Recaps

Danyla finalized Holy Flame Island’s fleet arrangements in Braavos and prepared to return to King’s Landing, leaving people and dragons in place to manage the island’s affairs. Before she left, Lysandro gave her a portrait he had painted of her practicing the Water Dance.

• Danyla explained that she had entrusted three hundred purple sailing ships to Unfas and House Frell to manage as part of the Purple Fleet, using their routes and connections to expand Holy Flame Island’s influence.
• Danyla arranged her departure from Braavos, entrusted Patirius Palace to Lecia, and left the two little sea dragons Hognara and Hogras on Dr aland Island.
• Danyla set impoverished families to work processing livestock on Hogland Island and arranged for the sanctuary’s children to perform cremations under Hogdera’s protection.
• Danyla placed Dreamfyre’s three dragon eggs in Hogras’s lair, stored three fossilized eggs in the Cremation Tower, and prepared three restored eggs to give King Jaehaerys.
• Lysandro presented Danyla with a small portrait he had painted of her practicing the Water Dance.

The chapter provided a ranked catalog of the dragons associated with House Targaryen, describing their riders, size, abilities, and histories. It ended with a list of Danyla’s 21 dragon eggs, many of which were still waiting to hatch.

• The chapter ranked Vhagar, ridden by Viserys, as the largest dragon and described her renewed strength after months of Dragonstone Forging.
• It listed Rafa, Vermithor, Dreamfyre, Cannibal, and other older dragons, detailing their size, riders, condition, and fighting abilities.
• It described Danyla’s dragons, including Amoros, Antheros, Myracis, and several young dragons with unusual powers and magical origins.
• It cataloged the hatchlings of Amoros and Himolos, along with Moondancer, Frostflame, and the sea dragons Jormungava and Jormungar.
• It stated that Danyla had 21 dragon eggs, including eggs laid by Urrax, Sheepstealer, and Himolos, recovered from Braavos, or found as fossils in Asshai.

Danyla returned from Braavos to face Corlys’s anger over Sevan riding Seasmoke, then learned that Vaegon had returned to House Targaryen with five children who would seek dragons. The chapter ended with Danyla questioning the legitimacy and consequences of Vaegon’s family.

• Danyla praised Lysandro’s portrait and entrusted him with the murals at the Sanctuary of the Blessed.
• Danyla sent the merchant ships ahead and returned to King’s Landing on Dreamfyre with her companions, while Saewan followed on Seasmoke.
• Rhaenys and Corlys confronted Saewan over Seasmoke, and Corlys insulted him and his mother.
• Danyla defended Saewan, warning Corlys that Seasmoke had chosen him and that Corlys had no right to challenge the choice.
• Rhaenys proposed that Laenor tame one of Danyla’s Great Dragons, and Danyla agreed on the condition that he succeed.
• Rhaenys revealed that Vaegon had returned with three sons and two daughters, prompting Danyla to question how he had fathered children while serving as a maester.

Danyla discovered that Jaehaerys had concealed Vaegon’s return as part of a political plan and refused to participate in his schemes. After leaving the Red Keep, she warned Oggian and urged the Small Council to resist granting Vaegon royal status.

• Danyla confronted Jaehaerys over Vaegon’s return, realized he had kept it secret to preserve the possibility of Vaegon inheriting the Iron Throne, and left the Throne Room.
• Urrax attacked the Iron Throne’s metal spikes with dragonfire before following Danyla out of the Red Keep.
• Danyla’s guards presented seven dragon eggs, including four she had seized in Braavos; Jaehaerys and Rhaenys examined them, and Rhaenys accepted a black egg as compensation.
• Danyla rebuked Oggian for withholding news of Vaegon’s return, then warned him to provide intelligence without deciding what she should know.
• Danyla told Oggian that the Small Council must oppose granting Vaegon royal status and said their priority should be sparing common people from further suffering.
• Viserys, furious about Vaegon’s return with his family, took his wife and children back to Dragonstone.

Danyla consolidated her influence in King's Landing by redirecting her intelligence network through Margaery and expanding her economic and popular support. She left the city with her forces embedded throughout its streets and court, able to monitor and influence events from afar.

• Danyla recalled the ten frigates returning from Braavos and ordered them to sail back to Holy Flame Island after giving the royal house seven dragon eggs.
• Danyla retrieved Margaery from Lady Florence, learned that Vaegon's family had returned, and took her to meet Mysaria at the Almshouse.
• Danyla ordered Mysaria to end all direct intelligence contact with the Red Keep and send information to Margaery, and Mysaria agreed.
• Danyla's charities, migration programs, manors, and papermaking businesses had strengthened her reputation and influence among King's Landing's poor, merchants, nobles, and royal officials.
• Danyla's paper revenues and the Faith of the Seven's costs for the royal dragons had enriched the crown while burdening the Faith, as House Targaryen's dragons continued to multiply.

