Arc 7Dragons and the Iron Throne

Lynn won Daenerys and an army of Unsullied, freed Astapor, and hatched a dragon using Viserys’s blood. He returned to King’s Landing with proof of the threat from the dead, but Robert’s plans for his marriage and Petyr’s trial by combat left the court in turmoil.

  • Lynn traveled to Pentos, offered Viserys support for reclaiming the Iron Throne, and married Daenerys after she recognized him from her prophecy.
  • Lynn led Daenerys and Viserys to Astapor, secured Jorah Mormont’s loyalty, and promised the Unsullied freedom in exchange for their allegiance.
  • Lynn and the Unsullied overthrew Astapor’s Good Masters, freed the city’s slaves, and began organizing its defenses and trade.
  • Lynn killed Viserys and used his blood to hatch Nightshade, then left Daenerys and Grey Worm in charge of Astapor and flew to Westeros.
  • Lynn reunited with Ned and Arya in King’s Landing, presented Viserys’s head to Robert, and demonstrated the danger of the White Walkers with a captured wight.
  • Lynn persuaded Robert to admit the wildlings, granted Lynn the Gift and release from his Night’s Watch vows, and revealed that he had a dragon and eight thousand Unsullied.
  • Robert accepted Lynn’s white-sugar trade proposal and announced that Lynn would marry Myrcella, while Arya overheard the decision.
  • Lynn accused Petyr of helping provoke conflict among the great houses, and after Robert tried to kill him, Petyr demanded trial by combat but found no champion.
Chapters 151–175 Vol. 2 Read

Ch. 151Arrival in Pentos

Lynn left the Wall and arrived in Pentos to seek Illyrio Mopatis’s wealth and connections, while Ygritte arranged lessons for Myrcella and awkwardly tried to learn southern manners herself. The chapter ended with Illyrio’s mansion gates opening as Lynn approached.

  • Ygritte tried to encourage Myrcella to learn archery, then asked Jon to find a teacher for Myrcella and herself.
  • Jon sent a raven to White Harbor, and Septa Elena arrived at Castle Black to teach Myrcella noble history and heraldry.
  • Ygritte challenged Septa Elena’s lessons and demanded practical wilderness training, while Myrcella realized Ygritte was trying to impress Ser Lynn.
  • Lynn flew across the Narrow Sea on Winter and landed outside Pentos, intending to use Illyrio Mopatis’s wealth and connections.
  • Lynn disguised himself as a wealthy eastern merchant and approached Illyrio Mopatis’s mansion, whose gates opened before he announced himself.

Ch. 152First meeting with Daenerys

Lynn met Illyrio Mopatis, Viserys Targaryen, and Daenerys Targaryen in Pentos, where Daenerys recognized him from her prophecy. Lynn offered Viserys an army and gold, then revealed his Three-Headed Ice Dragon, leaving Daenerys convinced that her prophesied king had come for her.

  • Lynn told Illyrio he wanted his connections, fleet, and the two true dragons in his home.
  • Viserys introduced himself to Lynn, and Daenerys arrived and recognized him from the prophecy branded in her soul.
  • Lynn offered Viserys an army and countless gold dragons to help him reclaim the Iron Throne.
  • Lynn whistled for his Three-Headed Ice Dragon, which flew over Pentos and sent the city into panic.
  • Viserys stared in terror and ecstasy at the dragon, while Daenerys wept and believed Lynn was her prophesied prince and king.

Ch. 153Taking advantage of Viserys

Lynn used Winter’s appearance to persuade Viserys and Illyrio to support a Targaryen restoration with their wealth in exchange for an army of Free Folk. He offered to marry Daenerys, and Viserys immediately agreed.

  • Winter roared over Pentos, terrifying its people and convincing Viserys that Lynn had a dragon.
  • Lynn told Viserys he needed an army and offered him a hundred thousand Free Folk, whom Lynn claimed as their new King Beyond the Wall.
  • Viserys eagerly accepted the offer, while Illyrio considered the cost of supplying the army.
  • Lynn persuaded Illyrio that funding the campaign could make him a powerful ally of the restored Targaryens.
  • Lynn proposed marrying Daenerys to strengthen the alliance, and Viserys agreed at once.

