-to-face with his betrothed.

• Oberyn welcomed Viserys and arranged for King Ghidorah to rest on the beach near the Old Palace.
• Viserys ate bread and salt, then followed Oberyn into the Old Palace for a feast.
• Oberyn spoke about Dornish customs and his hatred of Tywin Lannister, and promised to take Viserys to meet Doran the next day.
• Obara, Tyene, Nymeria, and Arianne entered Viserys’s room that night.
• Arianne greeted Viserys and said that she and the Sand Snakes had insisted on meeting him privately.

Arianne visited Viserys to decide whether she was willing to marry him, and Nymeria pushed the pair toward an intimate encounter. Arianne accepted Viserys’s embrace and kissed him, leaving their betrothal on a more personal footing.

• Arianne told Viserys that she wanted to judge him for herself, while explaining she had long accepted that her marriage would be a political bargain.
• Viserys realized Arianne was trying to learn whether she herself was pleased with their marriage, and she said she had only partly made up her mind.
• Nymeria urged Viserys to fulfill his husbandly duties early, and Tyene explained that Arianne wanted to know whether they could bear each other before their wedding night.
• Nymeria removed Arianne’s belt and nudged her toward Viserys, who caught her wrist and asked what she wanted.
• Arianne leaned into Viserys’s embrace, and they kissed while Obara left the room and the other sisters remained outside.

Viserys spent the night with Arianne and received the Sand Snakes’ attentions before they prepared to face the day. At breakfast, Arianne told him that Doran would meet him at the Water Gardens that afternoon, and she would accompany him.

• Arianne asked Viserys whether he would be a good king, and he promised to keep his word if Dorne married them.
• Viserys and Arianne spent the night together while Nymeria and Tyene watched, and Viserys later accepted the sisters’ attentions.
• Arianne woke before dawn, kissed Viserys goodbye, and left for her duties as Dorne’s heir.
• Nymeria and Tyene helped Viserys dress, and Obara arrived to escort him to breakfast.
• Obara denied that she wanted to kiss Viserys, then led him to Arianne, who said Doran would meet him at the Water Gardens that afternoon.

Viserys traveled with Arianne and Oberyn to the Water Gardens to meet Prince Doran, who discussed his illness, Dorne’s need for patience, and the promises Viserys had made to House Martell. Doran revealed that a raven had reported Viserys’s actions in the Vale, leaving him eager to learn more about the young prince.

• Oberyn arrived to escort Viserys and Arianne to the Water Gardens, while Ellaria and the Sand Snakes stayed behind.
• On the journey, Arianne told Viserys about Doran’s gout and his lessons on patience and feigning weakness.
• Viserys and Arianne entered the Water Gardens, where Areo Hotah guarded Doran and King Ghidorah circled overhead.
• Doran welcomed Viserys and praised his promises to deliver Tywin, Gregor Clegane, and Amory Lorch to Dornish justice.
• Doran told Viserys that he had stopped Oberyn from trying to poison House Lannister and said a raven’s report about Viserys’s actions in the Vale had increased his interest in him.

Viserys explained his ruthless judgment of House Arryn to Doran, who accepted that Viserys was fit to rule and offered Arianne Dorne’s heirloom ring. They refined their alliance and discussed the threat of the Others, leaving Doran convinced that the civil war had to end before the Long Night.

• Doran questioned Viserys about killing Lysa Tully and Robert Arryn, and Viserys defended it as punishment for treason.
• Doran compared Viserys with Rhaegar and Aerys, then revealed Elia had loved Rhaegar despite his abandonment and had dismissed his prophecy as foolish.
• Doran admitted he had once hoped Aegon was alive but now knew Varys had described an impostor, then offered Arianne the heir’s ring of Dorne.
• Viserys said Arianne could inherit Dorne but their child would inherit only from him, and asked Doran to tell Catelyn that Lysa had confessed to Jon Arryn’s murder and named Petyr Baelish.
• Viserys explained that he wanted the North and Westerlands to keep each other in check, then described the Others and Benjen Stark’s ordeal beyond the Wall.
• Doran recognized the Long Night as a real threat and agreed that Viserys needed to end the civil war quickly.

Prince Doran accepted Viserys as a worthy future king and left him to spend time with Arianne in Dorne. Viserys enjoyed several days with Arianne and explored Sunspear with Oberyn before the coming war drew nearer.

• Doran told Viserys he trusted him to make a good king and asked him to treat Arianne well.
• Doran asked Viserys to remain in Dorne, and Arianne led him through the Water Gardens, where she confessed she had chosen him and kissed him.
• Oberyn welcomed Viserys and Arianne back and announced a feast at the Old Palace to celebrate their match.
• Oberyn hosted a feast attended by Dornish nobles, and Viserys helped a tipsy Arianne back to their room afterward.
• Viserys spent the next three days with Arianne and the Sand Snake sisters while Obara guarded them outside.
• Oberyn showed Viserys Sunspear's Three Winding Walls, the newly built fleet, and the Shadow City.

Viserys spent time alone with Nymeria in the Old Palace garden, and she kissed him before taking him to her room, where Tyene joined them. The three of them began an intimate encounter, which continued as Viserys gently lowered Tyene onto the bed.