Danyla flew back to Dragonstone after leaving King's Landing and promised Walda that her female soldiers would help House Frey against its enemies. Reunited with her family, she told them about Braavos and reassured them that the surviving Faceless Men were unlikely to target her.

• Danyla and her companions flew over Blackwater Bay while Maggie urged her to join the fighting in the Riverlands.
• Danyla told Walda that her female soldiers would help House Frey, but said Walda must first help her accomplish something.
• Danyla returned to Dragonstone, where Viserys, Aemma, and Rhaenyra welcomed her and she reunited with the twins.
• Danyla introduced Lukao and recounted her adventures in Braavos, leaving out the seven dragon eggs and the Sanctuary of the Blessed.
• Viserys and Aemma worried that surviving Faceless Men might seek revenge, but Danyla reassured them that her ties to the Sealord's Palace protected her.

Danyla argued that King Jaehaerys should put the realm before his wish to bring Vaegon and his family back into House Targaryen. After Aemma ended the tense discussion, Viserys and his family reunited for a happy dinner on Dragonstone.

• Viserys asked Danyla whether she had heard about Vaegon and his family, and Rhaenyra condemned their possible return to the Royal House.
• Danyla explained that Jaehaerys's family affection could not justify angering the houses or causing suffering among the people of the realm.
• Viserys questioned whether a king who could not protect his family could shelter the realm, and Aemma reassured him that he would be a good king.
• Danyla suggested that Vaegon's relatives could be supported through lawful means without restoring them to the Royal House.
• Aemma ended the argument and called for dinner, and Viserys's family of six enjoyed a meal together on Dragonstone.

Danyla spent more than two months on Dragonstone with her family, while Rhaenyra built her skills and started an overseas trading venture. Holy Flame Island continued to prosper and expand, with its growing city, busy harbor, and formidable defenses.

• Danyla gave Rhaenyra Sweet Patia, and after the sword was remade, Rhaenyra named it Bright Sisters.
• Rhaenyra used her savings to commission two three-masted ships and joined the overseas trade with the Holy Flame Fleet, gathering followers including Harwin of House Strong.
• Danyla’s family cared for Vinylla and Senylla together, while Viserys regularly rode with his daughters to perform the Funeral Rite and forge dragonstone.
• More than a thousand merchant ships visited Holy Flame Island’s docks each day as its goods, including dragon salt, attracted buyers from around the world.
• Holy Flame City expanded beyond the Red Dragon Gate with new walls, gates, barracks, housing, and entertainment districts, while its garrison enforced order across a population of at least a hundred thousand.

Danyla expanded Holy Flame Island’s defenses and scholarly work while Jili developed dragonfire grenades that helped Walda’s forces crush opposition in the Riverlands. Daemon and Rhea had their marriage dissolved, and House Bracken fell after Walda’s companions received the grenades.

• Holy Flame Castle’s walls, traps, godswood, and surrounding districts took shape as Danyla developed the island’s defenses and institutions.
• Jili created dragonfire grenades, and Danyla sent more than two hundred to Walda and her companions, who arrested nobles and shipped prisoners to the Stepstones as slaves.
• Daemon and Rhea traveled to Oldtown, where the High Septon dissolved their marriage.
• Jili taught Walda and her companions how to use the grenades, and they brought down House Bracken after its forces had resisted a siege for months.

With Stone Hedge starving under the allied army’s siege, Walda arrived with a new weapon, the Caltrop Dragonfire Bomb. Her first barrage tore through the castle walls and engulfed the area in green fire.

• Stone Hedge’s old maester told Earl Bracken that the castle’s dwindling supplies would soon run out.
• Earl Blackwood, Earl Corbray, and Lord Frey praised the siege strategy that had stripped House Bracken’s lands of food without losing soldiers.
• Walda arrived at the allied camp with her female soldiers and the new Caltrop Dragonfire Bombs.
• Walda’s forces tested the trebuchet range with stones, then launched the first batch of bombs at Stone Hedge.
• The bombs exploded over Stone Hedge, collapsing sections of the wall and spreading green flames.