Ch. 154Daenerys's choice

Lynn asked Daenerys whether she wanted to marry him, and she chose him for herself rather than for her Targaryen name or her brother’s ambitions. Viserys saw them together and began plotting to claim Lynn’s dragon for himself.

  • Viserys agreed to give Daenerys to Lynn in exchange for his support and warned her to please Lynn.
  • Lynn asked Daenerys whether she truly wanted to marry him, and she accepted, kissing him and telling him about her dreams of an ice dragon.
  • Daenerys asked whether Lynn wanted her rather than an alliance, and Lynn said he was marrying her, not her name, while condemning Viserys for trading her away.
  • Viserys found Daenerys in Lynn’s arms and grew jealous, then decided that Lynn was an enemy because he wanted to claim the dragon for himself.

Ch. 155Three Dragon Eggs

Lynn and Daenerys married in Pentos, where Illyrio gave them three supposedly petrified dragon eggs. That night, Daenerys and Lynn warmed one egg by the hearth, and it began to glow and beat as though alive.

  • Lynn reassured Daenerys before they married in a modest ceremony at Illyrio's manse.
  • Viserys celebrated the marriage and drunkenly boasted about taking revenge on Robert Baratheon and the Kingslayer.
  • Illyrio presented Daenerys and Lynn with three dragon eggs, and Daenerys sensed a pulse inside the black-and-red egg.
  • Daenerys told Lynn the egg was speaking to her and said it felt cold.
  • Lynn guided Daenerys toward the hearth with the egg, and it glowed without burning her hand.
  • Lynn channeled Ice Magic into the three eggs as the black-and-red egg began to beat.

Ch. 156Preparing to raise an army

Lynn set out to conquer the Dothraki and build an army, keeping the Dragon Eggs and their planned sacrifices in mind. He, Daenerys, and Viserys sailed from Pentos toward Khal Drogo’s khalasar, while Viserys secretly planned to seize power for himself.

  • Daenerys felt a Dragon Egg's heartbeat as Lynn used frost magic on the eggs and resolved to seek the sacrifices needed to hatch them.
  • Viserys tried to take the Dragon Eggs, but Lynn stopped him, asserted ownership, and ordered him to join the expedition to recruit an army.
  • Lynn told Illyrio he would defeat Khal Drogo and absorb his khalasar, and Illyrio agreed to provide three ships and supplies.
  • Lynn, Daenerys, Viserys, and the Dragon Eggs departed Pentos aboard Illyrio's ships for the Dothraki Sea.
  • Viserys imagined commanding the Dothraki and secretly planned to reclaim the Dragon Eggs and power from Lynn.

Ch. 157Viserys Goes Mad

Lynn and Daenerys sailed toward Volantis, growing closer as Daenerys spoke of the Free Cities and her past. After Viserys drunkenly tried to assert control over Daenerys and command Winter, Lynn used Ice Magic to intimidate him, leaving Viserys humiliated and plotting revenge.

  • Daenerys asked Lynn whether the slaves of Volantis longed for freedom and wondered if she had a home with him; Lynn promised that the North would be her home.
  • Winter approached Daenerys affectionately, and she patted the dragon before Lynn sent it back into the sky.
  • Viserys interrupted Lynn and Daenerys, ordered her away, and lunged at her after she showed him no fear.
  • Lynn froze Viserys in place, then warned him to remember his place and demonstrated his Ice Magic on the ship's railing.
  • Viserys tried to command Winter with “Dracarys,” but the dragon ignored him and blew freezing air over him.
  • In his cabin, Viserys failed to open Lynn-sealed chest holding the Dragon Eggs and vowed to kill Lynn and take Daenerys, the dragon, and the Iron Throne.

Ch. 158The Unsullied

Lynn brought Daenerys and Viserys to Astapor, where Daenerys witnessed the cruelty used to create the Unsullied. He told her he had come to break the slaves’ chains, and Ser Jorah Mormont requested an audience.