• Arianne went to the Water Gardens to learn from Doran while Oberyn took Ellaria to a brothel.
• Nymeria approached Viserys in the Old Palace garden and kissed him after he said the Dornish women had taught him to take what he wanted.
• Nymeria brought Viserys to her room, where Tyene was waiting, and teased Tyene about wanting him.
• Viserys kissed Nymeria and carried her to the bed, then invited Tyene to join them.
• Tyene undressed and climbed onto the bed, and Viserys gently lowered her beside Nymeria.

Viserys spent the night with Nymeria and Tyene, then discussed Dorne and the wider realm with Oberyn. Arianne told him she had begun training to govern Dorne and fight with a spear.

• Viserys spent the night with Nymeria and Tyene, and they left the next day to join Arianne at the Water Gardens.
• Viserys rejected Oberyn’s invitation to go out and talked with him about Dorne, the Seven Kingdoms, and the coming Long Night.
• Arianne told Viserys that Nymeria had revealed their night together and explained that she had no jealousy about his lovers.
• Arianne said her father had officially let her take part in governing and that she would study statecraft in the mornings and train with Hotah in the afternoons.

Viserys left Dorne after bidding farewell to Arianne, Oberyn, and the Sand Snakes, then flew back to Valyria with King Ghidorah. He surveyed the nearly completed Valyrian Freehold before reuniting with Daenerys at Dragonwing Castle.

• Arianne told Viserys she would remain in Dorne to govern and wait for him, and they spent their final night together before his departure.
• Arianne, Oberyn, Nymeria, Tyene, Teresa, and Obara said farewell to Viserys on the beach, and he flew away on King Ghidorah.
• Viserys reached the Valyrian Peninsula after two days and circled over New Valyria to inspect the growing city and nearly finished Valyrian Freehold.
• Viserys continued to Dragonwing Castle, where Daenerys ran to embrace him after he landed.

Viserys returned to Dragonwing Castle after nearly a month away and reunited with Daenerys and Ashara. He spent the afternoon with Ashara, who teased him about whether he had seen his fiancée or been offered Dornish beauties.

• Daenerys told Viserys she had waited for him every afternoon and asked him to recount everything about his journey.
• Viserys checked through Blackflame's eyes and confirmed that Rhaenys was safe while hunting fire lizards in a volcano.
• Daenerys asked Viserys about the Wall, the Others, and Arya's family.
• Viserys embraced Ashara and kissed her, then kissed Daenerys when she coughed to get his attention.
• Ashara set aside her duties to stay with Viserys, and she later teased him about his fiancée and the Dornish beauties Prince Oberyn might have arranged.

Viserys reunited with Ashara, Daenerys, and Rhaenys after returning to Valyria, then spent the night telling his sisters about his journey to the Wall. He left them listening as he recounted Maester Aemon’s memories of House Targaryen and their deceased relatives.

• Ashara teased Viserys about his plans to visit Dorne, then kissed him before they went to meet Daenerys for dinner.
• Rhaenys returned on Meleys after hunting fire lizards with Blackflame and told Viserys she had been practicing flying so she could accompany him someday.
• Viserys ate a simple dinner with Daenerys, Rhaenys, Arya, and the other women who had stayed in Valyria.
• Daenerys climbed into bed with Viserys, and Rhaenys joined them so she could hear about his travels.
• Viserys told Daenerys and Rhaenys about flying to Winterfell, visiting the Night’s Watch, sparring with Benjen, and meeting Maester Aemon.

Viserys recounted his journey Beyond the Wall to Rhaenys and Daenerys before the siblings spent the night together. The next day, he announced plans to move the capital to New Valyria and prepare an advance into Westeros.

• Viserys told Rhaenys and Daenerys about meeting Ygritte, Brynden, the Others, and the resurrected Benjen Beyond the Wall.
• Daenerys fell asleep, and Viserys comforted Rhaenys until she also drifted off.
• In the morning, Viserys and Rhaenys stayed beside the sleeping Daenerys before she woke and left to wash up.
• Viserys teased Rhaenys about her hand, and she fled the room in embarrassment.
• Viserys summoned Valyria's leaders and announced a ceremony to move the capital to the completed royal castle in New Valyria.
• Viserys said he planned to advance into Westeros after the ministers stationed elsewhere returned, exciting Earl Jon.

Viserys prepared to move the capital and summoned leaders to Valyria, while Arya asked about her family and proposed a marriage alliance through Sansa. A month later, Duke Arthur and Duke Clinton set out for Valyria as preparations continued.

• Viserys had Maester Marwyn send ravens to summon officials and discussed the security of moving the capital to the New City.
• Arya asked Viserys about Robb, Catelyn, and Benjen, then said she would remain in Valyria to learn rather than return to the North.
• Arya suggested that Viserys marry Sansa, but Viserys said he preferred Arya, who shyly agreed before fleeing the room.
• Viserys and Daenerys explored the peninsula to catch fire lizards while preparations for the ceremony continued and Acmot grew ready to carry a rider.
• After a month, Duke Arthur and Duke Clinton received their summons and traveled to Valyria.