The three-house alliance used Caltrop Dragonfire Bombs to destroy Stone Hedge’s defenses and waited for most residents to flee before invading. House Bracken’s last soldiers were defeated, and Walda’s side claimed a large share of its wealth as House Blackwood sought permission to take over its lands.

• Caltrop Dragonfire Bombs devastated Stone Hedge’s walls, gates, defenders, and stored oil, while the Earl of Bracken recognized Danyla’s involvement and lost hope of resisting.
• Earl Blackwood urged the alliance to storm the city, but Walda insisted they spare its innocent residents and protect Danyla’s reputation; Lord Frey and the Vale lords supported her.
• The alliance maintained its siege and urged residents to leave, but House Blackwood intercepted fleeing members of House Brune.
• Two days later, the alliance entered Stone Hedge, destroyed Bracken Castle’s gates and walls with three bombs, and defeated the Earl of Bracken’s final thousand soldiers, taking the survivors prisoner.
• The alliance divided House Bracken’s wealth, with half going to Walda and her companions, while House Blackwood gave up its share and planned to seek King Jaehaerys’s authorization to take the lands.

Earl Peake rallied the Eleven Dragonriders Alliance in Lord Harroway's Town and convinced its members that House Targaryen's dragons could not defeat them. Daemon rode Quicksilver to Starspoke, where dragonfire smashed the gate and walls as Rouge and Mungo arrived with two thousand Oldtown Garrison soldiers.

• Earl Caron questioned Earl Peake about the alliance's failure to ride the dragons and the threat posed by Princess Danyla's dragons.
• Earl Peake claimed that the alliance's dragons could defeat House Targaryen's dragons and that victory in the dragon battle would decide the ground war.
• Daemon rode Quicksilver and blasted down Starspoke's gate and part of its walls.
• Rouge and Mungo arrived at Starspoke with two thousand men of the Oldtown Garrison.

Daemon and Quicksilver captured Starspoke, and Daemon ordered House Peake’s people exiled and enslaved while the Oldtown Garrison looted the city. The chapter ended with Daemon learning that Quicksilver had already feasted on people.

• Daemon and Quicksilver led the Oldtown Garrison in capturing Starspoke, killing most of its defenders and taking the castle.
• Quicksilver ate the bodies of the dead while the brothers chanted, and a young brother pushed an elderly brother toward the dragon, who burned and swallowed him.
• The Oldtown Garrison looted House Peake’s armor, weapons, and wealth while Daemon ordered the family’s men sent to salt works and the women and children sent to brothels in the Stepstones.
• Daemon ordered Starspoke’s population exiled to the Stepstones and House Peake’s wealth transported to Oldtown.
• Daemon asked for fat pigs for Quicksilver, then learned the dragon had already eaten people.

After Daemon’s forces destroyed Starspoke and seized the remaining Peake holdings, King Jaehaerys confronted the political fallout and decided to end the ongoing uncertainty. House Manderly, House Celtigar, and House Tarth gained lands through Danyla’s campaign, showing the great houses the rewards of following her.

• King Jaehaerys learned that Daemon’s forces had destroyed Starspoke and blamed House Peake for treason and unrest, while Oggian reported that many believed the king had ordered the action.
• Prince Vaegon accused Danyla of causing the Riverlands chaos and uprooting ancient houses, but King Jaehaerys dismissed him and Ryan wheeled him away.
• King Jaehaerys questioned Aegon about the morality of Daemon’s actions, found his political judgment weak, and resolved to end the farce.
• Daemon captured Dunstonbury and Whitegrove within a week, plundering House Peake’s wealth and exiling its members and castle servants to the Stepstones.
• House Manderly took Dunstonbury, House Celtigar took Whitegrove, and House Tarth moved into Starspoke as Danyla’s representative in the Stepstones.
• The great houses of the Seven Kingdoms recognized that supporting Princess Danyla could bring them wealth and lands.

House Peake’s destruction terrified the marcher lords, and Earl Caron feared that Nightsong would be the next target. In the Red Mountains, thousands of men gathered near the Tower of Joy as Dorne’s forces prepared to act.

• Earl Peake learned that Daemon and the Oldtown Garrison had seized Starspoke and that House Peake’s members had been exiled to the Stepstones.
• Earl Caron urged the other lords to return to the Marches, fearing the Royal House would attack Nightsong.
• The account described Nightsong’s strategic importance and its long history of sieges and battles in the Marches.
• Four or five thousand men gathered south of the Tower of Joy, where Dornish forces discussed ending their wait.