  • Lynn led the party through Astapor, where slave traders and the Road of Pride exposed the city’s brutality.
  • At the Plaza of Punishment, a Good Master forced an Unsullied boy to kill an infant, horrifying Daenerys and unsettling Viserys.
  • Lynn took possession of a wealthy estate and placed Viserys under house arrest.
  • Daenerys pleaded with Lynn not to make her a slave owner, and he said he intended to free the slaves.
  • A slave informed Lynn that Ser Jorah Mormont had arrived and requested an audience.

Ch. 159Jorah Mormont

Lynn confronted Jorah Mormont with his past and offered him a chance to regain his honor, return home, and reclaim Longclaw. Jorah swore allegiance to Lynn, who sent him to negotiate with Kraznys mo Nakloz to buy every Unsullied in Astapor.

  • Jorah Mormont arrived and recognized Longclaw at Lynn's waist as the ancestral sword of House Mormont.
  • Lynn exposed Jorah's crimes and exile, then told him Jeor Mormont missed him and offered him a path to pardon and return home.
  • Jorah pledged his sword, life, and loyalty to Lynn, who assured him that Jeor was safe and might still be alive when Jorah returned.
  • Lynn ordered Jorah to contact Kraznys mo Nakloz and offer to buy all the Unsullied in Astapor.

Ch. 160An outrageous price

Lynn spared a slave girl after she accidentally broke a Valyrian vase, earning the slaves’ respect and leaving Daenerys moved by his kindness. Jorah returned with Kraznys mo Nakloz’s offer to sell all the Unsullied for six hundred thousand Gold Dragons, and Lynn suspected Kraznys wanted more than money.

  • Viserys demanded that Lynn use his dragon to seize Astapor’s Unsullied, but Lynn argued that a king needed a loyal army rather than slaves ruled by fear.
  • A frightened slave girl dropped a jug and shattered a valuable Valyrian vase, prompting Viserys to order Lynn to kill her.
  • Lynn gave the girl a Dragon Gold Coin, time off, and permission to return the next day, while telling Viserys that a life deserved more respect than an object.
  • The slaves in the hall knelt to honor Lynn, and word of his kindness spread through the manor, giving them hope.
  • Jorah reported that Kraznys mo Nakloz offered to sell all the Unsullied, including those in training, for six hundred thousand Gold Dragons.
  • Lynn recognized that Kraznys’s enormous price was likely meant to obtain something other than gold.

Ch. 1618,000 Unsullied

Lynn refused to pay Kraznys mo Nakloz’s demand of six hundred thousand Gold Dragons and sent Jorah Mormont to gather intelligence on Astapor. After learning Kraznys wanted Winter, Lynn proposed offering the dragon for all the Unsullied and set out to see how the slavers would respond.

  • Lynn realized Kraznys was using the enormous price to test him and ordered Jorah to map Astapor’s defenses and gather information within a day.
  • Lynn rejected Viserys’s plan to seize the Unsullied by force, warning that open destruction would unite the Free Cities against them.
  • Daenerys found Lynn on the terrace, and he promised to free the Unsullied because he had come to break chains.
  • Jorah returned with a map and reported that Astapor had eight thousand trained Unsullied, five thousand boys in training, and only six hundred poorly equipped guards.
  • Jorah revealed that Kraznys wanted Winter, and Lynn asked whether offering the dragon could buy all the Unsullied.
  • Lynn decided to make the offer and left with the others to see who would lose patience first.

Ch. 162Missandei

Lynn’s party learned from Missandei that the Good Masters planned to kill them after taking the dragon, and Lynn responded by sending Jorah to give gold and a message of dignity to Astapor’s slaves. Daenerys watched Lynn’s actions and began to doubt that Viserys was fit to rule.

  • Missandei warned Lynn that Kraznys’s bargain was a sham and the Good Masters intended to kill his party after receiving the dragon.
  • Lynn stopped Viserys from attacking Missandei, and Daenerys gave her the obsidian pendant so Mira could help her if she was in danger.
  • Lynn sent Jorah to distribute his gold among the slaves and tell them their lives were worth more than the Good Masters’ pyramids.
  • Slaves came forward in silence to accept the coins and knelt in response to Lynn’s message.
  • Back at the residence, Viserys raged at Lynn for giving away the gold, while Daenerys began to see him as unfit to be king.

