Recaps

Mungo and Rouge captured Sunhouse Castle and Cuy Town, confiscating House Cuy’s wealth after Princess Danyla’s judgment. As Danyla’s influence spread across the Seven Kingdoms, Princess Rhaenys and the Sea Snake considered whether they could arrange her marriage to Driftmark.

• Mungo and Rouge captured Sunhouse Castle, killed its defenders, and confined House Cuy’s men while Lady Redwyne surrendered the account books and storeroom keys.
• Mungo inventoried the castle’s wealth as Rouge occupied the docks and counted House Cuy’s ships.
• Danyla ordered House Redwyne to protect House Cuy’s fleet, and Earl Redwyne relayed her demand to his family’s ships.
• King Jaehaerys accepted the evidence against House Cuy, approved Danyla’s actions, and placed Sunhouse Castle under her administration.
• Princess Rhaenys and the Sea Snake discussed Danyla’s victories and whether she might marry into House Velaryon.

After restoring order in Oldtown, Danyla sent convicted rioters to Dreamfyre Island, where she built up a settlement and new industries. She also consolidated estates and shops around Oldtown, preparing them for more productive farming.

• Danyla and the Oldtown Garrison restored daily life in Oldtown, arrested hundreds of rioters, and exiled them and their families to the Stepstones.
• Danyla occupied an island in the Stepstones, named it Dreamfyre Island, and used the exiles to build a dock, fortress, reservoirs, and aqueducts.
• Danyla established wind-powered waterwheels and saltworks on Dreamfyre Island, while Dax assured nearby rivals that the force would stay out of their fighting.
• Danyla returned most stolen property deeds to their owners and took over the assets of wealthy families killed during the riots.
• Danyla consolidated five large estates and more than fifty shops, then prepared the estates for planting with dragon droppings and seeds sent by Samwell.

Danyla flew the Earl of Hightower toward King's Landing and stopped at Longtable Hall, where she cultivated House Merryweather's friendship. She recruited Maria Merryweather as a lady-in-waiting before the dragons feasted on the castle's livestock.

• Danyla rode Dreamfyre from Oldtown with the Earl of Hightower, Little Balerion, the Three Little Ones, and Myracis.
• Danyla and her party landed at Longtable Hall, where the Earl of Merryweather and his family welcomed them.
• Danyla shared a meal with the Merryweathers and took an interest in Maria's embroidery.
• Danyla invited Maria to join her as a lady-in-waiting, and Maria accepted.
• The Longtable Hall servants brought livestock to feed the dragons, which roasted and ate the black pigs.

Danyla arranged for Earl Merryweather to supply Holy Flame Island with fruit saplings and livestock, while reflecting on the supernatural legacy of Garth Greenhand. After the dragons fed at Longtable Hall, she invited the Merryweather children to approach Myracis.

• Danyla ordered fruit saplings and livestock from Earl Merryweather and offered favorable trade with Holy Flame Island.
• Danyla considered the legends of Garth Greenhand and sensed distinctive natural energy in castles belonging to his descendants.
• Danyla asked Earl Merryweather to arrange rest for Earl Hightower before joining the dragons.
• Earl Merryweather ordered another herd after the dragons quickly ate the first one.
• Myracis pushed to the front of the herd, ate a dozen fat pigs, and nuzzled Danyla.
• Danyla and Myra soothed Myracis through telepathy as Danyla encouraged Mark to touch her.

Danyla returned to King's Landing with Maria, then told King Jaehaerys how she had brought House Hightower and House Cuy to ruin. As the king praised her and discussed House Hightower's fate, Audrey revealed that Alicent and Prince Daemon had grown close.

• Danyla brought Maria to King's Landing on Dreamfyre and introduced her to Bethany and Shirei as their new companion.
• Danyla met with King Jaehaerys, who praised her for the wealth she had sent from House Hightower and anticipated more from House Cuy.
• Danyla recounted how she had exploited House Hightower's plans and Oldtown's riot, while keeping most of her preparations secret.
• Danyla advised Jaehaerys to give House Hightower a lawful trial and show mercy, since the house had already been weakened.
• Audrey told Danyla that Alicent had grown close to Prince Daemon, who had repeatedly returned to the Red Keep to support her.

