Arc 9Chapters 201–225
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Danyla regained consciousness after being trapped in a mutated weirwood and used the flame rune to free herself, then watched as violet-red flames transformed her dragons and Dreamfyre. She discovered five pale blue sea dragon eggs, and one cracked open as she touched it.
Danyla discovered that her Flame Rune had transformed the Ice Dragon Souls and Sea Dragon Eggs into Great Dragons, and she cared for the hatchlings as they emerged. Three eggs hatched into Hognara, Hogdera, and Hogras, while Danyla learned to cook with her Flame Bolt and fed the newborn dragons.
Danyla hatched two more sea dragons, discovered the sea dragons’ cave and a vast coal deposit, then returned to Westeros as the blizzard ended. She arrived above King’s Landing, where Audrey announced her return to King Jaehaerys.
Danyla returned to King's Landing with the Sea Dragon's head after ending the Long Night and Winter, and the people hailed her as the eternal sun. She reunited with King Jaehaerys and arranged to plant the Sea Dragon's mutated weirwood in the Godswood, leaving part of its head exposed for display.
Danyla returned with sea dragons and young dragons, then used dragon blood and a fire seed to awaken the weirwood, which seemed to improve King Jaehaerys's health. She learned she had been missing for three months and hurried to Dragonstone as Aemma went into labor.
Danyla returned to Dragonstone and helped Aemma through a difficult labor. As the chapter ended, Aemma gave birth safely, and Danyla and Rhaenyra wept with relief.
Danyla’s family welcomed Vinylla, and Viserys agreed to raise Daemon’s daughter Senyra as her twin sister, later calling her Senylla. After ensuring her mother and sisters were safe, Danyla inspected Holy Flame Island and praised Samwell and Medrick for keeping it prosperous through the Long Night and winter.
Danyla heard Medrick’s account of Holy Flame Island’s prosperity and trade during the Long Night, then reviewed the island’s growing shipbuilding ambitions. The shipyard had begun producing advanced vessels, and Danyla’s designs promised to lay the groundwork for Targaryen supremacy at sea.
Danyla chose to develop the peninsula where she had killed the Sea Dragon, using its river, coal, and surrounding tundra to house refugees, build a forge, and raise livestock. A large settler fleet departed Holy Flame Island, while Medrick led a faster advance party toward the newly named Cisland Peninsula.
Danyla oversaw Holy Flame Island’s trade and sent Medrick to help Essosi grain merchants who had treated her fairly. In King’s Landing, Vinylla and Senylla received their Name Day blessing as the cathedral and a statue honored Danyla, whose experiment suggested that worship could preserve magical energy.
At a banquet in the Red Keep, Jaehaerys displayed new Valyrian steel armor and weapons, then unexpectedly invested Danyla as Prince of Holy Flame Island and granted her Sunhouse Castle and Oldtown. As Jaehaerys introduced the collection, Corlys worried about Danyla’s growing influence, but Rhaenys welcomed it.
The great houses reacted to Princess Danyla receiving a landed title, weighing the danger of opposing her against the advantage of supporting her. The chapter ended with Duke Tully choosing to strengthen his ties with Danyla as her power outstripped that of the other houses and dragonriders.
King Jaehaerys announced that the royal house had reconstructed the method of forging Valyrian steel, using records and dragon remains, and the Lannister duke asked him to reforge Bright-Roar. The nobles learned about the rarity and history of Valyrian steel weapons and armor, and the chapter ended with them marveling at the royal house’s three suits of armor.
King Jaehaerys proposed marrying Rhaenyra and her sister to Jason and Tyland Lannister, sparking refusals and a contest among the nobles. Danyla recognized his scheme and declared that any man who wished to marry her must abandon his surname and that their children could bear only the name Targaryen.
Danyla rejected Jaehaerys’s marriage scheme and returned to find the nobles quarreling over who would receive the first Valyrian weapon. Jaehaerys revealed that Danyla was expected to solve the forging problem, and she quietly instructed Earl Beesbury.
Earl Beesbury explained that forging Valyrian steel required dragon remains, dragonfire, and the power of devout faith, prompting disputes over the demands and cremation rites. He urged the nobles to build Cremation Towers with Holy Flame Island’s help while they waited for a chance to forge Valyrian weapons.
Samwell offered three Cremation Tower slots to the great houses, and Lord Frey proposed awarding them to the highest bidders. After Danyla promised that Himolos would guard the first tower, Duke Lannister and Earl Reyne began bidding against each other.
The great houses bid enormous sums for the first two Cremation Tower slots, which went to House Lannister and House Tyrell. The auction for the third slot remained unresolved as Samwell introduced its dragon guardian, Bronze Tyrant Aposos.
Lord Frey’s bid sparked a fight with Earl Reyne, which Urrax ended by knocking Reyne and his guards unconscious. Pressured by Marquis Bolton and Bennard, Duke Eddard agreed to exchange Lonely Mountain and the lands around Moat Cailin for the final slot.
Duke Eddard offered two northern estates in exchange for a Cremation Tower slot, and Danyla secured additional land around Long Lake before assigning the third slot to the North. After the feast began, Walda reunited with Danyla and asked her forgiveness.
Danyla welcomed Walda, Maggie, and Maggie’s sister after their months-long search for her, then revealed a gift of large cats and learned that Walda and Shirei had become wargs. The chapter ended with Danyla’s allies gathered around her, several of them able to skinchange into animals.
Danyla inspected new armor for her female guards, while Maggie clashed with Harold and boasted about her strength. The chapter ended with Dorea reporting that Earl Reyne and House Peake planned to ambush House Frey because Urrax had injured Reyne in a sensitive place.
Oggian built a dwarf troupe in the Red Keep that used its secret passages and performances to gather intelligence across the Seven Kingdoms. Its network discovered why Earl Tuck had agreed to join Earl Reyne’s plot against House Frey, leaving the alliance’s motives exposed.
At the Twin Princesses’ Name Day celebration, the nobles gathered as Danyla’s growing influence reshaped the Red Keep and the balance of power across the Seven Kingdoms. Viserys reunited with Earl Lyonel Strong, whose family had come to settle in King’s Landing, while Rhaenyra met Harwin and Larys again.
Rhaenyra met Harwin Strong’s siblings and felt an uncanny reaction to their wet nurse, Alys Rivers, before Danyla arrived with her newly equipped Female Soldiers. Danyla’s growing wealth and military power unsettled the nobles, while King Jaehaerys gave Daemon the sword Cold Night as a badge of his garrison command.