Ch. 163The bargain

Lynn agreed to trade Winter for all of Astapor’s Unsullied, then used High Valyrian to free them and win their allegiance. With Kraznys defeated and Winter appearing over the city, Lynn demanded to discuss the rest of the price.

  • Jorah Mormont brought Lynn, Viserys, and Daenerys to Kraznys mo Nakloz, who offered the Unsullied in exchange for a dragon.
  • Lynn agreed to the bargain, took Grey Worm’s spear instead of the Master’s Whip, and commanded the Unsullied in High Valyrian.
  • Lynn promised the Unsullied freedom, and Grey Worm and thousands of soldiers knelt to pledge themselves to him.
  • Kraznys ordered the Unsullied to kill Lynn, but they ignored him, and Lynn took the Golden Whip.
  • Winter appeared over Astapor, and Lynn told Kraznys they would discuss the other half of the price.

Ch. 164The Unsullied Secured

Lynn used Winter to destroy Astapor’s city guards and ordered the Unsullied to fight for their freedom, igniting a citywide revolt against the Good Masters. As slaves tore down the Bronze Harpy, Lynn left Viserys under guard and prepared to control the aftermath of Astapor’s fall.

  • Kraznys summoned six hundred city guards, but Winter killed them while Lynn ordered the eight thousand Unsullied to take up their spears and fight for freedom.
  • Grey Worm led the Unsullied in killing the Good Masters, while Lynn sent Jorah and a thousand soldiers to free Astapor’s slaves.
  • Lynn refused Pree’s offer of wealth after learning the merchant had chained and mutilated fifty children, and an Unsullied killed Pree.
  • Lynn slapped Viserys for protesting Pree’s death, and Daenerys affirmed her loyalty to Lynn as her affection for Viserys ended.
  • Lynn made Kraznys blame Viserys for inciting the revolt, ordered Viserys held under guard, and kept Kraznys close as Astapor’s freed people pulled down the Bronze Harpy.

Ch. 165Preparing armor

After Astapor’s liberation, Lynn restored order and began commissioning protective armor for the Unsullied, then secured funding from Sansa before confronting the increasingly unstable Viserys. The chapter ended with Viserys realizing Lynn intended to use him as a sacrifice and begging for his life.

  • The people of Astapor celebrated Lynn and Daenerys after the Harpy statue fell, while Lynn declared that the freed commoners would fight for them.
  • Grey Worm and Jorah Mormont organized the Unsullied to clear the streets and distribute porridge to the starving people.
  • Lynn showed Astapor’s blacksmiths his designs for reinforced Gothic plate armor and promised five Gold Dragons for each suit that met his standards.
  • Lynn contacted Sansa through mental power and asked her to arrange fifty thousand Gold Dragons through the Iron Bank for delivery to Illyrio’s mansion in Pentos.
  • Lynn confronted Viserys in his wrecked room, broke his wrist, and revealed that he had kept him only for his usefulness and intended to use his blood to awaken something more valuable.

Ch. 166Severing the bonds of family

Daenerys arranged for a physician to treat Viserys, but refused to plead with Lynn for him and told him to surrender his claim to the throne. After Viserys attacked her, an Unsullied stopped him, and Daenerys left with her last affection for her brother gone.

  • Daenerys asked Jorah Mormont to find a physician for Viserys, and Lynn allowed it.
  • Daenerys brought an old physician to Viserys and told her brother she would not plead with Lynn, urging him to give up the throne.
  • Viserys insulted Daenerys and lunged at her with a knife from the physician’s box.
  • An Unsullied kicked Viserys down, broke his other hand, and pinned him to the floor.
  • Daenerys ordered the Unsullied to keep watch over Viserys and left, no longer regarding him as family.

Ch. 167Neighbors came calling

Daenerys and Lynn rebuilt Astapor as a free city, giving its freed people aid and work. Envoys from Meereen and Yunkai threatened a blockade, but Lynn drove them off with Winter and remained confident Astapor would endure.