After recovering, Seasmoke followed a mysterious stirring in his blood to the Wandering Prince, where he found Sevan and Markris. Sevan reached out to touch the dragon, hoping to become his companion.

• Seasmoke recovered outside House Massey's castle, grew larger from eating its livestock, and flew toward the other dragons.
• Seasmoke followed a strange feeling to the Wandering Prince, where Markris tried to persuade Sevan to hatch or sell his dragon egg.
• Markris and Sevan worried Seasmoke might want the egg, and Markris reminded Sevan of the scars Cannibal had given him.
• Seasmoke landed on the ship and sniffed Sevan and Markris, while both men felt a powerful longing for the dragon.
• Sevan called to Seasmoke in Valyrian and, as his fear faded, placed his hand on the dragon's snout.

King Jaehaerys presided over House Hightower’s public trial, where Earl Monto Hightower denied responsibility for Mund Hightower’s theft of three dragon eggs. Jaehaerys accused the family of past treachery and inciting a deadly riot in Oldtown, while the assembled nobles reacted with shock.

• King Jaehaerys ordered the Kingsguard to bring the adult men of House Hightower into the Throne Room.
• Earl Monto Hightower denied that his house had known of or helped Mund Hightower steal the dragon eggs, but Lady Florence cited the house’s men and ship as evidence of its guilt.
• Lady Florence presented evidence suggesting House Hightower might have hoped to hatch dragons and flee to its holdings abroad.
• Earl Monto Hightower begged King Jaehaerys for mercy based on House Hightower’s supposed loyalty to the royal house.
• King Jaehaerys condemned House Hightower for conspiring against the royal family twenty years earlier and inciting a deadly riot in Oldtown.
• The nobles in the Throne Room erupted in shock as they heard that House Hightower had orchestrated the riot.

Earl Hightower and Otto defended House Hightower before King Jaehaerys, while Otto’s mention of the king’s children stirred his anger. When Hightower blamed the Faith for the Oldtown riot, the High Septon countered that House Hightower had directed the brothers who incited it.

• Earl Hightower pleaded that his house had no part in the scandal involving House Cuy and claimed it had suffered heavily in the Oldtown riot.
• Otto supported Hightower’s defense and invoked Princess Senylla, Vaegon, and Sister Magna, angering King Jaehaerys.
• King Jaehaerys reflected on Vaegon’s rejection of the crown and Magna’s role in the royal family and Church before her death.
• Earl Hightower said he had handed Oldtown’s garrison to Princess Danyla and blamed the riot entirely on the Faith.
• King Jaehaerys challenged the High Septon, who accused House Hightower of directing the rioters to pressure the royal house.

At King Jaehaerys’s trial over the Oldtown riot, the High Septon and Earl Hightower tried to shift blame onto each other until Danyla proposed that the Faith pay for the Royal House’s dragons and provide free classes. The High Septon accepted the classes in principle but argued that staffing them would leave the Faith unable to afford the dragons.

• Lady Florence and Earl Beesbury argued that the High Septon bore responsibility for wrongdoing across the Faith of the Seven.
• Earl Hightower demanded that the Faith show remorse, and the High Septon retaliated by accusing House Hightower of infiltrating the Faith and noble households.
• King Jaehaerys silenced the quarrel and declared that the High Septon must share responsibility for the Oldtown riot.
• Danyla proposed that the Faith pay the cost of feeding the Royal House’s dragons and establish free classes at its places of worship.
• The High Septon agreed that free classes were possible but claimed that a shortage of clergy would leave the Faith unable to fund the dragons.

Danyla introduced inexpensive New Paper to the court and used the promise of franchises to secure support for her conditions on universal education. She left the High Septon considering both a new source of income for the Faith and a proposal to have the Faith present dragons as its sacred protectors.