Danyla used her dragons to destroy the Dornish forces and nobles at the Tower of Joy, while Daemon captured Nightsong and prepared to visit Storm's End. Daemon then encountered Ser Roxton, who was on his way to pledge himself to Danyla.

• Danyla's dragons burned the Dornish soldiers and reduced the Tower of Joy to ruins, while Myracis drove the sand steeds to safety.
• Danyla declared that she would overturn the game board and make those plotting against House Targaryen pay.
• Daemon and Mungo captured Nightsong after its defenders held out for less than four hours, then exiled House Doron and sent Mungo onward with five hundred men.
• Daemon flew toward Storm's End to speak with his cousin Edmund, but Rouge encountered Ser Roxton, who was coming to pledge himself to Danyla.

Danyla rebuilt Eagle's Nest City and fortified Prince's Pass with dragonstone walls, gates, roads, and watchtowers, making a Dornish invasion route far harder to use. The Prince of Dorne learned that Danyla had occupied Eagle's Nest City and collapsed on his throne.

• Danyla gathered the supplies and horses left by the Dornish, then accepted Jon Rookton and his soldiers into her service.
• Danyla began rebuilding Eagle's Nest City and planned a fortress at Prince's Pass and a Dragonstone road linking the pass to the Reach.
• Danyla and her dragons raised a dragonstone wall across Prince's Pass, forged reinforced gates, and cut the surrounding cliffs.
• Danyla completed the Dragonstone Avenue from the Eyrie to the Tower of Joy and added watchtowers along its route.
• The Oldtown Garrison arrived with supplies and craftsmen, and Danyla's forces finished Eagle's Nest City's towering defensive walls.
• Dorne's great lords learned their raiding vanguard had been destroyed and that Danyla had fortified Prince's Pass; the Prince of Dorne collapsed when he heard she had occupied Eagle's Nest City.

Danyla continued rebuilding Eyriehold while the great houses remained quiet and her forces consolidated control across the Riverlands. At Eyriehold, her dragonstone experiments drew fire-aspected magic from the area and brought rain, while she expanded her collection of rare birds.

• King Jaehaerys confined Vaegon and his lover to the Maidenvault, then instructed Aegon and his siblings and gave each of them a dragon egg from Braavos.
• Walda and her forces captured noble retinues and Poor Fellows throughout the Riverlands, sending the compliant to labor at High Heart and the rest to the Holy Flame Fleet.
• Harold oversaw construction of a dragonstone castle at High Heart using funds Danyla had provided, while Lord Frey and the Vale warriors returned home with House Bracken's wealth.
• Danyla used dragonfire to turn the bottoms of nearby pits into glass reservoirs and had bronze runes carved into Eyriehold's dragonstone, drawing in fire-aspected magic and bringing rain to the region.
• Myracis captured several firefeather falcons for Danyla, who learned to skinchange into them, and later brought her a rare Dorne king vulture.

Danyla led twelve dragons into the Red Mountains to destroy the Vulture King's remaining forces, while the young dragons learned the dangers of battle. In the Mountains of the Moon, Borros Baratheon celebrated successfully riding a dragon and vowed to attack Danyla.

• Danyla discovered nearly a thousand remnants of the Vulture King's forces attempting to cross the Red Mountains and raid the Reach.
• Danyla took Dreamfyre and the other eleven dragons to the mountains, where they surprised the Dornish fighters with dragonfire.
• Urrax, Tairax, and Radamanthys attacked the fighters at close range, but arrows and spears wounded the young dragons and forced them to retreat into the air.
• Danyla ordered the young dragons higher while the dragons burned the surrounding forest and the remaining Dornishmen.
• Borros Baratheon celebrated riding a dragon in the Mountains of the Moon and vowed to attack Danyla and her dragons.

Danyla found a burned Red Shadow Leopard beside her dead owner, buried them together, and took the leopard’s four newborn cubs after their mother died. Meanwhile, Lord Frey prepared for danger at Riverrun, and Borros killed the Green-Eyed Hooded Dwarf after he opposed attacking the Eyrie.

• Danyla discovered the wounded Red Shadow Leopard beside her owner’s corpse, buried the woman, and offered the leopard dried meat, but the leopard refused treatment.
• The Red Shadow Leopard gave birth to four cubs and died after letting them drink; Danyla buried her beside her owner and carried the cubs toward Eyriehold.
• Lord Frey recalled transferring his family’s wealth and scattering its main line before remaining alone at House Frey’s castle.
• Borros urged Lannal and Laenor to burn the Eyrie, but the Green-Eyed Hooded Dwarf warned that attacking House Arryn would alienate the Vale.
• Borros ordered his black dragon to burn and eat the Green-Eyed Hooded Dwarf, shocking Jason Lannister and the others in the cave.