  • Daenerys saw freed people receiving food and smiths forging armor, while Missandei reported that Astapor had 273,400 free residents.
  • Jorah told Daenerys that ships bearing the sigils of Meereen and Yunkai had arrived in the bay.
  • Grazdan mo Eraz and Mago ko Zhak accused Lynn of undermining Slaver's Bay and threatened to blockade Astapor.
  • Daenerys condemned the envoys' slaveholding, and Lynn declared Astapor a Free City that would trade only with equals and oppose slavery.
  • Lynn summoned Winter, frightening the envoys into fleeing, then reassured Daenerys that Astapor's production would defeat the blockade.

Ch. 168A way to break the blockade

As Meereen and Yunkai’s blockade threatened Astapor’s food supply and the city’s morale, Lynn revealed a way to produce valuable white sugar from local sugarcane. He ordered production expanded and sent Jorah to recruit Illyrio’s ships, leaving Astapor poised to trade with Westeros and break the blockade.

  • Jorah Mormont and Missandei warned Lynn that Astapor’s grain would last only a month and that rumors were weakening the city’s resolve.
  • Lynn showed Daenerys and Jorah how sugarcane could be pressed and boiled into raw sugar, then refined into pure white sugar using damp clay.
  • Lynn explained that Westerosi nobles would pay heavily for the sugar and could trade ships full of grain and steel for it.
  • Lynn ordered the Unsullied to expand sugarcane cultivation and white sugar production.
  • Lynn gave Jorah sugar samples and ordered him to tell Illyrio about a lucrative deal and hire all of his ships.

Ch. 169Hatching a dragon egg

Illyrio accepted Lynn’s sugar trade and sent his fleets to buy supplies for Astapor. Lynn executed Viserys to hatch a black dragon, named Nightshade, and left Daenerys with the newborn dragon as he prepared to return to Westeros.

  • Illyrio agreed to grant Lynn exclusive trading rights to white sugar and ordered his merchant fleets to buy grain, iron ore, and cloth for Astapor.
  • After learning Viserys had been captured, Lynn comforted Daenerys and told her that Viserys would die for his crimes.
  • At the Plaza of Punishment, Lynn killed Viserys and poured his royal blood over a black Dragon Egg.
  • Lynn commanded Winter to breathe fire on the egg, and a black dragon hatchling emerged and bonded with him.
  • Lynn named the hatchling Nightshade, ordered Grey Worm to preserve Viserys’s head for his return to Westeros, and offered Daenerys the dragon’s companionship.

Ch. 170Return to King's Landing

Lynn left Astapor in Daenerys’s hands and returned to Westeros, where he secretly entered King’s Landing. He reunited with Arya Stark in the market and took her back with him to talk and check her swordsmanship.

  • Jorah Mormont warned Lynn that returning to Westeros with his growing power could make him a target, but Lynn said he planned to use Astapor’s white sugar to win allies.
  • Lynn entrusted Astapor and Daenerys’s safety to Grey Worm and the Unsullied, then left for Westeros.
  • After half a month of flight, Lynn landed Winter on an island outside Blackwater Bay and entered King’s Landing disguised as a traveler.
  • Lynn found Arya Stark looking at lace in a market and surprised her by speaking from behind.
  • Arya recognized Lynn, threw herself into his arms, cried, and scolded him for staying away.
  • Lynn teased Arya about her dress and led her away, saying they would talk and he would see whether her sword had gone rusty.

Ch. 171Seeing Ned again

Lynn returned to King's Landing with Arya and reunited with Ned, who warned him that King Robert and the lords feared his power and would not accept his marriage to Arya unless he survived the king's scrutiny. Lynn presented Viserys's head as a gift and hinted that his new business would win over the realm, just as Robert summoned him to the Iron Throne Room.