• The High Septon warned Jaehaerys and Danyla that universal education would cost the Faith too much in parchment, pens, and ink, and Danyla brought out New Paper for the nobles to test.
• The High Septon and the nobles praised the paper, and Danyla announced that a ream cost only five Silver Moons.
• Danyla said the Royal House and Holy Flame Island controlled New Paper, and Earl Beesbury explained that franchises required loyalty and funding for the Faith's training classes.
• Lord Stokeworth suggested that lords could organize classes with maesters, prompting the High Septon to insist that the Faith was better equipped and ask for a paper franchise.
• Jaehaerys said the Faith might receive a franchise, and Danyla proposed that it make the dragons sacred beasts that protected the Faith and the Seven Kingdoms.

The High Septon and the nobles demanded that House Hightower be removed from Oldtown, leaving Earl Hightower to beg Danyla for help. Danyla asked Jaehaerys to let the family atone by settling and restoring the neglected New Gift near the Wall.

• The High Septon agreed that the Faith of the Seven would help create dragons and then urged Jaehaerys to cut House Hightower off from Oldtown.
• The nobles condemned House Hightower, and Earl Hightower knelt before Danyla and asked her to save his family.
• Danyla reminded Jaehaerys of House Hightower's past contributions and proposed giving them a new holding where they could serve the realm.
• Danyla suggested the neglected New Gift, land granted to the Night's Watch by Jaehaerys and Alysanne, as a place for House Hightower to restore.

King Jaehaerys exiled House Hightower to Queenscrown and the New Gift, where Danyla hoped they would help restore the North. At Ohn’s smithy, Danyla and Master Ohn examined steel made from the Weirwood Square iron and realized it lacked Valyrian steel’s imperishability.

• King Jaehaerys ordered House Hightower and its descendants to settle in Queenscrown and the New Gift, sending them north after a day’s rest.
• Danyla supplied House Hightower with five wagonloads of necessities and furs, while Hightower kin and learned people joined the growing procession.
• Danyla reflected that House Hightower’s settlement might strengthen the North and help prevent the Night’s Watch from declining.
• Danyla visited Master Ohn’s smithy, where he showed her a sword forged from the Weirwood Square iron that resembled Valyrian steel but lacked its essence.
• Danyla identified the sword’s missing imperishability, and Master Ohn concluded that dragon remains were needed to forge Valyrian steel.

Danyla oversaw the restoration and forging of Valyrian steel armor, then presented three suits to King Jaehaerys. After he arranged a showing for the great nobles, Danyla secretly sent thirty-six additional armor sets and swords to Holy Flame Island.

• Danyla directed Master Ohn to fuse Sea Dragon bones with steel and restore Sevan’s incomplete armor, which she named Black Flame and presented to King Jaehaerys.
• Danyla asked Jaehaerys to formally grant her Oldtown and Sunhouse Castle, but he told her to keep managing them until he had a reason acceptable to the nobles.
• Master Ohn forged two Dragon Warrior armor suits for Danyla, which she named Myracis and Dreamfyre, and Jaehaerys arranged a viewing for the Seven Kingdoms’ great nobles.
• While Danyla and the Dragon Warriors fetched the nobles, Master Ohn forged thirty-six more armor sets and swords using the remaining dragon bones.
• Danyla secretly sent the thirty-six new armor sets and swords to Holy Flame Island after the bones were exhausted.

Danyla agreed to transport nobles from the North and Westerlands to King's Landing, then negotiated with King Jaehaerys for land to build more papermaking workshops. The chapter ended with Urrax showing his affection for Danyla after catching a piece of beef.

• King Jaehaerys gave Danyla a list of nobles from the North and Westerlands to bring to King's Landing.
• Danyla offered to expand papermaking workshops at Oldtown and Sunhouse Castle, and Jaehaerys suggested sites along the Blackwater Rush and in the Kingswood.
• Danyla agreed to give the Royal House thirty percent of workshop profits in exchange for land near the workshops being put in her name.
• Jaehaerys approved the arrangement and invited Danyla to choose the sites herself.
• Danyla tossed Urrax a piece of beef, and he caught it before flying over to nuzzle her.

Danyla set out on dragonback to fetch the lords on her list, flying north with Dreamfyre, Myracis, Little Balerion, and the others. After sensing unusual magical energy near the Isle of Faces and a cold surge above Harrenhal, she continued toward the castle.

