Recaps

Liu Qian stormed Cleftjaw Fort after realizing that chaos inside had left Kago unable to defend it. Hal killed Kago and surrendered the remaining forces of Cleftjaw Island to Liu Qian, whose army accepted the defeated pirates' submission.

• Liu Qian ordered an immediate assault on Cleftjaw Fort, and his troops broke through the gates into the burning fortress.
• Liu Qian's forces found Kago and his last loyal followers fighting Hal and his men outside Kago's tower.
• Kago tried to flee when he saw Liu Qian, and Hal seized the opening to kill him with his iron hook.
• Hal presented Kago's severed head to Liu Qian, swore loyalty, and offered him Cleftjaw Island's remaining forces.
• Hal's followers and Kago's surviving loyalists dropped their weapons and knelt to surrender.

Liu Qian took control of Cleftjaw Island after Hal surrendered and ordered Kago’s head displayed as a warning. With the island’s pirates, wealth, and fleet now under his command, Liu Qian prepared to seize Weeping Reef Island and challenge Salladhor Saan, while secretly explaining his plans for Jorah to Rollo.

• Liu Qian accepted Hal’s allegiance, assigned Hal and his men to Rollo’s fleet, and ordered Jorah Mormont to display Kago’s head.
• Rollo reported that 2,500 pirates had surrendered and that Cleftjaw Island’s storehouses held more than 200,000 golden dragons.
• Hal said he had already sent Cleftjaw men with Rollo’s fleet to take Weeping Reef Island, whose pirates were bitter enemies of Cleftjaw Island.
• Rollo reported that Cleftjaw Island had twenty-six oared ships, including five usable double-decked warships, and Liu Qian ordered him and Jorah to buy ship supplies and hire shipwrights in Spearhaft.
• Rollo privately questioned why Liu Qian was sending him with Jorah, and Liu Qian revealed a plan that eased Rollo’s concerns.

After Mara’s forces escaped Weeping Reef Island and joined Salladhor Saan, Liu Qian prepared to face the growing threat without revealing his dragon power. Salladhor rallied the pirates on Bloodstone Island into a united army against Liu Qian.

• Hal reported that Mara’s pirates had fled Weeping Reef Island with most of its wealth, and Liu Qian feared they would seek Salladhor Saan’s help.
• Liu Qian reorganized his forces, assigning Rollo, Hal, Jelena, and Janice to command troops from Cleftjaw Island and Torturer's Deep.
• Jelena suggested assassinating Salladhor, but Liu Qian argued that he had to conserve his magic and keep his dragon power hidden while securing the Stepstones.
• Salladhor welcomed Mara’s battered survivors at a feast on Bloodstone Island and blamed Liu Qian for Kago’s and Mara’s deaths.
• Salladhor declared that the pirates would form a united army and destroy Liu Qian and his forces.

Tyrosh’s Archon sought counsel from his brother Greenbeard over the easterner’s growing power in the Stepstones. Greenbeard urged him to let the easterner and Salladhor Saan fight, then planned to exploit the outcome for Tyrosh’s gain.

• The Archon silenced his arguing courtiers and asked Greenbeard how Tyrosh should respond to the easterner’s advance through the Stepstones.
• Greenbeard dismissed the Beggar King’s Restoration Council and reported that the easterner’s forces had placed profitable orders at Tyroshi-controlled Spearhaft.
• Greenbeard told the Archon that Salladhor Saan had gathered the remaining Narrow Sea pirates, backed by Lys, for a decisive battle against the easterner.
• The Archon worried that Salladhor might lose, and Greenbeard said Tyrosh could then use its fleet and hired mercenaries against the weakened victor.
• The Archon agreed to let the rival forces fight, while Greenbeard privately hoped their losses would leave the sea open for Tyrosh to dominate.

Jon Arryn presided over a Small Council meeting where the crown’s debts reached five million golden dragons and Varys reported that an eastern warlock had seized islands in the Stepstones. The council learned the warlock might intend to invade Westeros, and Jon Arryn ordered Varys to monitor the conflict with Salladhor Saan before reporting the threat to King Robert.

• Jon Arryn learned from Petyr Baelish that the Iron Bank’s envoys had sailed, then told the council the crown owed five million golden dragons.
• Renly Baratheon mocked the kingdom’s finances and dismissed Varys’s reports of a sea monster near the Three Sisters.
• Varys reported that a warlock from Yidi had taken islands in the Stepstones and was preparing to fight Salladhor Saan.
• Varys identified Ser Jorah Mormont as his source and claimed the warlock commanded a thousand undead soldiers armed with Valyrian steel.
• Varys said the warlock planned to use the Stepstones as a base to conquer Westeros, while Stannis Baratheon questioned Ser Jorah’s honor.
• Jon Arryn ended the meeting, ordered Varys to watch the Stepstones and the war against Salladhor Saan, and said he would report the threat to King Robert.

Liu Qian learned that Lys had strengthened Salladhor Saan’s fleet and rejected a head-on naval battle, seeking a way to force the fight onto ground where his Dragon Spirit Guardians could prevail. Rollo’s suggestion of outfitting ships with rams sparked an idea, but the chapter ended before Liu Qian revealed it.

• Liu Qian oversaw repairs to his fleet and sent Hal’s hundred-man squad to occupy Weeping Reef Island as a lookout post.
• Rollo reported that Lys had supplied Salladhor Saan with warships, while Tyrosh had leaked the news to pit Liu Qian against him.
• Liu Qian recognized Tyrosh’s scheme and grew wary of facing Salladhor’s enlarged fleet in open water.
• Liu Qian explained that naval combat limited the Dragon Spirit Guardians and proposed luring the enemy into an island fight or another close-quarters trap.
• Rollo suggested fitting ships with bronze rams, and Liu Qian began considering the idea before a new thought struck him.

Liu Qian devised a fireship ambush for Sallador’s fleet, then returned to Torturer’s Deep to hear Janice’s discovery about the black stone. Janice revealed that it could absorb and purify magical energy, while the book linked Valyrian blood magic to a ritual meant to make the stars descend.

• Liu Qian, Rollo, and Hal planned to lure Sallador’s fleet into Bone Gnawing Strait and attack it with fireships.
• Liu Qian left Cleftjaw Island’s preparations to Rollo and Hal and returned to Torturer’s Deep with Jelena.
• Janice showed Liu Qian an ancient tome describing a forbidden Valyrian blood ritual that sought to bring the stars down into the mortal world.
• Janice explained that the black stone could absorb chaotic and cursed magical energy and purify it into stable magic power.
• Liu Qian wondered whether the ritual was connected to the Doom of Valyria and realized the black stone might hold immense power.

Liu Qian learned that the black stone might store vast amounts of magic power, but its activation remained a mystery, and he planned to seek Archmaester Marwyn's help after the battle with Salladhor Saan. At the ghost grass experimental plot, Janice discovered a bundle was missing, and Liu Qian suspected the Yidi slaves had stolen it.

• Liu Qian examined the black stone and concluded its Blood Magic might be preventing the system from absorbing its magic power.
• Janice explained that she had not deciphered how to activate the stone, so Liu Qian decided to seek Archmaester Marwyn in Oldtown after the battle with Salladhor Saan.
• Liu Qian, Janice, and Jelena inspected the ghost grass experiment and found that the transplanted plants had withered outside the cursed soil.
• Janice discovered that only ninety-three bundles remained instead of the expected ninety-four, and Jelena confirmed the Dragon Spirit Guardians had detected no intruders.
• Liu Qian remembered sensing faint magic from some Yidi slaves and suspected they had stolen the missing ghost grass.