  • Lynn brought Arya to the Tower of the Hand and reunited with a weary Ned.
  • Ned angrily explained that he had defended Lynn against the Small Council and warned that Robert feared Lynn and wanted him gone.
  • Ned told Lynn he would not give Arya to him unless Lynn safely survived his audience with Robert, upsetting Arya.
  • Lynn revealed Viserys's head as a gift for the king and hinted that he had brought a valuable business venture to the Seven Kingdoms.
  • Janos Slynt announced that Robert's herald had summoned Lynn to the Iron Throne Room at once.

Ch. 172A gift for Robert

Lynn faced Robert Baratheon in the throne room, where he presented Viserys’s head and a wight as gifts. The wight’s attack threw the court into chaos, leaving the king and council confronted with the threat beyond the Wall.

  • Arya begged Lynn not to answer the royal summons, then vowed to flee with him if he did not return or Ned forbade their marriage.
  • Ned warned Lynn not to provoke Robert as they crossed the Red Keep, where Cersei and Jaime confronted them and Cersei reacted uneasily to Lynn’s taunts.
  • Lynn presented Viserys’s head to Robert, who praised the gift before insisting Lynn remained guilty of ruling beyond the Wall.
  • Lynn declared that the true enemy came from the North and revealed a wight in an iron cage.
  • The wight broke an arm through the bars, and a Lannister guard severed it without stopping the creature, sending the throne room into chaos.

Ch. 173Littlefinger Strikes Again

Lynn proved that wights were real and persuaded Robert that the wildlings could help defend the realm from the White Walkers. Robert granted Lynn the Gift as a hereditary earldom and released him from his Night’s Watch vows, but Littlefinger then revealed Lynn’s power in Essos, leaving Robert demanding to know where his dragon was.

  • Lynn burned the wight and its severed hand, then explained that White Walkers raised the dead and could be killed only by fire or dragonglass.
  • Lynn gave Robert four reasons to admit the wildlings: it would keep them from joining the dead, bring eighty thousand fighters, strengthen the North, and prevent a far larger army of wights.
  • Robert accepted Lynn’s warning, praised him, granted him the Gift as a hereditary fief and earldom under Ned, and released him from his Night’s Watch vows.
  • Lynn accepted Robert’s grant and thought of his promise to Arya and his hopes of marrying her.
  • Littlefinger reported that Lynn had liberated Astapor, commanded eight thousand Unsullied, traveled with Jorah and Daenerys, and hatched a dragon.
  • Robert’s mood turned wary, and he asked Lynn where his dragon was.

Ch. 174Helping Feed a Dragon for Free

Lynn admitted that he had a dragon and the Unsullied, then convinced Robert that they could help defeat the White Walkers and that white sugar could finance the war. Robert accepted Lynn’s offer, arranged for him to marry Myrcella before his Stark betrothed, and Lynn ended by accusing Petyr Baelish of knowing the cause of Jon Arryn’s death.

  • Lynn admitted to Robert that he had a dragon and eight thousand Unsullied, and argued that both were needed to fight the dead.
  • Lynn defended Jorah and Daenerys, explaining that Daenerys could help control the dragon and should remain alive.
  • Lynn presented white sugar to Robert and made Petyr Baelish taste it, then offered to supply the royal household at cost.
  • Robert agreed to take the dragon for King's Landing, praised Lynn, and accused Petyr of falsely portraying him as a threat.
  • Robert announced that Lynn would marry Myrcella before his Stark betrothed, while Arya overheard the decision outside the hall.
  • Lynn confronted Petyr about Jon Arryn's death and demanded an explanation.

Ch. 175Helpless Littlefinger

Lynn accused Petyr Baelish of poisoning Jon Arryn and orchestrating schemes to turn the great houses against one another. Robert granted Petyr’s demand for trial by combat, but Petyr had no apparent champion willing to defend him.

  • Lynn accused Petyr of using Jon Arryn’s murder and several attacks to provoke conflict among the great houses, while Petyr privately recognized that some accusations were true and others were not.
  • Robert drew his sword and tried to kill Petyr, but Ned and Renly restrained him.
  • Petyr demanded trial by combat, and Robert agreed, ordering him to choose a champion.
  • Petyr searched the hall for a champion, but Renly, Jaime, and the nobles who had once accepted his favors turned away from him.
Arc 7 of 19