• Jaehaerys fed Urrax after grumbling that the young dragon was more affectionate with Danyla.
• Danyla left the Red Keep alone, wearing armor made from Crocodile Lizard hide and Valyrian steel.
• Danyla flew over the Gods Eye and saw Myracis react to unusual magical energy around the Isle of Faces.
• Danyla called Myracis away from the island and continued toward Harrenhal.
• Danyla felt an intensely cold surge of energy as she flew above Harrenhal.

Danyla arrived at House Frey’s castle near Riverrun to gather the northern lords for King Jaehaerys’s Valyrian armor viewing. Lord Forley Frey welcomed her and prepared livestock for her dragons, who began devouring the feast as the Freys watched.

• Danyla flew to North Keep and met Lord Forley Frey, who welcomed her and said House Frey would help receive the northern lords.
• Danyla explained that she was collecting guests for the king and asked Lord Frey to provide livestock for her exhausted dragons.
• Lord Frey presented forty or fifty animals marinated with spices from White Sheep Town.
• Danyla ordered Vhagar and Grey Ghost to roast the animals with dragonfire, astonishing the watching Freys.
• Myracis and the other dragons began eating, and Lord Frey ordered another batch of cattle and sheep.

Danyla visited House Frey, where Marquess Frey hosted her and her dragons with generous food despite his family’s reputation for thrift. As the meal began, Danyla found herself unexpectedly warmed by the Freys’ practical sincerity.

• Marquess Frey had livestock slaughtered for Danyla’s dragons, which ate around three hundred goats and more than thirty cattle.
• Walda teased Marquess Frey about the cost of feeding the dragons and suggested that she enter Danyla’s service.
• Forrest watched Danyla closely while she focused on the dragons and planned where to get her next free meal.
• Marquess Frey welcomed Danyla into House Frey’s plain great hall and served her a hearty lunch with the family.
• Danyla reflected on House Frey’s reputation and felt fond of their frank pursuit of their interests.

At a feast in Riverrun, Walda impressed Princess Danyla with her outspoken independence and her trained female soldiers. Walda and her women pledged themselves to Danyla, who drew Dawnlight and challenged Walda to prove she could guard her.

• Danyla praised House Frey's mead and admired Walda's blunt toast despite Lord Frey's disapproval.
• Walda told Danyla that she had trained twenty female soldiers and invited them to perform a war dance.
• Eight of Walda's soldiers performed, and Danyla rewarded them with gold and urged them to fight men on the battlefield.
• Walda and her soldiers knelt before Danyla and pledged their loyalty to her.
• Danyla drew Dawnlight and asked Walda to draw her sword so she could test whether Walda was worthy of guarding her.

Danyla and Walda fought an exhausting sword match, with Walda ultimately defeating the princess. Danyla accepted Walda and her female soldiers into her Personal Guard and began Walda’s oath of allegiance.

• Walda and Danyla exchanged sword strikes, and Dawnlight notched Walda’s steel blade.
• Danyla used agile and close-quarter techniques to challenge Walda, but Walda’s strength and experience kept the match even.
• Walda trapped Danyla’s wrist, but Danyla escaped with a kick and counterattack.
• After a prolonged fight, Walda knocked Danyla off balance and held her sword point to the princess’s back.
• Danyla praised Walda, placed Dawnlight on her shoulder, and invited her to swear an oath of allegiance.

After securing House Frey's pledge, Danyla flew north with Walda and her dragons, crossing the Neck and learning about its treacherous terrain and creatures. Myracis hunted several lizard-lions in the swamps, and Danyla landed by the Kingsroad to salvage their hides.

• Danyla thanked Lord Frey for hosting the northern nobles, then left Riverrun with Walda and the dragons.
• Danyla rode Little Balerion while Walda rode Dreamfyre, and the dragons playfully jostled around them in flight.
• Danyla crossed the Neck and sensed its chaotic magic as the dragons hurried through the swampy region.
• Myracis ignited swamp gas with her dragonfire, then caught three lizard-lions and brought them to Danyla.
• Danyla landed beside the Kingsroad at the Neck's northern edge and began cutting the lizard-lions' hides with Walda.