After succeeding in dragonriding, Borros threatened the nobles, dismissed Laena’s warnings, and decided to attack House Frey to make the world fear him. As Borros and the Velaryons flew off, Jason freed Tyland, who called Borros the greatest fool among those with Great Dragon blood.

• Borros threatened the nobles and declared that old marriage agreements were void now that they had succeeded in dragonriding.
• Laena warned Borros that breaking the nature contract and attacking allies could bring disaster, but he brushed aside her objections.
• Borros proposed burning the Eyrie, and Urron Peake persuaded him to target House Frey instead.
• Borros ordered Laena and Laenor to follow him on their Great Dragons as he flew off to attack House Frey.
• Jason freed Tyland from the tree, and Tyland said Borros was the biggest fool in the Great Dragon bloodline.

Borros used the God of Darkness to attack Riverrun, unleashing dragonfire on the city despite efforts to restrain the Great Dragons. The assault left Riverrun burning as its people fled or died in the flames.

• Tyland told Jason that Borros would use his new status as a dragonrider to pursue Laena and claim the Iron Throne, while Jason agreed that House Lannister had escaped the consequences of the broken Nature Contract.
• Tyland recalled that the Green-Eyed Dwarf had intercepted most of his reports, though the intelligence that reached Danyla helped her suppress hidden threats across the realm.
• After Borros and the others flew away, Jason led several hundred Westerlands soldiers down the mountain.
• Lord Frey woke to a dragon’s roar and led Riverrun’s people toward the outskirts after they had been warned to flee.
• Borros ordered the God of Darkness to burn Riverrun, destroying its walls and setting the city ablaze while people tried to escape.
• Lannal and Laenor tried to restrain their Great Dragons, but the dragons continued attacking Riverrun as Laena cried out in alarm.

Lord Frey escaped Riverrun as dragonfire consumed the castle, but Borros’s attack was interrupted when wildfire destroyed House Frey’s main keep. The blast badly injured the dragons, killed Laenor, and left Laena desperately searching for her brother.

• Lord Frey fled Riverrun by boat and vowed that House Frey would avenge the deaths of its residents.
• Laena guided the Red Princess toward livestock, while Laenor’s Purple Prince fed on people and animals in the streets.
• Borros set House Frey’s main keep ablaze, but a wildfire explosion engulfed the God of Darkness and hurled Borros through the air.
• The blast injured the Purple Prince and ignited the weirwoods on his body, while Laenor was killed by a flying sickle and burned to ash.
• Laena brought the Red Princess to the wounded Purple Prince and cried out for Laenor when she saw that he was gone.

As a storm battered Eyriehold, Bennard returned with five direwolf pups and news that a powerful Greenseer had been involved in the Riverlands unrest and might control dragons. Danyla tried to win the pups’ trust, but one bit her finger, while Laena struggled to rise in a ruined building in Riverrun, bleeding onto the bedding.

• Danyla and Bethany fed the Red Shadow Leopard cubs and cared for them while rain and cold swept through Eyriehold.
• Bennard returned drenched with five direwolf pups and explained that he had found them after their mother died and Dreamling was injured.
• Watcher arrived with Dreamling, and the group discussed a powerful Greenseer linked to the Riverlands unrest who claimed to control multiple dragons in the Mountains of the Moon.
• Danyla fed the wary direwolf pups and used the Valyria Shepherd's Song to calm them, but the white, red-eyed pup bit her finger.
• Laena struggled to sit up in a ruined building in Riverrun as blood stained the animal-hide bedding beneath her.

Laena endured Borros’s abuse while King Jaehaerys prepared for the threat of three enormous dragons. After receiving news of Riverrun’s destruction, Daemon accused House Baratheon of treason and demanded that its vassals choose sides.

• Laena drank the fish soup and vowed that Borros would never control her.
• King Jaehaerys learned that Borros and two other dragonriders had destroyed Riverrun, then ordered the Targaryen dragonriders to assemble and arranged refuge for Aegon and his brothers.
• King Jaehaerys feared that three fully grown dragons could overwhelm the dragons available to oppose them, despite Oggian’s confidence in Danyla’s forces.
• At a feast in Storm’s End, Daemon received a secret letter from a Firefeather Falcon and learned that Borros had burned Riverrun.
• Daemon drew Dark Night and challenged House Baratheon’s vassals to choose between loyalty to their liege and joining him against the rebels.