Danyla sacrificed lizard-lion blood to a weirwood, but the tree showed no change, then she and Walda butchered the creatures Myracis caught. The chapter ended with five lizard-lions dressed, their valuable hides, teeth, meat, and organs collected, while Myracis and Dreamfyre feasted.

• Danyla carved a woman's face into a weirwood and sacrificed a lizard-lion's blood to it, but nothing changed.
• Danyla collected two flasks of lizard-lion blood and, with Walda's help, began cutting up the creatures for their hides, teeth, meat, and organs.
• Myracis caught two more giant lizard-lions, then returned with five living young ones and sought Danyla's praise.
• Danyla rewarded Myracis with a lizard-lion to eat and gave Dreamfyre another, which the dragon devoured whole.
• Danyla and Walda finished dressing all five lizard-lions and gathered their valuable hides, teeth, meat, and organs.

Danyla and Walda camped beneath the sleeping dragons after the dragons ate Lizard-Lions, then encountered five young Lizard-Lions trying to escape. Danyla subdued the creatures and used pieces of a Lizard-Lion heart to tempt them into eating.

• The dragons devoured the Lizard-Lions, then grew too sleepy to fly, so Danyla and Walda made camp beneath Dreamfyre.
• Danyla and Walda cooked and ate Lizard-Lion meat and hearts, drank wine, and sparred beside the campfire.
• Five young Lizard-Lions began crawling away, but Danyla noticed them and kicked them back when they moved.
• Danyla beat down the defiant young Lizard-Lion until all five lay trembling and docile.
• Danyla had Walda cut up another Lizard-Lion heart, and the five young creatures eagerly scrambled to eat the pieces.

After taming five young lizard-lions, Danyla connected them to her dragon dream realm and flew north with Walda and her dragons toward Winterfell. On the way, she sensed powerful magical energy around the Barrow of the First King and reflected on the history of House Dustin and the Barrow Kings.

• Danyla fed the young lizard-lions and slept beside Dreamfyre while Walda kept watch.
• Danyla brought the five lizard-lions into her dragon dream realm, strengthening her control over them.
• The next morning, Danyla fed the lizard-lions brains, then woke the dragons and prepared to leave with Walda.
• Danyla flew north along the Kingsroad, with Dreamfyre carrying the lizard-lions, Walda, and the luggage.
• As they passed the Barrow of the First King, Danyla felt a surge of icy energy and considered the legends and history of House Dustin.

Danyla and Walda arrived at Winterfell with five dragons, and Danyla presented gifts for House Stark. Myracis flew to the sacred weirwood in the Godswood, while Danyla landed in the Training Yard and faced the question of what to do with the lizard-lion meat.

• Danyla guided Dreamfyre across the North as she and Walda discussed Winterfell and its history.
• The dragons reached Winterfell, where sentries reported their arrival to Lord Ellard Stark.
• Ellard ordered preparations to welcome the dragon princess, though a Stark brother complained about the royal visit.
• Danyla landed Dreamfyre in the Training Yard, while Myracis led the other dragons to the ancient weirwood.
• Danyla brought Dragonfire Wine and porcelain as gifts, and Walda asked whether they should unload the lizard-lion meat and entrails.

Danyla arrived at Winterfell and gave House Stark lavish gifts, including preserved lizard-lion meat and five cubs. She eased Lord Eddard’s resentment over the New the Gift by arguing that House Hightower’s management would benefit both the Night’s Watch and the North.

• Danyla told Walda to preserve lizard-lion offal and give it to House Stark along with her other gifts.
• Danyla greeted Lord Eddard, Benjen Stark, Lady Lysa Locke, and the rest of the Stark family at Winterfell.
• Dreamfyre spat out five lizard-lion cubs, and Danyla showed the Starks that she could command them.
• Lady Lysa welcomed Danyla into Winterfell’s great hall, where Danyla discussed the North’s poor farmland and food needs with Lord Eddard.
• Danyla argued that House Hightower could make the New the Gift fertile and support the Night’s Watch, easing Lord Eddard’s resentment toward the royal house.